Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, July 25: Lateral entry will attract talent to government services and elevate the level of performance and delivery.
This was stated here today by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, in reply to a DoPT Starred Question in the Lok Sabha.
In his reply, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that lateral entry will achieve the twin objectives of bringing in fresh talent as well as augmenting the availability of manpower. The idea behind the entire concept, according to the reply, was an endeavour to attract the best of the best, suited for a given job.
Dr Jitendra Singh, in his reply, also stated that the practice of lateral entry had existed even before and reminded that even the former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh gained his first entry into the Government of India through the lateral route. In addition, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Bimal Jalan, Vijay Kelkar and others were also the appointees through the lateral entry. He said, what Modi Government has tried to do is to streamline and institutionalise the process of lateral entry, in order to make it more objective, more transparent and more accountable.
Speaking to media persons later, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the appointments through lateral entry will be based purely on merit and the selection will be made by a panel of experts who are well-versed in the concerned sector. The appointments, he said, will be purely on merit and contractual in nature for 3 years, subject to extension wherever found necessary.
In the education sector, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that the posts of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor are open to all individuals who fill the eligibility criteria, independent of whether the person is currently within the educational institution or not.
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