Government opens lateral entry for 10 Joint Secretary level posts
New Delhi, June 10: Opening the doors of bureaucracy for private sector professionals, the government on Sunday invited applications for 10 Joint Secretary level posts through lateral entry as opposed to the UPSC examinations.
The government said the proposal of lateral entry was aimed at bringing in "fresh ideas and new approaches" to governance and also to augment manpower.
"Government of India has decided to invite talented and motivated Indian nationals willing to contribute towards nation building to join the government at the level of Joint Secretary," said a notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.
Joint Secretaries are at a crucial level of senior management in the government and lead policy making as well as implementation of various programmes and schemes of the department assigned to them. They report to the Secretary or the Additional Secretary in the respective ministries.
The joint secretary post is usually filled through the competitive exams conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
The government notification said that candidates having expertise in specific areas of revenue, financial services, economic affairs, agriculture, road transport and highways, shipping, environment and forests, new and renewable energy, civil aviation and commerce can apply for the posts.
While candidates from state governments and Central or state public sector undertakings will be appointed on deputation, the candidates from private sector will be appointed on contract basis, the notification said.
The NITI Aayog welcomed the move to initiate lateral entry in the bureaucracy with its CEO Amitabh Kant saying it was long overdue.
"NITI's experience with lateral entry has been extremely good. They (candidates) bring in a vast number of fresh and vibrant ideas.
"This move in government was long overdue and I welcome it. (It) Will catalyze UPSC entrants to specialise. Government must also allow deputation of its officers to private sector as well," Kant said in a tweet.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
BJP MLC kept under 'digital arrest' for 90 minutes in UP's Sultanpur; case lodged
Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): A case was registered after BJP MLC Shailendra Singh was allegedly kept under "digital arrest" for about one-and-a-half hours here, police said on Thursday.
In his complaint, the member of legislative council (MLC) said he received a phone call from an unknown number on March 2, where the caller claimed to be an officer with the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and alleged that Singh's bank account was being used for money laundering and other suspicious activities.
Singh reported that the caller told him that he had an account in Canara Bank.
ALSO READ: SpiceJet to operate 13 special flights from UAE on Thursday
"I told them that I do not have any bank account outside Lucknow and Sultanpur. They kept me engaged on a video call for about one-and-a-half hours and asked me to lock myself inside a room and not speak to anyone," Singh said.
He alleged that the callers repeatedly sought details related to his Aadhaar card and bank accounts.
According to Singh, some of his associates grew suspicious and checked the phone number, and found that it was not linked to the Mumbai ATS but was registered in the name of a woman from Madhya Pradesh's Satna.
The callers allegedly disconnected the call when they sensed that their identity might be exposed.
Singh later lodged a complaint at the cyber police station in Sultanpur.
Cyber police station in-charge Akhanddev Mishra confirmed the incident and said the fraudsters had attempted to put the MLC under "digital arrest".
He said the police are tracking the phone numbers and IP addresses from which the calls were made.
