Lateral entry: UPSC announces 20 vacancies for joint secy, director posts
UPSC said a detailed announcement about the 20 vacancies will be made on May 20. Applications will be received between May 20 and June 19
NEW DELHI: Public service recruiter Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Thursday announced 20 vacancies for lateral entry at the level of joint secretary, director and deputy secretary, in the third tranche of the exercise since its launch in 2019.

UPSC said the 20 posts are appointments will be made for 11 departments.
“As per the requisition received from the department of personnel and training (DoPT) applications are being invited to join the government at the level of joint secretary, director/deputy secretary on contract basis,” UPSC said in a statement.
A detailed announcement about the vacancies and the eligibility of the candidates will be made on May 20, UPSC said. Interested candidates will have to send across completed applications to UPSC before June 19.
According to officials familiar with the matter, four of the 20 vacancies are at the rank of joint secretary and 16 at the level of director and deputy secretary. A joint secretary is the highest position in the government a lateral entrant can be appointed to under the government’s lateral entry policy
Applications have been invited for the following ministries and departments -- agriculture and farmers welfare, civil aviation, chemicals and petrochemicals, corporate affairs, food and public distribution, heavy industries, higher education, housing and urban affairs, legal affairs, promotion of industry and internal trade, pharmaceuticals and school education and literacy.
This is the third tranche of recruitments since 2019, when the government introduced the system of lateral entrants, or private sector specialists who are not career civil servants. In 2019, the government hired 10 people, after announcing vacancies for 40. At the end of 2021, seven of the 10 recruits still held positions.
The number went up to 31 in 2021, when the government proposed to fill the remaining 33 positions. The lateral entrants have a tenure of three years, which is extendable at the government’s discretion.
According to government data, in 2021 it received a total of 295 applications for the joint secretary-level posts, 1,247 applications for director level posts and 489 applications for deputy secretary level posts.
