A parliamentary panel has recommended keeping the caste and category details of SC/ST candidates secret during and after recruitment exams to reduce cases of discrimination.

The committee on the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, headed by BJP MP Faggan Singh Kulaste, also wants the government to frame a policy to ensure mandatory representation of SC and ST members in the board of directors of public sector undertakings, among others.

The committee made the observations after studying the actions taken by the government on the recommendations contained in the panel's 25th report submitted in July last year.

In last year’s report, the committee had said that the department of personnel and training (DoPT) should issue guidelines to ensure that the caste details of SC/ST community members were not disclosed after the selection process was completed. It had also asked the DoPT to frame a policy to ensure the representation of SC/STs in the board of directors of public sector institutions.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) have informed the committee that they have taken all precautionary measures to ensure that the identities of the candidates are not revealed to the examiners.

In UPSC exams, the roll number written on every answer book is detached and a randomised fictitious code is given before evaluation. During interviews, the caste and category details of candidates are only disclosed to the president of the interview board, the government has said.

In the SSC exams, candidates are allotted a unique roll number. The evaluation of the computer-based exam is done without any manual interference. However, the category of the candidate is mentioned in the dossier sent to the department hiring the candidates.

“The committee, as recommended earlier, once again reiterated that the name of the caste of SC/ST community should also not be disclosed even after selection processes in all aspects are completed so that any possible form of discrimination against such community may be less evident,” the panel said in its report.

On the panel's observation of "negligible presence or no presence of SC and ST members" on the board of directors of PSUs, the government said: "As of now, there is no government policy of reservation on recommendation of names by PESB (Public Enterprises Selection Board) to the board level posts in CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises)."

The committee expressed its displeasure at the government’s reply.