Reservation for SCs, STs, OBCs, PwDs, EWS and Ex-Servicemen in Posts and Services in the Central Government

Reservation for SCs, STs, OBCs, PwDs, EWS and Ex-Servicemen in Posts and Services in the Central Government – DoPT Office Memorandum

Pers Policy (Reservation) Division of the Department of Personnel and Training has issued various instructions, from time to time, regarding reservation in appointments to posts and services under the Central Government, and concessions/relaxations extended to the persons belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Ex-servicemen. With a view to facilitating easy accessibility and clear understanding of these rules on reservation/concessions/relaxations, the relevant instructions on the subject (except instructions on Ex-servicemen) were earlier consolidated on 14/10/2022 and then updated on 28.03.2024. Now, keeping in view some recent revision in the existing instructions, the consolidated instructions published on 28/03/2024 have been updated as under.

1. PROVISIONS RELATING TO SCs, STs AND OBCs

1. Reservation in Direct Recruitment (in open competition and otherwise than by open competition)

Reservation is provided to the members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes @ 15%, 7.5% and 27%, respectively, in the matter of appointment by direct recruitment to civil posts and civil services on all India basis by open competition.

In the matter of appointment by direct recruitment to civil posts and civil services on all India basis otherwise than by open competition, reservation is provided to the members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes @ 16.66%, 7.5% and 25.84% , respectively.

No. 36011/33/1981-Estt.(SCT) dated 5/10/1981

No. 36012/22/93-Estt.(SCT) dated 8/09/1993

No. 36012/22/93-Estt.(SCT) dated 22/10/1993

No. 36012/2/1996 Estt (Res) dated 2/07/1997

2. Reservation in Direct Recruitment in Group C&D attracting local candidates

Reservation for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in case of direct recruitment to Group C and Group D posts, normally attracting candidates from a locality or a region, was fixed on the basis of proportion of their population in the respective States/UTs, vide OMs, dated 5.7.2005, 4.7.2007, as under:

Sl.No.	Name of the State/UT	Percentage of Reservation
Sl.No.	Name of the State/UT	Scheduled Castes	Scheduled Tribes	Other Backward Classes
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
01	Andhra Pradesh	16	7	27
02	Arunachal Pradesh	1	45	0
03	Assam	7	12	27
04	Bihar	16	1	27
05	Chhattisgarh	12	32	6
06	Goa	2	12	18
07	Gujarat	7	15	27
08	Haryana	19	0	27
09	Himachal Pradesh	25	4	20
10	Jammu & Kashmir	8	11	27
11	Jharkhand	12	26	12
12	Karnataka	16	7	27
13	Kerala	10	1	27
14	Madhya Pradesh	15	20	15
15	Maharashtra	10	9	27
16	Manipur	3	34	13
17	Meghalaya	1	44	5
18	Mizoram	0	45	5
19	Nagaland	0	45	0
20	Orissa	16	22	12
21	Punjab	29	0	21
22	Rajasthan	17	13	20
23	Sikkim	5	21	24
24	Tamil Nadu	19	1	27
25	Tripura	17	31	2
26	Uttaranchal	18	3	13
27	Uttar Pradesh	21	1	27
28	West Bengal	23	5	22
29	Andaman & Nicobar Islands	0	8	27
30	Chandigarh	18	0	27
31	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	2	43	5
32	Daman & Diu	3	9	27
33	Delhi	15	7.5	27
34	Lakshadweep	0	45	0
35	Pondicherry	16	0	27

Note : In case of recruitment on local/regional/zonal/circle basis, SC/ST/OBC candidates would be entitled for all benefits/concessions of Central Government irrespective of his/her State/UT of origin.

(OM.No. 36017/1/2004-Estt(Res) dated 5/07/2005)

(OM No. 36017/1/2007-Estt(Res) dated 4/07/2007)

Note : The expression ‘by open competition’ means all recruitments by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), whether through written examination or by interview or by both; and recruitments made by other authorities, including Staff Selection Commission, or any other appointing authority through written competitive examination or tests (but not by interview alone). Any recruitment not made by the UPSC or not made through written competitive test held by any other authority would mean direct recruitment otherwise than by open competition.

(OM No. 36034/2/2013-Estt(Res) dated 8/04/2013)

3. Exclusion of Creamy Layer from amongst OBCs:

Members of the Other Backward Classes, who fall in creamy layer, shall not get the benefit of reservation. Criterion for determining creamy layer status amongst Other Backward Classes is, as under:

CRITERION FOR DETERMINING CREAMY LAYER

[O.M.No.36012/22/93-Estt(SCT) dated 08/09/1993 as amended from time to time]

