2023

www.nethrapal.com

THE
PAIN OF
MERIT
MOST INDEPTH ANALYSIS OF ISSUES
ON CASTE, MERIT AND RESERVATION
MUST READ FOR ALL !!!
Table of Contents

01
Is Merit and
02
Rants Against
Reservation Reservation -
antithetical? Modelling the
rants against
Reservations

03
Reality of
04
The Pain of Merit
Reservation in in UPSC Exams-
Government How Interview
Score creates an
artificial merit list
for one's entire
career?

05
The Pain of Merit
06
in Civil Services Merit is not at
Career and odds with
Artificial reservation
Superiority Tag
assumed and
appropriated by
General Merit

07
Reality of
08
Reservation and
representation of Inequality
the Ahindas
outside
government.

Concluding Remarks
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

CHAPTER 3

REALITY OF
RESERVATION IN
GOVERNMENT
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

JUST 7% Representation increases for General

REPRESENTATION Category to almost 95.51% at Secretary
Level and becomes near zero for
FOR SC/ST/OBC IN SC/ST/OBC at Secretary Level.
HIGHER CIVIL
SERVICES Even at Additional Secretary Level, the
representation is very less.

Even in the modern era, members of the Even at Critical Cadre of Joint Secretary
SC, ST, and OBC groups make up a little Posts, the representation was not
less than 7 percent of those who are significant.
employed in Higher Civil Services.
Despite the fact that these communities The reasons for such low representation
have been afforded greater opportunities inspite of entry level reservation of 50% is
in recent decades, this remains the case. astonishing and the trend appears to have
not changed right from British Era.
Only a few secretaries hail from these
communities. There is still a very minimal representation
for SC/ST/OBC at the Higher Civil
By bringing up the unrelated topic of Services.
administrative inefficiency, SC/ST/OBC
personnel who are competent and
knowledgeable are often denigrated. This
occurs across all levels of government as
well as in the business sector
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

JUST 4.8% The percentage drops from 15.52

SECRETARIES FROM percent to 4.8 percent with a rise in
SC/ST COMMUNITY seniority level — from director level
to secretary.

Of the 87 secretaries at the Centre,

there are just four secretary level
Of the 928 posts of director and
officers (4.8 percent) from SC/ST
above level, just 13 percent (120)
category in ministries and
are from SC/ST category as against
departments.
208 officials mandated as per the
reservation policy.
Similarly, there are just 12 additional
secretaries, 25 joint secretaries as
There is 22.5 percent reservation
against the sanctioned posts of 90
for the two categories (15 percent
and 242 respectively from the
for SC and 7.5 percent for STs).
SC/ST category.

At deputy secretary/director level,

@NETHRAPAL
there are 79 officials (15.52 percent)
from SC/ST as against 509 posts.
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Myth of Old Age among Selected among

Candidates from SC/ST/OBCs

Now one of argument given for lesser representation is that of age, that
SC/ST/OBC enter the service at a much older age. Let us look at the age
distribution as per the annual report of UPSC 2020 exam.
Notice that among 21-24 years, males to females’ selection percentages were
17.8% and 24.4%. However, among general merit, it was 23.7% and 27.7%. For SC,
young males and females did not form a large proportion. They were just 11.9% and
18.8%. Even in ST and OBC the same proportion was noticed.
For 24-26 yrs, there were 25.9% and 32.8% males and females totally. However,
among general, there were larger number of candidates entering below 26 yrs.
This age group reduces from 26-28 yrs for General merit, while the same increases
from 26-28 yrs for other categories.
Let us look at the age wise profile of Male
Candidate in civil services examination 2020,

The male candidates mostly got selected in the age bracket 26 to 28 yrs.
 THE PAIN OF MERIT
Myth of Old Age among Selected among
Candidates from SC/ST/OBCs

The females’ candidates mostly got selected in 24 to 26 yrs bracket. So it can be

seen that there was a sizable number of females’ candidate who had the age
advantage also among the SC/ST/OBCs.
Now using this logic at least there should be many females from SC/ST/OBCs who
would become eligible for JS/Additional Secretaries/Secretary position. However,
the representation is negligible even after 75 years of independence.
The artificial propaganda that the selected SC/ST/OBC are at the bottom of civil
list because of an exam influencing their posting even after 30 years is
unacceptable in modern day India. The competency level of SC/ST/OBC is already
recorded in individual performance appraisals and using various 360-degree
feedback, government can take in various feedback to evaluate the competence
levels of SC/ST/OBCs who are indeed equal on competence with others.
Generalizing and stereotyping a particular category without any ground data and
not providing them adequate representation within the higher civil services needs
a serious relook at whether reservation policies should be extended to every level.
One suggestion is that at least 25% reservation for SC/ST/OBC candidates at
secretary level, additional secretary level and secretary level may be mandated
using out of turn promotions so that there is benchmarking minimum level of
representation for these communities.
The Myth of incompetence emerging from a civil list created because of exam
conducted in the initial period is the reason behind this. This incompetence
perception is artificial and there is no data for this. Indeed, there are many
SC/ST/OBC officers who score very well on performance appraisals and even 360-
degree evaluations. But somehow when it comes to the Higher civil services
positions there is hardly anyone making it to the top.
The Myth of Merit created by a few differences in marks in the initial exam works to
perpetuate the discrimination for the next 30 to 36 years without any objective
evaluation of one’s competence.
It is in this background that larger competence mapping and individual evaluation
of officer’s performance is needed to assess whether an officer is suitable or not
for any entry in higher civil services. It is very unlikely that out of 50% reserved
posts 43% would not meet this.
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

