What happened: Congress alleges a “back door” end to reservation
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the Narendra Modi government is trying to undermine reservation through a “back door” mechanism. Congress’s claim is that large numbers of sanctioned vacancies in civilian central government establishments reduce opportunities for reservation beneficiaries because reserved posts remain unfilled.
Kharge linked this allegation to the ongoing “reservation hatao” campaign, which seeks to end caste-based reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. Kharge argued that the end goal can be achieved without constitutional amendments: vacancy non-filling and job elimination alone can weaken constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
Congress’s cited data points and workplace-level claims included the following: 8.2 lakh+ sanctioned vacancies in civilian central government establishments (Congress’s claim).Kharge’s allegation that sanctioned vacancies rose from 4.21 lakh (in 2015) to 8.24 lakh (in 2024).Ministry-wise vacancy figures cited by Kharge: Railways (2.40 lakh), Defence Ministry (2.41 lakh), and Home Ministry (1.10 lakh).Kharge’s allegation that about 5.1 lakh permanent jobs were eliminated in public sector undertakings.Kharge’s allegation that contractual workers’ share increased from 19% to 49%.
Background and earlier position: reservation safeguards versus implementation outcomes
Reservation is a constitutional affirmative action approach designed to improve access to government jobs and education for disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, and EWS. In administration, reservation can be affected by policy design and by implementation choices.