The Congress on Monday (August 24, 2026) accused the Narendra Modi government of seeking to undermine reservation through what it termed a “back door” route, citing more than 8.2 lakh sanctioned posts lying vacant across civilian Central government establishments.
Sharing a Ministry-wise breakup of the vacancies on social media platform X, Mr. He argued that keeping government posts vacant would effectively deny reserved-category candidates opportunities, while the sale of PSUs and increasing contractual employment would further shrink the availability of jobs covered by reservation. The Congress president alleged that the BJP’s approach was aimed at weakening the constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Economically Weaker Sections.
Kharge said the number had risen from 4.21 lakh in 2015 to 8.24 lakh in 2024. The Railways had 2.40 lakh vacant posts, while the Defence Ministry had 2.41 lakh vacancies, according to the figures cited by him. The Home Ministry had another 1.10 lakh vacant posts, Mr.
The figures showed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s policy of “conspiring to end” the constitutional rights of disadvantaged communities had been exposed, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said. The charge came amid the ongoing “reservation hatao ” (remove reservation) campaign, seeking to end caste-based reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. Kharge said. “The question is not just about employment, but about social justice,” Mr.