Category	Description of Category	Who will fall in Creamy Layer
1.	2	3
I.	CONSTITUTIONAL POSTS	Son(s) and daughter(s) of President of India; Vice President of India; Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts; Chairman & Members of UPSC and of the State Public Service Commission; Chief Election Commissioner; Comptroller & Auditor General of India; Persons holding Constitutional positions of like nature.
II.	SERVICE CATEGORY Group A / Class I officers of the All India Central and State Services (Direct Recruits)	Sons(s) and daughter(s) of parents, both of whom are Class I officers; parents, either of whom is a Class I officer; parents, both of whom are Class I officers, but one of them dies or suffers permanent incapacitation. Parents, either of whom is a Class I officers and such parent dies or suffers permanent incapacitation and before such death or such incapacitation has had the benefit of employment in any International Organisation like UN, IMF, World Bank, etc. for a period of not less than 5 years. Parents, both of whom are Class I officers die or suffer permanent incapacitation and before such death or such incapacitation of the both, either of them has had the benefit of employment in any International Organisation like UN, IMF, World Bank, etc. for a period of not less than 5 years. Provided that the rule of exclusion shall not apply in the following cases: Sons and daughters of parents either of whom or both of whom are Class I officers and such parent(s) dies / die or suffer permanent incapacitation. A lady belonging to OBC category has got married to a Class I officer, and may herself like to apply for a job.
	Group B/Class II officers of the Central & State Services (Direct Recruitment)	Son(s) and daughter(s) of Parents both of whom are Class II officers. parents of whom only the husband is a Class II officers and he gets into Class I at the age of 40 or earlier. Parents, both of whom are Class II officers and one of them dies or suffers permanent incapacitation and either one of them has had the benefit of employment in any International Organisation like UN, IMF, World Bank, etc. for a period of not less than 5 years before such death or permanent incapacitation; Parents of whom the husband is a Class I officer (direct recruit or pre-forty promoted) and the wife is a Class II officers and the wife dies; or suffers permanent incapacitation; and Parents, of whom the wife is a Class I officer ( Direct Recruit or pre-forty promoted) and the husband is a Class II officer and the husband dies or suffers permanent incapacitation Provided that the rule of exclusion shall not apply in the following cases: Sons and daughters of Parents both of whom are Class II officers and one of them dies or suffers permanent incapacitation. Parents, both of whom are Class II officers and both of them die or suffer permanent incapacitation, even though either of them has had the benefit of employment in any International Organisation like UN, IMF, World Bank, etc. for a period of not less than 5 years before their death or permanent incapacitation.
	Employees in Public Sector Undertakings etc.	The criteria enumerated in A&B above in this Category will apply mutatis mutandis to officers holding equivalent or comparable posts in PSUs, Banks, Insurance Organisations, Universities, etc. and also to equivalent or comparable posts and positions under private employment, pending the evaluation of the posts on equivalent or comparable basis in these institutions, the criteria specified in Category VI below will apply to the officers in these Institutions.
III.	ARMED FORCES INCLUDING PARAMILITARY FORCES (Persons holding civil posts are not included)	Son(s) and daughter(s) of parents either or both of whom is or are in the rank of Colonel and above in the Army and to equivalent posts in the Navy and the Air Force and the Para Military Forces; Provided that :- If the wife of an Armed Forces Officers is herself in the Armed Forces (i.e., the category under consideration) the rule of exclusion will apply only when she herself has reached the rank of Colonel; The service ranks below Colonel of husband and wife shall not be clubbed together; If the wife of an officer in the Armed Forces is in civil employment, this will not be taken into account for applying the rule of exclusion unless she falls in the service category under item No.II in which case the criteria and conditions enumerated therein will apply to her independently.
IV	PROFESSIONAL CLASS AND THOSE ENGAGED IN TRADE AND INDUSTRY Persons, engaged in profession as a ‘doctor, lawyer, chartered accountant, Income Tax consultant, financial or management consultant, dental surgeon, engineer, architect, computer specialist, film artists and other film professional, author, playwright, sports person, sports professional, media professional or any other vocations of like status. Persons engaged in trade, business and industry.	Criteria specified against Category VI will apply:- Criteria specified against Category VI will apply: Explanation: Where the husband is in some profession and the wife is in Class II or lower grade employment, the income / wealth test will apply only on the basis of the husband’s income. If the wife is in any profession and the husband is in employment in a Class II or lower rank post, then the income / wealth criterion will apply only on the basis of the wife’s income and the husband’s income will not be clubbed with it.
V.	PROPERTY OWNERS Agricultural holdings	Son(s) and daughter(s) of persons belonging to a family (father, mother and minor children) which owns Only irrigated land which is equal to or more than 85% of the statutory area, or Both irrigated and unirrigated land, as follows:- The rule of exclusion will apply where the pre-condition exists that the irrigated area (having been brought to a single type under a common denominator) 40% or more of the statutory ceiling limit for irrigated land (this being calculated by excluding the unirrigated portion). If this pre condition of not less than 40% exists, then only the area of unirrigated land will be taken into account. This will be done by converting the unirrigated land on the basis of the conversion formula existing, into the irrigated type. The irrigated area so computed from unirrigated land shall be added to the actual area of irrigated land and if after such clubbing together the total area in terms of irrigated land is 85% or more of the statutory ceiling limit for irrigated land, then the rule of exclusion will apply and disentitlement will occur. The rule of exclusion will not apply if the land holding of a family is exclusively unirrigated.
	Plantations Coffee, tea, rubber, etc. Mango, citrus, apply plantations etc.	Criteria of income / wealth specified in Category VI below will apply. Deemed as agricultural holding and hence criteria at A above under this Category will apply.
	Vacant land and / or buildings in urban areas or urban agglomerations	Criteria specified in Category VI below will apply. Explanation: Building may be used for residential, industrial or commercial purpose and the like two or more such purposes.
VI.	INCOME / WEALTH TEST	Son(s) and daughter(s) of Persons having gross annual income of Rs. 8 lakh or above or possessing wealth above the exemption limit as prescribed in the Wealth Tax Act for a period of three consecutive years Persons in Categories I, II, III and V A who are not disentitled to the benefit of reservation but have income from other sources of wealth which will bring them within the income / wealth criteria mentioned in (a) above. Explanation: Income from salaries or agricultural land shall not be clubbed; The income criteria in terms of rupee will be modified taking into account the change in its value every three years. If the situation, however, so demands, the interregnum may be less.

Further, a clarificatory letter dated 14.10.2004 addressed to the Secretaries of all States/UTs with regard to the aforesaid OM dated 8.9.1993 was also issued.

No. 36012/22/93-Estt.(SCT) dated 8.9.1993

Letter No. 36033/5/2004-Estt (Res.) dated 14/10/2004

No. 36033/1/2013-Estt (Res.) dated 13/09/2017

4 Establishment of equivalence of posts in respect of employees of PSUs, Banks, PSICs and PFIs

Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) and Department of Financial Services (DFS) vide OM dated 25.10.2017 and 06.12.2017 respectively have issued guidelines establishing equivalence of the posts in Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Public Sector Insurance Companies (PSICs) and Public Financial Institutions (PFIs) vis-à-vis posts in Central Government, which have been have been circulated by DoPTto the Chief Secretaries of all States/ Union Territories vide OM No. 36033/2/2018-Estt.(Res.) dated 08.06.2018.

No. 36033/2/2018-Estt.(Res.) dated 08/06/2018

5. Reservation in Promotion

Reservation is provided at 15% and 7.5% to Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, respectively, (i) in promotions through Limited Departmental Competitive Examination in Group B, C & D (ii) in promotion by selection in Group B, C & D and from Group B to the lowest rung of Group A and (iii) in promotion on the basis of Seniority subject to fitness in all Groups i.e. Group A, B, C & D (in all these cases). Reservation in posts by promotion, as indicated above, should be made applicable to all grades or services, in which the element of direct recruitment, if any, does not exceed 75%.

No. 36012/17/88-Estt.(SCT) dated 25/04/1989

6. Spirit of O.M., dated 12.04.2022, regarding Reservation in Promotion

In pursuance of the Hon’ble Supreme Court judgement, dated 28.1.2022, in Jarnail Singh batch of cases, an OM, dated 12.4.2022, has been issued, as per the opinion of Ld. Attorney General, which mandates the Ministries/Departments to satisfy certain condition before implementing the policy of reservation in promotions. These conditions, inter alia, are as follows:

(i) Collection of quantifiable data regarding inadequacy of representation of SCs and STs; (ii) Application of this data to each cadre separately;(iii) Maintenance of reservation roster, as per DoPT OM, dated 2.7.1997;(iv) DPC to carefully assess the suitability of officers being considered for promotion to ensure administrative efficiency; (v) The Appointing Authority to ensure that all the conditions laid down in the OM, dated 12.4.2022, are complied with before issuing any promotion order. Since the Jarnail Singh batch of cases is pending in the Supreme Court of India, any promotion order issued shall be subject to further orders that may be passed by the Supreme Court in the said batch of cases.

(OM No.36012/16/2019-Estt. (Res.) dated 12.4.2022)

B. SCOPE OF RESERVATION

1. Reservation in Scientific and Technical Posts

Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes apply to appointments made to “scientific and technical” posts up to and including the lowest grade of Group A in the respective services.

Such ‘scientific and technical’ posts as satisfy all the following conditions, can be exempted from the purview of the reservation orders by the Ministries/Departments:

(i) The posts should be in grades above the lowest grade in Group A of the service concerned.

(ii) They should be classified as ‘scientific or technical’ in terms of Cabinet Secretariat (Department of Cabinet Affairs) [O.M. No. 85/11/CF-61(1) dated 28-12-1961] according to which scientific and technical posts for which qualification in the natural sciences or exact sciences or applied sciences or in technology are prescribed and the incumbents of which have to use that knowledge in the discharge of their duties.

