It Is High Time For India To Adopt Zero-Vacancy, Zero-Backlog Policy

Governance – good or bad, exclusive or inclusive – is a continuous process and is always open to public and expert scrutiny. In a democratic system like ours, governmental priorities and policies are by and large decided by the ruling dispensation’s ideological leanings, beliefs and how they look at the people’s holistic welfare and the need for further strengthening the existing social fabric. Over the decades, the politics of vote banks has also become quite prominent in the country. Still India as a republic is quite vibrant and responsible thanks to the values and vision encapsulated in the Constitution, which is firmly standing tall on the pillars of equality, justice, fraternity, liberty and inclusivity braving all odds and challenges. It is a life-saving medicine for the nation and we owe this eternal panacea to treat our all socio-economic and political ailments to none other than Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, the nation’s collective fate.

One of the key mandates of our Constitution is mainstreaming wholesomely the social groups who were deprived of their share in national resources, opportunities, political space, facilities, privileges and responsibilities for centuries. Quite conscious of the repercussions of persistent deprivation, disparities and discrimination against our own people on one pretext or the other, our founding fathers put in place a statutory mechanism consisting of affirmative and welfare measures in sync with the Constitution so that no social group is left behind. I would not like to mention here how equitable is the distribution of national wealth and income among our people but would rather focus on how well the deprived among us are being taken care of. Such surgeries of the ground realities with the help of data will only guide us, the governments and other stakeholders in devising better strategies for the future course of action, and plug the existing loopholes accordingly.

Let me start on a factual note. The Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on January 17, 2025 released its annual performance report in the form of ‘Year Ender 2024.’ It is an excellent routine exercise, which was carried out in the past as well by all the Central government ministries and departments, and will be done in the future too. The document provided a detailed account of the Department of Personnel & Training’s (DoPT) strides made in governance, capacity building, and welfare during 2024. It spoke of Rozgar Melas, Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Rules, 2024, reforms in appointment by deputation, and many other good things. About the backlog clearance, the document said that “over 4 lakh backlog vacancies reserved for SCs, STs, and OBCs were filled between 2016 and 2023 as compared to 1.08 lakh vacancies filled between 2004 and 2013.” It also said that SC and ST representation in the Central government services met prescribed limits of 15 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively, as of January 1, 2024, while OBC representation in direct recruitment consistently exceeded 27 per cent over the past decade.

What is the total backlog of SC, ST and OBC vacancies in the Central government departments and ministries? The ‘Year Ender 2024’ did not mention or forget to mention the existing vacancies of SCs, STs and OBCs in the Central government departments and ministries including higher education and institutions (HEIs). In the written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on July 17, 2019, then Union Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh said: “As per information provided by the ten Ministries/Departments which includes their Public Sector Banks/Financial Institutions, Central Public Sector Undertakings, etc., out of 92589 backlog reserved vacancies (29198 for SCs, 22829 for STs and 40562 for OBCs), 63876 backlog reserved vacancies (20975 for SCs, 15874 for STs and 27027 for OBCs) were filled up during the period from 1.4.2012 to 31.12.2016 and 28,713 backlog reserved vacancies (8223 for SCs, 6955 for STs and 13535 for OBCs) remained unfilled, as on 1.1.2017.”

Dr Singh further said in the reply that “five out of these ten Ministries/Departments have further informed that out of 21499 backlog reserved vacancies (7532 for SCs, 6887 for STs and 7080 for OBCs), 12334 backlog reserved vacancies (4514 for SCs, 3595 for STs and 4225 for OBCs) were filled up, as on 31.12.2017, and 9165 backlog reserved vacancies (3018 for SCs, 3292 for STs and 2855 for OBCs) remained unfilled, as on 1.1.2018.” By not being sincere and serious in filling up vacancies of SCs, STs and OBCs, and adopting tools like ‘Not Found Suitable’ (NFS), which is rooted to the nefarious design of deprive and rule, an Indian version of the Britishers’ divide and rule policy, we will only be torpedoing the idea of inclusive Viksit Bharat. It is, therefore, an opportunity for every stakeholder to rise to the occasion and contribute his bit to further strengthening the country’s socio-economic and political fabric by making it more resilient.

For the powers-that-be, there is a huge scope to bring in more clarity so far as the data on SC, ST and OBC backlog vacancies are concerned. The Central and state governments should work out a mechanism such as mandating all departments and ministries to have a dedicated chapter in their annual respective report on the total number of working employees – regular and contractual, total existing vacancies on a particular date, backlog of reserved vacancies, total number of SC, ST and OBC employees recruited against reserved vacancies in the past one year, and how many SC, ST and OBC candidates were selected outside the ambit of the reservation as general category candidates. It is a doable task but most of the responsible voices among us maintain studied silence when sharing opportunities, perks and privileges with fellow citizens is recommended. They, however, need to know that by denying gainful opportunities to the majority of the population, we are only working against the spirit of inclusive Viksit Bharat goal by 2047. Similarly, we don’t know the number of people from discriminated social groups working in the private sector entities such as big corporate houses, schools, higher education institutions, print and electronic media industry, healthcare sector and hospitality, and how many of them are in the executive category. We must have such details for which a census is the need of the hour. As we have always been averse to the idea of inclusivity and equity, we rarely bother to think of others’ empowerment at the cost of our own ease of living. A developed India with stark socio-economic and political disparities will be a threat to our sustainable coexistence, thereby making the much-cherished economic prosperity quite a fragile proposition. The World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 19, 2020 released the Global Social Mobility Report 2020: Equality, Opportunity and a New Economic Imperative. According to the report, Indians born in low-income families would take seven generations to even approach the country’s mean income.

As per the report, some 220 million Indians sustained on an expenditure level of less than Rs 32 per day - the poverty line for rural India – going by the last headcount of the poor in India in 2013. India’s per capita income was pegged at Rs 1,12,835 by the National Statistical Office in its recent advance estimate for fiscal 2019-20. It is a crude indicator of the country’s well-being. The Global Social Mobility Index of WEF assessed 82 countries or economies on five key indicators: health, access to and quality of education, technology, work opportunities, wages and conditions. Even today’s realities are also in the public domain. A comparative analysis can be done, but who bothers except some researchers for their academic pursuits. Each of us knows where the shoe is pinching, yet few take the issue seriously or act honestly to correct it. Let me say: The caste-based discrimination in India remains a major factor contributing to limited social mobility, with individuals from poor castes still facing significant obstacles to upward movement. India has the potential to significantly improve its social mobility by addressing systemic barriers and implementing policies focused on equitable access to education and employment to all in proportion to their population.

(The writer is a senior journalist, author and columnist. The views expressed are strictly his personal)