Lok Sabha Question No. 573 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-20
Subject: Reservation for SC/ST and OBC
Ministry: PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
Asked by: LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV, HARISHCHANDRA DEORAM CHAVAN

## MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 573

(TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2016)

## RESERVATION FOR SC/ST AND OBC

## †573. SHRI LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV: SHRI HARISHCHANDRA CHAVAN:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the reservation provided to the  Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled  Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Government services stands at 17.1, 16.9 and 13.2 per cent respectively;
- (b) if not, the present percentage of their representation;
- (c) the  provision  made  in  respect of  their  representation  in the  Government  services  as per the provisions of the Constitution;
- (d) the reasons for not getting reservation in Government services as per the rules and the reaction of the Government thereto; and
- (e) the remedial measures taken in this regard?

## ANSWER

Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office. (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a)  to  (c):    Article  16(4)  of  the  Constitution  enables  provision  of  reservation  to  backward class of citizens, who are not adequately represented in the State.  Reservation is provided to Scheduled  Castes  (SCs),  Scheduled  Tribes  (STs)  and  Other  Backward  Classes  (OBCs) through executive instructions issued from time to time, which has force of law, as held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Indira Sawhney case.

As  per  extant  instructions,  reservation  is  provided  to  Scheduled  Castes,  Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes at the rate of 15%, 7.5% and 27%, respectively, in case of direct recruitment on all India basis by open competition.  In case of direct recruitment on all India basis otherwise than by open competition.  the percentage fixed is 16.66%, 7.5% and 25.84%, respectively,

As  per  information  received  from  71  Ministries/  Departments,  the  representation  of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in the posts and services under the Central Government as on 01.01.2014 is 17.35%, 8.38% and 19.28%, respectively.

(d) to (e):  While the representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is as per the prescribed  percentage,  the  representation  of  Other  Backward  Classes  is  less  than  the prescribed percentage due to the following reasons:-

- (i) Reservation for Other Backward Classes started only from the year 1993.

(ii) OBC candidates who are appointed upto 1993, that is before introduction of reservation for OBCs, are not included for counting their representation;

(iii)  There  is  generally  a  time  gap  between  occurrence  of  vacancies  and  filling  up  such vacancies, as recruitment is a time consuming process.

Based on recommendations of a Committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, time bound action plan for filling up backlog reserved vacancies has been intimated to all concerned Departments/Ministries on 20.11.2014 for filling up such vacancies  by  August  2016.    The  Action  Plan  includes  study  of  reasons  for  non-filling  of backlog reserved vacancies, review of prescribed standards, if required; conducting Special Recruitment Drive and conducting pre-recruitment training programmes.

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