Brief Context
In News Union Minister Jitendra Singh clarified that the government has not given up on the idea of lateral entry into government departments. Lateral entry It refers to the hiring of specialists, including professionals from the private sector, to take up senior roles in the government. It aims to bring in fresh talent and strengthen middle management by appointing specialists with domain expertise for specific roles.
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Syllabus :GS 2/Governance
In News
- Union Minister Jitendra Singh clarified that the government has not given up on the idea of lateral entry into government departments.
Lateral entry
- It refers to the hiring of specialists, including professionals from the private sector, to take up senior roles in the government.
- It aims to bring in fresh talent and strengthen middle management by appointing specialists with domain expertise for specific roles.
View of NITI Ayyog and various commissions
- The policy of lateral entry originated from recommendations by the NITI Aayog in its 2017 report, which highlighted the need for specialists in policymaking due to the economy’s growing complexity.
- It proposed inducting experts to enhance competition and bring fresh talent into governance.
- The idea was to replace frequent officer rotations with longer, specialised postings.
- Similar recommendations were made earlier by the second Administrative Reforms Commission in 2005 under the UPA government.
Previous appointments
- Former PM Manmohan Singh and experts like Verghese Kurien, Homi Bhabha, and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam were lateral entrants who made significant contributions in various fields.
- Post-independence, lateral entries helped overcome the shortage of civil servants, and the system gradually evolved with regular UPSC recruitment.
- Around 60 posts had already been filled through the lateral entry mode. “Today 40 to 45 [lateral entry recruits] are still working.
| Do you know? – In August 2024, the UPSC withdrew its notification for recruiting 45 officers through lateral entry—10 joint secretaries and 35 directors or deputy secretaries—after facing political backlash. – Opposition parties criticized the move for bypassing reservations for OBCs, SCs, and STs. |
Advantages
- Lateral entrants can bring domain-specific knowledge and professional experience, essential in today’s complex policymaking environment.
- Private sector professionals may introduce new ideas, data-driven strategies, and outcome-based approaches to governance.
- The government faces a shortage of All India Services officers, especially at the Central level.
- Lateral entry helps fill these gaps.
- According to a 2023-24 parliamentary panel report on the DoPT, only 442 IAS officers were working with the Union government, against the required strength of 1,469.
- Lateral entry helps fill these gaps.
Disadvantages
- Lateral entry has faced criticism for not applying caste-based reservations, potentially sidelining marginalized groups.
- Critics argue that such appointments bypass the DoPT’s roster system, which applies reservation to each department individually, not across ministries.
- Entrants may lack knowledge of governmental procedures and hierarchies, leading to inefficiencies.
- Cooperation related challenges with existing civil servants.
Way Ahead
- The lateral entry holds promise for modernizing India’s administrative machinery but it must be implemented with transparency, fairness, and clear integration mechanisms to ensure long-term success.
Source :IE