Lateral Entry: Will the babus’ parachute entry blow the quota? Will government job opportunities decrease?

New Delhi
Ambitious step taken towards administrative reform ‘Lateral Entry’ Is reservation a threat? Will the existing system be affected by this process of direct appointment to the post of senior officers? Will there be a lack of transparency in this appointment process? Is there an attempt to ‘privatize’ the lateral entry bureaucracy? These questions have arisen when the government recently issued 30 advertisement for reinstatement at the level of Joint Secretary and Director, in which they are to be directly appointed.

Steps on the target of the opposition
As soon as this advertisement was released, the politics on it increased. SP Supremo Akhilesh Yadav said, ‘BJP is opening the back door to openly bring its own people and what about the candidates who work hard for years? The BJP government should now go on a world tour by giving itself on contract, anyway, the country is not keeping up with them. He said that the opportunities for those who are preparing to become IAS were taken away.

RJD supremo Tejashwi Yadav said that if the participation of such people is really indispensable for the government, then all the qualifications are in the private sector. Why should it not be considered a disgusting attempt of the Central Government to gradually exclude people belonging to Scheduled Castes, Tribes and Backward Classes from the system and reduce reservations.

Chandrashekhar, the founder of Bhima Army, said that he would surround the Parliament in this matter. This issue was also raised in the Rajya Sabha and many leaders also sought a response from the government on this. Ramadas Athawale, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, from within the government himself, told NBT that they would also like to appoint people who belong to the reserved category eligible for these posts. Do not ignore them and if needed, I will also talk to the Prime Minister.

Accused of giving preference to loved ones
Although the general opinion on lateral entry has come in favor so far, the opposition has questioned the government’s intention on its pretext. Linking this to direct reservation, many parties, including Congress, accused this attempt of Modi government to give their people a place in bureaucracy. According to DoPT sources, the government’s concern is more on the other two issues than the allegations. The first issue concerns bureaucracy over lateral entry. According to sources, the DoPT proposal was initially raised by officials. But later a committee of officers was formed on the instructions of the PM when it was agreed upon.

The second concern is the lack of provision of reservation in it. Opposition has been attacking the government in the name of anti-reservation. According to the guidelines made by the government for this, reservation of benefits will not be available in the appointment of lateral entry to the joint secretary posts in the central government. Personnel Minister Jitendra Singh said this in the last session of Parliament on behalf of the government on the response of many members in the Rajya Sabha. It was said that there is no appointment in single post cadre under lateral entry where there has never been a provision for reservation.

This is how restoration and provision are
According to the notification issued by DoPT, the post of Joint Secretary and Director in the Ministries will be appointed. They will have a term of three years and if performed well, they can be appointed for up to five years. The maximum age limit for applying to these posts is 55 and the minimum age is 40 years. His salary will be joint secretary under the Central Government. All the facilities will be available accordingly. They will have to work like service rules and other facilities will also be provided accordingly.

It is known that the post of Joint Secretary is important in any ministry or department and they have a special role in finalizing or implementing all major policies. There will be only interview for their selection and the committee to be headed by the Cabinet Secretary will interview them. According to the merit, in addition to the general graduate and any government, public sector unit, university and those having 15 years experience in the private sector, they can also apply for these posts. The eligibility in the application has been fixed in such a way that the path of direct entry into the government’s top bureaucracy of those having 15 years of experience has been opened anywhere.

Appointed for 10 posts in 2018
Earlier in 2018, 10 posts were appointed through lateral entry. Even then there was a dispute of reservation in it. After this, there was no initiative after this appointment in view of the general election in 2019. Soon after winning the general election in 2019, there was a hint to move in this direction but nothing happened due to the Kovid crisis last year. Now, when the situation turned somewhat normal, the government immediately gave indications to pursue it strongly.

According to sources, these 30 posts will be reinstated soon after their appointment. At the same time, the central government is calling the dispute arising on lateral entry meaningless. Officials associated with the government say that the policies made during the UPA government are being pushed forward. For this, the report cited that the report submitted for the second administrative reform had asked to find a way of lateral entry with the intention of meeting the continuous reduction in the number of IAS and seeking the help of experts.

Debate intensified after PM’s statement
At the same time, the debate intensified after the sharp tirade on PM Narendra Modi’s bureaucracy in the Lok Sabha, that the government wants to move forward in the midst of all the controversies over the lateral entry. He said that Babu will do everything? IAS became, meaning he would run the fertilizer factory too, he would run the chemical factory, if he became IAS, he would also run the plane, what is the great power that we have retained? What are we going to do by giving the country in the hands of the babus? Our babu is also of the country, so is the youth of the country. Let me tell you that in the second term, Modi has expressed concern many times over the lethargy of bureaucracy.