Lateral entry not subject to reservations, government informs Rajya Sabha | India News

NEW DELHI: Ministry of personnel on Thursday mentioned 63 appointments made in central government departments since 2018 by way of lateral entry, have been not subject to reservation as they have been made for particular assignments, conserving in view the candidates’ specialised data and area experience.In reply to a written query in Rajya Sabha, junior minister for personnel Jitendra Singh mentioned “since each of these appointments were made against single-post cadre, reservation is not applicable in view of Supreme Court judgement in the case ‘PGIMER, Chandigarh vs. Faculty Association and Ors’.” “Accordingly category-wise data of the appointed officers has not been maintained,” he added.The minister mentioned of the 63 officers appointed in three cycles (2018, 2021 and 2023) thus far on the stage of joint secretary, deputy secretary and director, 43 are presently in place throughout numerous ministries/departments.Following a political row over the coverage for reservation of SCs, STs and OBCs not being adopted in lateral appointments, UPSC had in Aug final yr cancelled an commercial for recruitment to 45 posts by way of this route. The UPSC motion adopted a communication from Singh, urging the fee to cancel the commercial as “this (reservation) aspect needs to be reviewed and reformed in context of PM’s focus on ensuring social justice”.