Lateral entry into civil services will enrich governance: Jitendra Singh

The proposed induction of private sector specialists into civil services will enrich governance, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said today.

Addressing an event organised by the Indian Institute of Public Administration in New Delhi, Singh said lateral entry into the services is not a new proposition and the central government was only trying to institutionalise the process.

He said streamlining the process would make it more objective and help the government to select the best talents based on merit and specific requirements of an assignment.

"Such appointments are purely of contractual nature and not regular ones," he said.

The government has decided to fill 10 joint secretary-level posts through lateral entry - that is induction of private sector specialists.

"Several of the new and innovative programmes and schemes launched by the government call for specialised expertise, for which a functionary appointed through lateral entry could serve the purpose more optimally and effectively," said Singh, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office.

He said there are several posts lying vacant, including at the level of joint secretary and deputy secretary/director.

"Lateral entry into civil services will enrich governance," Singh added.

Singh was delivering the inaugural address at 44th Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration for civil servants and officers.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave us the mantra of "maximum governance, minimum government" after taking over in 2014.

"This is for the first time in 70 years after independence that instead of taking credit for framing new rules, the government has sought to draw satisfaction in doing away with around 1,500 such rules which had become obsolete or irrelevant with the passage of time, and some of which were a legacy of the British Raj, like, for example, the practice of getting documents attested by a gazetted officer," he said.

In the past four years, Singh said, steps were taken to provide a work-friendly environment to civil servants.

He cited two examples - the introduction of the practice of a three-month mentorship for newly-recruited IAS officers and the PM excellence awards.

Singh said the awards were previously based largely on individual performance, but now they take into account the targets achieved by different districts in the public welfare and priority programmes of the central government.

Chairman IIPA and former Governor of Karnataka, T N Chaturvedi, Director IIPA, Tishyarakshit Chatterjee, and Programme Director Prof Ashok Vishandass also attended the programme.