CIVIL SERVICES
IN a bidto alterdrasticallythe
public administration system, the
Department of Personnel andTrain-
ing(DoPT) plansto recruitspecial-
ists fromthe privatesectorin various
echelons of the bureaucracy.
Through a process of “lateral entry”,
domainexpertsholding corporate
jobswillbe broughtin for a fewyears
in postsgenerallyheldby public ser-
vants.Whileconsultants, advisers
andofficerson special dutyhave
beenassignedrolesin Ministriesand
governmentdepartmentsoccasion-
ally,thisis thefirst timethatout-
siderswhoneednot necessarilyhave
hadanyexperience in governance
are soughtto be appointedas public
servantsin largenumbers.
Around 400 postsat the Deputy
SecretaryandDirector levelsareto
be openedup to privatesectorin-
ductees.Currently, thesepostsare
filledby a systematicCentral Staffing
Scheme thatappointseligible of-
ficersfromthe participating services,
including the IndianAdministrative
Service (IAS).
According to thevotaries of the
BharatiyaJanataParty(BJP) in the
governmentandthe media,the move
is a “reform” of the “steelframe”bur-
eaucracy to helpgetridof “dead-
wood”whichholdsthe countryback
from“progress”.Retiredbureaucrats
say,however, thatit is a wayto
privatise the government andcreate
a revolving doorbetween the private
andpublic sectors.Theycautionthat
insteadof championingthemove,
thegovernmentshouldbe waryof
conflictsof interestthatmayunder-
mineits authority. According to the
narrative built by the BJP,
everythingthathappenedbeforeit
cameto powerwasmarked by cor-
ruption, wasuntenableandimpeded
the country’sgrowth.
Theideaof lateral entry is not
new.In December2015,Jitendra
Singh,Ministerof Statein the Prime
Minister's Office,told Parliament
thattherewasno proposalto permit
lateralentryintotheIAS.Instead,
thegovernmentwasaddressingthe
issueof shortageof IASofficersbyothermeans,he hadsaid.TheIAS
Officers’Associations,too,hadbeen
cautiousaboutlateralentryandin-
sistedthattheprocessof induction
shouldnot be discretionary.A public
officerselected to servetheCentral
or Stategovernment shouldnotbe
appointedwithoutdueprocessbeing
followed, saida retiredIASofficer.
In June 2018, however, the
DoPT, which is not a recruiting
agencybuta cadre-controllingau-
thorityof the civilservice,issuedan
advertisement for 10 postsof Joint
Secretaryin various departments of
theUniongovernment.Theadvert-
isement said that the applicants
couldhaveworked withautonomous
bodies, private sector companies,
consultanciesor multinational or-
ganisations.Theywouldhavean ini-
tial termof threeyears,which might
be extendedup tofive years.COURTCASE
Theadvertisement waschallengedin
the Supreme Courtthrougha public
interestlitigation(PIL)petitionin
orderto protectthe“independence
of the executive”.Thepetitioner,Dr
Chandrapal,a retiredSecretaryin
theMinistryof Micro, Small& Me-
diumEnterprises, questioned the
DoPT’sdecisionto assumethe roleof
recruiter, whichit hadneverdonein
the past.
“This lateralentrywillbypass the
threestagesof theUPSC[Union
Public Service Commission] civil
services exam—preliminary, main
exam,andinterviewandalsothe
presentarrangementin whichone-THEHINDUARCHIVESAMBER DUBEY,whohas served
asPartnerand Headof KPMGin
AerospaceandDefence,hasbeen
selectedasJointSecretaryfor the
Ministryof Civil Aviation.Hewason
alistof ninerecruitsfinalisedby
the UPSCin April.Blow to reservation
Lateralentryinto thebureaucracyfromthecorporatesectoris likelyto
generateconflictsofinterest,subvertreservationandcompromisethe
independenceofthecivil services.BYDIVYATRIVEDI