New Delhi: Out of over 6,000 private sector specialists, who had applied for 10 posts of joint secretary in central government departments, only 89 have been short-listed, officials said Monday.
Opening the doors of the bureaucracy for private sector professionals, the government had on June 10 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 workforce.
These 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.
A total of 6,077 applications were received in response to the government's advertisement.
However, the Personnel Ministry had in December decided to entrust the task of selecting the candidates for these posts to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), that conducts examination to select the country's bureaucrat, diplomats and police officers.
The UPSC had then asked all such aspirants to fill a detailed application form (DAF) in order to obtain additional specific information from the candidates regarding qualifications and experience so as to facilitate the selection process.
Out of the 6,077 candidates who had initially applied for the post, a total of 3,768 (38 per cent less) filled up DAF, the officials said.
Of the 3,768 applications, the highest of 641 were for joint secretary (financial services), 590 for new and renewable energy, 545 for agriculture and farmers welfare, 405 for environment, forest and climate change and 346 for road transport and highways department, they said.
As many as 341 applications were received for JS in commerce department, 299 in revenue department, 238 in aviation, 201 in shipping and 162 for the joint secretary, department of economic affairs, the officials said.
Further scrutiny was done for the 3,768 candidates and only 89 of them have been short-listed.
"Nearly 98.54 per cent of the 6,077 candidates, who had initially applied for the posts, were rejected," a senior Personnel Ministry official said.
Of these 89 candidates, 14 each are for the posts of joint secretary in agriculture cooperation and farmers welfare, and shipping, 13 for aviation, 10 for the department of financial services, nine each for the departments of revenue and new and renewable energy, eight for road transport and highways, seven for environment, forest and climate change, three for department of economic affairs and two for the commerce department, he said.
"Now these short-listed candidates are likely to be called for interview," the official said.
The lateral entry mode, which relates to the appointment of specialists from private sector in government organisations, is considered as an ambitious step of the Modi government to bring in fresh talent in bureaucracy, the official said.
Usually, the posts of joint secretaries are manned by the officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Forest Service (IFoS)) and Indian Revenue Service (IRS) among others.
Government think tank Niti Aayog had in a report highlighted that it was essential that specialists be inducted into the system through lateral entry on fixed-term contract.
Senior officials in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had earlier informed News18, "We had hoped for more enthused interest. However, with just over 6,000 applications, the number is lower than expected."
Several officials in the department informed that one lakh applications were unanimously expected.
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 government had cited examples of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ex-deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, as the examples of those who joined the government through the “lateral entry” process at various ranks.
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