I argue yes. Lateral entry into the civil services should be encouraged by all means. Actually, we have been doing it for long, though in a limited manner. IG Patel and Manmohan Singh in the past and C Rangarajan, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Ashok Lahiri and Shankar Acharya in recent years are all lateral entries into the government. MS Swaminathan and Sam Pitroda from outside the civil services have done a yeoman?s service to the nation.
The contribution of lateral entries has been rated fairly high. Many civil servants also join the private sector, non-government organisations (NGOs), foundations and international agencies?some after superannuation and some seeking retirement before superannuation. There is, therefore, a lot of appreciation about transfusion of ideas from across sectors.
Public service is often categorised into two broad groups: military service and civil services. Civil services are in general departments of government at all levels?national, regional and local, or in agencies like authorities, commissions, councils, corporations and boards. They are also in the defence force headquarters. Experts are often invited to join agencies and sometimes the government. The only difference is that quite often, people coming through the lateral entry system are not put in the vortex position.
The advantages of lateral entry can be counted in terms of expertise, fresh thinking, new technology, and cross-sector experience. It helps reduce red tape and delays but, more importantly, it encourages out-of-the-box thinking and, thereby, an improvement in the quality and content of programmes and projects. The result: better execution. It has often been found that the bureaucracy tends to become immune to fresh thinking.
In the government of India itself, for long the departments of space, atomic energy, and science & technology have been headed in the secretariat by experts in the respective fields. These civil servants have been efficient and have impeccable integrity. But by and large, it seems that people who were inducted laterally into the civil services were largely from academia and at a pretty high level.
Lateral entries can be hired from the private sector, NGOs, the mass media and journalism, besides academia. All these sectors are being increasingly trusted with tasks traditionally carried out by government or its agencies. With the realisation that the administration is failing to adequately address public affairs, the paradigm has itself shifted gradually from administration to management. It has often been seen that management skills are better found outside government. For that reason, functions that need to be passed on to outside agencies, lateral entry will be fruitful.
We have also witnessed that lateral entries into politics have made a good contribution to law making, policymaking and otherwise dealing with public affairs. If lateral entry can be good for law making, why can?t it be good for implementation of those very laws? In many countries, law makers are law implementers, too.
It may be noted that the education sector has been opening up for quite some time. Management education in particular has seen wisdom in inviting and accommodating at middle to senior levels people from industry and other professions like law and chartered accountancy.
It is but natural that people who have to be inducted into the civil services?whether at entry level or laterally?must have requisite expertise and relevant experience. We have created specialised services like the Indian Engineering Service, Indian Economic Service and Indian Statistical Service and are thinking of creating an Indian Judicial Service. Yet, we have found over time that they have proved inadequate and the services of people from academia and research were sought. It will do well if we have both people selected through competitive examinations and those who have tackled similar problems in research institutions, private enterprise, in the field and so on.
The purpose of having a civil service is to serve people well. Having the flexibility to induct people with competence at any stage should be welcome. The system, therefore, should encourage lateral entry.
?The writer is professor of economics at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi