No ban on recruitment for government jobs, Centre clarifies after row over Finance Ministry circular

The Ministry of Finance on Saturday (September 5) tweeted that a circular issued by Department of Expenditure on Friday to cut official spending due to the economic crisis caused as a result of coronavirus COVID-19 will not affect or curtail recruitment for government jobs.

The clarification was issued by the Centre hours after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi targeted the Centre over the circular issued on Friday.

"The Dept. of Expenditure circular dated 04 Sept 2020 deals with internal procedure for creation of posts and does NOT in any way affect or curtail recruitment," the Ministry of Finance tweeted.

CLARIFICATION:
There is no restriction or ban on filling up of posts in Govt of India . Normal recruitments through govt agencies like Staff Selection Commission, UPSC, Rlwy Recruitment Board, etc will continue as usual without any curbs. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/paQfrNzVo5 — Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) September 5, 2020

"There is no restriction or ban on filling up of posts in Govt of India. Normal recruitments through govt agencies like Staff Selection Commission, UPSC, Rlwy Recruitment Board, etc will continue as usual without any curbs," it added.

The circular issued by the Department of Expenditure, which comes under the Ministry of Finance, on Friday banned some non-developmental expenditures to "ensure availability of adequate resources for meeting the needs of critical priority schemes".

The Centre, in the document, also announced "a ban on creation of new posts, except with the approval of Department of Expenditure, in Ministries/Departments, Attached Offices, Subordinate Offices, Statutory Bodies and Autonomous Bodies."

Rahul Gandhi had slammed the government over the circular. "The Modi government's thinking is minimum government, maximum privatisation. Covid is just an excuse, the government's plan is to free government offices of all permanent staff, steal the youth's future and propel his own friends forward," he tweeted.

The GDP of India contracted 23.9 per cent in the April-June period, official data released few days showed, as the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus brought key industries to a grinding halt.