THE MYTH THAT RESERVATIONS AFFECT BUREAUCRATIC

PERFORMANCE IN THE IAS...

We often see derogatory comments on (5) They attribute zero effect of reservation
reservations and their ill effects on the to the quality and competence of candidates
efficiency of bureaucratic functioning. The who come through civil services. They state
recent paper released in American Journal that there is absolutely no difference in the
of Political Science finds evidence from the competence level of reserved and
Indian Administrative Service which is unreserved candidates entering civil
enumerated below: services. The difference of few marks is
mainly because of lower interview marks
(1) In this study, bureaucratic output of IAS given to disadvantaged groups.
officers from reserved and unreserved
category all over India was considered for Many a times, an unscientific thinking or a
their performance in MNREGA scheme. stereotypical image of SC ST OBC officers is
created to obstruct them from reaching the
(2) They found that there is zero effect of higher echelons of civil services.
reservation on bureaucratic output.
Right now, the representation is just 7% for
(3) They also found that some of the best these communities in higher civil services
performers were from the officers from the especially at the level of Joint Secretaries,
disadvantaged group Additional Secretaries and Secretaries to the
government of India.
(4) They did a correlation of performance
with UPSC ranks and found out that there is The research shows there is no notable
a negative correlation with UPSC ranks change to the bureaucratic output because
of reservations...

REALITIES OF RESERVATION However rants against reservations

IN GOVERNMENT
have only increased in the last decade.
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Even among General Merit, the most of the

officers come from one or two communities!

37.6% Brahmins, 9.56% Kshatriya, 13.33% Kayastha, 7.64% Vaishya in IAS In

the paper " Social Background of Officers in the Indian Administrative Service "
by Santosh Goyal, the distribution of IAS officers has been carried out across
states.

Table , enclosed above, shows the distribution of the 3235 Hindu officers
according to the caste.

The largest single group is that of the brahmans at 37.6 per cent. The second
largest number is claimed by the kayasthas at 13.3 per cent. These two
traditional literati castes together account for approximately 51 per cent of
Hindu Officers. Altogether, the upper castes, including kshatriyas and vaishyas
make up 68 per cent of the total. The Shudras, by contrast, are represented at a
minimal level of two percent.

(Source: http://theedgeworld.com/ias/other_articles/Social%20background%20of%20IAS%20officers.pdf… )
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

50% RESERVATION IS STILL A DISTANT DREAM....

NO SINGLE DEPARTMENT OR MINISTRY HAS ACHIEVED
THIS AT GROUP A AND GROUP B....

JUST 30-35% 100

SC ST OBC General

RESERVATION ACHIEVED
IN CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT 75

50
Group A/B General
SC/ST/OBC(%)
representation Merit(%)

25
Railways 68.82 31.18

0
71 departments 62.95 37.05
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Cabinet Secretariat 80.25 19.75 DATA AS ON 2019 TAKEN ON RTI

To this day, the SC, ST, and OBC groups

Niti Aayog 73.84 26.16
have not been granted their full
reservation quotas. Even in this day and
President age, the reservation rate that can be
74.62 25.38
Secretariat
achieved in skilled arena is only 25–35%.
OBC Reservation achieved is in single
Vice President
Secretariat
75.92 24.08 digits even today. There is a significant
number of unfilled positions and positions
CHAPTER 3: REALITY OF RESERVATION IN with a backlog in every department.
GOVERNMENT
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

RESERVATIONS DOES NOT IMPEDE EFFICIENCY OR

PRODUCTIVITY - EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM INDIAN
RAILWAYS
Ashwini Deshpande and Thomas Weisskopf There are numerous a priori reasons to
(2010) arrived at this conclusion on the basis expect that an increase in hiring might
of an extensive study of the reservation improve economic performance, particularly
policy in the Indian Railways. We cannot do in high-level jobs. Individuals from the
better than quoting the authors: marginalised groups may well be especially
highly motivated to perform well when they
Analysing an extensive data set on the attain decision making and managerial
operation of the world's largest subject to aa positions, because of the fact that they have
(Affirmative Action), the IR (Indian Railway) reached these positions in the face of claims
employer subject to Affirmative Action that they are not sufficiently capable and
Policy, we have found no evidence they may have consequently strong desire to
whatsoever in support of the claim of critics prove their detractors wrong. Or such
of aa that increasing the proportion of aa individuals may simply believe that they have
beneficiaries adversely affects productivity to work harder (p 24).
or productivity growth.
On the contrary some of the results of our Therefore, neither theoretical nor empirical
analysis suggest that the proportion of sc-st evidence backs up the myth that critics have
employees in high-level positions (at A and B created about how the reservation policy
jobs level) is positively associated with IR has a negative impact on efficiency in
productivity growth. government.

