UPSC had given advertisement to fill 45 posts of Joint Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Director level in the Central Government through lateral entry. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi opened a front against this advertisement of recruitment through lateral entry, calling it snatching of reservation, while parties like Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Janata Dal (United) which are part of the ruling coalition also came out in protest. Modi government has now written a letter to the Chairman of UPSC and asked to cancel the advertisement of lateral entry.
Congress is calling it a decision taken out of compulsion due to opposition from Rahul Gandhi, opposition parties and NDA constituents. This rollback of the Modi government is also being linked to the compulsion of the coalition government. The question is whether this decision was taken out of compulsion or a well thought out strategy? Actually, PM Modi’s image has been that of a leader who knows how to turn every voice of opposition into a shield for himself.
Even before the Lok Sabha elections, the strategy of the opposition has been to corner PM Modi and the government on the issues of the Constitution, caste census and reservation. The BJP, which gave the slogan of crossing 400 in the Lok Sabha elections, could not even reach the magic figure of absolute majority on its own, so the main reason behind this was that the opposition was successful in setting its image as anti-reservation. The advertisement of lateral entry gave an opportunity to open a new front against the BJP on the issue of reservation. JDU’s KC Tyagi also said – with such decisions, the government is giving the opposition a ready-made issue.
Now, the letter written by the government to UPSC to cancel the advertisement for lateral entry is an attempt to burst the anti-reservation balloon of the opposition as well as a strategy to put the Congress, the vocal voice of opposition, in the dock. Minister of State in the Personnel Ministry and PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, has mentioned the entire background of lateral entry in a letter written to UPSC Chairman Preeti Sudan.
He writes that lateral entry was in principle recommended by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Veerappa Moily in 2005. The recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in 2013 were also in the same direction. Before and after this, several high-profile cases of lateral entry have come to light. In previous governments, important posts like secretary in various ministries, leadership of UIDAI have been given to lateral entrants without following any process of reservation. It is also known to all that the members of the National Advisory Council ran a super-bureaucracy that controlled the PMO. Before 2014, most of the major lateral entries were made in an ad hoc manner, which also led to allegations of favoritism.
Veerappa Moily is counted among the top leaders of Congress. From 2004 to 2014, the Congress-led UPA government was in power in the country. The mention of the secretary and the leadership of UIDAI, the mention of NAC and the allegations of bias in lateral entries, all these are being said to be an attempt by the government to establish that the lateral entry was started by the same Congress which is today cornering the government by making it an issue. The committee led by the Congress leader had recommended it and today when advertisements for similar appointments were issued during the Modi government, he is creating a ruckus. He has also written in his letter – The government’s effort is to make the process of lateral entry open, transparent and institutional.
In this letter, Dr Jitendra Singh has also attacked the opposition’s efforts to set a narrative that portrays PM Modi and the government as anti-reservation. He has said that the Prime Minister firmly believes that the process of lateral entry should be aligned with the principles of equality and social justice enshrined in the Constitution, especially with regard to the provisions of reservation. For the PM, reservation in government jobs is the cornerstone of our social justice framework which aims to eliminate injustice and promote inclusiveness.
Social justice has been the basis of the politics of opposition parties like SP, BSP in UP as well as parties like Subhaspa, Nishad Party and Apna Dal which are currently with BJP in NDA. The politics of opposition parties like Lalu Yadav-led RJD in Bihar, JMM in Jharkhand as well as BJP’s alliance partners Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi also revolves around the issue of social justice. BJP and its alliance partners could not repeat their previous performance during the Lok Sabha elections in all the three states – UP, Bihar and Jharkhand. Assembly elections are also due soon in Jharkhand. In such a situation, BJP, cautious about the results of the Lok Sabha elections, does not want to take any risk on the issue of reservation and social justice.
Perhaps this is the reason why an attempt has been made to present PM Modi as a leader committed to social justice by linking his image with reservation so that the opposition narrative can be countered. Jitendra Singh, while urging to cancel the advertisement issued on August 17, has also written – These posts have been considered special and have been designated as single cadre posts. Therefore, no provision for reservation has been made in these appointments. He has further said – The Prime Minister’s focus is on ensuring social justice and this aspect needs to be reviewed and improved. This step will be an important progress towards social justice and empowerment.