‘Lateral Entry’ into Bureaucracy

In News: Recently, the UPSC issued an advertisement seeking applications “from talented and motivated Indian nationals willing to contribute towards nation building” for three posts of Joint Secretary and 27 of Directors in central government Departments.

• These individuals, who would make a “lateral entry” into the government secretariat, would be contracted for three to five years. These posts were “unreserved”, meaning there were no quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs.

What is Lateral Entry?

• It is the appointment of outsiders with high expertise in the middle rung of ministries especially in the sectors of finance, economy and infrastructure.
• NITI Aayog, in its three-year Action Agenda, and the Sectoral Group of Secretaries (SGoS) on Governance in its report submitted in February 2017, recommended the induction of personnel at middle and senior management levels in the central government.
• These ‘lateral entrants’ would be part of the central secretariat which in the normal course has only career bureaucrats from the All India Services/ Central Civil Services.
• The appointments are mainly to be made for the posts of the Director, Joint Secretary and also Deputy Secretary.
  • A Joint Secretary, appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), has the third highest rank (after Secretary and Additional Secretary) in a Department, and functions as administrative head of a wing in the Department.
  • Directors are a rank below that of Joint Secretary.

Pros of Lateral Entry

• Fresh Ideas & Competitive Environment-The current monopoly of civil servants over senior management positions is creating hurdles in the inflow of new ideas.
  • It will promote Civil Servants to seek specialisation and bring efficiency.
• Shortfalls in number of Recruits- There is nearly 20% shortage of IAS officers in 24 state cadres in India. (Baswan Committee)
  • The number of appointees is insignificant to bridge the gap, especially as India faces a shortage of civil servants

• Vacancies in the Indian Administrative Service have risen, as hiring of officers dipped post liberalization.
  • • Lateral Entry can fill such posts in the short run.
• Outside Experience and Talent: The outsiders have been found to be very successful in finance domains.
  • Specialised knowledge and expertise in the domain area”can be very helpful .
  • Many successful RBI governors entered through lateral entry. Eg Raghuram Rajan, C Rangarajan, etc.
  • AADHAR project was headed by Nandan Nilekani who was an outsider.

• An Old Practice: Both Centre and State have appointed advisers and consultants on an ad-hoc basis, for fixed tenures or an open-ended basis.
  • Eg. Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Criticism of Lateral Entry

• Opposition from IAS/ IPS lobby: The lateral entrants have struggled to garner support of IAS lobby.
  • This hampers the smooth functioning of the organisation.
• Different Work Culture: The lateral entrants accustomed to the private sector work culture find it difficult to understand the processes and dynamics of Government works.
• Lack of Training and Field Experience: The IAS/ IPS officers have been properly trained and have field experience required for the job.
  • It is missing in lateral entrants.
• Lack of Long-term Accountability due to Ad Hoc nature of Jobs.
• No reservation-Groups representing SCs, STs and OBCs have protested the fact that there is no reservation in these appointments.
• Lack of Transparency in selection process due to politicisation of Bureaucracy.

Way Forward

• The government should first focus on the creation of in house specialisation and out of government work deputation.
• For specialised technological upgrades where no Civil Servant is competent enough, a semi-permanent team may be created by Lateral Entry.
• The Limited Lateral Entry with focus on upskilling the in-house teams will help create a balance between much-needed experience and technological upgrades along with smooth functioning constitutional mechanisms.

Source :IE