Know what is UPSC's lateral entry, on which the opposition created a ruckus?

UPSC Lateral Entry: UPSC has invited applications for recruitment to 45 posts of Joint Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Directors in various ministries. These recruitments will be done under lateral entry. This is a golden opportunity to become an officer without giving UPSC exam. In this, the candidates will be selected only on the basis of interview. However, the opposition has started protesting against this recruitment process of UPSC. From former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav to Mayawati and former Deputy CM of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav have also protested and termed this recruitment process as unconstitutional. In such a situation, the question arises that what is this lateral entry of UPSC and why is there so much ruckus over it?

Before understanding lateral entry, it is important to understand and know how recruitment takes place in UPSC? Actually, UPSC is considered to be the toughest exam in the country, which is held in three stages. First there is a prelims exam, which is of 400 marks and only the candidates who pass it get a chance to appear in the main exam. The main exam is of 1,750 marks. Only those candidates who pass the main examination get a chance to appear in the last round i.e. interview. The interview is of 275 marks.

Then the merit list is prepared on the basis of marks obtained in the main examination and interview and on the basis of that the candidates are selected for the post of officer in IAS, IFS, IPS and various ministries and government departments. Now let us know what is lateral entry of UPSC?

What is lateral entry?

Lateral entry in UPSC started in the year 2018. It is called direct appointment. Actually, in 2017, the central government had said to consider recruiting officers on higher posts through lateral entry in addition to appointment through civil services examination in bureaucracy. The government said that experienced high-ranking officers of the private sector should also be appointed to the posts of Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary in various government departments, so that the bureaucracy gets more momentum. With this idea, lateral entry in bureaucracy started in the next year i.e. 2018 and under this, for the first time, top officials from private sector were selected for 9 posts of Joint Secretary in various government departments through interview only.

How many vacancies for which post this time?

This time, in the application that UPSC has issued for recruitment through lateral entry, recruitment has been mentioned for 10 Joint Secretary and 35 Director/Deputy Secretary posts. There will be recruitment of Joint Secretary for two posts in the Ministry of Finance, one post each in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Apart from this, there will be recruitment of Director/Deputy Secretary for 8 posts in the Ministry of Agriculture, 2 in the Ministry of Education and one each in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Civil Aviation. These recruitments will be done on a 3-year contract and the contract can be extended for up to 5 years as per the performance and requirement.

What is the required age and experience?

For recruitment to the Joint Secretary level posts, UPSC has sought at least 15 years of experience, while for Director level posts, 10 years of experience has been sought and for Deputy Secretary level posts, 7 years of experience has been sought. To apply for the Joint Secretary level post, the age limit of the candidate should be between 40 to 55 years, while for the Director level post, the age limit should be 35 to 45 years and for the Deputy Secretary level post, the age limit should be 32 to 40 years.

Who can apply?

At present, only officers working in any state government, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), autonomous bodies, statutory organizations, universities, equivalent officers working in research related institutions, private sector companies, consultancy organizations and people working on equivalent posts in international or multinational organizations can apply for these posts. No employee of the central government can apply for these posts.

Why did the opposition create a ruckus?

The opposition has created a lot of ruckus over the lateral entry recruitment process of UPSC. Former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that through this recruitment, BJP is conspiring to place people of its ideology in the higher government posts of UPSC through the back door. At the same time, Mayawati says that due to this direct recruitment, the employees working on the lower posts will be deprived of promotion. She also said that if the people of SC, ST and OBC category are not given appointment according to their quota in these government appointments, then it will be a violation of the Constitution.

What did Tejashwi Yadav say?

On this issue, former Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav says that the central government is playing with the constitution and reservation written by Baba Saheb, because there is no provision of reservation in the direct recruitments made by UPSC through lateral entry. He said that 'If UPSC had appointed 45 IAS through civil service examination, then it would have had to give reservation to SC / ST and OBC, that is, out of 45, 22-23 candidates would have been selected from Dalit, backward and tribal classes.

What did Rahul Gandhi say?

In this matter, Rahul Gandhi has also attacked BJP and the central government. He says that by recruiting through lateral entry on important posts in various ministries of the central government, reservation of SC, ST and OBC class is being snatched openly. Attacking the government, he said that 'Privatization of IAS is Modi's guarantee to end reservation.