Farm Laws to Broadcast Bill: 6 U-turns by Modi government before withdrawing lateral entry hiring order

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 20 directed the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to cancel an advertisement issued by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the appointment of joint-secretary-level officers and other key positions through the lateral entry process.

The U-turn by Modi government came amid criticism from the Opposition and a few Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

On August 18, the UPSC advertised 45 posts to be filled through the lateral entry mode on a contract basis. The idea was to recruit officials for multiple roles in certain central ministries through lateral entry, either on a contract basis or through deputation.

The recruitment was to be done across 24 ministries, including 10 joint secretary and 35 director/deputy secretary posts. These posts were to be filled by September 17.

The advertisement triggered protests from the Opposition, with many leaders including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, to name a few, slamming the government’s policy for not having reservations for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates.

The two NDA allies – Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party- also opposed the move forcing the government to recall its decision.

Eventually, the government was forced to cancel the ‘lateral entry’ hiring on August 20, three days after the UPSC issued the advertisement.

The Opposition reacted to the U Turn and claimed that the government is already on a ‘roll back’ mode citing earlier instances of withdrawing the Budget announcement on indexation and putting the draft Broadcast Bill on backburner.

The roll back on the ‘lateral entry’ issue assumes significance as the decision pertains to the Ministry of Personnel, which is directly under the control of the Prime Minister.

The opposition’s charge of a ‘weak Modi 3.0’ stems from the fact that the BJP failed to get a majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and had to rely on allies to form the NDA government led by PM Modi has impacted its decision making. The INDIA bloc bagged over 230 seats in the elections emerging as a stronger opposition.

But there have been roll backs by governments in earlier Modi-led governments too. Here is a list of instances of Modi government U turns since 2015.

August 2024: Broadcast Bill

On August 12, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s withdrew the second draft version of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024. The government has now invited feedback from the public on the first draft, instead, until October 15.

The bill was reportedly withdrawn after many experts expressed concerns over some of the provisions and how the consultation process was being carried out while drafting the bill.

August 2024: Waqf Board Bill

On August 8, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 in Parliament, proposed to send it to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for wider scrutiny amid opposition by INDIA bloc parties.

The bill seeks to “effectively address issues” related to the powers of the State Waqf Boards, registration and survey of waqf properties, and removal of encroachments.

Those opposing the bill said it will infringe the Rights to Property, Right to Religious Freedom besides encroaching on state powers.

August 2024: Indexation benefits restored

On August 6, the Modi government decided to roll back its budget proposal to remove indexation benefits on long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax from the sale of unlisted assets.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has in her Budget 2024-25 announced the withdrawal of indexation benefits from real estate and LTCG tax from 20 percent to 12.5 percent. The proposal didn’t go down well with homebuyers as well as the real estate sector who sought a rethink.

The government has now allowed homeowners to have the option to pay LTCG tax at a rate of 20 per cent with indexation benefit or at a new rate of 12.5 per cent without indexation benefit for properties acquired before July 23, 2024.

2022: Data Protection Bill

In August 2022, Modi government rolled back the Data Protection Bill that has been in the works since 2018 Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Centre took the decision as a parliamentary panel’s review of the bill had suggested 81 amendments, leading to the need for a new “comprehensive legal framework”.

In 2023, the Centre came out with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, which was approved by Parliament on August 9. The draft rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill (DPDP) are expected to be released within a month for public consultation, Vaishnaw told reporters here on August 19.

2021: The three farm laws

On November 19, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of the three contentious farm laws. Farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, had been protesting against these laws at the borders of Delhi for about a year.

The three laws were The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020. 

Farmers had opposed the laws alleging that it would end the minimum support price regime and leave them at the mercy of big corporations. These three laws were passed by the Parliament in September 2020. However, the implementation of these laws was stayed by the Supreme Court on January 12, 2021.

2015: Land bill amendments

In 2015, a year after the Narendra Modi assumed the Prime Ministerial position after BJP’s majority in 2014 Lok Sabha Polls, his government had to accept the demand to revisit its contentious land acquisition law.

Modi government wanted to bring nine amendments to the land acquisition law, 2013 through an ordinance and subsequently as part of the Bill. These new clauses were related to consent of affected families and social impact assessment in the acquisition bill.

The Land Acquisition Bill was cleared in the Lok Sabha, it faced opposition in the Rajya Sabha where the NDA fell short of numbers. Soon, PM Modi announced the decision of not going ahead with Bill.

The government withdrew six key amendments, including the one dealing with consent clause.