The recent proposal from PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) regarding allotment of cadre to civil services aspirants based on their performance in Foundation Course of training has initiated the debate on its merits and demerits. The churning of thoughts on various civil services reforms issues is certainly a welcome step. One of the long standing issue related to civil services reforms is with regard to the introduction of lateral entry scheme for professionals into the policy making arena of civil services. By definition, a generalist is one who has knowledge of the technique of the processes involved in a factory or a technical undertaking or in administration, but he is not a domain expert whereas a specialist is an expert whose special training makes him an authority in a particular field. In Indian context, the civil servants (IAS,IPS,IRS,IFS,etc) selected through elite UPSC civil services examination are considered as generalists whereas the domain specialists in various fields like Information Technology specialists, agriculture experts, public health specialists and so on constitute the group of specialists. Though Indian administrative system is pro-generalists, the recent proposal of lateral entry of professionals into civil services is expected to facilitate the entry of experts from diversified fields into administrative appointments at mid-level of administration. Seven decades down the line since independence, the dynamics of Governance has been drastically changed and so the structure and functions of bureaucracy! The need for socioeconomic development in twenty-first century have transmuted to the point, where the state’s traditional methods of addressing them with generalist bureaucracy requires a modern look and rethinking and hence the need of lateral entry into civil services.

Advantages of lateral entry scheme- 

The system of lateral entry into civil services would bring in people with experience of the private sector as well as would infuse the fresh energy and outlook into administrative system. It would bring in people with specialised knowledge and expertise. The present day globalised world expects the specialists rather than the generalists at the helm of affairs to propel the Indian economic growth trajectory towards becoming a superpower. Additionally, the professionals are expected to induce competition within the administrative system. When civil servants are made to compete with the outside talent, the typical ‘laid back & lethargic attitude’ of bureaucrats would diminish and overall efficiency and effectivity of the civil services would improve. Civil servants would also be encouraged to move out and work for different sectors on a short-term basis to enrich their knowledge and enhance their motivation and efficiency. Therefore, lateral exit is as important as lateral entry. Some of the technocrats like Nandan Nilekani as UIADAI Chairman, Raghuram Rajan as RBI Governor, E. Sreedharan as DMRC Chairman have proven their mettle in civil services domain and has paved way to the induction of domain specialists in civil services arena. Various committees, including First Administrative Reforms Commission (1965), Surinder Nath Committee (2003), Hota Committee( 2004), Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2006), Baswan Committee(2015 ),etc. have been the strong supporter of the case for lateral entry & specialisation in civil services. The international practice amongst developed countries is also in favour of specialisation and lateral entry into civil services. The developed countries like Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, UK, Netherlands, USA, etc follow the practice of identifying the specific senior positions in bureaucracy, open to appointments from a wider pool of civil servants as well as private sector executives with relevant domain experience.

Disadvantages of lateral entry scheme-

The inclusion of lateral entries into civil services is not a panacea of all problems and comes with the strings attached to it. It may pave way to ‘spoils system’ in administration, leading to nepotism and corruption in the system. The foundational values of Indian bureaucracy in terms of neutrality and anonymity would be compromised with the introduction of lateral entry scheme. Secondly, it is also true that administration is complex and only a generalist would be able to visualise a problem from all angles and thus, the role of generalist cannot be underestimated. Thirdly, the system of lateral entry into civil services might also lead to conflict of interests between the public work and private work of the lateral entrants. The real opposition to lateral entry into civil services is from the self aggrandizing IAS lobby itself under the bogey of  dilution of their powers by such a move of entry of professionals into civil services.

Various Civil Services Reforms is the need of hour in view of changing socioeconomic scenario and digitalised governance system. Various debates around various civil services reforms have been initiated in the past also, but the end result has always been below expectations. Let’s hope that this time Union Government would take a bold step in the direction of civil services reforms, with or without the support of IAS lobby, for the better future of India.

(The author of this article ,Lt Col (Dr) Satish Dhage, is an ex Army officer and has been qualified for IPS (Indian Police Services) through IPS LCE 2012. Presently, he is Director, MGM Institute of Competitive Exams Aurangabad. For any queries or feedback, he can be contacted on email id : drsatishdhage@gmail.com)