New Delhi: There is a dismal representation of officials from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes at higher echelons of bureaucracy in 79 ministries and departments of the central government, a parliamentary panel has said.
Of the 928 posts of director and above level, just 13 percent (120) are from SC/ST category as against 208 officials mandated as per the reservation policy. There is 22.5 percent reservation for the two categories (15 percent for SC and 7.5 percent for STs).
The percentage drops from 15.52 percent to 4.8 percent with a rise in seniority level — from director level to secretary. Of the 87 secretaries at the Centre, there are just four secretary level officers (4.8 percent) from SC/ST category in ministries and departments.
Similarly, there are just 12 additional secretaries, 25 joint secretaries as against the sanctioned posts of 90 and 242 respectively from the SC/ST category. At deputy secretary/director level, there are 79 officials (15.52 percent) from SC/ST as against
509 posts.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions provided this information to the parliamentary panel.
The report on the DoPT role in formulation, implementation and monitoring of reservation policy was tabled by the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
In its report, the 30-member panel, chaired by BJP MP Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, observed that SC/STs are being deprived of being a part of decision making and policy matters as there is negligible or no presence of members in board of directors in PSUs/banks etc. It also raised concerns about the massive backlog in SC/ST vacancies and impact of outsourcing of work on reservation.
There are 32.83 lakh employees under 79 ministries and departments of the central government of which 30.76 lakh work in 10 ministries and departments.
These are ministries of railways, housing and urban affairs, home affairs, defence and education; and departments of defence production, atomic energy, posts financial services and revenue. These 10 ministries/departments have more than 93 percent of the total employees of the central government, the DoPT informed the panel.
As per the report, there is a backlog in filling up 15,330 vacancies of SCs and 12,136 STs in nine ministries/departments. The information about the backlog in the Union home ministry was not mentioned in the report.
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More representation needed in decision making
According to the report, there are 419 posts of secretary, additional secretary and joint secretary officials of which there are just 41 SC/ST officials. Just four out of 87 secretaries in ministries/departments are from this category. Similarly, there are just 12 additional secretaries, 25 joint secretaries as against the sanctioned posts of 90 and 242. At deputy secretary/director level, there are 79 SC/ST officials as against 509 posts.
The panel was informed that senior posts are filled on deputation basis. To fill up the posts of Joint Secretary and above level under the Central Staffing Scheme (CSS), the officers of various services participating under the CSS are considered for empanelment to hold these posts, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions informed the panel.
“These posts are deputation posts and are not cadre posts of any service. Out of the empanelled officers, those who give 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 deputation basis under the CSS,” the DoPT informed the panel.
Directing the ministry to “explore all possibilities” to increase the representation of SCs and STs, the committee said, “The representation of SC and ST candidates among higher echelons of bureaucracy to some extent is increasing but still much below the expected level….At the senior level of JS/AS/Secretary the figure remains almost the same with 35 in 2017 and 41 in 2022.”
The panel also observed that there is poor representation of SC and ST members in board of directors of most PSUs, banks, ministries etc.
“There is negligible presence or no presence of SC and ST members in the Board of Directors of almost all the ministries/Departments/PSUs/Banks etc which in fact deprive SCs/STs to be part of the decision making process and policy matters and also helpful in protecting the interests of SCs and STs in service matters….The Committee is not willing to accept routine reply as there are highly qualified deserving and meritorious candidates among SCs/STs available,” it said.
The panel also expressed concern over “category-wise percentage representation at various levels for SC and ST for Group A is far below the constitutionally mandated percentage of 15 percent for SC and 7.5 percent for ST”.
For effective implementation of the reservation policy, it recommended that the DoPT should take up the matter with highest authority to set up a “separate regulatory authority” to ensure full implementation of the reservation policies and orders, said the report.
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Massive backlog of SC/ST vacancies
Referring to the massive shortfall in all categories of posts for SCs and ST, the panel said the DoPT should try to fill the vacant posts by “carrying out special recruitment drives”.
As per the report, in nine out of 10 ministries/departments there are over 27000 posts for SCs and STs vacant.
For instance, railway ministry has the highest number of backlog reserved vacancies — 5,879 in SC and 4,798 in ST, followed by department of revenue (3,021 in SC and 2,217 in ST category) and department of defence (2,653 in SC and 1,780 in ST) as on 1 January, 2022. The housing and urban affairs ministry had the least — 49 in SC and 22 in ST.
“All such identified backlog vacancies would be filled within a stipulated schedule by carrying out a special recruitment drive as recommended,” the committee said.
De-reservation due to outsourcing
The panel observed that in large scale, most of the non-core areas pertaining to Group C and D have been outsourced by various ministries and government organisations and while doing so, “reservation policy for SC/ST is not at all followed by the above organisations”.
“Most of the SC/ST percentage have been working in Group C and D and by outsourcing work of these services, the committee feels that it is a gross violation of reservation policy prescribed by the Constitution and the DoPT. Further it is an indirect denial of reservation policy meant for SC/ST,” it said.
The committee recommended that there should be a special contract clause for implementation of the reservation. “The Committee is of the firm view that since the payment to outsourced to private entity are made from the Consolidated Fund of India and that DoPT being a principal employer should issue strict instructions and that there should be a special contract clause for implementation of reservation policy for SCs and STs to be followed by the Contractors while engaging the workers,” it said.
The panel also recommended the DoPT to put in place a mechanism to ensure minimum wages, safety, health benefits and security to all contractual and outsourced workers.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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