Lashing out at Central government’s move to recruit public servants through lateral entry, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi called it an ‘robbery of rights of talented youth’ that attacked the reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs.
In a post in Hindi on X, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) wrote “Narendra Modi is attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh instead of the Union Public Service Commission.”
The post further stated “Reservation of SC, ST and OBC classes is being openly snatched away by recruiting through lateral entry on important posts in various ministries of the central government. I have always said that the underprivileged do not have representation in all the top posts of the country including the top bureaucracy. Instead of improving it, they are being pushed further away from the top posts through lateral entry.”
Terming the move as robbery of rights, the post mentioned “This is a robbery of the rights of talented youth preparing for UPSC and an attack on the concept of social justice including reservation for the underprivileged.”
Citing the example of Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) scam, the LoP stated “SEBI is a vivid example of what representatives of a few corporates will do by sitting on decisive government posts, where for the first time a person from the private sector was made the chairperson.”
“INDIA will strongly oppose this anti-national step that hurts both the administrative structure and social justice. Privatization of IAS is Modi’s guarantee to end reservation,” the post further mentioned.
Gandhi’s attack came after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) published notification allowing lateral entry on 45 key posts of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries in different 22 Central ministries.
Usually, on such posts officers of all-India services including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others are posted.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Saturday advertised 45 posts — 10 of joint secretaries and 35 of directors/deputy secretaries — to be filled through the lateral entry mode on a contract basis.
