
(Image source from: Timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
For Joint Secretary Director and Deputy Secretary in 24 ministries with a total of 45 positions vacant, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has issued an advertisement seeking talented and motivated Indian nationals for lateral recruitments in various sectors. Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi was triggered by the advertisement and started debate over the lateral entry into bureaucracy, while BJP claims that the concept was initially developed by the Congress government itself.
Lateral Entry Recruitment:
The later entry recruitment means recruiting the person into traditional government services from outside the government , for IAS (Indian Administrative Services) and also for senior level positions in the government.
Earlier senior bureautic positions were filled by the career civil servant, but in 2018, in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government this lateral entry process was introduced to fill the vacancies announced. These employees are typically hired on a contract basis of three to five years depending on the potential of the performance and need of the government. These were allowed to make key changes to the governance and policies, that is to make government easy and also to take care of complex challenges and implementation of policies.
The current position, which was advertised is for the UPSC including joint secretary, director and deputy secretary. These are often key decision-makers within their departments. The government offers these jobs to outsiders only to bring fresh ideas and also to increase the availability of skilled manpower in the administration. The concept was first introduced by the UPA government in the mid-2000s. In 200, UPA established the second administrative reforms commission (ARC) under the chairmanship of Veerappa Molly, as reported in NDTV.
Rahul Gandhi’s Criticism:
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi have accused in X about lateral entry mentioning it as the sidestep of the UPSC, that is a denial of the candidate from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and other backward classes (OBC). Rahul Gandhi wrote, “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.”
Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge also mentioned this lateral entry as a well-planned conspiracy.
However, the BJP has responded to the Congress attacks over the lateral entry positions and said that this system was developed during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also said that ARC was formed by the congress leader Veerappa Moily to fill the gaps of the roles in specialized vacancies.