Reflecting on the reasons for high On the contrary, some of the results of the
productivity of A and B sc/st employees, the analysis suggest that the proportion of
authors observed: SC&ST employees in the upper (A+B) job
categories is positively
REALITIES OF RESERVATION associated with productivity and
IN GOVERNMENT
productivity growth.
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

IS THERE AN EMPIRICAL STUDIES PUBLISHED IN

SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS WHICH SHOWS THE NEGATIVE
EFFECTS OF RESERVATIONS ON SOCIETY?
Contrary to the popular perception, that reservation has negative effects, the evidence of 46
studies assessing policies in education and 42 in employment or business, with 69 studies
published in scientific journals shows that Reservation has positive outcomes.

Please see above

12 empirical studies in India showed positive effects because of reservation across enrollment,
employment and other areas in India.

Even in the US, the majority of the studies have reported positive or mixed results, with none
reporting a negative result.

So, there is statistical/scientific basis to state that Reservation has positive outcomes on the
society.

REALITIES OF RESERVATION
IN GOVERNMENT
 WHEN WILL THE HOPES IN THE EYES OF AN
DISADVANTAGED KID FULFILLED?
SHOULD THEY CONTINUE IN LOW PAYING JOBS FOR EVER!!!!

ONLY 33.45%
RESERVATION ACHIEVED
IN GROUP A Group A Group B
Group C (Excluding Safaikarmachari )
GOVERNMENT JOBS !!! Group C ( Safaikarmachari ) Total

Group A - SC( 13.01%),

ST(3.89%), OBC (16.55%)
SC%
totaling to 33.45%

Group B- SC(16.77%), ST(7.09%),

OBC(16.68%) totalling to 40.54%

ST%
Group C( No Safai)- SC(17.36%),
ST(7.84%), OBC(22.95%)
totalling to 48.15%

Group C ( Safai )- SC(32.56%),

OBC%
ST(7.05%), OBC(19.39%)
totalling to 59%
0 10 20 30 40
Higher Representation for
SC+ST+OBC only in Safai
Karmachari.
Reservation of 50% not achieved
in both Group A and Group B. @NETHRAPAL

Data based on Social Welfare Statistics

released by Social Welfare Departement
 The Pain of Merit

DOPT 2021-22 Annual report gives the details of all employees in central government according to Group
A/B/C.

What’s the actual reservation

percentage achieved?

35.45
%
Achieved
reservation rate.
in Group A

Achieved Reservation Rate in

35% Government of India at Group A

Some Trends
At Group C (Safai Karamchari) there is no reservation and mostly these positions are
occupied by SC ( 32.56%), ST (7.05%) and OBC (19.39%)
At Group A, the percentage of SC, ST, OBC adds up to just 35.45%
The Gap in OBC and ST reservation is significantly higher than SC reservation
Usually ministries publish aggregate numbers including all employees which may
give a wrong idea on the total representation.
The Pain of Merit

SC/ST/OBC employment decreased from 33.95

lakhs in 2003 to 26.29 lakhs in 2013 and to
drastic fall to 18.78 lakhs in 2021.

AS ON 1.1.2013

AS ON 1.1.2003

AS ON 1.1.2021

Some Trends
45% reduction in total employment from 2003 to 2021. So in effect, even if the
reservation percentage is increased, there is no net gain in absolute employment.
Total SC employment decreased from 6.14 lakhs in 2003 to 4.55 lakhs in 2013 to
3.28 lakhs in 2021. There is a net fall of 47% in SC employment.
Total SC employment in Group A decreased from 10256 in 2003 to 7809 in 2013
and showed a slight improvement to 10072 in 2021. The major decrease is in Group
C/D, wherein employment has drastically decreased.
Total OBC employment, which was 4.55 lakhs in 2013, was reduced to 4.15 lakhs in
2021. The fall is not significant. The overall representation increased from 17.31% to
22.11%. However, in Group A, the number of employees increased from 5477 in
2013 to 12817 in 2021. The decrease is mainly in Group C/D employment.
It is very clear that the reservation pie in absolute numbers is decreasing, and the
reasons need to be studied in detail. The major decrease is in Group C/D employment,
 The Pain of Merit- Case Study of Department of Revenue
Achieved Reservation Rates in Department of Revenue in Group A shows no
department achieving 50% reservation. Total SC+ST+OBC reservation is given below

