The central government has withdrawn its decision on lateral entry in UPSC. This has certainly reduced the anger of the opposition, but a female IAS officer has expressed surprise. Telangana cadre IAS officer Smita Sabharwal has shared her views on this matter on the social media platform X. She has expressed surprise at the government’s move to withdraw lateral entry.
Let us tell you that Sabharwal is currently serving as the Member-Secretary of the Telangana Finance Commission. She has also said that bureaucrats should be given the option to specialize in specific domains after their tenth year of service. She argues that this will ensure that officials will be better equipped to handle complex issues in areas such as health, education, infrastructure or urban development.
Sabharwal said, “Periodic appraisal is necessary. Poor performers should be retired after 15 years and replaced by someone else. Bureaucrats should be allowed to choose their domains and receive in-service training to excel in those areas. They should not be given responsibility of any area outside this.”
Let us tell you that the government’s decision to cancel the notification of lateral entry, which was introduced with the aim of bringing experienced professionals from outside the civil services, has faced strong criticism. Opposition parties argued that such a move could lead to bias and violate constitutional reservation provisions for marginalized communities. The controversy escalated further when the opposition accused the government of trying to circumvent the established reservation norms by recruiting its supporters.
Sabharwal’s proposal for specialised training and rigorous assessment is a direct response to this climate of controversy.