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The government said it would conduct a zoning review of the entire system. (document)
Government sources said the decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that “social justice in a diverse country like India is the top priority of his government”.
On Tuesday afternoon, the central government announced its decision to withdraw the “lateral entry” advertisement of UPSC. The letter written by Transport Minister Dr Jitender Singh has been sent to UPSC Chairman Preeti Sultan.
A political war of words soon broke out between the government and the opposition. Leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and others termed it as a victory for the opposition.
However, government sources said the decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that “social justice in a diverse country like India is the top priority of his government”.
“Conforming to the principles of social justice and fairness”: Contents of the letter
The Modi government has advertised horizontal entries four times so far and this time the number of posts is the highest at 45 as there is a backlog. “The Center may again launch mission recruitment or rozgar melas. Rozgar melas have significantly reduced vacancies,” the source said.
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“…I urge the UPSC to de-advertise the lateral entry recruitment issue on August 17, 2024. This step will be a major step forward in the pursuit of social justice and empowerment.” – Read the letter written by Singh.
The letter further reads: “…while most major lateral records prior to 2014 were conducted in an ad hoc manner, including cases of alleged favoritism, our government has worked hard to make the process institutionally driven, transparent and Disclosure. The Prime Minister firmly believes that lateral entry procedures must be consistent with the principles of equity and social justice enshrined in our Constitution, particularly with regard to the reservation clause. For the Prime Minister, reservation in public employment is a cornerstone of our social justice framework and seeks to address historical injustices. Impartiality and Promote Inclusion… As these posts are considered specialized posts and designated as single cadre posts, there is no prescribed appointment of reservations in these posts. These aspects need to be reviewed and reformed.
Existing horizontal entries unchanged: regional review, suggestions welcome
The government said it would conduct a zoning review of the entire system. On the demand by the opposition parties and some NDA partners for reservation in lateral entry, senior sources said the government is open to various suggestions.
It is understood that 57 lateral entrants with domain expertise are currently working with ministries. A source told 18.com: “We will look at whether booking can be applied and how as it is a complex system.”
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“We are following the entire mechanism and focusing on transparency and we do not want to do anything arbitrarily and selectively,” sources said, adding that the earlier ad hoc system also smacked of lack of transparency and fostered favoritism.
Existing horizontal entries will not be affected by the withdrawal, sources said. In fact, the government has already begun to develop mechanisms for this purpose. The first step is to study the system and see how contract workers can be retained.
