Rahul Gandhi links SEBI row to Modi govt's lateral entry push after UPSC job ad: ‘Recruitment via RSS’
The UPSC on Saturday advertised 45 posts -- 10 of joint secretaries and 35 of directors/deputy secretaries -- to be filled through the lateral entry mode.
Hitting out at the Centre's latest push to bring in specialists through lateral entry into top government positions, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of undermining the Constitution by bypassing the traditional recruitment process through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, also alleged that the Modi government was favouring recruits with affiliations to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
"Reservation for 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 wrote in Hindi on X.
He expressed concern that the underprivileged are already underrepresented in top bureaucratic positions, and this new policy would further exclude them, depriving talented youth preparing for civil services exams of their rightful opportunities.
Gandhi's statement comes in response to the Modi government's fresh push for lateral entry, where 45 specialists will join key positions such as joint secretaries, directors, and deputy secretaries across various central ministries. Traditionally, these posts are filled by officers from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Forest Service (IFoS), and other Group A services.
Read: 57 lateral entrants at joint secretary, director, deputy secretary levels: Govt
However, the government, through the UPSC, has advertised these posts to be filled on a contractual basis, a move it argues is intended to bring in fresh talent and specialised knowledge into governance.
Rahul Gandhi links SEBI row
Rahul Gandhi warned that the lateral entry system represents a "robbery of the rights of talented youth" and an attack on the very concept of social justice.
“A prime example of what representatives of a few corporates will do by occupying key government positions is SEBI, where for the first time a person from the private sector has been made the chairperson,” the Congress leader noted, referring to the appointment of Madhabi Puri Buch, who is facing allegations of conflicts of interest following a report from US short-seller Hindenburg Research.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge earlier described the move as a "deliberate attempt" to sideline SC, ST, and OBC communities from crucial government roles. In a post on X, he accused the BJP of conducting a "double attack on reservation," stating that the recruitment process is designed to exclude marginalised communities from accessing these positions.
The Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have also slammed the government's move, terming it as the BJP's "conspiracy" to appoint its ideological allies to high posts through the back door.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav even warned of an agitation on this issue from October 2.
