The Union government has asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to withdraw a lateral recruitment advertisement for 46 officers and suggested a review keeping in mind the recruitment norms to ensure social justice, just days after a massive political row broke out over the issue.
In a letter to UPSC chairperson Preeti Sudan, Union Minister Jitendra Singh wrote that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had emphasised that “the process of lateral entry must be in accordance with the principles of equality and social justice enshrined in our Constitution, particularly with regard to the provisions on reservation.” HT has seen a copy of the letter.
The issue was raised by the Congress over the weekend through party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. The government pushed back, saying the scheme had already started under the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and pointing to several newcomers – including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh – who were brought to office by previous regimes. But its own ally and Union minister Chirag Paswan said on Monday he would push for a review of the scheme to ensure that reservation norms were followed.
Jitendra Singh, in his letter to Sudan, underlined the importance of upholding the constitutional mandate of social justice so that deserving candidates from marginalised communities get the representation they deserve in civil service. “As these positions were treated as specialised positions and designated as single cadre posts, there was no facility for reservation in these appointments,” he wrote, adding that this aspect needs to be reviewed and reformed in the context of the Prime Minister’s focus on ensuring social justice.
Singh said that the lateral entry was approved in principle by the Second Commission on Administrative Reforms, set up in 2005 and chaired by Veerappa Moily. “The recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in 2013 were in the same direction. However, there have been many high-profile cases of lateral entry before and after that.”
He said that under previous governments, important posts like secretary in various ministries, leadership of UIDAI etc. were given to lateral entrants without any reservation process. “It is also known that the members of the notorious National Advisory Council ran a super bureaucracy that controlled the Prime Minister’s Office.”
Singh said most of the major lateral entry prior to 2014 was done on an ad hoc basis, including alleged favouritism. He added that the government has made efforts to make the process institutionally driven, transparent and open. “…the Hon’ble Prime Minister strongly believes that the lateral entry process must be in line with the principles of equality and social justice enshrined in our Constitution, particularly with regard to the provisions on reservation. For the Hon’ble Prime Minister, reservation in public services is a cornerstone of our social justice framework, which aims to address historical injustices and promote inclusivity.”
Officials are usually recruited through the civil service entrance procedure, but career changers, usually experts in a particular field, are recruited directly. There is currently no quota for these appointments.
