57 lateral entrants at joint secretary, director, deputy secretary levels: Govt
The government introduced lateral entry to encourage experienced professionals with domain knowledge to undertake specific assignments
Fifty seven officers have joined the government through lateral entry at the joint secretary, director, and deputy secretary levels, minister of state for personnel, public grievances, and pensions Jitender Singh told Parliament.
A joint secretary is the highest position an entrant can be appointed to under the lateral entry policy, which was introduced for specialists who are not career civil servants. A lateral entrant’s three-year tenure is extendable at the government’s discretion.
Singh said that 63 appointments have been made to date through lateral entry and 35 of them were from the private sector. “The lateral recruitment, at the levels of Joint Secretary, Director, and Deputy Secretary in [the] Government of India, has been undertaken since 2018 to appoint persons for specific assignments, keeping in view their specialized knowledge and expertise in the domain area. So far 63 appointments have been made through lateral entry out of which 35 appointments have been from [the] private sector. Presently, 57 officers are in position in Ministries/Departments. Eligible candidates from reserved categories are considered along with other eligible candidates. However, reservation is not applicable to such single post appointment,” Singh said in response to a question from Lok Sabha member Ramprit Mandal on the appointments and reservation policy related to the lateral entry.
Lateral entry was introduced for experienced professionals with domain knowledge to undertake specific assignments. Such officers play an important role in the policymaking and execution of policies. Group A service officers hold the posts of joint secretary, director, or deputy secretary in central ministers. In 2018, the Centre opened 10 vacancies for joint secretary-level officers through lateral entry.
At the 2019 Hindustan Times Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the importance of bringing in professionals through lateral entry. “There are very talented people in society. They also want to contribute to running such a big country. They should get opportunities...to give them an opportunity, we have developed a special mechanism, that too in an organised way and not on the whims of the government. It is through [Public service recruiter] UPSC [Union Public Service Commission].”