‘I was in touch with PM, his office’: Union minister welcomes govt letter to UPSC chairperson.

On Monday, Union minister Chirag Paswan had sought cancellation of an upcoming drive by the UPSC to fill 45 posts through the lateral entry mode. Welcoming the government’s move asking the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to cancel its recent lateral entry advertisement, Union minister Chirag Paswan on Tuesday said he had taken up with prime minister Narendra Modi concerns of the SC/ST community regarding the matter. Paswan’s reaction came shortly after Union minister Jitendra Singh, on PM Modi’s directions, wrote to UPSC chairperson Preeti Sudan seeking cancellation of the advertisement. On Monday, Paswan, an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had expressed his opposition to the lateral entry move. “Since the issue came to my notice, I raised it in front of concerned authorities. I presented the concerns of the SC/ST and backward people regarding this issue to the prime minister. I have been in touch with the PM and his office. He held in-depth discussions with me and I submitted relevant documents to his office. The government should follow the rules of reservation in all its appointments,” the minister, who heads the Lok Janshakati Party (Ram Vilas), a key constituent of the BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said at a press conference. The controversy stems from a UPSC advertisement issued last week, through which the body, which conducts examinations for recruitments to central government services, advertised for 45 posts – 10 of joint secretaries and 35 of directors/deputy secretaries – to be filled through the lateral entry mode on a contract basis. The lateral scheme is aimed at appointing specialists (including from the private sector) in government departments; no quota is applicable on these appointments. The issue was picked up by various opposition leaders, who alleged that the BJP-led Centre was trying to ‘dilute’ caste-based reservations. Calling the allegations ‘baseless,’ the government, on its part, asserted that the move will not affect the recruitment of SC/STs in the all-India services.