(iii) The posts should be ‘for conducting research’ or ‘for organizing, guiding and directing research’.

Orders of the Minister concerned should be obtained before exempting any posts satisfying the above conditions from the purview of the scheme of reservation.

Reservation, however, is not applicable to the posts available in the Department of Space & Department of Electronics and with regard to recruitment of trainees to the training school of the Department of Atomic Energy. In respect of them, the orders prior to 1975 will continue to apply.

In the case of scientific and technical posts required for research up to and inclusive of lowest grade of Group A of a service which are not exempt from the purview of reservation orders, reservation should be provided for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes as per the scheme of reservations, except that:

reserved vacancies in such posts need be advertised only once and not twice;
In the event of non-availability of candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, vacancies in such posts may be de-reserved by the administrative Ministry/Department concerned. However, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes or the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes or the National Commission for Backward Classes, as the case may be, and the Department of Personnel and Training should be informed about the de-reservation together with the details and reasons necessitating de-reservation.

[O.M.No.9/2/73-Estt(SCT) dated 23/06/1975]

[O.M.No.36012/27/1994-Estt(SCT) dated 13/05/1994]

2. Reservation in Posts of Industrial Workers

The industrial establishments of the Government of India and the posts and grades in such establishments, whether these have been classified as group A, B, C and D or not, are covered by the scheme of reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

[O.M.No.8/7/1974-Estt.(SCT) dated 22/08/1975]

3. Reservation in Work-Charged Posts

The principle of reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes should generally be suitably applied to the extent possible, to work-charged posts also except those required for emergencies like flood relief work, accident restoration and relief etc. The percentages of reservation in such appointments may correspond to what is applicable to Group C and Group D posts.

[O.M.No.36021/9/1976-Estt.(SCT) dated 10/02/1977]

4. Reservation in Appointments of Daily Rated Staff

While it may not be practical to apply the reservation orders in toto in respect of daily rated staff, it should be ensured that persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes are recruited in such manner as their overall representation does not go below the prescribed percentage of reservation for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes respectively.

[O.M.No.36011/18/81-Estt.(SCT) dated 16/07/1981]

5. Reservation in Ad-hoc Promotions

As a matter of basic approach, ad-hoc promotions should be avoided. However, if ad-hoc promotions are to be made in exceptional circumstances, such as during pendency of court cases, protracted seniority disputes, non-framing of recruitment rules, unforeseen delay in direct recruitment or convening of DPCs for reasons beyond the control of the appointing authority etc., following guidelines may be followed on every occasion when ad-hoc promotions are resorted to so as to ensure that the claims of eligible officers belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are also duly considered:

In cases where reservation orders for SCs and STs are applicable, the number of vacancies falling to the share of SCs and STs would be the same if the vacancies were to be filled on regular basis.
Since ad-hoc promotions are made on the basis of non-selection, all the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates covered in the relevant seniority list within the total number of such vacancies against which ad-hoc promotions are to be made, should be considered in the order of their general seniority as per the gradation list, on the principle of seniority-cum-fitness and if they are not adjudged unfit, they should all be promoted on ad-hoc basis.
If the number of SC/ST candidates found fit within the range of actual vacancies is less than the number of vacancies identified as falling to their share if the vacancies were filled on a regular basis, additional SC/ST candidates to the extent required should be located by going down the seniority list, provided they are eligible and found fit for such ad-hoc appointment.
All ad-hoc appointees have to be replaced by regular incumbents at the earliest opportunity. When regular promotions are made subsequently, reversion of the ad-hoc appointees should take place strictly in the reverse order of seniority, the junior-most candidate being reverted first. No special concessions are to be given to SC/ST candidates at the time of such reversion.
There is no need for maintaining any separate formal register or roster register for ad-hoc promotions. The concept of de-reservation, carrying forward of reservation etc. will also not be applicable in the case of ad-hoc appointments. However, a simple register called Ad-hoc Promotions Register may be maintained for different categories of posts for which ad-hoc appointments are made to facilitate a record being kept of the ad-hoc appointments and for ensuring reversion in the proper order on regular promotions being made to the posts in question.

[No. 36011/14/83-Estt.(SCT) dated 30/04/1983]

[O.M.No.36012/27/2000-Estt.(Res) 15/03/2002]

6.a Reservation in single post cadre

In terms of the Hon’ble Supreme Court judgement dated 17.4.1998 in the case titled ‘PGIMER, Chandigarh Vs. Faculty Association and Ors’, reservation is not applicable in single post cadre.

6.b Reservation in case of a Single Vacancy

The concept of reservation in single vacancy has been clarified vide OM No. 1/9/74-Estt. SCT dated 29.4.1975. The OM dated 29.4.1975 provides that in cases where only one vacancy occurs in the initial recruitment year and the corresponding roster point happens to be for a Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, it should be treated as unreserved and filled accordingly and the reservation carried forward to subsequent three recruitment years. In the subsequent year(s), even if there is only one vacancy, it should be treated as “Reserved” against the carried-forward reservation form the initial recruitment year and a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes candidate, if available, should be appointed against that vacancy, although it may happen to be the only vacancy in that recruitment year(s). For instance, if a single vacancy arises in the initial recruitment year 1975, and it falls at a reserved point in the roster, it will be treated as ‘unreserved’ and filled accordingly in that year but the reservation would be carried-forward to subsequent recruitment year(s). In the first subsequent year, i.e. 1976, if, again a single vacancy occurs, then it should be treated as reserved against the reservation carried-forward from 1975, and a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes candidate, as the case may be, should be appointed against that vacancy, in spite of the fact that the vacancy happens to be the only vacancy in that recruitment year. In the event of a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes candidate not being available to fill the reserved vacancy in 1976, the reservation would be further carried-forward to 1977 and 1978, when also a single vacancy, if any, arising in those years should be treated as “reserved” against the carried-forward reservation, whereafter, the reservation will lapse. The year in which no vacancy arises will be ignored for counting the effective years towards the period of carry-forward.

If a single vacancy falls at a reserved point for SC/ST and is filled by SC/ST candidate on the basis of own merit or seniority, it need not be treated as unreserved and reservation should not be carried forward. Further, if a single vacancy falls at a reserved point for SC/ST and is filled by a candidate of the other reserved community on the basis of his own merit or seniority, as the case may be, the vacancies will be treated as unreserved and treated as if it is filled by a general category candidate and the vacancy shall also be carried forward.

[1/9/74Estt.(SCT) dated 29/04/1975]

[36011/39/81-Estt.(SCT) dated 30/11/1981]

In cadres having more than 13 posts, number of posts filled by reservation by any category at any point of time should ideally be equal to the quota determined as per percentage of reservation prescribed for that category. Whenever the posts are filled, efforts have to be made to complete reservation quota for SCs/STs/OBCs in case of direct recruitment and for SCs/STs in case of promotion so that the number of posts filled by reservation by SCs, STs and OBCs as the cases may be, in the cadre is equal to the number of posts earmarked for them. It means that if reservation quota is not complete, efforts would be made to complete the reservation quota whenever the recruitments are made I the cadre. Thus, reservation would not lapse in case of post-based reservation for the reason that reserved posts could not be filled for a specified number of years.

