Government nod to Ranganath Misra Commission recommendation means end of the road for senior Hindu officers, claims retired IFS OP Gupta

THE promotion of a senior Hindu Indian officer at the rank of joint secretary or additional secretary would be adversely impacted if the government gives its nod to Ranganath Misra Commission Report which was tabled in the Parliament in December, 2009, argues OP Gupta, a 1971 batch retired IFS officer. Gupta who is a BHU chancellor gold medalist and served as Consul General, Ambassador, High Commissioner to many countries, has sent his detailed viewpoints to babusofindia.com. Here are a few excerpts of his take:

“On December 18, 2009 the UPA Government tabled the Ranganath Misra Commission Report on the table of the Parliament. By suggesting to reserve 15 per cent for minorities it has recommended reducing promotion and job opportunities of all Hindu officials and Hindu youth at least by 15 per cent, reducing availability of educational seats from nursery to university level in non-minority sector to all sections of Hindu students by at least 15 per cent, and; disadvantaging SC and ST Hindus by yoking them within their existing reservation quotas with Muslims and Christians who enjoy better literacy rate than SC and ST Hindus.

It means that from the date of implementation at least 15 per cent posts in the grade of Secretary to Government of India, and also in other grades of Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary etc. shall get reserved for minority officers which will block or retard pace of promotion of many Hindu officers and may result into some Hindu officers ending up serving under their own junior minority religion officers. This would be happening all over India in all departments, central as well as provincial, whether school teachers, lecturers, deputy superintendents of police, engineers, deputy collectors, inspectors of police, customs, income tax, public sector undertakings, etc.

After the Misra Commission Report is implemented Hindus’ promotional avenues will get restricted to 85 per cent of existing posts so the pace of their promotions will get slowed with worsening stagnations. But minority officials who constituted only 8.3 per cent in 2006-07 will fill up 15 per cent of posts i.e. pace of their promotions will be much faster than those of Hindu officials.

So it is high time that all Hindu officials and all those Hindus who aspire to join public services should come out of their secular slumber and open their eyes to see which political parties are going to harm their career interests permanently and irreversibly.”