Lateral Entry Policy Not Scrapped, To Return With More Pizzazz

The scheme was conceptualised and implemented with an aim to free governance from the shackles of red tape by bringing in fresh ideas and expertise through the recruitment of private sector domain experts.

In August last year, the government had asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to cancel advertisements for lateral recruitment into government service for 45 posts of Joint Secretary, Director, and Deputy Secretary.

Bypassing SC/ST/OBC Recruitment Provisions Alleged

This was done in the backdrop of a controversy, alleging that the Government is trying to bypass Constitutional provisions for reservation to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government recruitments.

Since then, the Government developed cold feet and remained silent over its ambitious plan for the rest of the year. But recently, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh reignited the issue, saying that the government has neither abandoned nor suspended the lateral entry policy and was still “open to it”.   

Officials, though, told The Secretariat that the policy is not going to make a comeback anytime soon, as the work on revamping and overhauling the recruitment process was in progress, with discussions underway to address three key issues — reservation, domain functions, and emoluments to be offered to subject experts.

They also contended that apart from getting the UPSC advertisements scrapped last year owing to the controversy around reservation provisions, the policy, since its launch in 2028, failed to attract the desired talent pool from the industry. 

More PSU Employees Applying To Retain NCR Postings

Another problem, which has been witnessed over the years, is that of late, more applications were received from mid-level employees of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) than domain experts from the private industry, the officials said, adding that they mostly applied with an aim to stay in the National Capital. 

Even the issue of reservation needed to be addressed to bring clarity on whether it would be part of the scheme or not, the officials said, adding that under the present system, the reservation policy does not apply to lateral entries, because the hirings are done for a single-post cadre.

"We are having discussions in the Department of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on ways to revamp the scheme so that we can get good talent from the private sector,” a senior official in the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) said. 

Emoluments, Administrative Work For Lateral Entries

The DoPT official also said, a need was also felt to revisit the emoluments being offered to lateral entrants. “The salaries that are offered to lateral entrants need to be re-examined,” he noted, adding that currently, those recruited to the post of joint secretary are put in the same pay bracket of Rs 1.44 lakh to Rs 2.18 lakh that a GoI joint secretary gets. “Salary in the private sector for such senior-level management positions is way higher,” he said. 

The official also said that a discussion has also been going on the role to be played by such lateral entrants, once recruited, as the experience, which has been gathered so far, suggested that after getting into the system, most of the subject experts “found it difficult to navigate with the files and administrative work assigned to them”, which is on a par with career bureaucrats in the government. 

“Keeping all these in mind, discussions are also taking place on defining their specific roles in the government,” the official said.        

Incidentally, in 2018, when the lateral entry policy was first introduced, the government had advertised to recruit 10 experts at the level of joint secretary, for a period of three years, which was extendable to five years. But out of the 10 selected for the appointment, nine joined, one left midway, while another left after completing three years. 

Since then, the government announced four recruitment drives, but the response to the scheme has wavered. In 2021, around 40 posts were opened for lateral entry, mostly for the director and deputy secretary levels.