Last week, the Indian government had put out an advertisement seeking candidates for positions in the levels of joint secretary, director and deputy secretary across various government departments. These are clearly critical roles with decision-making powers. Therefore, it was the normal practice to select veteran civil servants to fill these senior bureaucratic positions. However, since 2018, this practice has been replaced with the approach of hiring people from outside government service cadres for the mid- and senior-level positions. This lateral hiring approach has been criticised though, so much so that a reassessment is being considered and the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has been asked to cancel ad.
The lateral recruitment strategy has created quite a buzz with debates going on about the effectiveness of the same. Those hired via this lateral-entry approach remain on contract for about three to five years. Sometimes, their tenure is extended depending on their performance and their requirement by the government. The objective was to bring in specialised skills and fresh talent which can be beneficial while designing policies and overcoming hurdles pertaining to governance.
Now, it is being pointed out that experts with qualifications and experience who exist within the civil services should be utilised for government positions instead of relying on external lateral hires. As per critics, the government should attempt to make the administrative system itself more results-oriented instead of hiring laterally. However, whether it is a sustainable approach or not remains to be seen, as not all IAS officers are eager to be deputed to Central government roles.
