Amid political row, UPSC rolls back lateral entry ad on Centre's request

Govt likely to review the drive concerning applicability of quota provisions in it

Within three days, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Tuesday rolled back its advertisement, calling applications for lateral entry into the government service on the directions of the Centre, the first such instance in the Modi 3.0 government.

The Centre wrote to the UPSC, asking it to withdraw the advertisement that sought applications for lateral entry to 45 posts of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries across 24 ministries on contract basis. The positions were to be filled by September 17.

The Minister of State of Personnel and PMO, Jitendra Singh wrote to UPSC Chairperson Preeti Sudan on Tuesday, urging her to cancel the August 17 advertisement for lateral entry posts.

"It is important that the constitutional mandate towards social justice is upheld so that deserving candidates from marginal communities get their rightful representation in the government services. Since these positions (the ones advertised by the UPSC) have been treated as specialised and designated as single cadre posts, there has been no provision of reservation in these appointments," he said in the letter.