Lateral entry
The government has cited examples of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ex-deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, as the examples of those who joined the government through the “lateral entry” process at various ranks.
A second government official pointed that the current hiring process was different because earlier appointments through the ’lateral entry’ route were not structured. “There was no set process, only three or four people in the government decided on their appointments,’’ he said. “Now we have devised a rigorous selection process that will include vetting of applicants by experts from private as well as the government sector. We are institutionalising lateral entry.”
Since June, several Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have criticised the Centre’s move, saying the policy was meant to sidestep caste-based reservations and induct people who were in sync with the government’s ideology. Some BJP leaders and NDA members also raised “concerns” on the reservation issue.
The ‘lateral entry’ route will bypass the Union Public Service Commission system under which 15% seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes, 7.5% for the Scheduled Tribes and 27% for the Other Backward Castes in the administrative services.
Several bureaucrats also criticised the policy, calling it “retrograde”. But several experts, including some in the bureaucracy, have been of the view that such experimentation should be encouraged.
“India is on track to achieve efficiencies and excellence to bring the country up to speed with the rest of the world. Lateral inductions are just one of the many steps taken by the government of India in governance reforms that include outcomebased monitoring, ease of doing business, and digital technology reforms,” career bureaucrat and Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant wrote in a June 13 article in HT.
Former home secretary GK Pillai said: “The response is encouraging. But I believe the government should give them (officers joining through lateral entry) longer tenure than the period of three to five years that has been stipulated as of now. The government can think about extended their contract if they perform well. Besides their responsibilities and liabilities should also be fixed like their counterparts who joined the civil service through the routine channel.” gal agents and give their names to the chief minister and ask him to take action against “so called agents”.
“Half of the problem would be solved if such agents are identified and a crackdown is launched against them,” she added. seen through the prism of his celebrity and high-profile romances, but at home he cuts a more conservative persona as a devout Muslim who believes feminism has degraded motherhood.
Known in Pakistan as “Taliban Khan” for his calls to hold talks with insurgents, he increasingly catered to religious hardliners during the campaign -- particularly over the hugely inflammatory charge of blasphemy -spurring fears his leadership could embolden extremists.