In cadres having 13 or less number of posts where 14 point L-shaped roster are applied, if a reserved vacancy is filled by a candidate belonging to other community after dereservation, the reservation will be carried forward for subsequent recruitment year. Such carry forward of reservation would be permitted for three subsequent recruitment years. In the third year of carried forward of reservation, the vacancy will be treated reserved for the concerned category, but if it cannot be filled by reservation in the third year of carried forward of reservation by a candidate of the concerned category, reservation will be treated as lapsed and it will be filled as an unreserved vacancy.

(OM No. 36012/17/2002 Estt.(Res) dated 06/11/2003)

7. Reservation in PSUs, Autonomous Bodies etc

Instructions contained in this Compendium relate to reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in posts/services under the Government of India. The Public Sector Undertakings, Statutory and Semi-Government Bodies, Autonomous Bodies/Institutions, including Municipal Corporations, Cooperative Institutions, Universities etc. under the control of the Government, may make reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in their services on the lines of the reservations in services under Government. The Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises may arrange for issue of suitable directives to the various public sector undertakings, through the administrative Ministries concerned for making reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in their services. The Ministries/Departments should take suitable action to provide for reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in the services of the autonomous bodies/institutions which are receiving grants-in-aid from the Government of India by making suitable provision in the relevant statutes or in the Articles of Association of the respective bodies.

[O.M.No.39/40/74(SCT)(I) dated 30/09/1974 ]

8. Reservation in Voluntary Agencies

The Ministries/Departments should insist as a pre-condition to the sanction of grants-in-aid from Central Government to a non-Government organizations/ voluntary agency etc. that it shall provide reservation to the extent of 15% to SCs, 7.5% to STs and 27% to OBCs in case of direct recruitment on all India basis and as shown in the table under in case of direct recruitment to posts normally attracting candidates from a locality or region where:

The recipient body employs more than 20 persons on a regular basis and at least 50 percent of its recurring expenditure is met from grants-in-aid from the Central Government; and
The body is a registered society or a cooperative institution and is in receipt of a general purpose annual grants-in-aid of Rs.2lakh and above from the Consolidated Fund of India.

A clause providing for reservations in the services under the voluntary agencies should be included in the terms and conditions under which such voluntary agencies /organizations etc. are given grants-in-aid by Government, somewhat on the following lines:

“………..(Name of Organization/ Agency etc.) agrees to make reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in the posts/services under its control on the lines indicated by the Government of India.”

While sanctioning grants-in-aid to various voluntary agencies the progress made by such agencies in employing Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Class candidates in their services should be kept in view by the administrative Ministries/Departments. The voluntary agencies etc. should be informed that the progress in respect to the employment by them of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs in the services under them would be taken into account by Government while sanctioning future grants-in-aid to them.

[O.M.No.27/12/73-Estt.SCT) dated 7/10/1974]

9. Reservation in temporary appointments lasting for 45 days or more

In respect of appointments to Central Government posts and services, there shall be reservation for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/ Other Backward Class candidates in temporary appointments which are to last for 45 days or more.

[27/4/67(II)-Estt.(SCT) dated 24/09/1968]

[36036/3/2018-Estt.(Res.) dated 15/05/2018]

[41034/4/2022-Estt.(Res-I) dated 21/11/2022]

C. RELAXATIONS AND CONCESSIONS

1. Concession in Promotions within Group A

There is no reservation in case of promotion by ‘selection’ from a Group A post to another Group A post. But when promotion by ‘selection’ is made from a Group A post to a Group A post carrying Grade pay of Rs.8700/- or less, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Officers, who are senior enough in the zone of consideration for promotion so as to be within the number of vacancies for which the select list has to be drawn up, would be included in that list, provided they are not considered unfit for promotion. Their position in the select list would, however, be same as assigned to them by the Departmental Promotion Committee on the basis of their record of service.

[O.M No. 36028/8/2009-Estt(Res) dt.7/06/2013]

2. Consideration for Appointment by Deputation and Absorption

Reservations do not apply to posts filled by deputation or absorption, but whenever a Ministry/Department/Attached Office/Subordinate Office etc. proposes to depute, in public interest, officers serving under them, to a post in or under another Ministry/Department etc., the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe employees serving under them, who are eligible to be sent on deputation should also be considered, along with other eligible employees for such deputation. The Ministries/Departments, under whose control the posts to be filled by deputation or absorption arise, should also, while selecting persons for such post(s), duly consider the cases of eligible Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe employees whose names have been forwarded, for appointment on deputation or absorption to those posts. Where the number of posts to be filled on deputation or absorption by any employing Ministry or Office is fairly substantial, the employing Ministry/Head of Office concerned should endeavor to see that a fair proportion of such posts is filled by employees belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, subject of course, to availability, from the feeder categories, of qualified persons belonging to these communities.

[DP&AR OM No. 36021/6/75-Estt(SCT), dt. 9/10/1975]

[DP&AR O.M No36012/7/77-Estt (SCT) dt. 21/01/1978]

3. Age Relaxation in Direct Recruitment

The maximum age-limit prescribed for direct recruitment to a service or post shall be increased by 5 years in the case of candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and by 3 years in the case of candidates belonging to OBCs.

[MHA No.15/1/55-SCT dt.30/04/1955]

[OM No. 43013/2/95-Estt(SCT), dt. 25/01/1995]

4. Age Relaxation in Promotion

Where an upper age-limit not exceeding 50 years is prescribed for promotion to a service/post, it shall be relaxed by 5 years in the case of candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This, however, would not apply to posts which have arduous field duties or are meant for operational safety and to posts in para-Military Organizations.

[O.M No. 21/9/70-Estt(SCT), dt.8/12/1971]

5. Concession in Fee

The candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will not be required to pay any fees for admission to any recruitment examination/selection.

[O.M No. 36011/3/84-Estt(SCT) dt. 1/07/1985]

6. Relaxation of Experience Qualification for SCs and STs in Direct Recruitment

Where some period of experience is prescribed as an essential qualification for direct recruitment to a post, and where, in the opinion of the Ministry/Department concerned, the relaxation of the experience qualification will not be inconsistent with efficiency, a provision should be inserted under the ‘Essential Qualification’ in the relevant Recruitment Rules as at (a) or (b) below to enable the Union Public Service Commission/competent authority to relax the ‘experience’ qualification in the case of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates in the circumstances mentioned in the provisions:-

Where the post is filled by direct recruitment through the Union Public Service Commission, the provision to be inserted will be:

“The qualification regarding experience is relaxable at the discretion of the Union Public Service Commission in the case of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, if at any stage of selection, the Union Public Service Commission is of the opinion that sufficient number of candidates from these communities possessing the requisite experience are not likely to be available to fill up the vacancies reserved for them. The appointing authority shall record the reasons for relaxing the qualifications regarding experience in writing while doing so.”

Where the post is filled by direct recruitment otherwise than through the Union Public Service Commission, the provision to be inserted will be:

“The qualification regarding experience is relaxable at the discretion of the competent authority in the case of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, if at any stage of selection the competent authority is of the opinion that sufficient number of candidates from these communities possessing the requisite experience are not likely to be available

to fill up the vacancies reserved for them. The appointing authority shall record the reasons for relaxing the qualifications regarding experience in writing while doing so.”

