- By Aashish Vashistha
- Tue, 20 Aug 2024 10:01 AM (IST)
- Source:PTI
A controversy erupted after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on August 18 issued an advertisement to recruit 45 joint secretaries, directors, and deputy secretaries across 24 Central Ministries through lateral entry on a contract basis or deputation basis. Meanwhile, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his claim that the government was trying to bypass the reservation system through lateral entry.
Meghwal also emphasised that former prime minister and senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh was made the finance secretary in 1976 through the lateral entry route. "Dr Manmohan Singh was also part of the lateral entry. How did you directly make him the finance secretary in 1976?" Meghwal was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Law Minister also called Gandhi’s allegations ‘baseless’ that RSS people would be hired as public servants through this mode. He further emphasised that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made the system of lateral entry methodical by giving the mandate to UPSC for framing rules.
"Whatever appointments or recruitments or selections are to be done, UPSC will do it. Where is the issue of BJP, and RSS in this? Baseless allegations are being made," Meghwal told PTI Videos in Bikaner.
Meghwal also said that Gandhi was ‘spreading lies’ in an attempt to mislead people and damage the reputation of organizations like UPSC. "The efforts of Rahul Gandhi, who is making such false allegations, are never going to succeed," he said. The Law Minister also stated that Rahul Gandhi was making irresponsible statements despite being the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.
Several opposition leaders have criticised the lateral entry policy into bureaucracy for not having reservations for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates.
Reacting to the latest advertisement issued by the UPSC, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that the lateral entries were part of a ‘well-planned conspiracy’ and that “the BJP is deliberately making such recruitments in jobs so that SC, ST, OBC categories can be kept away from the reservation”.