March 03, 2025 12:56 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Crucial to have Trump’s support, says Zelenskyy a day after fiery White House exchange | 'We're looking for peace, Zelenskyy wants Russia-Ukraine war to continue': Donald Trump after White House public spat | Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuses to apologise to Donald Trump after public spat over Russia-Ukraine war | 'Make a deal or we are out': Donald Trump tells Volodymyr Zelenskyy at White House | Himachal govt seeks fund from temple to support welfare schemes, BJP calls move 'shocking' | Injustice to opposition MLAs: Atishi writes to Delhi Assembly Speaker on suspension of 21 AAP lawmakers | We will leave for US tomorrow: Father of Indian student Neelam Shinde after urgent visa grant | 'Not joining BJP or floating any party': Abhishek Banerjee dismisses rumours of his split from TMC | Pune bus rape accused arrested after 75-hour manhunt | Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey appointed as new SEBI chief
Image Credit: Representational image/Pixabay

Centre drops lateral entry move for UPSC amid pressure from opposition, ally Chirag Paswan

| @indiablooms | Aug 21, 2024, at 02:13 am

New Delhi/IBNS: The government Tuesday requested the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to withdraw its advertisement for lateral entry into bureaucracy, amid intense opposition criticism and pressure from ally Chirag Paswan, who had also expressed reservations against the move.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that the "move should be aligned with social justice", Union Minister Jitender Singh wrote in a letter to the UPSC chief.

UPSC last week issued an advertisement seeking "talented and motivated Indian nationals" for lateral recruitment to various senior positions within the Union government.

These positions included Joint Secretary, Director, and Deputy Secretary in 24 ministries, with a total of 45 posts up for grabs.

"While most of the major lateral entries before 2014 were made in an ad-hoc manner, including cases of alleged favouritism, efforts of our government have been to make the process institutionally driven, transparent and open," the minister's letter read.

"The Prime Minister is of the firm belief that the process of lateral entry must be aligned with the principles of equity and social justice enshrined in our Constitution, particularly concerning the provisions of reservation."

Lateral entry into the bureaucracy refers to recruitments from outside traditional government service cadres, such as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), to fill mid and senior-level positions in government departments.

The move triggered a debate on lateral entry into bureaucracy, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi denouncing the process as an "attack on Dalits".

The ruling BJP countered by pointing out that the concept emerged under a Congress-led government.

Even Union Minister Chirag Paswan, the BJP's Bihar ally, echoed the criticism.

However, Paswan has welcomed the retraction of the move, saying it showed the government cared about people's concerns.

"Since the time the lateral entry issue came to my notice, I raised it in front of concerned authorities at different places. I presented the concerns of SC/ST and backward people regarding this issue to the Prime Minister. For the past two days, I have been in touch with the PM and his office. He held in-depth discussions with me and I submitted relevant documents to his office. In all kinds of government appointments, rules of reservation should be followed by the government," he was quoted as saying by NDTV.

"I am happy that my Prime Minister Modi understood the concerns of SC/ST and backward people. My party and I thank PM Modi," he added.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.