Lateral entry into high profile jobs inappropriate
Hell bent upon saffronising every aspect of the public life and government machinery, the Narendra Modi headed NDA government has decided to open up lateral entry to various high profile posts in various fields such as Agriculture, economic sector and infrastructure among the others.
This has opened doors of opportunity to 10 posts of joint secretaries, to experts working in private sector. This has given rise to a lot of mixed reactions in political and social spaces. While some feel this is a good move, the others are not very comfortable with this idea.
The government has called applications for these posts through advertisements in staff and training advertisement manuals of central government on June 10. Experts over 40 years of age, with 15 years of work experience in private sector or MNCs can apply for the job of joint secretary.
The corporate sector has welcome this move with great enthusiasm stating this is one way of changing the dynamics of work ethics within government offices. This move of lateral entry is not a new one. The first administrative reforms committee had, in fact, recommended this way back in 1965. However, this was not implemented. Recruitments of Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Vijay Kelkar, Arvind Subramanya among others were made under extraordinary and rare circumstances.
Defence for this kind of appointment is that this would help improve the style of administration in government offices, and that of government itself. This step has been taken owing to the fact that work is not progressing adequately enough by the current workforce to match pace with liberalization and the changes it has brought.
This decision of lateral entry has given rise to another controversy for Modi government especially at the time when the government is facing rumours of increasing saffronisation, and high interference by Sangh Parivar. The opposition parties have spared no time in criticizing this, without making a sound argument against it. There is no proper reasoning to this criticism and hence the central government is bound to ignore this. And this is a concerning factor. Hence, general public are not too convinced about the negativity of this measure.
The government has explained its case well, even if a bit far from the truth that there is no efficient workforce at the execution level of the government machinery. Hence professionalism needs to be brought in through various players from private sector who come with great work ethics. That does not necessarily mean all those who worked in private sector have shown exemplary commitment to work. Though the reason is not far from the truth, it is not entirely true either.
All those who showed great efficiency in their private sector role does not mean they will bring the same value when they enter the government set up. They may not even have same level of responsibility and security as those who have been appointed by the formal mode. However, one cannot ignore the undisclosed underlying plan in this step, that’s not evident right now.
These appointments may be as good as the negative effects of hasty and unplanned execution of demonetization and GST. It will not be a huge surprise if the government made these appointments to cover up its lacunae and resort to these gimmicks for the time being. Lateral entry recruitments are not a joke. They impact the lives of all 130 crore Indians.
Though we cannot be sure of all the administrative officers being totally pro-people through their works, they are a lot better than the experts from private sector who have no experience in public facing jobs. There is no guarantee about their work commitment either.
But having people occupy vantage positions in the government would mean the secrets of this government remain within the corridors of power. Except for science and technology, other government departments have been using the expertise of IAS or equivalent officers from centre and states. Though their power-asserting conduct has not been exactly desirable, their expertise has often helped people. They have been elevated on the basis of their work experience and they have contributed significantly to the administrative machinery during their tenure.
But, who will the private sector experts who enter the government machinery through lateral entry mechanism will have to pledge their loyalty to? Would they be loyal to the party that appoints them or to the company that gave them the expertise and growth during their stay in corridors of power? Among the appointments made by the Modi government to research institutions, higher education institutions and universities, the most common factor has been that all those people had shown unflinching dedication to their Sangh background. That was the sole qualifying factor too.
One need not be surprised about the same parameter in place to appoint people to high posts. Modi government is known for its capitalist favouring stances. It is rather obvious that those people who would be appointed to high offices will stay loyal to their bosses – Ambani, Adani among the ‘close ones’. All the decisions such officers make will be in the interest of capitalists and not the urban or poor or any other deserving category. The damage that would be meted out when people favoured by Advani/Adani etc sit in high offices. Ever since it came into power, the Modi government has made no bones about the preferences. This apart economic liberty has been long compromised with safeguarding corporate interests.
Every decision taken by this union government is aimed at protecting the interest if corporate companies. The same agenda may work in this condition too. Most of the experts appointed into high offices by Modi government would naturally nurse soft corner about the ruling party. Almost all of them will come from upper class/caste and will also share Sangh Parivar background. One needs to think about the impact of having such people occupy high offices. People and organisations with social concern need to oppose such lateral appointments.
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Axar shifts focus to next IPL after KKR all but end DC's campaign
New Delhi (PTI): A beleaguered Axar Patel admitted that both his team's batters and bowlers let the side down after Delhi Capitals suffered a humiliating eight-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders, virtually ending their IPL 2026 playoff hopes, while indicating the team had already begun looking ahead to the next season.
DC endured a miserable outing at home, managing only 142/8, which Kolkata Knight Riders chased down in just 14.2 overs, powered by a blistering unbeaten 100 from Finn Allen and his destructive stand with Cameron Green (33 not out) as the visitors tore apart the bowling attack.
With just eight points from 11 matches, DC are eighth on the table, while KKR revived their playoff hopes with a resurgent run, moving to seventh with nine points from 10 outings, though their road to the knockouts still remains difficult.
"For now, we'll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, obviously there's still a long journey ahead and next year will come too. So we'll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take," said Axar after the match.
"Based on that, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and decide who can be given opportunities and what changes we can make," he added, hinting at a possible major overhaul next season.
With 200-plus totals becoming the norm this season, 142 was always going to be inadequate, and Axar admitted the score was well below par while also pointing out at poor judgement shown by the spinners while defending the modest total.
"I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors.
"At the same time, we lost five wickets in two-three overs, and I think that's where the momentum slipped away from us. That's probably something we need to think about because the same thing happened against CSK...we started well, and then suddenly wickets kept falling," he added.
He admitted the solutions to the issues could be found but players need to show the right mindset and character.
"See, you can't solve it in a complicated way. So, I think it's more about applying the right mindset. Even if you lose one or two wickets, you can still spend time at the crease and play through it. I think that's what needs to be applied, when wickets are falling in clusters, you need to absorb the pressure for an over or two," opined Axar.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane was pleased to see a struggling Finn Allen finally rediscover his touch with the bat.
"I'm really happy for Finn Allen. He was struggling first four or five games, working really hard, but the way he batted tonight was fantastic. But I want to praise our bowlers again.
"We did well because of them. And they've been doing it so well consistently, especially those middle overs and the death overs. Our spinners, Sunil Narine, Varun (Chakravarthy) and Anukul Roy, have been fantastic," he said.
"Fielding-wise, yes, we are working really hard. Our fielding coach has been really strict with us. And that's what has been helping us. The result which you've been seeing about the catches and the ground fielding, credit goes to our fielding coach as well," he added.
