UPSC had given an advertisement to fill 45 posts of Joint Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Director level in the Central Government through lateral entry. Calling this advertisement against reservation, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi opened a front against it. Parties like Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Janata Dal (United) which are part of the Modi government also came out in protest against it. The result was that now the government has written a letter to the UPSC Chairperson and asked to cancel the advertisement for lateral entry.
While the opposition is calling this rollback of the Modi government its success, it is also being linked to the compulsion of the coalition government. It seems so at first glance, but PM Modi’s image has been that of a leader who knows how to turn the attacks on him into his weapon. Looking at the language of the letter written by Union Minister Jitendra Singh to the UPSC Chairperson to withdraw the advertisement for lateral entry, it seems that in this case too, the Modi government is working on the strategy of playing on the front foot and putting the ball in the opposition’s court.
Even before the Lok Sabha elections, the strategy of the opposition has been to corner PM Modi and the government on the issues of the Constitution, caste census and reservation. When the BJP, which gave the slogan of crossing 400 in the Lok Sabha elections, could not reach the magic figure of absolute majority on its own, this narrative of the opposition was cited as the main reason behind it.
The advertisement on lateral entry has given the opposition an opportunity to open a new front against the BJP on the issue of reservation. JDU’s KC Tyagi also said that with such decisions, the government is giving the opposition an issue without any effort.
Before the controversy over lateral entry escalated, the government took a step back. For this, Union Minister Jitendra Singh wrote a letter to the UPSC Chairperson. In this letter, UPSC has been asked to cancel the advertisement, but it also shows the opposition’s full effort to deflate the balloon of calling lateral entry anti-reservation. Congress, which has been raising a vocal voice against lateral entry, has been put in the dock through this letter.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel and PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, has written in the letter that in principle, lateral entry was recommended by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Veerappa Moily in 2005. The recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in 2013 were also in the same direction. Before and after this, many high-profile cases of lateral entry have come to light. It is clear that Dr Singh is trying to prove that the idea of lateral entry is entirely a Congress idea.
He further writes that in previous governments, key positions such as secretaries in various ministries, leadership of UIDAI have been given to lateral entrants without following any reservation process. It is also well known that members of the controversial National Advisory Council ran a super-bureaucracy that controlled the PMO. Before 2014, most major lateral entries were made in an ad hoc manner, which also led to allegations of favoritism.
Veerappa Moily is counted among the top leaders of Congress. From 2004 to 2014, the Congress-led UPA government was in power in the country. The mention of the secretary and the leadership of UIDAI, the mention of NAC and the allegations of bias in lateral entries, all these are being said to be an attempt by the government to establish that the lateral entry was started by the same Congress which is today cornering the government by making it an issue. The committee led by the Congress leader had recommended it and today when advertisements were issued for similar appointments during the Modi government, they are creating a ruckus.
He has also written in his letter- Modi government’s effort is to make the process of lateral entry open, transparent and institutional. That is, the government is directly accusing Congress of not being transparent and institutional on this issue during its government’s tenure.
In this letter, Dr Jitendra Singh also attacked the opposition’s efforts to set a narrative that portrays PM Modi and the government as anti-reservation. He has written that the Prime Minister firmly believes that the process of lateral entry should be aligned with the principles of equality and social justice enshrined in the Constitution, especially with regard to the provisions of reservation. For the PM, reservation in government jobs is the cornerstone of our social justice framework which aims to eliminate injustice and promote inclusiveness.
Social justice has been the basis of the politics of opposition parties like SP, BSP in UP as well as parties like Subhaspa, Nishad Party and Apna Dal, which are currently with BJP in NDA. The politics of opposition parties like Lalu Yadav-led RJD in Bihar, JMM in Jharkhand as well as BJP’s alliance partners Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi also revolves around the issue of social justice. BJP and its alliance partners could not repeat their previous performance during the Lok Sabha elections in all the three states – UP, Bihar and Jharkhand. Assembly elections are also due soon in Jharkhand. In such a situation, BJP, cautious about the results of the Lok Sabha elections, does not want to take any risk on the issue of reservation and social justice.
Perhaps this is the reason why an attempt has been made to present PM Modi as a leader committed to social justice by linking his image with reservation. So that the opposition narrative can be countered. Jitendra Singh, while urging to cancel the advertisement issued on August 17, has also written – These posts have been considered special and have been designated as single cadre posts. Therefore, no provision for reservation has been made in these appointments. He has further said – The Prime Minister’s focus is on ensuring social justice and this aspect needs to be reviewed and improved. This step will be an important progress towards social justice and empowerment.
Overall, through this letter, the government has tried to end the controversy over lateral entry. It has also given the message that the attitude of the Congress on this issue has been completely contradictory. The message of the government is clear that on the issue of lateral entry, the Congress neither took care of social justice nor the rules of reservation, but made arbitrary appointments as per its own wishes. But PM Modi will not let this system continue and will ensure social justice in it so that the aspect of equality inherent in the Constitution, which has been ignored till now, can be included in it.
After this action of the government, BJP can use this issue of lateral entry to attack the opposition, especially the Congress, and the party and the government which have been on the backfoot till now can be seen on the frontfoot, which will be in line with PM Modi’s well-known style of turning the attack into a weapon.
Four important messages emerged from the letter of Union Minister Jitendra Singh regarding lateral entry-
-First message: The idea of lateral entry was completely the brainchild of the Congress government, Congress has been doing lateral entry for decades. The Modi government is just taking it forward.
-Second message: In the name of lateral entry, the Congress governments did not show any transparency and made appointments arbitrarily, even people were appointed at the PMO through lateral entry.
-Third message: Congress’ formula of lateral entry was against the constitution, social justice and reservation rules, which needs to be changed.
-Fourth message Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make the Congress formula on lateral entry constitutional and will provide social justice in it. He will create an institutional structure full of transparency for lateral entry.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)