Govt Cancels UPSC Lateral Entry Advertisements, DoPT Minister Writes To Chairman
New Delhi: The Union Government on Tuesday asked the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to cancel the lateral entry advertisement, after the directions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Department of Personnel and Training minister, Jitendra Singh wrote a letter to the UPSC chairman Preeti Sudan in which he communicated Prime Minister Modi’s firm belief in the necessity of abiding by the fairness, social justice and quota principles, as laid down in the Indian Constitution, particularly when it comes to lateral recruitment.
“PM Modi is of firm belief that process of lateral entry must be aligned with principles of equity and social justice enshrined in our Constitution, particularly concerning the provisions of reservation,” read the letter.
“Cancelling the advertisement would be a significant advance in the pursuit of social justice and empowerment,” the letter further read.
The Centre has brought to light the crucial need to uphold social justice as stipulated in the constitution, aiming at balanced representation of capable individuals from underprivileged groups in government positions. It’s become clear that these roles, often deemed specialized and given the ‘single-cadre’ designation, have been devoid of any reservation or quota system thus far.
UPSC’s Lateral Entry
In the days gone by, there’s been a bit of a kerfuffle between the government officials and the opposition over the plans to incorporate lateral entry into the bureaucracy. This concept is about bringing on board professionals from outside the traditional circle of civil service to function in mid to top-tier positions. Not long ago, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) put out a call for applications for 45 high-level jobs. The open roles – joint secretary, director, and deputy secretary – span 24 ministries of the central government.
Individuals boasting the necessary qualifications and relevant experience from a range of fields, including state and UT governments, public sector companies, research institutes, and the private industry are all welcome to apply for pivotal leadership roles and department head positions. There’s a 13-point roster policy in place to ensure equal opportunities in public employment and universities. However, a memo from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) emphasizes that there is no mandatory reservation for appointments on deputation. The current lateral entry strategy for staffing these roles comes across as an alternative to the typical deputation process.
Opposition Against Lateral Entry
Opposition leaders stated that Lateral Entry lacks reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC). On the other hand Centre defends it as a means to bring in specialised talent.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed lateral entry and blamed the BJP government of using lateral entry as a backdoor to hire officers that are only loyal to the saffron party.
“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,” Gandhi said on social media platform X.
BJP’s Response?
The BJP has defended itself against the backlash by pointing out that the concept of lateral entry was initially established during the reign of the UPA-aligned Congress government. Following comments made by Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw took to Twitter – alleging the Congress’s double standards on the lateral entry topic, considering its inception during their term. Minister of State for the DoPT Jitendra Singh sheds light on the figures, revealing a total of 63 lateral entry appointments in the last half-decade, and currently, 57 people in such positions across various ministries and departments.
