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Govt still open to lateral entry recruitment into depts: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday clarified that the government has not given up on the idea of lateral entry into government departments. 'We are still open to it (lateral entry recruitment). It is not being abandoned,' he said at a press conference held to highlight "11 Years of Seva and Transformative Governance". Lateral entry refers to the hiring of specialists, including professionals from the private sector, to take up senior roles in the government. 'No, we have not suspended (lateral entry) it,' added Singh, who is the Minister of State for Personnel. Lateral entry not new: Singh Singh noted that lateral entry is not unique to the current government. 'The most important, the most famous lateral entry in the government of India since 1947 has been that of Dr Manmohan Singh, who went on from one position to the other position and finally ended up as Prime Minister. And there have been Montek Singh Ahluwalia (former deputy chairman of erstwhile Planning Commission) and so many other lateral entries,' he said. The government, he added, tried to give it a formal structure by involving the UPSC in the recruitment process. 'So, like I said, we are open to it,' Singh reiterated. The press conference also featured senior officials from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), and the Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare. UPSC notification withdrawn Last year, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had withdrawn its advertisement for lateral entry recruitment following political controversy. On August 17, 2024, the UPSC had issued a notice for the appointment of 45 individuals through lateral entry — 10 as joint secretaries and 35 as directors or deputy secretaries. However, the decision faced criticism from opposition parties, who said the move bypassed reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Scheduled Tribes (STs). One case under probe for quota misuse Responding to a query on misuse of quotas for OBC and disabled candidates, a senior DoPT official said there is currently one case under investigation. 'Post Pooja Khedkar (case), we have put a lot of mechanisms in place, both for PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities), as well as for OBC and EWS (Economically Weaker Section) candidates... We also received a lot of complaints on social media, which we thoroughly investigated, thoroughly inquired. And in most of the cases, we did not find anything negative,' said AP Das Joshi, Additional Secretary, DoPT. He confirmed that no officer has been dismissed so far over such allegations. 'There is one case that we are still investigating, but whatever the final result will be, action will be taken accordingly,' Joshi added. Pooja Khedkar, a former IAS probationer, was removed from service last year. She is accused of wrongly using OBC and disability quotas to qualify for a government post. Reforms under Modi government Highlighting the government's reformist approach, Singh said Prime Minister Modi's administration is focused on simplifying governance. 'For the first time since Independence, a government has taken pride in doing away with redundant rules rather than creating new ones,' he said. He pointed out that over 1,600 outdated laws, many from the colonial era, have been scrapped, sending a strong message of trust to the public — especially young people. Singh also spoke of efforts to blend technology with compassion. Over 19,000 long-pending promotions were cleared, bringing relief to many government employees. 'We combined human concern with technology to create solutions that respect the dignity of individuals,' he said. Singh also pointed out that the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) now deals with more than 2.6 million complaints each year. The system has an impressive resolution rate of 95 to 96 per cent. CPGRAMS is an online platform that allows citizens to file complaints against government departments.