UPSC Lateral Entry Canceled: On August 17, UPSC had released a vacancy for 45 posts for lateral entry recruitment. It has now been cancelled. Union Minister Jitendra Singh asked the UPSC chairman to cancel the notification. This decision has been changed on the request of PM Modi. Rahul Gandhi had also opposed this vacancy. Rahul had said- Through lateral entry, the rights of SC-ST and OBC class are being snatched openly. Modi government is recruiting people from RSS as public servants.
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Responding to Rahul Gandhi, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that former PM Manmohan Singh was made Finance Secretary in 1976, Montek Singh Ahluwalia was made Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission and Sonia Gandhi was made National Advisory Council (NAC) Chief through lateral entry.
Congress had started lateral entry. Now PM Modi has made the lateral entry system systematic by giving the right to make rules to UPSC. Lateral entry was not a formal system in the previous governments.
The opposition had raised questions
The opposition was constantly questioning the government regarding the lateral entry in UPSC. Leaders of many opposition parties, including the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, opposed the lateral entry in UPSC and the lack of reservation in it. After this, many parties in the government also started raising their voice on this, after which the government has now instructed UPSC to cancel the advertisement for lateral entry.
What was the government’s stand?
Earlier, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had accused the Congress of making misleading claims on the government’s initiative of ‘lateral entry’ in the senior bureaucracy, saying that the move would not affect the recruitment of SC/STs in the All India Services. Vaishnav had said that ‘lateral entry’ in the bureaucracy has been taking place during Congress-led governments since the 1970s and former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Montek Singh Ahluwalia are prominent examples of such initiatives taken in the past.
The minister argued that the 45 posts proposed for lateral entry in the administrative services constitute 0.5 per cent of the cadre strength of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), which comprises over 4,500 officers, and would not lead to any reduction in the list of any service. The tenure of lateral entry bureaucrats is three years, with a possible extension of two years.
Kharge said- Congress foiled BJP’s plans to snatch reservation
On the decision of the Central Government to cancel the lateral entry notification, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on social media X- Congress Party’s fight for social justice of our Dalits, tribals, backward and weaker sections has foiled BJP’s plans to snatch reservation. Modi government’s letter on lateral entry shows that only the power of the Constitution can defeat the arrogance of dictatorial power.
Rahul had said- SC-ST and OBC rights snatched
After the notification of recruitment in UPSC, on August 18, Rahul Gandhi had written on X- Narendra Modi is attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) instead of Union Public Service Commission. The rights of SC, ST and OBC class are being snatched openly by recruiting through lateral entry.
What is Lateral Entry
Lateral entry means direct recruitment without examination. Through lateral entry, the central government directly recruits experts from the private sector for top posts in UPSC. It includes people working for a long time in sectors like revenue, finance, economics, agriculture, education.
Recruitment to the posts of Joint Secretary, Directors and Deputy Secretary in government ministries is done through lateral entry. Lateral entry in UPSC was started in the year 2018. In this, 6077 applications were received for the post of Joint Secretary level. After the selection process of UPSC, 9 appointments were made in different ministries and departments in 2019.
Did the government back down due to Reservation?
On the third day of advertising 45 vacancies for lateral entry, UPSC backed out. Personnel Department Minister Jitendra Singh has written a letter to UPSC Chairman Preeti Sudan and instructed to cancel these vacancies. In the advertisement released on August 17, recruitment was to be done on big government posts like Joint Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Director.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the government is openly snatching the rights of SC, ST and OBC communities through lateral entry. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has hit back saying that the concept of lateral entry in UPSC is of the Congress government.
Why did the controversy related to lateral entry in UPSC start now?
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released vacancies for 45 posts for recruitment through lateral entry on 17 August. For the first time, such a large number of people from the private sector will be appointed to senior positions in the government.
There is no mention of reserved seats in the advertisement issued by UPSC for lateral entry. It has definitely been said that eligible candidates will be selected for these posts.
On August 18, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote in a post that reservation is not applicable in recruitment through lateral entry. In such a situation, by recruiting through this, the rights of SC, ST and OBC classes are being openly snatched. Narendra Modi is attacking the Constitution by recruiting public servants through ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ instead of Union Public Service Commission.
Since then, the controversy over lateral entry has started. Apart from Rahul, opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav has also criticized the central government for not giving reservation in lateral entry. The government has also retaliated on these statements.
Will reservation not be applicable in the vacancies released by UPSC for lateral entry for 45 posts?
There are two opinions on this. BJP IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya says that reservation rules will be applicable in the vacancies released by UPSC which are applicable in any other examination of UPSC.
However, according to a report by the Indian Express, reservation will not be applicable in this. The Department of Personnel and Training of the Government of India has said in an RTI reply that reservation is applicable in government jobs through 13 roster points.
What the roster system says: According to this system, every fourth post in a government job should be reserved for OBC, every seventh post for SC, every fourteenth post for ST and every tenth post for EWS. However, reservation does not apply for recruitment to less than 3 posts.
This time UPSC has released vacancies for 45 posts through lateral entry. According to the reservation roster, these posts should be reserved for 6 SC, 3 ST, 12 OBC and 4 EWS. However, taking advantage of legal technical reasons, the government has issued advertisements for less than 3 posts from different departments. Therefore, reservation does not apply in this.