When any vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are advertised or intimated to the Employment Exchange, it should be specifically mentioned in the advertisement/requisition that the period of experience prescribed is relaxable, at the discretion of the Union Public Service Commission or the competent authority, as the case may be, in the case of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates as provided in the Recruitment Rules. This is intended to ensure that the aspirants who may fall slightly short of the requisite experience may know about the possibility of relaxation in their regard.

[DP&AR O.M No.27/10/71-Estt (SCT) dt. 5/09/1975]

7. Relaxation of Standard of Suitability in Direct Recruitment

In direct recruitment whether by examination or otherwise, if sufficient number of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other Backward Class candidates are not available on the basis of the general standard to fill all the vacancies reserved for them, candidates belonging to these communities should be selected to fill up the remaining vacancies reserved for them, provided they are not found unfit for such post or posts. Thus, to the extent the number of vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes cannot be filled on the basis of general standard, candidates belonging to these communities will be taken by relaxed standard to make up the deficiency in the reserved quota, subject to the fitness of these candidates for appointment to the post/posts in question.

[MHA O.M No. 1/1/70-Estt (SCT), 25/07/1970]

In addition to the concession referred to above, in cases where the requisite number of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other Backward Class candidates fulfilling even the relaxed standards admissible in their cases are not available to fill the vacancies reserved for them in non-technical and quasi-technical Group C and D services/posts required to be filled by direct recruitment otherwise than by written examination, the selecting authorities should, to the extent of the vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribe/Other Backward Class, select for appointment the best among the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Other Backward Class candidates who fulfill the minimum educational qualifications laid down in the notice for recruitment of advertisement. In order to bring such candidates to the minimum standard necessary for the posts and for the maintenance of efficiency of administration, they should be given in-service training. The in-service training will be provided by the appointing authorities within their own offices. Such candidates will, on their appointment, be placed on probation and the rules/orders regarding probation will apply to them.

Ministries /Departments should instruct all authorities under them to prepare a list of non-technical and quasi-technical posts in Group C and D to which the provisions given above apply. While notifying vacancies in such posts or advertising them, it should be indicated that the posts are non-technical in Group C and D.

(O.M.No 24/7/67(I)-Estt.(SCT) dated 24/09/1968)

8. No Relaxation in Educational Qualification

Where an educational qualification has been prescribed in the recruitment rules, all candidates including the SC, ST and OBC candidates shall satisfy the said qualification. Sometimes, a minimum number of marks or a minimum grade is prescribed as part of the educational qualification in the recruitment rules. In such cases, the minimum marks/grade so prescribed shall uniformly apply to all candidates including SC, ST and OBC candidates.

[OM No. 36011/8/84-Estt(SCT) dt. 29/05/1985]

9. Relaxation of Standards in Departmental Competitive / Qualifying Examinations

If in case of promotions made through departmental competitive examinations, sufficient number of Schedule Caste / Scheduled Tribe candidates are not available on the basis of general standard to fill all the vacancies reserved for them, Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates who have not acquired the general qualifying standard can also be considered for promotion to fill up the remaining vacancies reserved for them provided they are not found unfit for such promotions. In other words, the qualifying standard in such examinations can be relaxed in favor of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates if sufficient number of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates is not available on the basis of general standard to fill all the vacancies reserved for them.

In promotions made on the basis of seniority subject to fitness in which there is reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and where a qualifying examination is held to determine the fitness of candidates for such promotion, suitable relaxation in the qualifying standard in such examination should be made in the case of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates. Similar relaxation of standard should be made in favor of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates in such departmental qualifying examinations for promotions also, where promotion is made by selection and merit is determined by qualifying examination out of the qualified candidates. The extent of relaxation in above cases should be decided on each occasion whenever such an examination is held taking into account all relevant factors including (i) the number of vacancies reserved, (ii) the performance of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates as well as general candidates in that examination, (iii) the minimum standard of fitness for appointment to the post, and also (iv) the overall strength of the cadre and that of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in that cadre.

[DP&AR O.M No. 36021/10/76-Estt(SCT), 21/01/1977]

D. RESERVATION ROSTER, GROUPING OF POSTS, OWN MERIT APPOINTMENT AND COMPASSIONATE APPOINTMENT

1. Post based reservation roster

In ‘R. K. Sabharwal And Ors vs State Of Punjab And Ors’, Hon’ble Supreme Court, considered the legal/constitutional validity of the reservation policy, applicable in the matter of promotion of the officers of Engineering cadre in the Irrigation Department of the State of Punjab. Vide its judgement dated 10.2.1995, Hon’ble Supreme Court held, “When a percentage of reservation is fixed in respect of a particular cadre and the roster indicates the reserve points, it has to be taken that the posts shown at the reserve points are to be filled from amongst the members of reserve categories and the candidates belonging to the general category are not entitled to be considered for the reserve posts. On the other hand the reserve category candidates can compete for the non-reserve posts and in the event of their appointment to the said posts their number cannot be added and taken into consideration for working out the percentage of reservation.” The Hon’ble Court further held, “When all the roster-points in a cadre are filled the required percentage of reservation is achieved. Once the total cadre has full representation of the Scheduled Casts/Tribes and Backward Classes in accordance with the reservation policy then the vacancies arising thereafter in the cadre are to be filled from amongst the category of persons to whom the respective vacancies belong”. In pursuance of the aforesaid judgement, DoPT, vide its OM, dated 2.7.1997, has laid down detailed guidelines for maintenance and operation of the post-based reservation roster and also prescribed model reservation rosters. The broad principles to be followed for operation of the rosters are as under:

The vacancy-based rosters can operate only till such time as the representation of persons belonging to the reserved categories, in a cadre, reaches the prescribed percentage of reservation. Thereafter, the vacancy based rosters cannot operate and vacancies released by retirement, resignation, promotion etc. of the persons belonging to the general and the reserved categories are to be filled by appointment of persons from the respective category (i.e. post based reservation roster) so that the prescribed percentage of reservation is maintained.
Rosters are only an aid to determine the entitlement of different categories with regard to the quota reserved for them. They are not to determine seniority.
There should be separate rosters for direct recruitment and promotion where reservation in promotion applies.
While cadre is generally to be construed as the number of posts in a particular grade, for the purpose of preparation of roster, it shall comprise posts required to be filled by a particular mode of recruitment in terms of the applicable recruitment rules.
Whenever there is any increase or decrease in the cadre strength, the roster shall be correspondingly expanded or contracted. The same will also apply whenever there is a change in recruitment rules which affects the proportion of posts to be filled by a particular mode of recruitment
While operating the roster, persons belonging to communities for whom reservation has been made, but who are appointed on merit and not owing to reservation should not be shown against reserved points. They will occupy the unreserved points.
In the case of small cadres (up to 13 posts) all the posts shall be earmarked on the same pattern as in the model post-based rosters. Initial recruitment against these posts shall be by the category for which the post is earmarked. Replacement of incumbents of posts shall be by rotation as shown horizontally against the cadre strength as applicable. While operating the relevant roster, care will have to be taken to ensure that on no occasion the percentage of reserved category candidates exceed 50%. If such a situation occurs at any time, the relevant reserved point occurring as a result of rotation will be skipped.

However, for detailed instructions, O.M.No.36012/2/96-Estt.(Res.) dated 2/07/1997, may be referred.

