NEW DELHI: Since 2018, 63 lateral appointments have been made in various ministries in the Union government to posts such as joint secretary, director and deputy secretary, among others, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
“So far, since 2018, 63 appointments at the level of Joint Secretary/Director/Deputy Secretary have been made on contract/deputation basis in various government departments through lateral entry. These appointments have been made for specific assignments considering their specialized knowledge and expertise in the field,” the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said.
Lateral entry refers to the recruitment of professionals from the private sector, academia, public sector enterprises or other organizations directly into middle and senior positions in the central government without having to pass a civil service examination.
Since 2018, there have been lateral inductions in 23 ministries, including finance, commerce, civil aviation, road transport and highways, shipping, agriculture, health and family welfare, among others, the Union minister said in a written reply.
According to data provided by the Rajya Sabha, 10 meetings were held among others in the Ministry of Finance, five for trade, six for education, six for statistics and program implementation and four for agriculture.
Lateral Recruitment of Joint Secretaries, Directors and Deputy Secretaries v The Union Government was introduced in 2018.
“Lateral recruitment is an initiative of the government to achieve the dual objective of bringing in fresh talent as well as increasing the availability of manpower at middle management levels by appointing persons at the level of Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary for specific assignments considering their specialized knowledge and expertise in their field,” the Department of Personnel and Training said in its FY25 annual report.
“The number of lateral entry appointments mentioned is quite a small number compared to the size of the government. The government appoints consultants from the private sector but these are temporary appointments and hence the question of reservation does not arise. This is the problem with the Indian system that when private sector professionals are based on merit, the whole question of reservation is brought in and these are not isolated routine recruitments,” you say they are not routine recruitments where you are not looking. Subhash Garg, Former Finance Minister.
“However, if the government makes lateral entry to normal non-specialist seats, reservation rules must be followed,” Garg added.