38%

18.1%

24.3% @NETHRAPAL
 The Pain of Merit
Achieved Reservation Rates in DOR-Group A- Annual Report-2019-20

0%

25%

@NETHRAPAL

100%
 The Pain of Merit
Achieved Reservation Rates in DOR-Group A- Annual Report-2019-20

8.3%

30%

15.6% @NETHRAPAL
 The Pain of Merit
Achieved Reservation Rates in DOR-Group A- Annual Report-2019-20

14.7%

31.3%

0% @NETHRAPAL
 The Pain of Merit
Achieved Reservation Rates in DOR-Group A- Annual Report-2019-20

11.6%

25%

26.1% @NETHRAPAL
 The Pain of Merit
Achieved Reservation Rates in DOR-Group A- Annual Report-2019-20

47.2%

33.3%

@NETHRAPAL

28.6%
 The Pain of Merit
Achieved Reservation Rates in DOR-Group A- Annual Report-2019-20

45.1%

41%

@NETHRAPAL

28.6%
 The Pain of Merit
Achieved Reservation Rates in DOR-Group A- Annual Report-2019-20

36.7%

It can be seen that majority of the

departments with in various
ministries had dismal
representation for SC/ST/OBC at
Group A level.
In many strategic positions, the
representation together for
SC/ST/OBC was in single digits.
Some of them even today had zero
percent representation for
SC/ST/OBC
Enforcement divisions had much
lesser representation from
SC/ST/OBC

@NETHRAPAL
 WHEN WILL THE HOPES IN THE EYES OF AN
DISADVANTAGED KID FULFILLED?
SHOULD THEY CONTINUE IN LOW PAYING JOBS FOR EVER!!!!

ONLY 33.45%
RESERVATION ACHIEVED
IN GROUP A Group A Group B
Group C (Excluding Safaikarmachari )
GOVERNMENT JOBS !!! Group C ( Safaikarmachari ) Total

Group A - SC( 13.01%),

ST(3.89%), OBC (16.55%)
SC%
totaling to 33.45%

Group B- SC(16.77%), ST(7.09%),

OBC(16.68%) totalling to 40.54%

ST%
Group C( No Safai)- SC(17.36%),
ST(7.84%), OBC(22.95%)
totalling to 48.15%

Group C ( Safai )- SC(32.56%),

OBC%
ST(7.05%), OBC(19.39%)
totalling to 59%
0 10 20 30 40
Higher Representation for
SC+ST+OBC only in Safai
Karmachari.
Reservation of 50% not achieved
in both Group A and Group B. @NETHRAPAL

Data based on Social Welfare Statistics

released by Social Welfare Departement
 THE PAIN OF MERIT
50% Reservation is a Myth

The data given here is for total

employees of Group A/B/C/D including
sweepers. Bulk of the recruitment in
SC is from Sweepers class and the
representation in Group A still remains
lower.
Many ministries like Agriculture
Research, Education/Commerce/Earth
Sciences/Food Processing
Industries/Administrative reforms,
DOPT, Petroleum and Natural Gas,
Power, Social Justice and
Empowerment, Steel had single digit
representation for OBC. Remember
this is for total Group A/B/C/D
employees. If we take only Group A
alone, then OBC representation would
be even more lesser
The trend in ST reservation is also the
same.
Whereever SC% is more, the Group
C/D employees is also noticeably very
high. High % of SCs only means there
are more number of sweepers
employed. When we look at Group A
employment, the % would be very less
even for SC.

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT
50% Reservation is a Myth

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

50% RESERVATION IS A MYTH.

JUST 35% IS WHAT IS ACHEIVED !!!!

MANY MINISTRIES
HAD SINGLE DIGIT d) In significant ministries like Finance,
RESERVATION FOR Home affairs, Science and Technology
departments, the SC, ST, OBC
OBCS representation was minimal.

e) Most of them kept their representation

Some salient patterns are as follows. above 40% by recruiting more Group C
employees. However, most of the
a)The representation of OBC is dismal in ministries had lesser number of Group A/B
almost all the ministries and needs to be employees at SC/ST/OBC
improved. There were many ministries
wherein the representation was in single f) Most of them met the SC/ST reservation
digit. only by filling more and more sweepers or
safai karmachari employees in their
b)There were ministries were in ST organisation.
representation was less than 2%.

c)There were many ministries, where in

there was greater representation at Group @NETHRAPAL

C, compared to Group A
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

CENTRAL PUBLIC SECTOR ENTERPRISES

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SC/ST/OBC REPRESENTATION IN CPSEs

% of Total
Group A Group B Group C Group D
Employees

GENERAL 54.19 48.52 41.17 61.12

SC 16.78 17.38 19.57 14.02

ST 7.15 10.58 12.13 10.22

OBC 21.88 23.52 27.13 14.64

The representation of lower cadres like Group D is affected because of outsourcing. This
has resulted in lesser representation for SC/ST/OBC which is a serious concern. These are
low paying jobs in organized sector that were available to SC/ST/OBC communities earlier
on. Now there is a substantial reduction because of this.

