New Delhi: A parliamentary panel, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party member Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, has said it is “not willing to accept routine replies” from the government that the non-availability of suitable candidates from SC and ST communities is resulting in their “dismal” representation in the ranks of higher bureaucracy.
The 30-member committee tabled its report – Role of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training) in Formulation, Implementation and Monitoring of Reservation Policy – in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, August 1. It noted that the representation at various levels for STs and SCs is “far below” the constitutionally mandated percentage of 15% and 7.5%, respectively, Hindustan Times reported.
While directing the Department of Personnel and Training to explore “all possibilities” to increase the representation of SCs and STs to ease out “the current imbalance”, the committee instructed the department to submit an action taken report within three months.
“The most common reason provided being that the Officers of SC/ST community could not be appointed to the post of Members and Chairman, primarily due to non-availability of suitable candidates. The Committee is not willing to accept routine replies as there are highly qualified deserving and meritorious candidates among SCS/STs available,” the committee told the government sternly.
Among various steps suggested by the committee’s report, it recommended to the authorities concerned to provide candidates who appear in competitive exams “unique identification numbers” without disclosing names to ensure a “fair” assessment.
“The Committee further desires that the name of the caste of SC/ST community should also not be disclosed once selection processes in all aspects are completed so that any possible form of discrimination against such community may be less evident,” the report said.
In another recommendation, the committee said DoPT may also consider setting up a separate regulatory authority to ensure meaningful implementation of reservation policies and orders till legislation to this effect is enacted by the government. It also directed DoPT to identify the backlog of vacancies and carry out “special recruitment drives” to fill the posts.
The committee pointed out that although there had been an increase in the number of SC and ST officers in the higher bureaucracy between 2017 (458) and 2022 (550), the figure had remained far below the expected level. The maximum number of SC and ST candidates were appointed at the level of deputy secretary or directors – 423 in 2017 to 509 in 2022.
“At the senior level of Joint Secretary /AS/Secretary, the figure remains almost the same with 35 in 2017 and 41 in 2022,” the committee added.
On the other hand, it said there are currently 12 additional secretaries and 25 joint secretaries against the sanctioned numbers of 90 and 242, respectively, from the SC and ST categories. At the deputy secretary or director level, there are just 79 officials from SC or ST communities against 509 sanctioned posts, the report indicated.
It also drew the attention of the government to the “negligible or no presence” of SC and ST members on the boards of directors of almost all ministries, departments, public-sector units, and state-run banks. The committee said such underrepresentation would deprive the marginalised communities of becoming part of the decision-making process on matters of policy.
In its response to the committee’s report, the DoPT said the appointment of officers to senior posts under the Government of India is filled on deputation. “Out of the empanelled officers, those who give the option for deputation are considered for appointment for Joint Secretary and above under the CSS. There is no provision for reservation in the posts filled up on a deputation basis under the Central Secretariat Service (CSS).”
To this, the committee, in turn, responded that it is “not willing to accept routine replies”, including the “most common reason provided” that there is a non-availability of suitable candidates from the SC and ST communities.