CM Nitish backs Centre’s decision, Opp cries foul

The Centre’s decision to allow lateral entry of experienced professionals as joint secretaries pitched the ruling dispensation and its allies against the Opposition on Monday.

While the Opposition parties said there were “serious misgivings” about the intentions and that it was a result of Modi Government’s “administrative failure”, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satyapal Singh favoured the extension of the scheme to Government-run educational institutions too even as he said the issue should not be politicised.

Key BJP ally and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also defended the move, asserting the scheme was an “experiment” the need for which arose because of the paucity of IAS and IPS officers across the country.

Addressing a Press conference in Delhi, Chidambaram said it needs more details on the issue and will raise its questions separately in detail.

“We need to have more details...We will raise a number of questions. Let us see what the Government’s answer is before we come to a final conclusion.

“There are serious misgivings about their advertisement that has appeared but there are a number of questions that deserve to be asked and we will in the next couple of days ask those questions,” he said when asked about the issue.

The Minister said the scheme would improve the efficiency of educational institutions.

BSP chief Mayawati feared the move may increase the influence of capitalists in policy making.

“Opening senior-level bureaucratic posts in 10 departments to private people, who have not cleared UPSC, appears to be the result of administrative failure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister  said in a party release issued in Lucknow.

RJD’s Manoj Jha saw the move as an attempt to have a “committed bureaucracy”. Former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said he had no issue with the lateral entry of talented people in Government and that it has been happening over the years but objected strongly to the way it is being done. “Where are the recruitment rules for the post? Why is UPSC not doing it? All this makes it suspicious,” Sinha, a former bureaucrat, tweeted.

Nitish, who has been an NDA ally since the 1990s, barring a four-year phase from 2013 to 2017, blamed “successive Congress Governments” for downsising of the civil services, which has “left us in a position where we find it difficult to meet many of our Governance requirements”.

Nitish said we are facing a situation wherein one IAS officer, of secretary rank, is holding charge of many departments. “Despite having committed ourselves to carving out of new districts, we are hesitant to proceed as we may not have IAS and IPS officers for manning these administrative units as DMs and SPs,” he told reporters in Patna.