What a roster register is, and how to read one
Almost every dispute about reserved posts turns on a document most people have never seen. This is what it looks like, how it is filled in, and where errors usually creep in.
Research desk · Reviewed by Legal committee
A roster register is a running ledger of posts. It does not record people; it records positions, in order, each one carrying a label that determines which pool the next appointment is drawn from. Departments maintain one per cadre, and it is meant to be produced on demand during audit. [1]
Posts, not people
The most common misreading is to treat the register as a list of appointments. It is not. Each line is a sanctioned post with a fixed point number, and the label attached to that point persists across vacancies. When someone retires, the point does not change character — which is why a single retirement can appear to "reserve" a job that was previously open. [2]
Where errors creep in
In the replies we have obtained so far, three failures recur: [3]
- Registers maintained cadre-wise in name only, with posts pooled informally across cadres.
- Backlog vacancies carried forward without the record of when they arose.
- No audit trail when a point is re-labelled after a restructuring.
None of these are arguments for or against reservation. They are arguments for a register anyone can inspect — which is what we are asking for.
How to ask for one
A roster register is ordinarily an accessible record. Our RTI toolkit contains a tested wording, the fee schedule, and what to do when the reply says the record is "not maintained centrally" — which is the answer we receive most often.
Sources for this guide
- [1]CIRCULARMaintenance of reservation roster registersPDF · 1.2 MB
- [2]JUDGMENTSupreme Court on roster points in promotionsPDF · 4.8 MB
- [3]RTIReply on category-wise recruitment, 2024–25PDF · 480 KB
Found an error?
Suggest a correction →