A large number of candidates declared successful by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2015 are set to be disqualified. That's because, for the first time, an income criterion is reportedly being used for rejecting the OBC claims of children of PSU employees.
As many as 1,078 candidates were successful in the exam, but only 902 have received service allocation. The rejection of OBC status has affected around 120 candidates, of whom at least 35 are sons and daughters of those working in PSUs. The final list of disqualified candidates is likely to be released shortly.
Many successful candidates whose parents are clerks and assistants in banks and PSUs are said to have been affected by the new criteria this year. As a clarification, the DoPT is supposed to have told them that equivalence has not been established for any PSU till date, which means henceforth, sons and daughters of even those who joined as peon/driver/assistants/clerks in Banks/NLC/BSNL/any PSU cannot avail themselves of OBC reservation because the yearly gross income will be more than Rs. 6 lakh, according to a candidate.
For example, the salary of a peon in RBI is Rs.7 lakh during retirement. The DoPT says such PSU employment will hereafter be treated on a par with business/private employment, unlike government employment. Currently, at least 35 candidates have been denied allocation of service because of this issue. Many sons and daughters of PSU employees with income more than Rs. 6 lakh have got reservations in the previous examinations of UPSC and have joined government services.
The DoPT is planning to conduct a review of all those wards of PSU employees who joined service from 1993. The Government of India issued instructions on September 8, 1993, providing for reservation to Other Backward Classes in its services and posts.