NEW DELHI, The Central Information Commission has recommended the Personnel and Training Department to include details of sub-castes in the final rolls for the civil services examination to better assess how the benefits of the reservation policy are distributed across caste groups.
This recommendation came while disposing of the second appeal filed by the RTI applicant seeking caste details of candidates selected for the Indian Administrative Service through the 1995 examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.
During the hearing, DoPT submitted that service allocation data is maintained only at the level of broad social categories like SC, ST and OBC, and not at the sub-caste level. They also said records dating back to 1995 could not be traced.
The list of candidates allotted for services on the basis of CSE-2017 onwards is available on the department portal, the DoPT official added.
The committee noted that although such detailed data was not available on the record, there was “reasonable scope” for substrata information to be included in future disclosures.
The commission also said that lists of candidates, along with their categories, are already available in the public domain for the latest examinations.
However, he stressed that adding sub-caste details along with aggregate classes could help ensure that the benefits of reservation policies reach a wider and more diverse range of communities.
“In view of the above, the DoPT recommends inclusion of sub-caste details along with block caste categories in the final list of shortlisted candidates for CSE to ensure transparency with a view to the benefits of reservation and affirmative action policies reaching a wider and more diverse range of communities within the larger caste categories,” its order said.
The CIC found no deficiency in the response given by the authorities under the RTI Act in this case and dismissed the appeal.
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