• UGI USER
  • Jul 27, 2023
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Q. Highlighting the need for reforms in civil services with special focus on the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), critically discuss the apprehensions associated with lateral entry in civil services.

Approach:

  • Very briefly explain the role played by civil services in India.
  • Mention some key constraints facing civil services with special mention of IAS.
  • Write about the lateral entry scheme and assess associated benefits and apprehensions.
  • Conclude briefly.

Answer:

Civil services in India have played an important role in nation building and maintaining its unity and  integrity. However, various concerns about its performance have been raised, such as:

  • They are rigid and hierarchy-based leading to inefficiencies and delays.
  • Lack of adequate accountability which is often weak, vague and of a generalised nature.
  • Status quo-ist nature of the civil services does not suit their role of regulator and facilitator of decentralization and citizen-centric governance.
  • Indian Administrative Services (IAS) being a generalist service is not well suited to handle increased complexity of administration which requires specialisation such as cyber governance
  • IAS is hamstrung by political interference and a mixed record on policy implementation.
  • They have not responded adequately to the emerging challenges which include rapid economic growth, environmental degradation, technological change, increased local awareness  and income inequality among people.

In short, the civil services need to be reformed to remain relevant and to meet the current and  emerging needs. One such reform introduced by the government recently is lateral entry. It refers  to the direct induction of domain experts from industry at the middle or senior levels of  administrative hierarchy. It is supposed to bring the following benefits to the government:

  • Bring fresh talent in policy making: It will bring specialisation and help the government to understand the impact of its policies on stakeholders – the private sector, the non-government  sector and the public.
  • Increase in efficiency and governance: As per NITI Aayog, lateral entry would “bring competition” to the bureaucracy where career progression is almost automatic.
  • Increasing complexity in governance: Emerging issues like globalisation, digitisation, cybercrimes, climate change etc. requires specialists and domain expertise.
  • Fill the vacancy gap of officers: According to a government report, there is a shortage of nearly 1,500 IAS officers in the country. Lateral entry would help fill this gap.

However, it also raises the following concerns, such as:

  • Scope of utility: It questions how far the government can leverage the expertise of entrants and whether an enabling environment is created for utilising their full potential.
  • Difficult to ensure accountability and lack of long-term stakes: It is tough to demand accountability for the decisions taken by the lateral entrants during their service, especially  given the short tenures of 3 to 5 years.
  • Lack of field experience: Experts from the industry may fall short of the experience of working in the “field” at the grassroot level.
  • Bureaucratic resistance: Lateral entrants may face resistance at work in the form of lack of cooperation, difficulty in adjusting to the bureaucratic work culture and may affect the morale  of career bureaucrats due to insecure career progression.
  • Issue of reservation: It is unclear whether there would be reservation for recruitment through lateral entry.

Thus, while lateral entry promises many advantages, in practice it would require much more  commitment, clarity and restructuring. Further, along with lateral entry, the government needs to  take measures in other areas like training, evaluation, adoption of e-governance etc. to achieve the  objective of “minimum government, maximum governance”.