Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has cancelled the advertisement related to lateral entry in the bureaucracy following the directions from the Department of Personnel and Training today.

Earlier today, the government asked the UPSC to cancel the advertisement related to lateral entry in the bureaucracy. This comes a few days after UPSC issued an advertisement to appoint 45 Joint Secretaries, Directors, and Deputy Secretaries in Central Ministries, which was questioned by the opposition parties.

Union Minister for the Department of Personnel and Training, Dr. Jitendra Singh, has written a letter to UPSC Chairman Preeti Sudan, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is of the firm belief that the process of lateral entry must be aligned with the principles of equity and social justice enshrined in the Constitution, particularly concerning the provisions of reservation. The Minister said that for the Prime Minister, reservation in public employment is a cornerstone of the government’s social justice framework, aimed at addressing historical injustices and promoting inclusivity. Dr. Singh said it is important that the constitutional mandate towards social justice is upheld so that deserving candidates from marginalized communities get their rightful representation in government services. He added that since lateral entry positions have been treated as specialized and designated as single-cadre posts, there has been no provision for reservation in these appointments, and this aspect needs to be reviewed and reformed in the context of Mr. Modi’s focus on ensuring social justice.

In his letter, Dr. Singh highlighted that lateral entry was endorsed by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission chaired by Veerappa Moily in 2005. The recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in 2013 were also in the same direction. The Minister, however, added that both before and after that, there have been many high-profile cases of lateral entrants. He also said that during previous governments, posts as important as that of Secretary in various ministries and leadership of UIDAI were given to lateral entrants without following any process of reservations.

Responding on the issue, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the decision to align lateral entry with principles of reservation shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Commitment to social justice. Mr Vaishnaw said that the Prime Minister always believed in social justice and his programmes have advanced the welfare of the weakest sections of the society. Minister also said, during the UPA government principles of reservation were not taken into consideration.