9 professionals selected as joint secys in biggest lateral induction into govt service

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday selected nine professionals, largely from the private sector, as joint secretaries in various departments, signalling a major shift in the entry of professionals in shaping policies.
This is perhaps the first time that a large of group of experts with domain knowledge will enter the government through the lateral-entry process.
So far, the joint secretary-level officers are largely drawn from the pool of people who clear the civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). To ensure the same standards, the entire process of the selection of these experts was conducted by the UPSC.

Earlier, some experts had joined the government through the lateral-entry route in ministries such as finance, power and sanitation. The list of professionals included those like Manmohan Singh, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Bimal Jalan, Vijay Kelkar (former petroleum and finance secretary), R V Shahi (former power secretary), apart from Parameswaran Iyer, who is currently sanitation secretary, and Rajesh Kotecha, who heads the Ayush ministry
The UPSC on Friday released the list of experts who will join departments such as agriculture, civil aviation, finance, transport and shipping. They will join their respective departments on a “contract basis”.
According to sources, Amber Dubey, working as a partner with consultancy firm KPMG as head of aerospace and defence, has been recommended for appointment in the civil aviation ministry. Dubey is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and IIM Ahmedabad and has over 26 years of experience.
Officials said Kakoli Ghosh, who is working with a multilateral farm sector-focused agency, has been selected to join the agriculture ministry; Sujit Kumar Bajpayee, who is working with the state-run NHPC, has been recommended for appointment as joint secretary in the environment ministry. Dinesh Dayanand Jagdale, who is the CEO of Panama Renewable Energy Group, will join the new and renewable energy ministry.
Saurabh Mishra will be a joint secretary in the financial services department while Rajeev Saksena will join the economic affairs department. Arun Goel has been selected for the commerce ministry while Suman Prasad Singh will join the road transport ministry. Bhushan Kumar has been selected for the shipping ministry.
“This is a huge change. Perhaps for the first time, so many private sector specialists are being inducted. The entire process has been done through UPSC which is good,” said a senior government official.
He said the selected candidates will be governed by the central government administrative rules and will enjoy the pay and perks of a joint secretary. Government think tank Niti Aayog has experimented with the concept and has hired several private sector experts through the lateral-entry process which had triggered a controversy but the think tank had backed the move saying it had enabled the government to get fresh and innovative ideas.
Niti Aayog, in its report Strategy for India @75, had recommended encouraging lateral entry of experts at the highest levels of the government to usher in much-needed expertise. In the past, recommendations had been made but the progress was limited.
“The entry of professionals will trigger competition in the services as those who have come through UPSC civil services will have to compete with the domain experts in order to remain relevant in their respective fields. Under the current rules, once you clear the civil services examination you have a tremendous amount of job security, which often leads to complacency,” said another senior official.