The Congress claimed on Tuesday that the opposition leaders in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, as well as others, had criticized the government for removing the most recent advertisement for lateral entry into bureaucracy.
The Union government has withdrawn its contentious advertisement for lateral entry to various senior government positions, despite opposition and criticism from some NDA partners. Earlier today, Union minister Jitendra Singh wrote to the chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSCC) to cancel the lateral entry advertisement in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instructions.
The Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), two prominent BJP allies from Bihar, have opposed the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) decision to fill 45 government positions through lateral entry.
On August 18, the UPSC put out an advertisement for 45 contract-based lateral entry positions. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, informed the Rajya Sabha earlier this month that 63 lateral entry appointments have been made in the last five years.
Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, criticized the move, describing it as an “attack on Dalits, OBCs, and Adivasis.” Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Law Minister, responded by reminding Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was promoted to the position of finance secretary in 1976 via the lateral entry route.
“Attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through the RSS instead of the UPSC,” said Rahul Gandhi on Sunday night. “Reservation (for) SC, ST, and OBC classes being openly snatched away,” he asserted, “recruiting for important posts in central government through lateral entry.”