2. Manner of filling up of the reserved vacancies

While filling up of vacancies in a year, efforts shall be made to make up the shortfall of reservation for all the three categories, namely, SCs, STs and OBCs subject, however, to the condition that total number of vacancies reserved for SCs, STs and OBCs is not more than 50% of the vacancies of the year.

The ceiling of 50% reservation on filling of reserved vacancies would apply only to the vacancies which arise in the current year and the backlog reserved vacancies of SCs, STs and OBCs in case of direct recruitment and backlog reserved vacancies of SCs and STs in case of promotion of earlier years, would be treated as a separate and distinct group, and would not be considered together with the reserved vacancies of the year in which they are filled for determining the ceiling of 50% reservation on total number of vacancies of that year.

However, backlog and/or carried forward reservation will automatically lapse in a cadre as soon as combined representation of a reserved category in direct recruitment as well as promotion is either equal to or more than the prescribed number of reserved posts in the relevant post-based rosters (OM No. 36012/5/97-Estt (Res.) (Vol.II) dated 20.7.2000).

Note 1: Shortfall of reservation of a particular reserved category in a cadre means the difference between the ‘total number of reserved posts for that category in the cadre’ and ‘the number of persons of that category appointed by reservation and holding the posts in the cadre’.

Note 2: Backlog reserved vacancies of a category are those vacancies which were earmarked reserved for that category in an earlier recruitment year(s) but remained unfilled in the previous recruitment attempt(s) on account of non availability of suitable candidates belonging to that category and are still lying unfilled.

Given below is an illustration which would clarify the method of earmarking reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs. Since backlog does not apply to EWS, the EWS category is not finding mention in this example.

There is a cadre having a total number of 1000 posts which are filled by direct recruitment on all India basis by open competition. The number of SC, ST and OBC employees appointed by reservation in the cadre should ideally be 150, 75 and 270 respectively when all the posts are filled.
Suppose all the 1000 posts stood filled in the year 2006 but the number of SC, ST and OBC employees appointed by reservation was 130, 75 and 100 respectively. There was, thus, a shortfall of 20 SCs and 170 OBCs in the cadre in that year.
Suppose 200 vacancies occurred in the cadre in the recruitment year 2007, of which 20 were vacated by SCs, 10 by STs and rest by unreserved category candidates. After vacation of these posts, shortfall of SCs, STs and OBCs in the cadre became 40, 10 and 170 respectively. Though there was a big shortfall of SCs, STs and OBCs in the cadre, only 100 of these vacancies could be earmarked reserved because all the 200 vacancies were current vacancies and limit of 50% on reservation in a year would apply on these vacancies.
Shortfall of SCs and OBCs was more than 15% and 27% respectively of the current vacancies. Therefore, 15% of the current vacancies were straightway earmarked reserved for SCs and 27% for OBCs i.e. 30 vacancies were earmarked reserved for SCs and 54 for the OBCs. Shortfall of STs was 10 which is less than 7.5% of total vacancies. Therefore, only 10 vacancies were earmarked reserved for STs. Applying the above principle, 94 vacancies were earmarked reserved. This left room for 6 {100-(30+54+10)} more vacancies to be earmarked reserved to make up the shortfall. These 6 vacancies were apportioned between SCs and OBCs in the ratio of percentage of reservation prescribed for these categories viz. 15: 27, i.e. 2 for SCs and 4 for OBCs (fractions rounded off to the nearest whole number). However, while making such distribution, it has to be kept in view that the number of vacancies earmarked reserved for any category is not more than the shortfall of that category. Thus, final earmarking of reservation in respect of the vacancies for the year 2007 was 32 for SCs, 10 for STs and 58 for OBCs.
Suppose only 20 SC candidates, 5 ST candidates and 50 OBC candidates could be appointed in the recruitment year 2007 against the vacancies reserved for them. Thus, 12 vacancies of SCs, 5 vacancies of STs and 8 vacancies of OBCs which were earmarked reserved could not be filled and remained vacant. These 12 vacancies of SCs, 5 vacancies of STs and 8 vacancies of OBCs which were earmarked reserved but remained vacant in the recruitment attempt will be treated as backlog reserved vacancies for the subsequent recruitment year. After the recruitment process for the year 2007 was over, total number of posts filled was 975, of which 130, 70 and 150 were held respectively by SCs, STs and OBCs. It may be noted that shortfall of reservation of SCs, STs and OBCs at this stage was 20, 5 and 120 respectively. However, number of backlog reserved vacancies of SCs, STs and OBCs was 12, 5 and 8 respectively.

vi. Suppose 200 vacancies occurred in the recruitment year 2008 of which 20 were vacated by SCs, 10 by STs and 20 by OBCs. At this stage shortfall of SCs, STs and OBCs was 40, 15 and 140 respectively. Total vacancies in the year were 200+12+5+8=225, of which 200 were current vacancies and 25 backlog vacancies. While earmarking reservation, 25 backlog reserved vacancies of SCs, STs and OBCs will be treated as a separate and distinct group and will be kept reserved-12 for SCs, 5 for STs and 8 for OBCs. Of the 200 current vacancies, not more than 100 can be earmarked reserved. By applying the same principles as in the year 2007, out of 200 current vacancies, 28 were earmarked reserved for SCs,10 for STs and 62 for OBCs. Thus the number of vacancies reserved for SCs, STs and OBCs in the recruitment year 2008, including the backlog reserved vacancies, were 40, 15 and 70 respectively. If only 35 SCs, 12 STs and 50 OBCs become available to fill up the reserved vacancies, 5 vacancies of SCs, 3 vacancies of STs and 20 vacancies of OBCs will be kept vacant and will be treated as backlog reserved vacancies for the subsequent recruitment year.

(O.M.No.36033/1/2008-Estt.(Res.) dated 15/07/2008)

(OM No. 36012/5/97-Estt (Res.) (Vol.II) dated 20/07/2000)

3. Non- permissibility of exchange of reservation between SCs and STs

After the introduction of post-based reservation, various ministries/departments have been seeking clarification whether it is possible to fill up a post reserved for Scheduled Tribes by a Scheduled Caste candidate or vice versa by applying the principle of exchange of reservation between Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as was possible when vacancy-based rosters were in vogue.

2. Basic principle of post-based reservation is that the number of posts filled by reservation by any category in a cadre should be equal to the quota prescribed for that category. If exchange of reservation between SCs and STs is permitted, number of employees of one reserved category of employees appointed by reservation will go beyond reservation prescribed for that category. It would be against the spirit of post-based reservation. Therefore, after introduction of post-based reservation, it is not permissible to fill up a post reserved for Scheduled Tribes by a Scheduled Caste candidate or vice-versa by exchange of reservation between SCs and STs.

(OM No.36012/17/2002-Estt.(Res) dated 6/11/2003)

4. Grouping of Posts

In the case of posts filled by direct recruitment, isolated posts and small cadres may be grouped with posts in the same class for the purpose of reservation orders taking into account the status, salary and qualifications prescribed for the posts in question.

For the purposes of determining the reservation, the vacancies occurring in various constituents of the Group may be plotted on the roster strictly in a chronological order i.e. sequence of date of occurrence.

