Govt makes U-turn on lateral entry, asks UPSC to cancel advertisement

In a letter to the UPSC chairperson Preeti Sudan, Minister of State for DoPT Jitendra Singh said the UPSC recently issued an advertisement related to a number of lateral entry posts at various levels in the Central government.

“It is well known that, as a principle, lateral entry was endorsed by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, which was constituted in 2005, chaired by Veerappa Moily. The recommendations of the sixth pay commission in 2013 were also in the same direction.”

However, both before and after that there have been many high-profile cases of lateral entrants. Under earlier governments, posts as important as that of Secretary in various ministries, leadership of UIDAI, etc., have been given to lateral entrants without following any process of reservations.

It is well known that the members of the infamous National Advisory Council used to run a super-bureaucracy that controlled the Prime Minister’s Office. While most of the major lateral entries before 2014 were made in an ad-hoc manner, including cases of alleged favouritism, efforts of the Central Government have been to make the process institutionally driven, transparent and open.

Further, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is of the firm belief that the process of lateral entry must be aligned with the principles of equity and social justice enshrined in the Constitution, particularly concerning the provisions of reservation.

For the Prime Minister, reservation in public employment is a cornerstone of the social justice framework, aimed at addressing historical injustices and promoting inclusivity. It is important that the constitutional mandate towards social justice is upheld so that deserving candidates from marginalized communities get their rightful representation in the government services.

Since these positions have been treated as specialized 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 Prime Minister’s focus on ensuring social justice.

“Hence, I urge the UPSC to cancel the advertisement for lateral entry recruitment issued on August 17, 2024. This step would be a significant advance in the pursuit of social justice and empowerment,” Singh added.