In August 2024, the government advertised 45 senior bureaucratic posts, then cancelled the ad within three days. This article covers Lateral Entry in the Civil Services, and why that reversal happened.
Timeline
- 2005: The Second Administrative Reforms Commission, chaired by Veerappa Moily under the UPA government, recommends lateral entry.
- 10 June 2018: The government notifies 10 Joint Secretary posts to be filled through lateral entry, its first such move.
- 17 August 2024: The UPSC advertises 45 posts — Joint Secretary, Director, and Deputy Secretary — through lateral entry.
- 20 August 2024: The government directs the UPSC to cancel the advertisement, after criticism over the absence of SC/ST/OBC reservation.
Must Know
- Lateral entry recruits specialists — from the private sector, academia, and public sector enterprises — directly into senior government posts, bypassing the usual UPSC civil services exam route.
- India’s first lateral entry notification came on 10 June 2018, for 10 Joint Secretary posts, drawing over 3,000 applications.
- On 17 August 2024, the UPSC advertised 45 posts at Joint Secretary, Director, and Deputy Secretary level through lateral entry.
- Just three days later, on 20 August 2024, the government asked the UPSC to cancel that advertisement.
Good to Know
- The idea was first floated under the UPA government and endorsed by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2005), before being implemented under the NDA government from 2018.
- Since 2018, roughly 35 private-sector specialists have been appointed to government departments through this route, in fields like finance, energy, and technology.
- Lateral entry posts are treated as individual, specific vacancies. Under current rules, reservation for SC, ST, and OBC candidates does not apply to such single-post recruitment.
- Opposition parties criticised the 2024 advertisement as bypassing constitutional reservation safeguards for the bureaucracy.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- The episode shows how a decades-old administrative reform idea can still collide with India’s reservation framework, which the Constitution builds around cadre-based, multi-post recruitment.
- Supporters argue lateral entry brings specialised domain expertise into government roles that generalist officers may lack, especially in technical or fast-changing sectors.
- Critics argue it risks weakening a career bureaucracy built on open, merit-based competitive exams, and creates a route around reservation obligations.
- The government’s quick reversal — cancelling an advertisement within three days of criticism — illustrates how politically sensitive reservation questions can override an otherwise-approved reform in India’s bureaucracy.
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