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Reservation Process is avoided

by hiring Contractual Employees
in CPSEs.
% of Casual and Contract Labor
50

40

30

20

10

0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

There is a greater tendency to hire contract What we need to look at is the absolute
and casual employees than regular numbers. For example, if there are 100 jobs
employees to contravene the reservation and originally only 25% was the reservation
process. rate. Then 25 jobs would be there jobs
impacted by reservation. Now if there are
In 2012-13, there were 17,33,973 employees just 40 jobs, even if the reservation is
in Central Public Sector Enterprises increased to 50%, the net impact would be
(CPSEs) out of which 2,86,350 were just 20 jobs.
contractual workers and 43,166 daily
wagers. Shockingly, in 2019-20, there were As per the Report of the Seventh Central
only 14,73,810 employees out of which Pay Commission in 2015, there were 52 lakh
4,98,807 were contractual workers and government employees. The number of
53,127 daily labourers. Contractual workers vacancies declined to 40.66 lakh as of March
and daily labourers, whose pay is very low, 1, 2019—a reduction of 11.34 lakh—out of
don’t have reservation, job security and which only 31.43 lakh were filled, a gross
pension. contraction of 20.57 lakh.
The percentage of Casual Contract labor
increased from 19% in 2013 to a staggering If these vacancies were filled, 3,08,550
42.5% in 2022. SCs, 1,54,275 STs and 5,55,390 OBCs
We noticed that there was not much difference between the
would have been employed.
scores scored by OBC and EWS students. At Written Exam
So we have a scenario wherein systematically
stage,
more than 40% of thethe difference
actual jobs have between
been various categories
Total, 20.57 waswould have
lakh families
negligible
removed from and net.
the reservation with in a tolerance leveltheir
improved of 20 marks.
status and their children
However, there was huge variationwould have got better
in interview markseducation
given and
That would amount to a loss of more than 5 quality of life
which resulted in moving the SC/ST/OBC students to lower
lakh jobs for SC/ST/OBC communities
ranks.
@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Senior Positions still has less than

50% reservation in PSUs.
SC ST OBC General

Representation at Managerial
Mangerial
Level for SC/ST/OBC was less
than 50%. As we go higher and
Supervisiors
higher, the representation comes
down substantially at the level of
Workers Skilled
Board Members. There are
hardly any Managing Director
Workers Unskilled
or Chairman from SC/ST/OBC
0 25 50 75 100 125 communities.

Quota representation is better in

Major Banks

Reserve Bank of India

and LIC have low
representation of OBC.

In many banks, the

representation of SC/ST
is much higher than asked
rate.

However OBC
representation needs to
improve
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Increasing Backlog Unfilled

Vacancies for SC, ST and OBC in
India.
As of 31 December 2022, there were a total of 78,923 backlog unfilled
vacancies for SC, ST, and OBC in the central government. Of these,
42,066 were for SCs, 22,016 were for STs, and 14,841 were for OBCs.

Backlog SC Vacancies in Various Ministries

Education Defence Production
1111 1871
Revenue
Revenue
3239
Defence Production 2762
8847
Atomic Energy
116 Railways
4445
Home Affairs
6393

Home Affairs
4450
Financial Services
674
Posts
Defence Railways Defence 1044
1848 Posts 6940 1803
1452
UNFILLED SC VACANCIES IN
BACKLOG SC VACANCIES IN VARIOUS MINISTRIES
VARIOUS MINISTRIES

Backlog ST Vacancies in Various Ministries

Education Defence Production
Revenue 923 1694
2142 Revenue
2000
Defence Production
7574 Atomic Energy
Home Affairs 133
3524
Railways
4405
Home Affairs
Defence 2821
1189
Housing and Urban Affairs
Financial Services 43 Defence Financial Services
1166 Railways 1167 677
6055

BACKLOG ST VACANCIES IN UNFILLED ST VACANCIES IN

VARIOUS MINISTRIES VARIOUS MINISTRIES

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT
Increasing Backlog Unfilled
Vacancies for SC, ST and OBC in
India.
Backlog OBC Vacancies in Various Ministries
Education Education
Revenue 1721 Defence Production
1494
4684 Revenue
1742
1465
Railways
5403

Home Affairs
6610

Railways Home Affairs

Financial Service
5479
9135 1145
Housing and Urban Affairs
302
Defence Defence
3986 Financial Services 3888
1445

