Lateral entry not abandoned, Centre open to discussions on reservations, says Jitendra Singh

New Delhi: Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday that lateral entry at various levels of the Centre has not been abandoned. However, the government is ready for more discussions on the matter, he added.

Singh's remarks that the Centre is "open to" lateral entry came nearly 10 months after the government cancelled the recruitment process. Last August, the Centre had said it would review the policy to include reservations.

This followed after BJP allies, including LJP(RV) leader Chirag Paswan, opposed the UPSC advertisement, published on August 17, for 45 posts for lateral entry into various ministries.


All these 45 posts are lying vacant, with almost all of them requiring a specific kind of domain expertise. Around 50 officers via lateral entry work in various ministries, including eight of them at the joint secretary level. Responding to queries at a press conference on 11 years of the Modi government, Singh said the policy was started with a "very noble intention. We have not suspended it".

He said "reservation rule doesn't work in appointments of single posts", adding in one year a post is made a certain reserved category and in the next year, it is made a general category. One may have to wait for years to find a certain expert for a certain job profile. "But, when this issue (reservation) came up, we said we'll give it a thought. Let us also understand what the options are. We are still open to it. It has not been abandoned," the minister added.