Nitish defends lateral entry experiment

Opposition says plan is to recruit BJP loyalists into senior posts

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday defended the Centre’s decision to allow lateral entry of experienced professionals as joint secretaries, as the debate over the move escalated with BSP chief Mayawati alleging it was a result of Modi government’s “administrative failure”.

Notwithstanding the opposition’s criticism, Union minister Satyapal Singh pitched for extension of the lateral entry scheme to governmentrun educational institutions too and said the issue should not be politicised.

The Minister for State for Human Resource Development said the scheme would improve the efficiency of educational institutions.

Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Jha saw the move as an attempt to have a “committed bureaucracy”.

Nitish Kumar said the scheme was an “experiment” the need for which has arisen because of the paucity of IAS and IPS officers across the country.

Kumar, who has been an NDA ally since the 1990s, barring a four-year phase from 2013 to 2017, blamed “successive Congress governments” for downsizing of the civil services, which has “left us in a position where we find it difficult to meet many of our governance requirements”.

The government opening up senior-level bureaucratic posts in several departments to talented and motivated people even from the private sector has unleashed a political controversy.

Plan for party loyalists

Besides Mayawati, CPM chief Sitaram Yechury and leader of opposition in Bihar assembly and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav slammed the move. Congress spokesperson P L Punia, who was himself a civil servant before joining politics, alleged that the government is trying to recruit people associated with the ruling party.

Yechury said it was an attempt to include ‘Sanghis’ in administrative ranks.