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The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had been directed to withdraw the advertisement that attempted to fill 45 positions on joint secretary, deputy secretary and director level in the central government
Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday (Aug 20) wrote a letter to the head of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), asking the civil service body to cancel its advertisement for lateral entry.
Singh said the decision had been taken on the insistence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The UPSC has been directed to withdraw the advertisement that attempted to fill 45 positions at the joint secretary, deputy secretary and director levels in the central government.
“While most of the major lateral entries before 2014 were made in an ad-hoc manner, including cases of alleged favouritism, efforts of our government have been to make the process institutionally driven, transparent and open,” the letter read.
“The Prime Minister is of the firm belief that the process of lateral entry must be aligned with the principles of equity and social justice enshrined in our Constitution, particularly concerning the provisions of reservation.”
The government argued that it did not want to take the same route as its predecessors when lateral entry positions were filled willy-nilly without any provision for reservation.
“Since these positions have been treated as specialised and designated as single-cadre posts, there has been no provision for reservation in these appointments. This aspect needs to be reviewed and reformed in the context of the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s focus on ensuring social justice. Hence, I urge the UPSC to cancel the advertisement for lateral entry recruitment issued on 17.08.2024,” stated the letter.
The U-turn comes in the backdrop of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, claiming that the recruitment scheme was an attack on “Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis”.
Lateral entry is an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis.
BJP’s distorted version of Ram Rajya seeks to destroy the Constitution and snatch reservations from Bahujans.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 19, 2024
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What is lateral entry?
Lateral entry refers to recruitment in the Indian bureaucracy from outside the traditional government service cadres, such as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to fill mid and senior-level positions in government departments.
The lateral recruitment process for joint secretaries, directors, and deputy secretaries in the Central government was first introduced in 2018.
According to a Lok Sabha reply dated July 24, 2024, 63 appointments have been made through lateral entry so far, with 35 candidates coming from the private sector. Currently, 57 of these employees remain in their respective ministries and departments.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Abhinav Singh
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