Roster Rigging Exposed: How DoPT's Manipulated System Blocks SC/ST/OBC From Top Govt Jobs — MP Wilson Reveals Shocking Data

New Delhi-  In a scathing indictment of the reservation system in government employment, Former Addl. Solicitor General of India and Rajya Sabha MP P. Wilson accused the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of deliberately manipulating the reservation roster to systematically exclude Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from senior bureaucratic positions.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in Parliament on March 26, Wilson presented data showing how flawed roster implementations since 1997 have disproportionately favored Unreserved (UR) candidates at the expense of historically marginalized communities.

"These data’s furnished by me  are not mere statistical discrepancies; they are systematic efforts to eliminate reserved candidates and favor Unreserved candidates, which constitutes a direct violation of the constitutional mandate for social justice", Wilson stated.

Wilson pointed to two key DoPT memorandums—dated 2 July 1997 and 31 January 2019—as the root of the distortion. He revealed shocking discrepancies in post allocations, where reserved categories were being unlawfully sidelined.

In the 13-point roster system, for instance, nine posts (including one for Economically Weaker Sections) were wrongly assigned to Unreserved candidates instead of the rightful six, granting UR candidates three excess posts. The injustice was even more glaring in smaller departments: in cadres with just two sanctioned posts, both were allocated to Unreserved candidates, effectively erasing reservation entirely.

Similarly, in a six-post cadre, five positions went to UR candidates instead of the correct three, while in a three-post cadre, all were handed to Unreserved candidates—a complete denial of constitutional safeguards.

Key Manipulations Exposed:

• In cadre strength of just 2 posts: 100% given to general category

• In 6-post cadre: 83% seats taken by general candidates vs rightful 50%

• First roster point in every department illegally reserved only for general candidates

• SC/ST/OBC losing thousands of promotion opportunities since 1997

"This isn't an administrative error - it's constitutional fraud," thundered Wilson, demanding immediate PMO intervention. "The manipulated rosters ensure reserved category officers can never become Secretaries. It's an institutional caste barrier."

Why This Matters:

• Affects 27% bureaucracy positions (SC-15%, ST-7.5%, OBC-27%)

• Explains persistent absence of SC/ST officers in top posts

• Violates Supreme Court's Indira Sawhney judgment

• Questions Modi govt's social justice claims

The MP particularly highlighted the bias embedded in the "first roster point," which is exclusively reserved for Unreserved candidates across all government institutions.

This distortion, he argued, ensures that SC, ST, and OBC candidates are systematically blocked from occupying leadership roles in Group 'A' and 'B' posts, including critical positions like Heads of Departments and Secretaries. "This is not an administrative oversight—it is a structured deception designed to suppress marginalized communities," Wilson declared.

Calling the flawed roster a "constitutional betrayal," Wilson demanded immediate corrective action. He urged the Prime Minister and the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions to scrap the current system and constitute a high-level committee chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge from disadvantaged communities, with proportionate representation from SC, ST, OBC, and UR categories.

The committee’s mandate, he said, should include a thorough investigation into the "scam," quantification of losses suffered by reserved categories since 1997, and recommendations for compensatory recruitment drives to restore justice.

Wilson’s revelations have reignited debates over the implementation of India’s reservation policy, with civil society groups and opposition leaders likely to amplify calls for reform. As the government faces mounting pressure to respond, the issue threatens to expose deeper systemic inequities in India’s bureaucracy—one that has long promised social justice but, as the data suggests, may have been rigged against those it was meant to uplift.