Lateral entry positions temporary, do not impact reservation system: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

New Delhi [India], August 19 (ANI): Amid growing criticism over government’s decision to recruit public servants through lateral entry, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw clarified Monday that these openings “do not cut into the roster of any civil services” or impact the reservation system for regular openings.

He said these positions are temporary and created for only three years. He termed opposition criticism as “false and baseless”.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has posted 45 openings for lateral entry jobs for various positions including Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, described this as an ‘anti-national step’, claiming that it is openly snatching away the reservation of SCs, STs, and OBCs.

Clarifying that the opening will not impact the reservation system for regular openings, Ashwini Vaishnaw said the lateral entry was also done in UPA rule and now the government has decided to make the lateral entry process more transparent by conducting the induction through UPSC.

“These new job openings do not cut into the rosters of any service. What is the roster? Roster is the how many SC candidates, how many ST candidates, how many OBC candidates will have to be taken and balance is general. The roster is created keeping in mind that every next candidate taken is from a reserved category,” the minister told reporters.

Saying that “misleading imputation that Congress is doing is baseless and false”, the minister said, “This (the lateral entry) was done in UPA government, and before that NDA government and before that Congress government. They had lateral entry also but were done in an un-systemic manner. What we have done is to make it systemic and transparent by giving it UPSC.”

He also clarified that these are just temporary and contractual positions do not affect the promotions of civil servants.

“These positions are created where expertise is required and for three years. They can be extended for a maximum of two years,” he added.

These posts are open for applications until September 17 and the initiative aims to bring in individuals with specialised skills to improve the efficacy of governmental operations. The application needs to be submitted online.

The UPSC announced 10 Joint Secretary vacancies and 35 Director/Deputy Secretary positions. The applications for the Joint Secretary positions include two vacancies in the Finance Ministry, one each in the Home Ministry and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, among others. On the other hand, applications for Director/Deputy Secretary positions include eight positions in the Agriculture Ministry, two in the Education Ministry and one in each of the Ministries of External Affairs and Civil Aviation.

The official notice states, “Online applications are invited from talented and motivated Indian nationals willing to contribute towards nation building to join the Government at the level of Joint Secretary or Director/Deputy Secretary in the under-mentioned posts in different Ministries/Departments with Headquarters at New Delhi on Contract Basis (On Deputation for officers of States/UT Cadres, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), Autonomous Bodies, Statutory Organization, Universities, Recognized Research Institutes) for a period of three years (Extendable to five years depending upon performance)”