Ahead of bypolls, Uttar Pradesh government likely to implement reservation for contractual and outsourced staff

The Uttar Pradesh government is likely to implement reservation in the recruitment of contractual and outsourced staff in various state government departments before the by-elections for 10 assembly seats in the state
Labour and employment minister Anil Rajbhar on Monday said the state government proposal for reservation in the appointment of personnel through contract and outsourcing is likely to be brought before the state cabinet for approval soon.
A state government officer said the data of the outsourced and contractual employees working in various state government departments is being compiled.
According to sources, in the reservation policy for contractual staff, 21% reservation will be given to the Scheduled Caste candidates, 27% to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and 2% to the Schedule Tribe candidates.
During the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, the Opposition parties had raised the issue of reservation in the recruitment of contractual and outsourced staff in various state government departments to corner the Bharatiya Janta Party. The Opposition leaders had alleged that BJP government was appointing staff on contract and outsourcing basis in violation of the reservation system.
The shift in the OBC and Dalit votes to the INDIA bloc was considered one of the main reasons for the underperformance of the BJP in the Lok Sabha election. This view emerged in the review meetings held after the Lok Sabha election.
By implementing reservation in the recruitment of the contract and outsourced staff, the BJP aims to counter the opposition narrative and to win the support of OBCs and SCs in the by-elections.
After the Lok Sabha election results, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had written a letter to the Uttar Pradesh appointment and personnel department, seeking details of the implementation of reservation in the recruitment of contractual and outsourced staff in various state government departments.
NDA ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) chief and Union minister Anupriya Patel had also raised the issue of OBC, SC and ST reservation in government jobs.
In a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, she drew his attention toward alleged unfair practices in the interview-based recruitment process for state government jobs to the disadvantage of SC, ST and OBC candidates.
Instead of recruiting the candidates, the officers rejected applications stating that suitable reserved category candidates had not been found, she said.