Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday hit out at Rahul Gandhi for his claim that the government was trying to bypass the reservation system through lateral entry, reminding the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha that former prime minister Manmohan Singh was made the finance secretary in 1976 through the lateral entry route.

The minister also dismissed as "baseless" Gandhi's allegation that RSS people will be hired as public servants through this mode and pointed out that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made the system of lateral entry methodical by giving the mandate to UPSC for framing rules. Earlier, he pointed out, there was no formal system in place for such entry into governance.

"Whatever appointments or recruitments or selections are to be done, UPSC will do it. Where is the issue of BJP, RSS in this? Baseless allegations are being made," Meghwal told PTI Videos in Bikaner.

He said that RSS is an organisation that promotes cultural nationalism.

The minister alleged that Gandhi was trying to mislead people and tarnish the image of institutions like UPSC by "spreading lies".

"The efforts of Rahul Gandhi, who is making such false allegations, are never going to succeed," he said, adding that despite being the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, which is a constitutional post, Gandhi was making irresponsible statements.

"Dr Manmohn Singh was also part of the lateral entry. How did you directly make him the finance secretary in 1976?" the minister said.

He said that the then Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia entered service through the lateral entry route. He said CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi was made head of the National Advisory Council. "The prime minister's is a constitutional post. But is NAC a constitutional body," he quipped adding Gandhi was placed above the prime minister.

He alleged the then prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru had opposed reservation in 1961 and as the leader of opposition, Rajiv Gandhi opposed OBC reservation on the floor of Lok Sabha.

"You started lateral entry. Prime Minister Modi made it methodical," he said.

The minister noted that these are contractual posts. "Suppose an environment expert becomes a deputy secretary, what is the problem... person has to be an expert in a particular field," he said.

He said the lateral entry is open to all. "Persons of SC, ST and OBC categories also apply. IAS vacancies are different. They claim we are ending reservations. What were you doing when you were recruiting? Suddenly their love for OBCs has come out. They are trying to mislead SC, ST, OBC students," he said.

Condemning the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata, he said that the whole country is ashamed.

"After the incident, efforts were made to destroy the evidence. It is a very shameful incident and we condemn it in very strong words," he said.

Later, Meghwal, who is an MP from Bikaner, reached a BSF outpost in Khanuwali on the Indo-Pakistan border and celebrated the festival of Raksha Bandhan with women BSF personnel.

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