While reservations would be made according to the groups as provided above, the total reservation in any of the posts/services so grouped should not exceed 50 per cent of the vacancies to be filled in it i.e. in the particular post/service, in a recruitment year. The total reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in any post or service should also not exceed 50 percent of the total number of posts in the particular post/service.

(OM No. 1/4/1970-Estt (SCT) dated 11/11/1971)

(OM No. 8/1/1974-Estt (SCT) dated 12/12/1974)

(OM No. 36011/17/85-Estt.(SCT), dated the 23/07/1985)

5. Appointment of SC/ST/OBC on Own Merit

Own Merit in direct recruitment:
In case of direct recruitment, SC/ST/OBC candidates, who are selected on the same standard as applied to general candidates i.e. without relaxation in age limit, experience qualification, permitted number of chances in written examination, extended zone of consideration larger than what is provided to the general category candidates etc., shall not be adjusted against reserved vacancies.

(OM No. 36011/1/98-Estt (Res) dated 1/07/1998)

Own Merit in promotion: In case of promotion, the instructions relating to own merit are as under:The SC/ST candidates appointed by promotion on their own merit and not owing to reservation or relaxation of qualifications will not be adjusted against the reserved points of the reservation roster. They will be adjusted against unreserved points.If an unreserved vacancy arises in a cadre and there is any SC/ST candidate within the normal zone of consideration in the feeder grade, such SC/ST candidate cannot be denied promotion on the plea that the post is not reserved. Such a candidate will be considered for promotion along with other candidates treating him as if he belongs to general category. In case he is selected ,he will be appointed to the post and will be adjusted against the unreserved point.SC/ST candidates appointed on their own merit (by direct recruitment or promotion )and adjusted against unreserved points will retain their status of SC/ST and will be eligible to get benefit of reservation in future/further promotions, if , any.50% limit on reservation will be computed by excluding such reserved category candidates, who are appointed/promoted on their own merit.The principle of Own Merit will apply whether the promotion is made by selection method or non-selection method.

(OM No.36028/17/2001 – Estt (Res.) dated 11/07/2002)

(OM No.36028/17/2001 – Estt (Res.) dated 31/01/2005)

(OM No. 36012/45/2005-Estt. (Res.) dated 10/08/2010)

Note: DoPT OM dated 10.8.2010 regarding promotion of SC/ST on Own Merit is presently sub judice before the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the SLP No. 30621/2011 titled ‘Jarnail Singh &Ors Vs. LachhmiNarain Gupta &Ors.’.

6. Adjustment of Compassionate Appointees

A person selected for appointment on compassionate grounds should be adjusted in the reservation register/ reservation roster register against the appropriate category viz. SC/ST/OBC/UR category, depending upon the category to which he belongs. For example, if he belongs to SC, he shall be adjusted against a vacancy reserved for SCs. Similarly if he is an ST or OBC candidate, he shall be adjusted against vacancy reserved for STs or OBCs, as the case may be. An unreserved category candidate shall be adjusted against an unreserved vacancy.

(O.M.No.14014/6/1995-Estt(D) dated 26/09/1995)

E. DE-RESERVATION

1. DE-RESERVATION

A vacancy reserved for SCs or STs or OBCs cannot be filled by a candidate other than an SC or ST or OBC candidate, as the case may be. However, a reserved vacancy may be declared unreserved in exceptional cases, by following the procedure of de-reservation, as given below where-after it can be filled as an unreserved vacancy.

De-reservation in case of Direct Recruitment

There is a general ban on de-reservation of reserved vacancies in case of direct recruitment. However, in rare and exceptional cases when a vacancy in a Group ‘A’ service cannot be allowed to remain vacant in public interest, the administrative Ministry/Department may prepare a proposal for de-reservation of the vacancy giving following information:

Designation of the post;
Pay scale of the post;
Name of the service to which the post belongs;
Duties and responsibilities attached to the post;
Educational and other qualifications prescribed for the post;
Efforts made to fill up the post;
Reasons why it cannot be allowed to remain vacant;
Justification for de-reservation; and
Any other relevant information.

The administrative Ministry shall consult the National Commission for Scheduled Castes in respect of vacancy reserved for SCs, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes in respect of vacancy reserved for STs and the National Commission for Backward Classes in respect of vacancy reserved for OBCs. After obtaining the comments of the concerned Commission, the administrative Ministry/Department shall place the proposal alongwith the Commission’s comments before a Committee comprising of the Secretaries in the Department of Personnel and Training, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the Ministry/Department under which the recruitment is to be made for consideration and recommendation. The recommendations of the Committee shall be placed before the Minister in charge of the Department of Personnel and Training for taking a final decision. If de-reservation of the vacancy is approved, it can be filled as an unreserved vacancy.

De-reservation in case of Promotion

In case of promotion, if sufficient number of SC/ST candidates fit for promotion against reserved vacancies are not available, such vacancies may be de-reserved and filled by the candidates of other communities. The power to accord approval to de-reservation of the reserved vacancies in such cases is delegated to the administrative Ministries and Departments subject to the following conditions:

no candidate belonging to the category for which the vacancy is reserved is available within the zone of consideration or extended zone of consideration or eligible for promotion in the feeder cadre(s) specified in the relevant service / recruitment rules / orders;
the proposal for de-reservation has been seen and concurred in by the Liaison Officer of the Ministry / Department;
the proposal for de-reservation is agreed to at a level not lower than that of Joint Secretary to the Government of India, in the administrative Ministry / Department (proper)concerned; and
in the event of disagreement between the appointing authority and the Liaison Officer, the advice of the Department of Personnel & Training is obtained.

Before taking a decision to de-reserve a vacancy under the delegated powers, the administrative Ministry / Department shall prepare a proposal in the proforma given in the Annexure and send one copy thereof each to the Department of Personnel & Training and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes in respect of vacancies reserved for SCs and to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes in respect of vacancies reserved for STs. After sending the proposal, the Ministry / Department shall wait for a period of at least one month for the comments of the Department of Personnel & Training and the concerned National Commission. If no comments are received from the Department of Personnel & Training or the concerned Commission within a period of one month, the administrative Ministry / Department may presume that the DOPT or the concerned National Commission, as the case may be, do not have any comments to offer and may take a decision regarding de-reservation of the vacancy. In case the Ministry / Department receives comments from the DOPT or the concerned Commission within a period of one month, the comments so received shall be considered while taking a decision in the matter.

While sending the copy of the proposal to the Commissions / Department of Personnel & Training, it should be ensured that the proposal / proforma duly filled in is signed by an officer of the rank of Under Secretary or above in the administrative Ministry / Department.

The Attached / Subordinate Offices etc. should not send the proposal direct to the Department of Personnel and Training or to the concerned National Commission. They should send the proposal to the administrative Ministry/ Department who will examine the proposal and send it to the Department of Personnel and Training and to the concerned National Commission.

Annexure

PROPOSAL FOR DE-RESERVATION OF VACANCIES RESERVED FOR SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES IN POSTS FILLED BY PROMOTION.