UNFILLED OBC VACANCIES IN

BACKLOG OBC VACANCIES IN VARIOUS MINISTRIES
VARIOUS MINISTRIES

Huge SC/ST/OBC unfilled Vacancies in

State Government -Tamilnadu as Example

@NETHRAPAL
 Just 1 job out of every 200 jobs
are affected by Reservation.
Reservation Funnel - Only 1 job out
of every 200 jobs in the market is
affected by Reservation
Total Jobs 200

Organized Sector Jobs (8%) 16

Government Sector Jobs (3%) 6

Entry Level Jobs (1%) 2

Reservation Applicable(0.5%) 1

Although the reservation % has increased

to 50%. the absolute number of jobs
affected by reservation has significantly
come down and now we are in an era
where just 1 job out of every 200 jobs are
affected by Reservation.
The Pie of Reservation in Absolute term
has come down significantly because of
lesser government vacancies, increased
privatisation, greater outsourcing and
increased automation @NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

60,00,000 Vacancies in Central

and State Governments
So atleast 50% of it that is
30 Lakhs Vacancies for
SC/ST/OBCs not filled...

All these numbers have been taken from the central government’s sources and replies to queries in the Parliament: statistics of central
government departments and Central Armed Police Forces from Annual Report on Pay and Allowances Report of Pay Research Unit,
Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance; healthcare data from Rural Health Statistics (RHS) 2019-20, Statistics of Anganwadi Lok
Sabha Question No. 3980; details of central educational institutions in higher education from Rajya Sabha Question No. 1172; Indian Army
figures from Rajya Sabha Question No. 2903; Justice Department figures from Lok Sabha Question No. 29; police vacancy numbers from the
Police Research and Development Bureau; the figures of teachers in primary schools were taken from the Rajya Sabha Question No. 1166; the
data of the central schools is acquired through Right to Information (RTI) application and the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas from the Rajya
Sabha Question No. 2579. ( Source: www.leaftlet.in)

The percentage of vacant sanctioned posts has increased from 11.57% in the
year 2014-15 to 22,76% in 2018-19. This is an astronomical rise. In case the
absolute number of jobs decreases, the increase of reservation from 35% to 50%
will not add any value.
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Maximum Vacancies are in

Group C - 8.37 lakh Vacancies

Over 10 Lakhs Vacancies in Central Government...

The above data presented in parliament In 2014, there were 22.2 million government
shows more than 10 lakhs vacant positions jobs in India. In 2023, there are estimated to
across various departments which have not be 20.8 million government jobs in India. This
been filled up. represents a decrease of 1.4 million
government jobs over a period of 9 years.
The general trend is that the vacancy is
lower among the high-ranking posts and in The number of government vacancies has
ministries that are important. However, this been decreasing over the years. This is due
trend is not applicable across all ministries. to a number of factors, including:
Gazetted positions across a few of the
ministries do have a higher vacancy. The a) Privatization: The government has been
importance of the particular department privatizing many sectors, which has led to
seems to be an influential factor. a decrease in the number of jobs available
in the public sector.
Another general trend is that higher
vacancies are found among Group C b) Technology: Automation and
positions. The situation gets compounded technology have led to a decrease in the
when the importance of a Ministry is number of jobs that are required in the
considered, like in the case of Science & government sector.
Technology, where-in only about 20% of the
Group C positions are filled up. Even across c) Economic factors: The government has
Ministries with a higher number of been facing financial constraints in recent
sanctioned positions like Railways, Defence, years, which has led to a decrease in the
etc., higher vacancies are among Group C or number of jobs that it can create.
Non-gazetted positions under Group B.

REALITY OF RESERVATION IN GOVERNMENT

 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Just 1.92% of IIT Faculties are

SC,ST,OBCs

According to 2019 data

% SC %ST provided in response to a
IIT Kharagpur loksabha question, just 170 out
IIT Madras of 8856 faculty members at IITs
IIT Kanpur are from SC/ST communities.
IIT Guwahti That amounts to a
IIT Jodhpur representation of approximately
IIT Indore 1.92 percent.
IIT Gandhinagar Most of the IITs had 0%
IIT Bhubaneswar
reservation for STs and overall
IIT (SM), Dhanbad
reservation did not cross 4%
IIT Tirupati
mark.
IIT Dharwad

IIT Bhilai
0 1 2 3 4 5

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT
Ph.D admissions denied at IITs
to SC/ST/OBC students

Top ranked IITs have almost

65% representation from
General. Mid ranked IITs
have almost 58% from
General. IISC has almost 70%
representation from General.
Only in Banaras Hindu
University, the
representation for General is
50%. This shows that usually
Ph.D students from
SC/ST/OBCs are not taken in
easily.

