The Union Govt must rethink its decision to appoint Jt Secy level officers through lateral entry. With the Govt yet to ensure adequate...

DMK leader M.K. Stalin demanded on June 11, 2018, that the Union government immediately withdraw its controversial decision to recruit Joint Secretary level officers through lateral entry from private sectors. Stalin pointed out that while the Centre has consistently failed to fulfill its statutory obligation to ensure adequate representation of Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes in central government services, introducing lateral entry without reservation quotas further dismantles the constitutional mandate.

Under the lateral entry scheme announced by the Department of Personnel and Training, private individuals were invited to apply for senior bureaucratic positions in ten key Union ministries. Stalin noted that exempting these appointments from mandatory constitutional reservations systematically blocks candidates from historically oppressed and under-represented communities from occupying leadership roles in policy formulation. He characterized this recruitment maneuver as a deliberate backdoor attempt to dismantle affirmative action policies won through decades of social struggle.

Stalin emphasized that constitutional reservations are essential to ensure representative democracy and administrative equity. He demanded that the Union government preserve merit-based, competitive examinations conducted under UPSC oversight. Stalin affirmed that the DMK will fight vigorously against any policy that dilutes constitutional reservation guarantees.