What is lateral entry and why has it become flashpoint between Congress, BJP

The government on August 17 issued an advertisement for 45 lateral entry jobs.

Centre's decision to fill 45 posts in the Union government through the lateral entry route has triggered a political slugest between the Congress and BJP.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the move to hire public servants through lateral entry and accused the BJP-led NDA of destroying the Constitution with a “distorted version of Ram Rajya”. According to Rahul, lateral entry is an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis.

However, information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Congress' criticism shows its “hypocrisy” and pointed out that it was the UPA government which developed the concept.

What is lateral entry?

Lateral entry into bureaucracy is a practice that involves recruiting individuals from outside the traditional government service cadre to fill mid and senior-level slots. In 2017, NITI Aayog and the Sectoral Group of Secretaries on Governance in their report recommended the induction of personnel at middle and senior management levels in the central government. These “lateral entrants” were supposed to be part of the central secretariat. The lateral entry process was formally introduced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tenure. The first set of vacancies was announced in 2018. Till then, the central secretariat had only career bureaucrats from the All India Services/ Central Civil Services. They would be given contracts of three years, extendable to a total term of five years.

Who introduced the concept?

The concept of lateral entry was first introduced under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and endorsed by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC), established in 2005 and chaired by (senior Congress leader) Veerappa Moily.

What was the idea behind introducing lateral entry?

In 2019, Minister of State for the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha that “lateral recruitment is aimed at achieving the twin objectives of bringing in fresh talent as well as augment the availability of manpower”. “Reservations are not applied to recruitment of lateral entrants. This is because these lateral entries into the bureaucracy are single-cadre appointments to which reservations do not apply,” said Singh.

What positions are open for lateral entry?

According to reports, the first vacancies for lateral entrants were advertised in 2018, but only for Joint Secretary level positions. Posts of the rank of Director and Deputy Secretary were opened later. Since 2018, a total of 63 people have been recruited under it. Around 35 of them are from the private sector. The recruitment includes eight joint secretaries in 2019 and 30 officers (3 joint secretaries and 27 directors) in 2022.

What triggered the Congress-BJP debate?

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recently issued an advertisement seeking “talented and motivated Indian nationals” for lateral recruitment to various senior positions within the central government. These positions include Joint Secretary, Director, and Deputy Secretary in 24 ministries, with a total of 45 posts up for grabs.

What does the opposition say?

"Privatisation of the IAS is Modi's assurance for ending reservation," said Gandhi, adding the INDIA bloc will strongly oppose this "anti-national step". Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav warned of an agitation on the issue from October 2.