Now surprisingly at entry level to IIT SC(%) ST(%) OBC(%) Others(%)

we find many students from
SC/ST/OBCs enrolling, but at PhDs,
IIT Bombay
there are hardly anyone from these
communities.
IIT Kanpur
The key factor is that applications
are received but most of the time
SC/ST students are not accepted to IIT Delhi
PhD programs

So clearly out of 25007 PhD IIT Madras

scholars admitted in all 23 IITs in the
last five years, only 9.1% were from
the SCs, 2.1% were from STs. So, the IIT Kharagpur
government mandate of reservation
is not followed. 0 20 40 60 80

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

SYSTEMIC NON REPRESENTATION OF SC/ST/OBC HAS

BEEN INSTITUTIONLISED IN IIM

JUST 5 FACULTY OUT SC ST Others

OF 637 IIM FACULTY IIM Calcutta

ARE FROM SC,ST OR IIM Ahmedabad

OBC COMMUNITY IIM Bangalore

IIM Lucknow
IIM Indore
IIM Kozhikode
IIM Shilong
IIM Rohtak
According to the data above, only five IIM Raipur
professors in IIMs are from the SC and ST IIM Ranchi
categories, out of a total of 642
IIM Kashipur
professors. That constitutes just 0.8% of
IIM Tiruchirapalli
all cases.
IIM Udaipur

The same holds true for OBC's 0 25 50 75 100

representation. The figure is only 2.6% for DATA AS ON 2019 TAKEN ON RTI

IIMs, while it is 5.44 % for IITs. When

compared to the government's actual
mandated reservation, this is a pittance. To this day, the SC, ST, and
OBC groups have not been
granted adequate
representation in IIT and IIM

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

HARVARD HAD BETTER REPRESENTATION FOR

MINORITIES THAN IIT/IIM AT FACULTY LEVEL

Harvard had 22% faculty of color ( 232 out of

1068 )
HARVARD VERSUS IIT's had 1.92% faculties from SC/ST/OBCs ( 170
IIT/IIM DIVERSITY out of 8856 )
IIM had just 0.8% faculties from SC/ST/OBCs ( 5
out of 637 )

Data enclosed below.

IIT/IIMs are far less diverse than Harvard.

How can they claim that hiring more SC/ST/OBC

faculty has an impact on quality?

All US universities have at least 15% minority

@NETHRAPAL faculty.
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Ph.D admissions Denied to

SC/ST/OBC at IIMs
Total Ph.D admission category
wise from 2007 to 2022
General SC ST OBC
100

75

50

25

0
IIM Ahmedbad IIM Bangalore IIM Kozhikode IIM Lucknow

Ph.D admissions from 2007 to 2022 SC/ST students were the worst Hit.
for four IIMs shows that Ph.D IIM Kozhikode had a representation of
admissions are dismal. IIM 2.66%, 1.6% and 19.15% for SC,ST and
Ahmedabad gave 86.80% to General OBC students respectively. IIM
Category Students. IIM Bangalore Lucknow had a representation of
gave 94.12% to General Category 6.69%, 2.01% and 9.36% for SC,ST and
Students. IIM Kozhikode gave 76.60 % OBC students respectively.
to General Category Students. IIM
Lucknow gave 79.26 % to General
Category Students.

SC/ST students were the worst Hit.

IIM Ahmedabad had a representation
of 2.97%, 1.32% and 8.25% for SC,ST
and OBC students respectively. IIM
Bangalore had a representation of
1.24%, 0% and 4.33% for SC,ST and
OBC students respectively.

REALITY OF RESERVATION IN GOVERNMENT

 THE PAIN OF MERIT

JUST ONE VC BELONGS TO SC COMMUNITY, ONE VC

BELONGS TO ST COMMUNITY AND SEVEN VCS BELONG
TO OBC COMMUNITY

JUST 29.21% REPRESENTATION FOR SC,ST,OBC IN

ALL CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES IN TEACHING STAFF
PWD
1.63
In 45 Central Universities, there were 8386
OBC
14.06
from General Category. However just 1306,
568, 1740 were from SC, ST, OBC category
ST
showing lesser representation in Teaching
4.59 staff.

SC Even today, Just 29.21% reservation is

10.56
what is achieved for SC, ST and OBC in
Gen teaching staff in 45 central universities.
67.78

In matter of non-teaching staff, there were

Teaching Staff representation 16132 from General. However only 2063,
in 45 central universities 1186, 2342 employees were from SC, ST,
EWS/PWD OBC category.
OBC 1.71
10.6
Even today, Just 27 % reservation is what
ST
5.36 is achieved for SC, ST and OBC in non
teaching staff in 45 central universities.
SC DATA AS ON 1.4.2022 SUBMITTED IN PARLIAMENT

9.33

Gen
73

Non Teaching Staff representation

in 45 central universities @NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

JUST 4% OBC PROFESSORS IN CENTRAL

UNIVERSITIES!!!!

