‘Modi Govt’s Backdoor Plan to End Reservations’: Cong on Vacant Posts

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday attacked the Centre over more than 8.2 lakh sanctioned posts reportedly lying vacant across government civilian establishments, and alleged that the Modi government had hatched a plan to end reservations through the back door.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the BJP policy of conspiring to end the rights granted by the Constitution had been "exposed".

His remarks came over media reports that more than 8.2 lakh sanctioned posts were lying vacant across central government civilian establishments.

Kharge shared a screenshot of ministry-wise vacant posts based on a media report that claimed that over a decade, the number of vacant posts in the central government had nearly doubled.

In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge said, "The Modi government has hatched a plan to end reservations through the back door! In 2015, there were 4.21 lakh vacant posts in the central government. By 2024, this number has risen to 8.24 lakh."

In railways, there are 2.40 lakh vacant posts, while in defence there are 2.41 lakh vacant posts, he claimed, citing the report.

"In the Home Ministry, 1.10 lakh vacant posts. In PSUs, 5.1 lakh permanent jobs have been eliminated. The share of contractual workers has risen from 19% to 49%. The question is not just about employment, but about social justice," he said.

"Keep government posts vacant, and the opportunity for reservations ends. Sell off PSUs, and reserved jobs end. Convert permanent jobs to contracts, and reservations end. To end reservations, it's not necessary to amend the Constitution-just eliminating jobs with reservations is enough," he said.

Kharge claimed that this is the agenda of the BJP as it "opposes social justice".

"Keep posts vacant. Sell off PSUs. Increase contracting. And snatch away the constitutional rights of SC, ST, OBC, EWS. The BJP policy of conspiring to end the rights granted by Babasaheb's Constitution has now been exposed," the Congress chief said.