In an interview published in The
Indian Express on July 1, 2016 — the first in a series of conversations with
senior policymakers to mark 25 years of economic reforms — Manmohan Singh discussed
the lateral entry of experts into the government.
Examples of Lateral Entrants facilitated by Manmohan
Singh: As early as 1973, he had been able to get Bimal Jalan, who
was then with ICICI, on board, Singh said — and subsequently, Montek Singh
Ahluwalia, Shankar Acharya, Rakesh Mohan, Arvind Virmani, and Ashok Desai
for key economic assignments. “I got Nicholas Stern involved; Jagdish
Bhagwati and T N Srinivasan; Vijay Joshi from Oxford.” This
was important because “old orthodoxies” needed to be revisited, and “it
was helpful (to have a) group of young and learned people to back the
process”, Singh said. Years later, and despite the formidable challenge that
lateral entry posed, Singh was able to get in Raghuram Rajan.
Lateral entrants seen as career threats by establishment
officers: In that interview, the former Prime Minister attributed his
early success in getting domain experts from outside to the fact that the Indian
Economic Service at the time was small, and “nobody felt threatened”. But
later, “the IES felt that their opportunities for career advancement and
promotions were being denied”. That same broad sentiment could in part
explain the chorus of criticism that greeted the invitation on Sunday for
applications from “talented and motivated Indian nationals” for lateral entry
into 10 joint secretary-level posts in the central government.
Lateral entrants have been coming since 1970s: Much
of the criticism, though, has been political. But what these critics seem to
have ignored is the fact that through the 1970s and 80s — much before
the age of specialisation and opening of the economy — professionals from
both the private sector and state-owned companies headed departments in
several ministries.
More detailed examples who headed various departments:
Mantosh Sondhi, who headed Ashok Leyland and the Bokaro Steel Plant, and
who founded the Heavy Vehicle Factory, Chennai, was chosen by Indira Gandhi’s
government for the top job in the Department of Heavy Industry. This post was
later held by Venkataraman Krishnamurthy, who also headed BHEL and SAIL.
D V Kapur, founder chairman of NTPC, served as Secretary in the
Departments of Power, Heavy Industry, and Chemicals and Petrochemicals. R V
Shahi, former CMD of the private power utility BSES, was Power Secretary
from 2002-07.
Verghese Kurien and Prakash Tandon stalwart lateral
entrants: Back in 1965, when Lal Bahadur Shastri was Prime Minister, Dr
Verghese Kurien, founder of the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’
Union — popularly known as Amul dairy — agreed to become chairman of the National
Dairy Development Board on condition that the Board would be headquartered
in Anand, at a safe distance from Krishi Bhawan. In the 70s, Prakash Tandon,
the first Indian Chairman of Hindustan Lever, was appointed head of State
Trading Corporation (STC). P C Alexander, a former Principal Secretary to
two PMs who, as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce negotiated the
terms of the engagement, has written about Tandon’s success in infusing a new
culture of management into STC.
Example of Sam Pitroda: Rajiv Gandhi’s
government chose K P P Nambiar, a former Chairman of Kerala State Electronics
Development Corporation, to head the Department of Electronics in 1986. The other
famous appointment of a technocrat by Rajiv’s government was that of Sam
Pitroda, who was made head of several technology missions.
Planning Commission had numerous lateral entrants:
The Planning Commission, forerunner to the NITI Aayog, inducted many talented
young professionals at relatively senior levels. Yoginder Alagh, Vijay
Kelkar, Nitin Desai, and Sukhamoy Chakravarty all went on to hold top
positions in government. However, the Union Public Service Commission had to
approve the appointments if the tenures were of more than a year.
Lateral entry easy in economics and science fields:
Given the requirements of technical expertise, lateral entry has
traditionally been easier in the economic ministries and in the Departments of Space,
Science and Technology, Biotechnology, Electronics, etc.
In its 2002 report, the Civil Services Review Committee
headed by Alagh, however, recommended lateral entry into other
Departments as well, along the lines of countries like the US, where the
administration has a mix of permanent civil servants and mid-career
professionals.
Need for Skills and encouraging competition prime reasons
for lateral entry: “There is a need for differentiated skills
which require recruitment of specialists. When officers know that they will have
to compete, they will work towards accumulation of relevant professional
experience,” the committee said, and suggested that successful individuals
from non-profit organisations and cooperatives be inducted into middle and
senior levels of the government.
Lateral entry required to bolster professionalism,
integrity and specialization: The committee placed on record the
contribution of the civil service to the country’s development, but noted that levels
of professionalism and integrity had declined and a “ruler mindset” and
“negative orientation” had set in. It underscored the need to remove
deadwood and move towards greater specialisation.
Way Ahead: Promote transparency and avoid Conflict of Interest:
The success of the lateral entry announced by the government now will depend on
transparency and its ability to address potential conflicts of interest, and to
lay down proper terms of engagement.
Credit: Indian Express Explained
(http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/lateral-entry-into-govt-what-the-decades-old-experience-has-shown-5213567/)
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