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Just 6.9% for SC, 1.5% for ST, 4.1%

for OBC in 45 Central Universities
at the level of Professors
OBC EWS OBC PWD
ST 4.1% 1% ST 4.9% 0.4%
1.5% 2.3%
SC
6.9% SC
7.2%

General General
86%
84.3%

Professors Associate
Professors
The number of Professors, Associate Professors, and
PWD
2.1%
Assistant Professors working in Central universities
belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities out of the
OBC
total number of faculties are given in the pie chart.
18.1%

Professors : SC(6.9%), ST(1.5%), OBC(4.1%)

Associate Professors : SC(7.2%), ST(2.3%),
OBC(4.9%)
ST
5.7% Assistant Professors: SC(12%), ST(5.7%),
OBC(18.1%)
General
60.5%
SC
In Central Universities, two Registrars belong to SC
12% community, five Registrars belong to ST community
and three Registrars belong to OBC community.

The vacant positions for ST and SC categories in

Assistant all 45 central universities are 38.71 percent and
Professors 41.64 percent respectively. Similarly, in IISc, the
vacant posts for ST (54.7 %) and SC (20.2 %)
respectively.

In Indian Institutes of Science Education and

Research (IISERs), the vacant posts for SC, ST and
OBCs are 39.4 %, 57.89 % and 43.7 % respectively, as
per the data.

There is very little representation for SC, ST, OBC

@NETHRAPAL
in Central Universities.
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

More than 20000 SC ST OBC

students drop out from IIT, IIM
and other Central Universities
The number of dropout students from Other
Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes
(SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in all Central
Universities,

Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), and the

Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) during the
period between 2018 to 2023 has crossed
19,000.
PROPORTION OF DROP OUT FOR
It was revealed that 6901 OBC candidates, 3596 SC/ST/OBC WAS MUCH HIGHER
SC and 3949 ST students dropped out of Central COMPARED TO OTHERS

Universities. Similarly, 2544 OBC candidates,

1362 SC and 538 ST students dropped out of
IITs. Additionally, 133 OBC, 143 SC and 90 ST
candidates dropped out of IIMs in the past five
years.

The IISERs (and IITs) have previously been

noted in multiple Rajya Sabha sessions
to have disproportionately higher dropout rates
of Dalit/ST students, and our analysis confirms
this reality. Between 2006-20, Dalit and ST
students, on median accounted for roughly 50%
of the total dropouts in any given year far
exceeding dropouts from the General Category.
Similarly, women from SC and ST communities
make up nearly half of all female dropouts in that
period. This trend does not appear to have
significantly improved with time, with the
percentage share of dropouts from Other
Backwards Castes (OBC) increasing over the
years
The Probability of Dropping out was much higher for SC and ST
students. These shows that there is significant discrimination against
SC/ST/OBC students at IITs, IIMs and other central universities.

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

Maximum Suicides from OBCs...

OBC student Suicides were the

highest in IITs and other institutes

It is sad to see that a total of nine

Dalit, three tribal, four minority and
28 OBC (the highest amongst all)
killed themselves since 2018 till
date

(Source: Rajyasabha question asked

by Sushil Kumar Modi last week)

4873 students from SC, 3777

students from ST, 8602 students
from OBC dropped out from IIT/IIM/
NITs... 33979 students dropped out
from various central universities.
Abnormally high number of OBC,
SC, ST students are dropping off....
(Source : Rajya Sabha Question last
week )

@NETHRAPAL
 THE PAIN OF MERIT

WHAT IS THE REALITY OF RESERVATION IN

GOVERNMENT JOBS?

SOME POINTS TO
PONDER UPON d)Group A representation in Banks/PSUs again
was very less

Some salient patterns are as follows. e) What we noticed was where there were greater
number of Group C employees, the overall
a) The representation of SC/ST/OBC in reservation % was met by recruiting more at the
white collar jobs has still not crossed 35%. bottom than at the top.
Group A and Group B have very less
representation. Group C(without f) We noticed that still there is almost no
safaikarmchari) is also not representation at teaching staff for SC/ST/OBC in
overrepresented. However SC/ST/OBC's 45 central universities and IIT/IIM. Surprisingly
are significantly over represented in Safai non teaching staff was also not represented
Karamchari (Group C) which raises a serious concern.

b) Higher Civil Services has very less g) Backlog vacancies were never filled up.
representation for SC/ST/OBC at the level
of Secretary/Additional Secretary/Joint h) The Reservation pie in absolute numbers is
Secretary level. This we will discuss in the coming down. Some estimate that 30 lakhs
coming chapters on the reasons and how vacancies for SC/ST/OBC has been not filled.
we can solve this problem. Public Employment is significantly coming down.
So in effect although the reservation % has
c) In significant ministries like Finance, increased, the absolute number of jobs under
Home affairs, Science and Technology reservation might have declined. With increased
departments, the SC, ST, OBC aspirations, there are many unemployed educated
representation was minimal. youths in SC/ST/OBCs

: REALITY OF RESERVATION IN GOVERNMENT