Mainstream WeeklyThe practice of bringing domain experts into the government is not new to India. It is a fact that lateral entry could bring in fresh ideas, energy, talents, and diverse experiences into the bureaucracy that will augment the state capacities to meet the complex tasks and diverse challenges of governance and development. Lateral entry shall be visualised for gap filling, supplementing, and value addition to the system for a shorter period, rather than supplanting the top management in the state apparatus.
This article examines the practice of lateral entry in civil services in India by highlighting the recommendations made by different commissions/ reports. It also analyses the dynamics of balancing the demands for specialists and the imperatives of social justice in the operationalisation of lateral entry in civil services in the country.
Looking Backward
One of the pioneer attempts in this direction was made by the setting up of Industrial Management Pool in 1957. It resulted in the induction of several technocrats into some of the positions in the economic enterprises in public sector through a lateral entry. While discussing the problems encountered in filling the top management positions, it is viewed that