‘Cancel recruitment of public servants through lateral entry,’ Union minister writes to UPSC chief
Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that the ‘process of lateral entry must be aligned with the principles of equity and social justice’, the minister said.
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Union minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday urged Union Public Service Commission Chairperson Preeti Sudan to cancel the recruitment of public servants through lateral entry on a contract basis.
The letter was written at the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Singh is the minister of state in the prime minister’s office.
This came after Opposition parties and a Bharatiya Janata Party ally – the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) – objected to the Union Public Service Commission’s August 17 advertisement calling for the recruitment of 45 joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries across 24 Union ministries.
Opposition parties claimed that the government was conspiring to undermine reservations in public sector jobs for marginalised communities by filling the posts through lateral entry.
However, Singh’s letter to Sudan clarified that the appointment of public servants through lateral entry had been endorsed in principle by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, which was constituted in 2005 and chaired by former Union minister Veerappa Moily.
At the time, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government was in power.
The recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission in 2013 also supported lateral entry, Singh said.
“However, both before and after that there have been many high-profile cases of lateral entrants,” Singh said. “Under earlier governments, posts as important as that of Secretary in various ministries, leadership...
