New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) BJP ally and Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Monday voiced concern over making any appointments in government posts without providing reservation, as the political row over lateral entry escalated, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleging it was an "attack" on the Dalits, OBCs and adivasis.
The Centre on its part accused the Congress of making misleading claims on the biggest tranche of lateral recruitment in bureaucracy being undertaken by it, and asserted that the move will not affect the recruitment of SC/STs in the all India services.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said lateral entry in bureaucracy has been happening since the 1970s during the Congress-led governments and former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Montek Singh Ahluwalia were prominent examples of such initiatives taken in the past.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal hit out at Rahul Gandhi for his claim that the government was trying to bypass the reservation system, reminding the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha that Manmohan Singh was made the finance secretary in 1976 through the lateral entry route. "You started lateral entry. Prime Minister Modi made it methodical," he told PTI Videos in Bikaner.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) last Saturday advertised for 45 posts -- 10 of joint secretaries and 35 of directors/deputy secretaries -- to be filled through the lateral entry mode on a contract basis. This scheme is aimed at appointing specialists (including those from the private sector) in government departments.
Paswan, who is the president of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), said he would raise the lateral entry issue with the Centre, and “there is no ifs and buts in this.”
"Reservation provisions must be there in any government appointment. There is no ifs and buts in this. No reservation exists in the private sector and if it is not implemented in government positions as well... The information came up before me on Sunday and it is a matter of concern for me," he told PTI.
Paswan said that as a member of the government he has the platform to raise the issue and he would.
The Union minister also said that as far as his party is concerned, it is absolutely not in support of such a measure.
Upping the ante over the lateral entry issue, the Congress accused the BJP of "snatching reservation" and handing out posts meant for SCs, STs, OBCs, and EWS to people of the RSS.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that while his party-led government had brought in lateral entry to appoint select specialists and experts in some sector-specific posts as per their utility, the Modi government has made provision for it to "snatch the rights" of Dalits, tribals and backward classes.
Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government's move of recruiting public servants through lateral entry was an "attack" on Dalits, OBCs and adivasis. He accused the BJP of seeking to snatch reservations from 'bahujans'.
"Lateral entry is an attack on Dalits, OBCs and adivasis," Gandhi said on X.
"The BJP's distorted version of Ram Rajya seeks to destroy the Constitution and snatch reservations from bahujans," the former Congress chief said.
In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said the party-led goernment had previously brought lateral entry to appoint select specialists and experts in some sector-specific posts as per their utility. “But the Modi government has made provision of lateral entry not to appoint experts in the government but to snatch the rights of Dalits, tribals and backward classes.”
"SC, ST, OBC, EWS posts will now be given to people of the RSS. This is BJP's 'Chakravyuh' to change the Constitution by snatching reservation," the Congress president alleged.
According to Vaishnaw, the 45 posts offered for lateral entry into bureaucracy amounted to 0.5 per cent of the cadre strength of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) comprising over 4,500 officers and will not cut into the roster of any service.
The tenure of lateral entry bureaucrats was three years and a possible extension for two years.
Vaishnaw said Manmohan Singh entered the government as a lateral entrant in 1971 as the economic adviser in the then Ministry of Foreign Trade and went on to become the finance minister and later the prime minister.
He said other key lateral entrants include technocrats Sam Pitroda and V. Krishnamurthy, economists Bimal Jalan, Kaushik Basu, Arvind Virmani, Raghuram Rajan and Ahluwalia.
Jalan served as the Chief Economic Adviser to the government and later the Governor of Reserve Bank of India.
Virmani and Basu were also appointed as the Chief Economic Advisors in 2007 and 2009 respectively.
Rajan also served as the Chief Economic Advisor and later went on to serve as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 2013 to 2016.
Ahluwalia was brought into government roles from academia and international organizations. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission from 2004 to 2014.
Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys, was appointed as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in 2009, Vaishnaw said.
Meghwal dismissed as "baseless" Gandhi's allegation that RSS people will be hired as public servants through this mode and pointed out that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made the system of lateral entry methodical by giving the mandate to UPSC for framing rules. Earlier, he pointed out, there was no formal system in place for such entry into governance.
"Whatever appointments or recruitments or selections are to be done, UPSC will do it. Where is the issue of BJP, RSS in this? Baseless allegations are being made.”
The minister alleged that Gandhi was trying to mislead people and tarnish the image of institutions like UPSC by "spreading lies".
"The efforts of Rahul Gandhi, who is making such false allegations, are never going to succeed."
"Dr Manmohan Singh was also part of the lateral entry. How did you directly make him the finance secretary in 1976?" the minister said.
The minister noted that lateral entry appointments are contractual posts.
"Suppose an environment expert becomes a deputy secretary, what is the problem... person has to be an expert in a particular field," he said.
Meghwal said the lateral entry is open to all.
"Persons of SC, ST and OBC categories also apply. IAS vacancies are different. They claim we are ending reservations. What were you doing when you were recruiting? Suddenly their love for OBCs has come out. They are trying to mislead SC, ST, OBCs," he added. PTI KR ASK SKU SDA NAB RT GSN GSN
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