In a written response, minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh stated that vacancies occur and are filled continuously with reserved for backlog vacancies.
On July 24, the Lok Sabha was informed that all central government ministries and departments have been directed to create an in-house committee for identification of reserved backlogs with special recruitment drives to fill them.
Written in reply by Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said that the occurrence and filling of vacancies, along with backlog reserved vacancies, is a continuous process.
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“In order to remove the factors causing such vacancies, each ministry/department must constitute an in-house committee to identify the vacant positions allocated to backward castes under reservation policy and initiate measures towards filling them up” Mr. Singh instructed.
According to him, this officer should be responsible enough as not below deputy secretary rank or even higher so that instructions and orders regarding quotas are well complied with (Singh cited in The Parami News).
In addition, the Minister pointed out that each Ministry/Department must also have a dedicated Dak Bhawan unit which would be directly overseen by their existing liaison officer(s) concerned plus assisting him/her carry out his functions effectively”.
Reservation in posts and services
Replying another question he said “reservation in posts and services under the Central Government is provided to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Communities/classes at 15%, 7.5% and 27% respectively on direct recruitment on all India basis by open competition.” “In case of promotion reservation is provided to SC at 15% and ST at 7.5%” said Shri Jitendra Singh, minister of State for Personnel .
Answering a question on action plan taken/beign taken by government to fill up vacancies in Central Government/Public Sector Undertakings, it has been stated by Minister of State (Personnel) that Ministries/Departments of the Central Government have been advised from time to time to fill up vacant posts in a time bound manner. “Mission mode vacancies have been filled up during Rozgar Mela which was launched by the Prime Minister on 22nd October, 2019. As many as Twelve such Rozgar Melas were conducted at Central level covering around 45-50 cities across different States/Union Territories” he said.
IAS, IPS and IFS appointments in reserved categories
Centre has told Lok Sabha that even from those lower back ward classes as well as minorities communities, one thousand one hundred and ninety five (1195) scheduled caste/tried community candidates were appointed to Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Indian Police Services (IPS) and Indian Forest Services (IFS) in last five years. These include 233 officers appointed in 2018, 231 officers appointed in 2019, 223 officers appointed in 2020, 250 officers appointed in 2021 and finally 258 officers that had been taken on board by government this year.
“Recruitment to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) are done through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in accordance with the relevant rules,” Mr. Singh said.
This information was shared by the minister year-wise showing highest number of persons belonging to SCs, STs & OBCs recruited into IAS, IPS & IFS since last five years he was speaking about.
In the year 2018, the ministers appointed 97 IAS, 72 IPS and 64 IFS officers under these categories. The minister for home affairs said that according to data available to him, in the year 2019, there were a total of 103 IAS, 75 IPS and 53 IFS appointments. In the years 2020 and 2021 respectively, there were appointments of a total number of officers as follows: 99 IAS, 74 IPS, and 50 IFS; 97 IAS, 99 IPS, and 54 IFS from SCs/STs/OBCs. In such cases where it is happening only for once at a time the first row will contain one cell only indicating either “1” or “2”, depending on whether it came from SCs/STs/OBCs or general category.
35 private sector specialists appointed since 2018
According to the minister’s statement ,“The Lateral Entry mode has seen up-appointment of as many as thirty-five private sector specialists in various Central Government departments.”
Commenting on the issue was Mr Singh who said that this practice had been going on since last year when lateral recruitment took place within central government for joint secretary level in government services who required specific task staff that are expert in a particular area.
“The lateral entry has resulted in sixty-three selection amongst which thirty –five selection came from private sector,” he told Lok Sabha. ”As per present data about fifty-seven officials have been functionalizing on these posts with respective departments/ministries,” told Mr.Singh.
When asked if reservation policy was applicable to lateral entry route by one MP through a question in Parliament Mr.Singh clarified this matter while speaking to parliamentarians stating that no reservation can be done after single post selections are made. Excluding reserved class applicants suitable candidates would be selected from other eligible candidates. Reservation does not apply to such single post appointment too,” he added.
