Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Government on August 20 wrote to Preeti Sudan, Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), requesting her to withdraw the recent notification for lateral hiring of officials at various positions, which was published in an advertisement on August 18.
In an official letter, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh noted that while the lateral hiring initiative (including those from the private sector) was initially endorsed by the Congress-led government in 2005, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly believes that the process of lateral entry should adhere to the principles of equity and social justice as outlined in the Indian Constitution.
Shortly after Jitendra’s letter, the UPSC issued a press release on its website, stating that the August 17 advertisement stands cancelled. In the letter, Jitendra alleged that under the previous (Congress) governments, key posts such as that of secretary in various ministries, leadership of UIDAI etc, were offered to lateral entrants without following any due process.
“ it is well known that the members of the infamous National Advisory Council used to run a super-bureaucracy that controlled the Prime Minister’s Office,” Jitendra said, alleging instances of favouritism in the appointments. “Our Government has tried to make the process institutionally driven, transparent and open,” he said.
“For PM Modi reservation in public employment is a “cornerstone of our social justice framework…,” he said, adding that the constitutional mandate has to be respected to ensure rightful representation of the marginalised communities.
