BharatNotes Lateral Entry
The direct induction of domain experts from private sector, academia, and public sector undertakings into Joint Secretary and Director-level positions in the Central Government without going through the UPSC Civil Services Examination.
Context & Background
Recommended by 2nd ARC; first batch of 9 JS-level lateral entrants recruited 2018 via UPSC; extended in subsequent years.
UPSC Exam Relevance
Controversy around reservation applicability; Article 16 — appointments to posts "under the State"; lateral entry posts treated as short-term contracts (3 years, extendable to 5).
