Manmohan Singh to Raghuram Rajan: 10 technocrats and economists appointed through lateral entry in pre-Modi era

Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India and Raghuram Rajan, former RBI Governor. (File photo: PTI)

The Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) decision to fill 45 government posts through lateral entry has drawn sharp criticism from the Opposition, particularly the Congress. The grand old party has alleged that the Centre’s decision was “an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis”.

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the "BJP’s distorted version of Ram Rajya seeks to destroy the Constitution and snatch reservations from Bahujans". Party president Mallikarjun Kharge termed it an “attack on the Constitution” and claimed that “instead of filling jobs in government departments, BJP has eliminated 5.1 lakh posts in the last 10 years by selling off Government of India’s shares in PSUs alone”.

However, the Centre argues that several prominent economists, technocrats and entrepreneurs were inducted into the government through lateral entry during the erstwhile regime of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance from 2004 to 2014 and earlier.

"We want to point out that Dr. Manmohan Singh was also part of lateral entry, as he was directly made the Finance Secretary in 1976. Similarly, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, was also part of lateral entry. There are hundreds of such examples. Lateral entry was started by you. Modi established it formally," Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Sunday.

Here’s a look at the 10 prominent lateral entry appointments prior to 2014:

1. Sam Pitroda: Sam Pitroda, a technocrat and entrepreneur, was brought into the Indian government during the 1980s under the Rajiv Gandhi government. Credited for his role in India's telecom revolution, he served as the Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission and advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress.

2. Manmohan Singh: Prior to his appointment as the Prime Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh was inducted into the government as a lateral entry in 1971 when he was appointed as an economic advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Trade. He later became the Finance Minister in 1991 and played a key role in India's economic liberalisation.

3. V. Krishnamurthy: A technocrat who played a critical role in shaping India's industrial policy, Krishnamurthy was brought into government roles such as the Chairman of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and later Maruti Udyog. He also served as the Chairman of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council.

4. Bimal Jalan: An economist with a background in international institutions such as the IMF and World Bank, Jalan served as the Chief Economic Advisor and later as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1997 to 2003.

5. Kaushik Basu: Kaushik Basu, a prominent academic economist, was appointed as the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to the Government of India in 2009. He had a significant career in academia before his appointment and later went on to serve as the Chief Economist at the World Bank.

6. N.K. Singh: A former member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), N.K. Singh served as the Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office and later as a member of the Planning Commission. He was a lateral entry in the sense that he transitioned into advisory roles in finance and public policy after his time in the civil services.

7. Arvind Virmani: A noted economist having previously worked in academia and with international economic institutions, Arvind Virmani was brought into the government and served as the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India from 2007 to 2009.

8. Raghuram Rajan: A prominent economist who had served as the Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Rajan was appointed as the Chief Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance in 2012. He was brought into the government to help steer economic policy during a challenging period and later went on to serve as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 2013 to 2016.

9. Montek Singh Ahluwalia: He was brought into government roles from academia and international organisations. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission from 2004 to 2014.

10. Nandan Nilekani: Co-founder of Infosys, Nilekani was appointed as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in 2009 to steer the Aadhar project.

What is lateral entry?

The scheme traces its genesis to the UPA era when the then government first introduced the concept of lateral entry into bureaucracy. The concept found the backing of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC), established in 2005, and chaired by (senior Congress leader) Veerappa Moily.

In 2017, NITI Aayog and the Sectoral Group of Secretaries on Governance recommended the induction of personnel at middle and senior management levels in the central government. These lateral entrants would be part of the central secretariat which traditionally had only career bureaucrats. They would be given contracts of three years, extendable to a total of five years.