Daily Briefing: The ‘lateral entry’ quagmire; where Hasina may have faltered

Lateral entry into bureaucracy is by no means a new measure. The policy was framed in 2018, allowing the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to fill vacancies as “single post”, which need “special qualification and experience”. Reservation was not deemed necessary in such posts.

But six years and a reduced mandate later, the government has asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairperson to withdraw an advertisement for lateral entry into 45 posts. The reason? The “constitutional mandate towards social justice”.

Quick recap: What is lateral entry policy? It allows individuals to take up middle and senior management positions in the central secretariat, which, till then, had only career bureaucrats from the All India Services/Central Civil Services.

🎧 Tune in to our flagship ‘3 Things’ podcast for more.

Records reviewed by The Indian Express show that when the scheme was taking shape in 2018 it was framed as such to avoid reservation.

In fact, the scheme also faced questions within the government. The DoPT in 2017 had flagged that there was no shortage of empanelled officers to fill in vacancies.

Only in Express

“Apa (elder sister) has abandoned us”

For the past fortnight, The Indian Express‘ Shubhajit Roy has been documenting the regime change in Bangladesh from the ground. In his latest dispatch, he caught up with leaders of the Awami League, which was once at the helm. Now, with their leader Sheikh Hasina gone, these leaders are in hiding. As they look back at how things unfolded, some express regret and some speak of Hasina’s mistakes that led them here.

From the Front Page

Who doesn’t love the convenience of e-commerce? You can have anything you desire at a click, and with discounted rates and zero delivery fee. This, however, comes at a cost to the nation, according to Piyush Goyal, India’s commerce minister. At a recent event, Goyal flagged that the boom in e-commerce impacts millions of small retailers across the country as e-tailer giants like Amazon indulge in predatory pricing, and sell to customers directly (which is illegal).

Doubling insurance cover under Ayushman Bharat Yojana to Rs 10 lakh (and up to Rs 15 lakh for women), adding 4 lakh more private hospital beds, and increasing the number of beneficiaries from 55 crore to 100 crore — these have been pitched as the Health Ministry’s key priorities for the NDA’s third term, The Indian Express has learned. The scheme, also known as Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, is the incumbent government’s flagship health assurance scheme, often touted as the world’s largest.

Must Read

Peeling the layers: The sprawling investigation into the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party’s Tamil Nadu chief, Armstrong, has taken another turn, unveiling a web of gang rivalries, financial dealings, and deep-seated enmities. Among the latest arrests are members of the AIADMK, the BJP and the Youth Congress. While the initial findings indicated the murder was rooted in the killing of a gangster last year, the latest revelations point towards not a single vendetta, but a confluence of motives from various rings, each with their own reasons to see him eliminated.

Simply put: Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot has allowed three private individuals to seek investigations against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on complaints of corruption.The individuals have alleged that the CM’s wife was an illegal beneficiary of a controversial ’50:50′ land exchange scheme that was devised by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in 2020. The scheme sought to resolve cases in which the authority had illegally acquired land without informing owners about the acquisition.