'Lateral entry in bureaucracy not new, has been happening for 4-5 decades,' says MoS Jayant Chaudhary at BT India@100

BJP ally and RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary backed the Centre's lateral entry into the bureaucracy on Tuesday, saying it has been happening for decades but perhaps at a lower scale. The Centre had recently advertised for lateral entry into bureaucracy but cancelled the move after an intense protest by the opposition and its alliance partners such as LJP. 

Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said he was not aware why the government withdrew the notification but said he does not see everything from the prism of just reservation and social justice. "It's very easy to talk about social justice. The opposition will use that, they are using it. I don't know what the reasoning was - why the government withdrew it. I am not in a position to comment on that aspect," Chaudhary said while speaking to Business Today TV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi at the BT India@100 event. 

The RLD leader said that the government now has to look at and reimagine the role of Indian bureaucracy given a landscape where specialism is also to be rewarded and valued. "This (lateral entry) is not a new thing. Lateral entry in our bureaucracy has been happening for the last four or five decades, perhaps at a smaller scale and at a higher level. You've had Rakesh Mohan and many people like Kelkar with different skill sets," he said. 

The minister said that there are also demands from some ministries that they should have separate cadre. "I remember when I was an MP from 2009 to 2014, a lot of agriculturalist people who work on agriculture policy came to me and said agriculture ka alag cadre hone chahiye," he said. 

Chaudhary said those seeking a separate cadre for agriculture argue that it is a very specilised technical field. The minister said that they say the government posts an officer from the finance ministry to agriculture and that person does not know how farming is done, its technical scientific aspects and that person is driving the policy. 

"So there is a demand for specialist skills. So if there's someone with know-how from the private sector I think the government must have access to that as well," the MoS said. 

The Centre's lateral entry move faced major pushback from Congress, which said the government was snatching the rights of SC, ST, and OBCs. 

Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said this move was the opening of the door to the ending of reservations. "This was to introduce an Agniveer in civilian bureaucracy...this is the privatisation of the IAS and the civilian bureaucracy and we demanded a roll-back," he said, slamming the Centre. 

Earlier today, NK Singh, former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, said he was entirely in favour of lateral entry into the bureaucracy but stressed that domain knowledge alone was not sufficient to succeed in the system. "We need a middle path. That's what we have opted for," he said while speaking at the BT INDIA@100.