Sitaram Khoiwal Calls for Ending Structural Exclusion of Marginalised Communities in Civil Services

Sitaram Khoiwal, National Vice President of the Social Democratic Party of India, has expressed deep concern over the Union government’s recent disclosure in Parliament revealing a sharp imbalance in the representation of marginalised communities within India’s premier civil services. Data presented on February 12 by Minister of State Jitendra Singh indicates that an overwhelming majority of officers in the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, and Indian Foreign Service continue to come from the general category, leaving Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes with only limited presence in institutions that shape governance, security, and diplomacy. Khoiwal said this pattern reflects a continuing failure to uphold the constitutional promise of social justice and equal opportunity.

He noted that representation of these communities across the three services between 2020 and 2024 remains disproportionately low, both in percentage terms and in absolute numbers. Such exclusion, he argued, weakens inclusive decision making and distances public administration from the social realities of the people it is meant to serve. The concern is further intensified by a large number of sanctioned posts that remain vacant across the services, a gap that not only affects administrative efficiency but also delays the entry of diverse voices essential for representative governance.

Calling the situation a matter of urgent national importance, Khoiwal demanded transparent public disclosure of complete category wise data for all serving officers, time bound recruitment that strictly adheres to constitutional reservation norms, and immediate steps to fill existing vacancies without delay. He emphasised that meaningful reform in civil service composition is essential for ensuring that state power reflects India’s full social diversity rather than reinforcing entrenched privilege, and affirmed that genuine democratic governance is impossible without equitable representation in the country’s highest administrative institutions.