'Lateral Entry Must Align With Social Justice': Union Minister Urges UPSC To Cancel Advertisement, Quotes PM Modi's Belief

In a letter written to the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) chairman Preeti Sudan, Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh urged her to cancel the 17 August advertisement for lateral entry recruitment.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "firm belief that the process of lateral entry must be aligned with the principles of equity and social justice," Singh emphasised having provision for reservations.

He also accused the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government of having "ad-hoc" lateral entries that included alleged favouritism and asserted the Modi government wants to make the process transparent and open.

He added that for PM Modi, reservation in public employment is a cornerstone of our social justice framework and that constitutional mandate towards social justice should be upheld.

Singh asked UPSC to ensure that "deserving candidates from marginalised communities get their rightful representation in the government services" and pointed out no provision of reservation in the latest advertisement.

The UPSC had announced 45 openings for lateral entry at the joint secretary and director level posts at various ministries in the Central government, with the application deadline set for 17 September.

The move was vehemently opposed by the Opposition parties like Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and it also faced resistance from the BJP allies.

Singh urged UPSC to review and reform the aspect to provide reservations in lateral entry recruitments as it "would be a significant advance in the pursuit of social justice and empowerment."