New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) Union minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said that lateral entry in bureaucracy has not been scrapped and the government is “still open” to reservation though it was not found feasible earlier.
In a video interview with PTI, Singh credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for institutionalising the lateral entry recruitments — referred to as the appointment of specialists, including those from the private sector, in government departments.
Following a political row over the lack of a reservation provision, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in August last year cancelled its advertisement to fill key posts in government departments through lateral entry.
“We thought it (reservation in lateral entry) was not feasible. But we are still open, if there are some options which could be made feasible,” said Singh, the Union Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
Singh, however, asserted that the lateral entry programme of the government was not abandoned or scrapped at all.
He said earlier too there were instances of lateral entry in government and the biggest example is of former prime minister late Manmohan Singh when he was appointed as the Chief Economic Adviser to the government.
“Earlier, it used to be subjective, but the Modi government put an institutional framework in place for such recruitments and routed them through UPSC,” Singh said.
“We laid down certain terms, conditions, experience, qualifications. So, you know, but that process of selection at that point in time was put off, because some people said there should be reservation. Now, we had a reason for that also, that in one-off appointments, you don’t have reservation,” he said.
“Like, for example, if you are looking for the chief editor of PTI, you cannot take a predetermined decision that has to be a Dalit or an OBC or a general candidate,” he said.
“Even if you say that I will do it by rotation, and this year I will have a Dalit editor, next year an OBC, then subsequently I will have general candidate, then the fallacy is that what if I don’t find a candidate of a particular category in a year,” he said.
“So, do I need the chair of the editor? I think this is happening everywhere, even in the private sector. These are one-off appointments, where you need one expert in a certain domain,” Singh said.
He said the government still decided to give it a fair chance in the true spirit of democracy.
“If there is any option available, you let us know, you educate us, we will discuss it,” Singh said.
“We thought it was not feasible (at that time). But we are still open, if there are some options which could be made feasible. That is why we put this (lateral entry recruitment) on hold,” he said.
The UPSC had, on August 17, 2024 issued a notification for the recruitment of 45 posts — 10 of joint secretaries and 35 of directors or deputy secretaries — through lateral entry.
The decision, however, had ignited criticism from the opposition parties, which claimed that it undermined the reservation rights of the Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Union minister Chirag Paswan, the head of BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), had also said the proposed recruitment was a “matter of concern” for him and that he would take up the matter with the Centre.
The UPSC cancelled the advertisement on August 20 last year.
Lateral recruitment in the central government has been undertaken since 2018 to appoint persons for specific assignments, keeping in view their specialised knowledge and expertise in the domain area.
As many as 63 specialists were appointed in different central government departments through the lateral entry mode from 2019 to 2023.
Of these, 35 were appointed on contract basis and the remaining 28 on deputation Eight joint secretaries were appointed in 2019, including five on contractual basis and three through deputation from other government departments/organisations.
Thirty recruitments were made in 2021 at the levels of joint secretary (3), director (18) and deputy secretary (9). Of these, 14 were on contract and 16 were through deputation.
In 2023, 25 such specialists were appointed, including three joint secretaries, 15 directors and seven deputy secretaries. Of them, 16 were appointed on contract basis and nine through deputation. PTI AKV BJ SKU ZMN
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