June 11, 2018

“They bring in a vast number of fresh & vibrant ideas."

The Union govt. has advertised & sought applications from “talented & motivated Indian nationals willing to contribute towards nation building” to become bureaucrats at the Joint Secretary (JS) rank, a mid-ranking position usually filled by officers selected through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams.

The Ministry of Personnel said it's looking for 10 outstanding individuals with expertise in the areas of financial services, revenue, economic affairs, agriculture, cooperation & farmer welfare, road transport & highways, shipping, environment, forest & climate change, new and renewable energy, civil aviation and commerce.

“It is an endeavor to get the best from whichever source available,” said Minister of state of department of personnel and training Jitendra Singh said.

“It is motivated with focus on allowing every Indian citizen a fair chance to ensure their growth depending on their potential,” he added.

The applications for ‘lateral recruitment of senior positions in the government of India’ can be sent from 15th June to 30th July.

“We already have 2 secretaries who're on contract - drinking water & sanitation, and Ayush. Before that we had a power secretary, who was recruited in the same manner,” said C. Chandarmouli, Secretary (personnel).

Chandramouli was referring to Parameswaran Iyer, who took voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) & then returned from the US to head the Narendra Modi govt’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission & was last year, appointed secretary in the drinking water & sanitation ministry for two years.

Another eg. is “Vaidya” Rajesh Kotecha, who was 1st appointed as special secretary in the Ministry of Ayush & later promoted as secretary in July 2017. Kotecha, a former vice-chancellor of Jamnagar-based Gujarat Ayurveda University and an Ayurvedic doctor, has been given charge for 3 years.

But a joint secretary rank official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, added that there might've been earlier instances of individual ministries advertising for a particular post, but that this is the 1st time that the Ministry of Personnel has collectively sought applications for ten JS-rank posts in various departments.

“Our internal consultations are on. The advertisement has come this morning. We haven't structured our response,” said Sanjay Bhoosreddy, secretary of the IAS association said.

But a senior officer of the association on the condition of anonymity said that there should be a merit-based exam for lateral entrants as well.

“This isn't a bad idea per se. But we've to see the fine prints. There should be some merit-based exams for the lateral entrants. The appointment should only be given by a body like UPSC. The Centre must judge if the applicants have domain knowledge & experience of working in a govt set-up. An NGO & a government are 2 different ball games. Remember, a civil servant works in villages as well as in cities,” the officer said.

Niti Aayog chief Amitabh Kant said the body’s experience with lateral entry had been extremely good. “They bring in a vast no. of fresh & vibrant ideas. This move in the govt. was long overdue & I welcome it. Will catalyse UPSC entrants to specialise,” he tweeted.

The govt notification says those who've been working at “comparable levels in Private Sector Companies, Consultancy Organisations, International/Multinational Organisations with a minimum of 15 years’ experience” are eligible to apply and recruitment would be for 3 to 5 years.

The Congress-led UPA government handpicked former Infosys chief Nandan Nilekani to head its ambitious Unique Identification Authority of India, the nodal body for the Aadhaar project.

There have been other examples as well — like chemical engineer Lovraj Kumar, who joined the government & became petroleum secretary during the Janata Party government.

However, not everyone backed this move. “Bad & dangerous move - Government has invited application for 10 posts of Joint secretaries in different ministries under ‘ lateral entry’ Schemes. I strongly oppose the move by passing Regular Route to bring RSS cadet in... Reservation is main casualty,” said CPI(M) MP TK Rangarajan.

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