1. Name of the Office/Organisation to which the post (s) relate
2. Particulars of the post in which vacancies are proposed to be de-reserved (a) Name of the post (b) Group (Class) (c) Scale of Pay
3. Information about posts in the promotion quota (a) Mode of promotion viz by Selection or Non-Selection or by Departmental Examination etc. (b) No. of posts already filled by the given mode of promotion (c) Number of backlog reserved vacancies in respect of the given mode of promotion (d) Number of current vacancies to be filled by the given mode of promotion (e) Total number of vacancies to be filled (current vacancies + backlog vacancies) by the given mode of promotion (f) Total number of posts in the given mode of promotion (b+e)	SCs………….. STs………… Total…….
4. No. of posts already held by the candidates appointed by reservation in the cadre	SCs…………….. STs……………….
5. If cadre strength is less than 14 and reservation is given by rotation, cycle no. and point no. of the roster on which the vacancy falls	Cycle No……….Point No………….
6. Number of vacancies earmarked reserved (a) Out of the current vacancies (b) Backlog reserved vacancies (c) Total reserved vacancies (a+b)	SCs…………….. STs………………. SCs…………….. STs………………. SCs…………….. STs……………….
7. Number of vacancies proposed to be de-reserved	SCs…………….. STs……………
8. If promotion is by non-selection (a) Whether the SC/ST candidates who are eligible for promotion including those holding lower positions in the general seniority list were considered for promotion (b) Total number of SC/ST candidates in the feeder grade (c) No. of eligible SC/ST candidates in the feeder grade (d) Number of SC/ST candidates considered fit for promotion (e) Number of SC/ST candidates considered not fit for promotion (f) If sufficient number of SC/ST candidates are not eligible for promotion on the crucial date, the date on which the senior most SC/ST candidate in the grade will become eligible for promotion	SCs…………………STs…………… SCs…………………STs…………… SCs…………………STs…………… SCs…………………STs…………… SCs…………………STs……………
9. If promotion is by selection (a) Size of the normal zone of consideration (b) Size of the extended zone of consideration for SCs/STs (5 times the total number of vacancies) (c) Number of eligible SC/ST candidates in the extended zone of consideration (d) Number of SC/ST candidates found fit for promotion (e) Number of SC/ST candidates considered not fit for promotion (f) If sufficient number of SC/ST candidates are not eligible for promotion on the crucial date, the date on which the senior–most SC/ST candidate will become eligible for promotion and his place in the seniority list	SCs………………… STs……………SCs………………… STs……………SCs…………………STs…………… SCs…………………STs……………
10. If promotion is through Departmental Qualifying or Departmental Competitive Examination, the number of SC/ST candidates who qualified the examination	SCs…………………..STs……….
11. Whether other category candidates are available in the Select List for appointment to the vacancies sought to be de-reserved
12(a)Whether SC/ST candidates considered unfit had any adverse entries in their C.R.s considered by the DPC (b) If yes, whether such adverse entries were communicated in time to the SC/ST officer (s) concerned (c) Whether the cases of the eligible SC/ST candidates not found fit for promotion were submitted / reported to the Minister / Minister of State / Deputy Minister / Secretary / Head of the Department, as the case may be
13. Where interviews are prescribed, whether SC/ST candidates were interviewed on a day or sitting of the Selection Committee other than the day / sitting on / in which general candidates were interviewed
14(a) If ex-post-facto approval is sought to the de-reservation of vacancies, the reasons why proposal for prior de-reservation was not made, and what steps have been taken to prevent its recurrence
(b)The level at which it was decided to fill the reserved vacancies by other category candidate (s) without prior de-reservation

It is certified

(1) that the proposal for de-reservation is agreed to at the level of Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the administrative Ministry / Department.

(2) that the proposal has been seen and concurred in by the Liaison Officer of the Ministry / Department.

(3) that copies of this proposal are simultaneously being sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes / National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and the Department of Personnel & Training.

Signature………………..
Name of the Signing
Officer……..………..
Designation…………………
Tele. No…….……….

No.________________________

Date_______________________

Department of Personnel & Training, New Delhi.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes / National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

(OM No. 3602012/2007-Estt(Res) dated 7/12/2009)

(OM 36020/6/2025-PP(Res-2) dated 26/05/2026)

NOTE: DoPT does not encourage dereservation of reserved vacancies. On receiving the proposal from the Ministries/Departments, they are advised by DoPT to explore the possibility of filling up the reserved vacancy by other mode of recruitment as per provision of the Recruitment Rules.

F. VERIFICATION OF THE CASTE/COMMUNITY/TRIBE CERTIFICATE

1. Responsibility for issue and verification of caste/community/tribe certificate lies with the concerned State/UT Government

The responsibility for issue and verification of caste/community lies with the concerned State/UT Government. Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its judgement, dated 2.9.1994, in the matter of ‘Kumari Madhuri Patil vs Addl. Commissioner’, has held that the admission wrongly gained or appointment wrongly obtained on the basis of false social status certificate necessarily has the effect of depriving the genuine Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or OBC candidates, as enjoined in the Constitution, of the benefits conferred on them by the Constitution. Accordingly, in order to streamline the procedure for the issuance of social status certificates, their scrutiny and their approval, the Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its aforesaid judgement, has laid down detailed criteria/guidelines to be followed by the State Governments for the issuance of social status certificates, their scrutiny and their approval.

2. Authorities competent to issue caste/tribe/community certificates

DoPT, vide OM No. 36012/6/88-Estt (SCT) dated 24.4.1990 and letter No. 36012/22/93-Estt (SCT) dated 15.11.1993 had prescribed authorities in the States/UTs for issuance of Caste/Tribe/Community certificates in respect of SC/ST/OBC. However, it has come to the notice of this Department that in some States, such Certificates have not been issued by the authorities prescribed by this Department leading to avoidable hardship for the candidates.

2. As already stated above, the responsibility for issue and verification of caste/community certificate lies with the concerned State Government/UT Administration and that the Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its judgement dated 2.9.1994 in the matter of ‘Kumari Madhuri Patil vs Addl. Commissioner’, has already laid down detailed guidelines to be followed by the State Government to streamline the procedure for the issuance of social status certificates, their scrutiny and their approval. The State Governments/UT Administrations are required to streamline the procedure for issuance and verification of Caste/Tribe/Community certificates in respect of SC/ST/OBC keeping in view the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its order in ‘Kumari Madhuri Patil vs Addl. Commissioner’.

3. In view of the aforesaid judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, it has been decided to delegate the powers to the State Government/UT Administration to decide the authorities competent to issue the Caste/ Tribe /Community certificates in respect of SC/ST/OBC. The State Governments/UT Administrations shall upload on their website the details of the authorities competent to issue such caste/tribe/community Certificate. The earlier instructions issued vide OM No. 36012/6/88-Estt (SCT) dated 24.4.1990 and letter No. 36012/22/93-Estt (SCT) dated 15.11.1993 with regard to the authorities prescribed for issuance of Caste/Tribe/Community certificates in respect of SC/ST/OBC are modified to that extent.

4. The format of caste/tribe certificate in respect of Scheduled Castes/Tribes is at Annexure I and the format of community certificate in respect of Other Backward Classes is at Annexure II.

(DoPT O.M No. 36036/2/2013-Estt.(Res) dated the 30/05/2014)

(DoPT letter No. 36039/1/2019-Estt.(Res.-II) dated 15/3/2024)

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Reservation for SCs, STs, OBCs, PwDs, EWS and Ex-Servicemen in Posts and Services in the Central Government – DoPT Office Memorandum

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