Twenty-five private sector specialists will soon be joining key posts in the Centre as part of the Modi government‘s ambitious plan to infuse such talents to further improve ease of governance, officials said on Friday.

They said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the appointment of three joint secretaries and 22 directors/deputy secretaries in different central government departments.

Usually, the posts of joint secretaries, directors, and deputy secretaries are held by the officers of all-India services — the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) — and other Group A services, among others.

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The latest induction is being done through the lateral entry mode — referred to as the appointment of private sector specialists in government departments — aimed at bringing fresh talent and perspective into the government, the officials said.

Under the lateral entry scheme, which was launched in 2018, recruitments are made at the level of joint secretary, director and deputy secretary. The officers at these levels play an important role in policy-making.

The officers who come through the lateral entry process become part and parcel of the government system.

The Personnel Ministry had in June 2018 invited applications against 10 joint secretary-rank posts through the lateral entry mode for the first time. The recruitment for these posts was done by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

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The Commission had again in October 2021 recommended 31 candidates for the appointment as joint secretaries (3), directors (19), and deputy secretaries (9) in different central government departments, the officials quoted above said.

A total of 38 private sector specialists — including 10 joint secretaries and 28 directors/deputy secretaries — have joined the government so far, they said.

At present, there are 33 such specialists, including eight joint secretaries, 16 directors and nine deputy secretaries, are working in key government departments, they said, adding two joint secretaries completed their full three-year tenure.

Under the lateral entry scheme, recruitments are made against the posts requiring domain specialisations either from the private sector or from the state government/ autonomous bodies/public sector undertakings etc.