Friday, February 14th, 2025

The decision was withdrawn in three days, know why the opposition parties were attacking the lateral entry


New Delhi : After the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the decision to appoint 45 specialists through ‘lateral entry’ in various ministries of the Center has been withdrawn. Union Minister of State for Personnel (Independent Charge) Dr. Jitendra Singh has written a letter to the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to cancel the lateral entry advertisement as per the instructions of the Prime Minister. UPSC had issued an advertisement to appoint officers through ‘lateral entry’, which has now been canceled. At the same time, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that the government led by PM Narendra Modi has decided to implement the principle of reservation in appointment through ‘lateral entry’ to ensure social justice. Let us tell you that after the UPSC advertisement regarding lateral entry came out, while the opposition parties were on the offensive, the allies of the central government also opposed direct recruitment through this medium.

What was the controversy?
The controversy started after UPSC issued an advertisement on August 17, 2024 to appoint 45 specialists through ‘lateral entry’ to the key posts of Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary in various ministries of the Center. Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) called this decision against SC, ST and OBC and demanded the Center to withdraw this decision. At the same time, Chirag Paswan, the head of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), which is part of the government, had called reservation necessary in any government recruitment. JDU had also raised questions on the decision of lateral entry.

What is lateral entry?
UPSC issued advertisement to fill 10 joint secretary, 35 director and deputy secretary posts, these posts are to be filled through lateral entry on contract basis. Various experts (including experts from private sector) are appointed in government departments, which is called ‘lateral entry’. Through lateral entry, people from private sector can also be directly appointed to government posts, which also includes big posts like joint secretary and director. Through ‘lateral entry’, UPSC directly appoints candidates to those posts on which IAS officers are posted. The provision of reservation was not implemented in this, due to which controversy has now come to the fore.


What did the Union Minister say in the letter now?

Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh has written a letter to UPSC Chairman Preeti Sudan asking her to cancel the advertisement so that weaker sections get their due representation in government services. he/she said that it is well known that lateral entry in principle was supported by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, which was constituted in 2005 under the chairmanship of Veerappa Moily. The recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in 2013 were also in this direction. The Union Minister has said in a letter to the UPSC Chairman that for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reservation in public employment is “the cornerstone of our social justice framework which aims to redress historical injustice and promote inclusiveness.

At the same time, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that the transparent decision of lateral entry in UPSC has been taken to implement the principle of reservation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always shown his/her commitment towards social justice. The principle of reservation has been implemented in NEET, Medical Admission, Navodaya Vidyalaya. he/she said that PM Modi’s commitment is clearly visible in the decision to implement the principle of reservation in lateral entry in today’s UPSC. The principle of reservation was not kept in mind in the decisions taken by the Congress government before 2014 and Congress should also answer for this.

There was no provision for reservation in lateral entry, now there will be
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said that since these posts have been designated as single-cadre posts considering them as special, there is no provision for reservation in these appointments. he/she has written that keeping in mind the Prime Minister’s vision of ensuring social justice, this step needs to be reviewed and improved. he/she said that keeping these conditions in mind, UPSC should cancel the lateral entry recruitment advertisement issued on August 17, 2024. This step will be an important progress towards social justice and empowerment. It has been decided to apply the principle of reservation in lateral entry as well. This is the reason why UPSC’s advertisement of August 17 has been canceled. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that the Central Government has decided to implement the principle of reservation in appointment through ‘lateral entry’ to ensure social justice.

IG Patel, Manmohan, Montek… Lateral entry has been going on since Nehru’s days, yet the Modi government took a U-turn
Questions raised on Congress also?

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said that under the previous governments, important posts like Secretary in various ministries, leadership of UIDAI were filled through ‘lateral entry’ without following any reservation process. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that today Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again reinstated Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar’s commitment to the Constitution by taking a very important decision. UPSC had adopted a very transparent method for lateral entry. We have taken such a decision to apply the principle of reservation in that too. The Prime Minister has always shown his/her commitment towards social justice. he/she said that earlier the OBC Commission, which was an ordinary body, we gave it constitutional status. Be it NEET, medical admission, Sainik Vidyalaya or Navodaya Vidyalaya, we have implemented the principle of reservation everywhere. he/she said that before 2014, the principles of reservation were not taken into account in the UPA government.

The government was also under pressure from its constituent parties

After the advertisement for direct recruitment through lateral entry was released, not only the opposition parties were on the offensive, but the allies of the central government also opposed this decision. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and JDU also objected to this decision. After which the pressure on the government increased. Just three days after the advertisement was released on August 17, it was cancelled on August 20.

What did the leaders of opposition parties say?

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said that by recruiting through lateral entry on important posts in various ministries of the Central Government, reservation of SC, ST and OBC category is being openly snatched away. At the same time, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, opposing this decision of the government, wrote on Twitter that this is a big conspiracy against the country. BSP supremo Mayawati said that the decision of direct recruitment on 45 high posts of various categories in the Center is not correct, because the employees working on lower posts through direct recruitment will be deprived of the benefit of promotion.

Has recruitment been done through lateral entry before?
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav attacked the previous United Progressive Alliance government on ‘lateral entry’ before 2014. he/she said that the appointment of finance secretaries was done through lateral entry and the principle of reservation was not taken into account. Vaishnav questioned that Dr. Manmohan Singh, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia and before him/her Dr. Vijay Kelkar also became finance secretaries through lateral entry. Did the Congress take care of the principle of reservation at that time?

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