Controversial Lateral Entry in UPSC Stopped by Central Government
Prime Minister Modi's Directive Halts Recruitment Amidst Concerns Over Reservation Rights
Amid the debate over lateral entry in UPSC, the central government on Tuesday banned the advertisement for lateral entry. In this regard, the Personnel Minister has written a letter to the UPSC Chairman.
On the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the advertisement for direct recruitment has been banned. Earlier, UPSC had issued an advertisement on August 17, in which 45 joint secretaries, deputy secretaries and director level recruitments were announced through lateral entry.
In lateral recruitment, candidates are recruited without giving the UPSC exam. In this, the benefit of reservation rules is also not available. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had opposed this and said that by recruiting through lateral entry on important posts, reservation of SC, ST and OBC category is being openly snatched away.
When the controversy grew on this, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav took charge and said that lateral entry in bureaucracy is not a new thing. Lateral entry has been taking place during Congress-led governments since the 1970s and former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Montek Singh Ahluwalia are also prominent examples of such initiatives.