As the opposition steps up attack on the Centre over the lateral entry, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday said that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the biggest example of domain expert’s recruitment into bureaucracy. “Manmohan Singh is the biggest example of lateral entry. How did you appoint him directly as Finance Secretary in 1976?” he asked.
VIDEO | “(Former PM) Manmohan Singh is the biggest example of lateral entry. How was he directly appointed as Finance Secretary in 1976? There are many other such examples. However, PM Modi took the right decision today and talked to MoS Jitendra Singh and wrote a letter to UPSC… pic.twitter.com/qQiqfyqwSz
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 20, 2024
The minister said there were many other such examples like the appointment of economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
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The Centre had recently advertised for the recruitment of 45 joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries through lateral entry. However, the opposition opposed the move, prompting the government to cancel the move.
The law minister said that PM Modi took the right decision today and spoke to MoS Jitendra Singh, who wrote a letter to UPSC mentioning that “we withdraw this (advertisement) until the issue of social justice gets resolved”.
Earlier today, noted economist Sanjeev Sanyal pointed out that following India’s independence from British rule in 1947, the then Prime Minister’s sister entered the diplomatic service and became India’s ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1947 to 1949, the United States and Mexico from 1949 to 1951, Ireland & Britain from 1955 to 1961, and Spain from 1956 to 1961.
“Between 1946 and 1968, the lateral entrant headed the Indian delegation to the United Nations. In 1953, she became the first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly (she was inducted as an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 1978 for this accomplishment). That same year she was a candidate for Secretary General of the United Nations. What a distinguished career,” he said in a tweet without naming Nehru’s sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.
Following India's independence from British rule in 1947, the Prime Minister’s sister entered the diplomatic service and became India's ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1947 to 1949, the United States and Mexico from 1949 to 1951, Ireland & Britain from 1955 to 1961, and Spain…
— Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) August 20, 2024
The government cancelled the lateral entry move as it was facing opposition from its alliance partner, LJP. However, Union Minister Chirag Paswan said that the Congress governments in the past have done lateral entries. “The opposition is trying to create an atmosphere that this is being introduced for the first time. Today the advertisement for the lateral entry recruitment has been cancelled. I and LJP (Ram Vilas) thank PM Modi for it. He has again won the trust of the society.”
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After the Centre withdrew the advertisement for lateral entry in bureaucracy, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the Congress will protect the Constitution and the reservation system at all costs and foil “conspiracies” of the BJP. “We will protect the Constitution and the reservation system at all costs. We will foil the BJP’s conspiracies like that of ‘lateral entry’ at any cost,” Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
“I am saying it again – by removing the 50 per cent reservation cap, we will ensure social justice based on caste census,” the former Congress chief said. On August 17, the UPSC issued a notification for recruiting 45 joint secretaries, directors, and deputy secretaries through lateral entry, referred to as the appointment of specialists (including those from the private sector) in government departments.
The decision sparked criticism from opposition parties, which claimed it undermined the reservation rights of OBCs, SCs, and STs.
