Despite RTI order, DoPT withholds details over backlog vacancies under SC, ST categories

New Delhi: The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has not provided details regarding the backlog of vacancies under SC, ST and OBC quota in the union government even after a transparency activist winning his first appeal under the Right to Information Act.

The queries were raised by RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak, who sought information about liaison officers appointed by the union government to implement the quota policy for SCs and STs and the number of backlog vacancies among Dalits and tribals.

While “some information” was given on liaison officers, two Central Public Information Officers handling two wings of DoPT refused to provide details of backlog vacancies under SC and ST categories. But on an appeal filed by Nayak, the first appellant authority ordered sharing the information.

However, the response after the first appeal order said that “more than four lakh backlog reserved vacancies in respect of SC/ST and OBC candidates have been filled up since 2016”.

Nayak, a Director at the NGP ‘Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’ (CHRI), said his RTI was based on a Parliamentary Standing Committee and he had filed two first appeals after the DoPT provided "vague replies" to his queries.

“Nevertheless, after the common order of the first appellate authority the CPIO sent me information that I had never asked in the first place,” he said. He had asked about the number of backlog vacancies under SC and ST quota but the response was about filling up of SC, ST and OBC candidates since 2016.

Nayak claimed that it “appeared that the online system of collecting data about backlog vacancies is not working effectively or, the numbers are too startling for the government to reveal the contents”.

“Instead, they just sent me data about the number of quota post vacancies that were filled up during the last few years. What is the purpose behind keeping this information secret, especially when the caste census debate is going on in the public sphere,” he said. Nayak is now planning to challenge this non-disclosure before the Central Information Commission.

He also claimed that the DoPT has not addressed the query about prioritising appointment of officers belonging to SC, ST and OBC categories which the Parliamentary Committee recommended. “They were silent before the committee and they have chosen not to reply properly to my RTI query,” he added.