Lateral entry into the bureaucracy: announced, then withdrawn
A real policy question — expertise vs. equity — collided with politics, and the policy blinked.
On 17 August 2024, the UPSC advertised 45 senior posts (Joint Secretary, Director, Deputy Secretary) to be filled by "lateral entry" — hiring specialists directly from outside, bypassing the regular civil-services exam.
Within days, the government directed the UPSC to withdraw the advertisement.
Why it was pulled
The core objection: lateral entry bypasses constitutional reservation for SC, ST and OBC candidates, since these individual posts carry no quota. Critics also argued it blocks promotions for career civil servants.
There’s a genuine policy tension here. Bringing in domain experts can improve governance; doing it in a way that quietly sidesteps social-justice safeguards is what drew the backlash. The withdrawal acknowledged the second point without resolving the first.
Sources · Free to verify
This is a sourced explainer built on public data — not original reporting. Every figure traces to a source above.