More than 6,000 candidates have shown interest in 10 posts of Joint Secretaries in the Central government, offered to private sector specialists as part of the Modi government’s bid to bring in fresh talent in bureaucracy, officials said on Sunday.
The Personnel Ministry had recently announced recruitment of 10 Joint Secretaries in select government departments through “lateral entry” mode, thus allowing private sector talents to join the government on contractual basis.
A total of 6,077 applications have been received for the posts, the officials said.
The posts are in revenue, financial services, economic affairs, agriculture and farmers’ welfare, road transport and highways, shipping, environment, forest and climate change, new and renewable energy, civil aviation and commerce departments. The deadline to apply for the posts was July 30.
There are a maximum of 1,100 applicants against one post, depending on the department concerned. The minimum applications for a post is 290.
“The Central government has started the process of short-listing the candidates,” a senior Ministry official said.
Usually, the posts of Joint Secretaries are manned by the IAS, IPS, IFS and IRS officers recruited through the civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.