When we tried to talk to the concerned officials of UPSC on this matter, they did not receive the call.
Has UPSC or the Government of India given any instructions regarding reservation in lateral entry?
on 29 November 2018, Sujata Chaturvedi, Additional Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India, wrote a letter to UPSC Secretary Rakesh Gupta. In this letter, it was said that candidates for lateral entry should be selected from private companies, state government, independent bodies, universities. Who are experts in their field. This recruitment will be for 3 to 5 years on contract basis. It was also mentioned in this letter that it is not necessary to implement reservation for these recruitments.
When was the first recruitment done through lateral entry?
In February 2017, NITI Aayog prepared an action plan for three years. Under this, it was suggested to recruit experienced people from the private sector in the Central Secretariat.
The commission said in its report that recruitment should be done through lateral entry on contract basis for 3 years, which can be extended for 2 more years to 5 years. After this, recruitment through lateral entry started for the first time in 2018. The central government led by Narendra Modi had invited applications for senior posts like joint secretaries and directors.
If the first recruitment happened in 2018, then why is BJP saying that it is the contribution of Congress?
On lateral entry, Modi government minister Ashwini Vaishnav posted that the entire concept of lateral entry is the contribution of the Congress-led UPA government.
In 2005, the UPA government formed the Administrative Reform Commission (ARC) to reform government jobs. It was headed by Veerappa Moily. The committee had said in its report that experts of that field should be recruited in every government department.
Earlier in 1966, the first Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Morarji Desai had prepared its basis. However, the commission did not advocate lateral entry.
Later, the post of Chief Economic Advisor started being filled through lateral entry. According to the rules, the age for this should be less than 45 years and he should be a reputed economist. On the same lines, many other experts are appointed as secretaries to the government.
Did lateral entry start during the Congress government?
Congress spokesperson Shakti Singh Gohil says that ARC was formed in 2005 for reform in jobs. This committee had also given its suggestions, but the UPA government did not make a single recruitment through lateral entry.
This committee had suggested to the government that the officers holding high positions in government departments should be experts in that field. Therefore, instead of recruiting through traditional civil services, experts in that field should be recruited for some senior positions. However, the government led by Manmohan Singh did not implement this suggestion.
For the first time in 2018, lateral recruitment has started by releasing vacancies through UPSC and other government institutions. Earlier, there were experts as advisors, but there was no legal system like lateral entry.
On the allegations of Congress, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal says that in 1976 Manmohan Singh also became the Finance Secretary through lateral entry. Not only this, Sonia Gandhi was made the head of the National Advisory Council.
Is it necessary to implement reservation in all government jobs?
Supreme Court lawyer Virag Gupta says that it is constitutionally necessary to implement reservation in all government jobs. However, under the roster system, some jobs are out of the scope of reservation.
In October 2023, the Central Government itself told the Supreme Court that SC/ST/OBC reservation will be given in temporary appointments of 45 days or more in government departments. Instructions have been issued to all ministries and departments to strictly implement this reservation in temporary posts.
In such a situation, if there is no mention of this in any job advertisement, then it will have to be seen whether the quota will be applicable on these vacancies under the roster system or not.
When there is talk of giving reservation in the private sector of the country, there is talk of giving reservation to local people in different states. At such a time, it would not be right not to give reservation in lateral entry jobs. Participation of people from every section should be ensured in the top posts of the government.
What are the flaws of lateral entry and why is Rahul Gandhi accusing the government of recruiting RSS people through it?
According to Anupam, president of ‘Yuva Halla Bol’, an organization that raises voice against unemployment, lateral entry is a shortcut method of recruitment to high administrative posts. In this high level recruitment process, constitutional provisions of social justice are openly violated. This system is dangerous for the country and society for these 3 reasons-
1. It can become an example of conflict of interest: If a person becomes a government officer from a private company, he will know that he will have to go back to the same company after three years or five years. In such a situation, while holding powerful positions in the government, that officer can work in his own interests. In this way, lateral entry will also become an example of conflict of interest in many cases.
2. It will break legal rules : Lateral entry also violates some constitutional provisions made for social justice. It would not be wrong to say that this shortcut recruitment is also a shortcut way to avoid reservation.
3. It will discourage the youth : This is a policy that will discourage millions of youth preparing for civil services. IAS or IPS officers who are bound by service rules will not be able to say anything right now, but will be disappointed to see their posts going into the hands of people from capitalist families. This will reduce the motivation of young officers and students preparing for civil services.
Actually, one of the fears behind Rahul Gandhi’s allegations is that government-supported candidates will be appointed through lateral entry, which the government can take advantage of in some unfair way. Apart from this, there is also a concern that such officers can make policies in favor of business houses or pressure can be created on them. However, lateral entry recruitments also take place after a complete prescribed process.
When lateral entry started in 2018, for the first time 9 people were appointed in 9 departments. 6 thousand applications were received for this. On 9 August 2024, the Government of India said that in the last 5 years, 63 appointments were made through lateral entry, in which 57 officers are still working.
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