Modi government withdraws decision on ‘lateral entry’, bans UPSC advertisement amid political protests

Modi government has withdrawn the decision on lateral entry. The advertisement taken out by UPSC on 17 August has been put on hold. The central government is now considering bringing reservation in lateral entry. A reservation for OBC/SC/ST may be brought in the lateral entry.

No reservation in lateral entry
UPAC had brought out recruitment for 45 posts in central government ministries. In this, all the posts were to be filled through lateral entry only. There is no reservation in lateral entry recruitment. A political debate had erupted regarding this.

Recruitment was to be done through lateral entry in 24 ministries
UPSC had recently released an advertisement. In this, appointments were to be made to various senior posts within the Central Government through lateral entry. These posts included the posts of Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary in 24 ministries. In these, applications were invited for a total of 45 posts.

Rahul Gandhi and NDA leaders raised questions
Lateral entry into bureaucracy has triggered a new debate. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and SP MP Akhilesh Yadav had raised questions on the issue of reservation. NDA government leaders Chirag Paswana and KC Tyagi were also speaking against lateral entry.

What is lateral entry?
Lateral entry is also called direct recruitment. In this, those people are taken into government service, who are very expert in their field. These are not from IAS-PCS or any government cadre. Based on the experience of these people, the government deploys them in its bureaucracy.