(Article) UPSC Lateral Entry Into Central Administration

An advertisement for 30 recruits to be appointed for posts at the Joint Secretary and Director level in the Central Administration has been published by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). These appointments are being made through lateral entry in the second round, instead of selecting mostly domain experts for various Departments and Ministries. Out of the 30 positions advertised by the UPSC, 27 are for the Director level and just 3 are for Joint Secretary.

Posts Advertised

SL No.	Post	No. Of Vacancies
1	Joint Secretary in the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare	01
2	Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry	01
3	Joint Secretary in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance	01
4	Director (Agriculture Marketing), Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare	01
5	Director (Aviation Management), Ministry of Civil Aviation	01
6	Director (Agriculture Trade Specialties), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry	01
7	Director (Exports Marketing), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry	01
8	Director (Foreign Trade Analyst), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry	01
9	Director (Logistics), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry	01
10	Director (Logistics), Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution	01
11	Director (Warehouse Expertise), Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution	01
12	Director (Edu Tech), Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education	01
13	Director (Edu Laws), Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education	01
14	Director (ICT Edu), Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education	01
15	Director (Media Management), Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education	01
16	Director (Banking), Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance	01
17	Director (Cyber Security in Financial Sector), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance	01
18	Director (Digital Economy and FinTech), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance	01
19	Director (Financial Market), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance	01
20	Director (Insurance), Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance	01
21	Director (Maternal Health Issues), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare	01
22	Director (Finance) NACO, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare	01
23	Director (Water Management), Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti	01
24	Director (Arbitration and Conciliation Laws), Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice	01
25	Director (Cyber Laws), Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice	01
26	Director (Finance Sector Laws), Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice	01
27	Director (International Laws), Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice	01
28	Director (Judicial Reforms), Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice	01
29	Director (New Technology for Highway Development), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways	01
30	Director (Innovation in Education Entrepreneurship), Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship	01

Qualification Requirement

For a Joint Secretary lateral entrant, the basic requirement is 15 years of work experience in a relevant field as mentioned in the upsc advertisement, and for Directors, it is the same but for 10 years.

Application Process

Candidates are required to apply online by March 22. The appointments are contractual and will initially be for 3 years, to be extended up to 5 years if required. The UPSC will conduct this whole process of recruitment. Candidates will be shortlisted based on their applications and selected candidates will be invited for interviews. Selected candidates will then be appointed for the post.

Why Is It Important?

Mains Question: Analyze the move by the government on starting lateral entry into civil services.

This move is not only important from a career information point of view but also from a syllabus point of view. This is a hot topic now and will most probably incur questions in upsc prelims and/or upsc mains. So, understanding the pros and cons of it is important. Looking at the mindmap you can tell that both sides have some weightage to their argument.

The way forward is clearly to figure out a balance. To begin with, one of the rising fears is lateral entry will lead to politicization; this needs to be prevented. Seeking expertise need not always lead to bringing in players from the private sector; serving officers can also be occasionally posted in the private sector to be trained for the job.

The key to it is giving opportunities to those that are most capable which means having a more rigorous appraisal system in place along with absolute transparency. Only then will we see a lasting impact.

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