'Privatisation Of IAS' Is 'Modi's Guarantee' To End Reservation”: Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of undermining the Constitution by bypassing the traditional recruitment process for public servants. In a statement, Gandhi claimed that the government’s increasing reliance on lateral entry, which allows professionals from the private sector to be appointed to key government positions, is a deliberate strategy to erode the reservation system designed to benefit marginalised communities.
“Narendra Modi is attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ instead of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC),” Gandhi stated. He emphasised that this shift in recruitment practices is a direct assault on the reservation system for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC), as these communities are being denied their rightful representation in the top echelons of the bureaucracy. Gandhi asserted, “Reservation of SC, ST, and OBC categories is being openly snatched away by recruiting through lateral entry on important posts in various ministries of the central government.”
Gandhi further criticised the government for what he described as a systematic exclusion of the underprivileged from top positions in the country. He remarked, “I have always said that the underprivileged are not represented in all the top positions in the country, including the top bureaucracy. Instead of improving this, they are being pushed further away from top positions through lateral entry.” He argued that the recruitment of professionals through lateral entry is not only a disservice to social justice but also a betrayal of the talented youth who prepare rigorously for the UPSC exams.
The Congress leader pointed to the recent appointment of a private sector individual as the chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as an example of the dangers posed by this trend. Gandhi warned that allowing corporate representatives to occupy key government positions would have dire consequences for the country’s administrative structure and social equity. He declared, “INDIA will strongly oppose this anti-national move which hurts both the administrative structure and social justice.”
Gandhi’s comments come in the wake of a recent notification by the UPSC inviting applications for 45 mid-level posts, including positions of director, joint secretary, and deputy secretary across various ministries and departments. This is the largest such recruitment drive since lateral entry was introduced in 2019. The government has already made 63 appointments through lateral entry over the past five years, with 57 such officers currently in service.
The opposition has strongly criticised this move, arguing that it systematically undermines the reservation system that ensures opportunities for marginalised communities. Gandhi concluded his statement with a sharp rebuke of the government’s actions, saying, “‘Privatisation of IAS’ is ‘Modi’s guarantee’ to end reservation.”
