Syllabus: Social empowerment
Context and Source
- Data released in DoPT Annual Report 2024–25 on reservation and social representation.
- Covers Union government employees as of January 1, 2024.
- Report accounts for 32.52 lakh employees across 80 Ministries and Departments.
Sanitation Workers and Social Composition
- Over 66% of Group C safai karmacharis belong to SC, ST, and OBC groups.
- Indicates strong concentration of reserved categories in sanitation-related government roles.
Representation Across Service Groups
- Group A posts: 14.2% SC, 6.54% ST, and 19.14% OBC.
- Group B posts: 16.2% SC, 7.63% ST, and 21.95% OBC.
- Group C posts excluding sanitation workers: 16.75% SC, 8.94% ST, and 27.29% OBC.
Overall Workforce Distribution
- Total representation among all Union employees: 16.84% SC, 8.7% ST, and 26.32% OBC.
- The report does not provide any data on EWS representation.
Reservation Norms and Compliance
- DoPT direct recruitment rules mandate 15% SC, 7.5% ST, 27% OBC, and 10% EWS.
- Comparison shows OBC representation closest to prescribed reservation levels.
Data Coverage and Reporting Gaps
- This is the first full dataset since 2018–19, covering over 32 lakh employees.
- Between 2019 and 2023, reports covered only 19–20 lakh employees.
- DoPT cited delayed data submission by Ministries as the primary reason.
Trend Comparison with 2018–19
- SC representation declined from 17.49% to 16.84%.
- ST representation increased slightly from 8.47% to 8.7%.
- OBC representation rose sharply from 21.57% to 26.32%.
Key Observation
- Highest growth in representation observed among OBC employees across service groups.