The Union government has invited applications from those working in private sector, public sector undertakings and state governments for three posts of joint secretaries and 27 posts of directors across ministries. These posts will be filled on lateral-entry basis by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

A notification issued by UPSC said that the government has submitted a requisition for recruiting officers at the level of joint secretary and director and accordingly, applications are being invited from “talented and motivated Indian nationals willing to contribute towards nation building”.

The notification says only individuals with requisite years of experience (15 years for joint secretary and 10 years for director) from corporate sector, state cadre officers and PSU officials of equivalent rank are eligible for the positions. The maximum age limit for joint secretaries is 45 years and for director level posts, only individuals up to the age of 35 years are eligible.

The joint secretary-level positions have been announced in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry; Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

The director level posts have been announced in Ministry of Commerce & Industry; Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance; Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare; Ministry of Law & Justice; Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education; Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education; Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution; Ministry of Health & Family Welfare; Ministry of Road Transport & Highways; Ministry of Jal Shakti; Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

The UPSC notification said that detailed advertisement and instructions to the candidates will be uploaded on the its website on Saturday and interested candidates can apply till March 22, 2021.

“Candidates will be shortlisted for Interview on the basis of the information provided by them in their online application. They must ensure that such information is correct,” the UPSC notification said.

In 2019, the government appointed 10 joint secretaries from the private sector and PSUs such as KPMG and NHPC. Through the selection process, which started in 2018, over 6,000 applications were received.

The lateral entry recruitment had started on the basis of a NITI Aayog report of 2017. The plan panel, as part of its three-year Action Agenda, and the Sectoral Group of Secretaries (SGoS) on Governance, in its report submitted in February, 2017, had recommended induction of personnel in the middle and senior management level in the government. Based on this, in 2018, the government had decided to appoint outside experts to 10 positions of joint secretary and 40 positions at the level of deputy secretary/director.

The process of lateral entry has been adopted by the government to bring in domain expertise in ministries and departments. Past governments had also hired individuals from non-civil service background and across various fields to fill vacancies in ministries.

Among prominent examples of such recruits are former PM Manmohan Singh, former Planning Commission vice-chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and former RBI governor Bimal Jalan.