August 23, 2025

NEW DELHI: Hold on, here’s some spicy news from the corridors of power! The Ministry of Personnel revealed on Thursday that 63 appointments made in central government departments via lateral entry since 2018 were not subject to reservation. Why? Because these posts were meant for very special tasks requiring expert knowledge, not for general category-based hiring. Junior Minister Jitendra Singh told Rajya Sabha, “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.'” So, the government did not keep category-wise data for these appointments. These 63 officers were appointed across three rounds—2018, 2021, and 2023—at important levels like joint secretary, deputy secretary, and director. Of them, 43 are still working in various ministries and departments. This comes after a heated political debate erupted over the government not following reservation rules for SCs, STs, and OBCs in lateral entry jobs. BJP even slammed Congress over increasing minority reservation in Karnataka housing schemes amid these tensions. The controversy made UPSC take a bold step. In August last year, the commission cancelled an advertisement for 45 posts through lateral entry. This happened after Jitendra Singh wrote to UPSC saying, “this (reservation) aspect needs to be reviewed and reformed in context of PM's focus on ensuring social justice.” So, the saga of lateral entry and reservations is far from over. As India balances expertise with social justice, all eyes will stay tuned for how these tricky government appointments evolve!

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Tags: Lateral entry, Reservation, Central government, Jitendra singh, Sc/st/obc, Upsc,