The Centre on Saturday issued a clarification, saying a Department of Expenditure circular issued on Friday to cut official spending amid an economic crisis will not affect or curtail recruitment for government jobs. This clarification came hours after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi tweeted on the matter.

“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,” tweeted the Ministry of Finance.

“The Dept. of Expenditure circular dated 04 Sept 2020 deals with internal procedure for creation of posts and does NOT in anyway affect or curtail recruitment,” said another tweet by the Ministry.

“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,” Gandhi wrote in Hindi on his Twitter handle.

Earlier on September 4, the Department of Expenditure circular, banned some non-developmental expenditures to ‘ensure availablity of adequate resources for meeting the needs of critical priority schemes’.

According to media reports, 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.”