The prime minister on August 20 requested the Union Public Service Commission to withdraw its circular on lateral entry for senior level jobs calling for a review of such appointments based on social justice.
The opposition and some of the parties supporting the government had been asking the government to recall its circular, citing that the lateral entry mechanism excludes the marginalised communities.
A Moneycontrol analysis shows that participation of marginalised communities has increased in Grade A jobs over the last few years, even though it remains below prescribed levels.
In 2022-23—the latest year for which data is available—of the 77,887 people employed in Grade A posts in 75 central government departments/ministries, 37.28 percent belonged to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
Group A posts are officer level jobs, which are the highest in appointment and authority. This group would comprise of senior selection grade, deputy secretaries and undersecretaries.
The ratio was 32.31 percent five years ago (2018-19) and 30.87 percent in 2014-15 and 22.2 percent fifteen years ago in 2006-07.
The rules allow reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs at 15 percent, 7.5 percent and 27 percent respectively in case of recruitment via direct competition.
Most of the gains have been made in the case of OBCs, where participation has increased over the years.
In 2022-23, for instance, 18.1 percent of Grade A posts belonged to OBC category employees, while the ratio was 11.1 percent in 2014-15 and 5.4 percent in 2006-07.
In the case of ST’s, the representation has increased to 6 percent from 5.82 percent in 2014-15 and 3.8 percent in 2006-07.
In the case of Grade B posts, 15.4 percent employees belonged to SC community, 7.4 percent to ST and 17.5 percent to OBC. The corresponding ratios were 16 percent, 7.2 percent and 14.8 percent in 2018-19.
Vacancies remain high
The problem that the government does need to solve is that of vacancies, which remain high despite government moving fast to fill up positions.
While the government has moved fast to fill vacancies in IAS level, bringing down the vacancy levels from nearly 30 percent in 2012 to 20 percent in 2023, they are still higher compared with the early part of the decade.
Nearly 1,400 jobs at the IAS level are vacant.
The vacancy in IAS level compared with the sanctioned cadre strength in the first decade of the twenty-first century was 10 percent on average.
The case is not too different for all India services. A Lok Sabha reply shows that until January 1, 2024, there were 19.4 percent vacancies in government jobs.
Of the 15,106 jobs available at all India level, 2,944 were vacant.
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