Now, Qualified Students to Apply for Government Jobs Through Lateral Entry

Qualified candidates with a relevant UG or PG degree and with the necessary experience in the field can now directly interview for consultant positions through lateral entry. They can bypass the Civil Service exams and can apply for posts in government bodies such as the National Skills Development Council, NITI Aayog and the Quality Council of India.

For instance, if there is a vacancy for a risk management consultant in these institutes, CAs and MBAs can be accepted, and if there is an opening for the post of an urban planning consultant, someone with an architecture degree can get the job.

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As of now, the job profiles which are available may be a bit scattered, Devashish Sharma, the founding member and chief of strategic accounts and alliances at an HR firm said. He also mentioned that most of these jobs may be for consultants, but there may be vacancies for fellows and joint secretaries in some departments.

The central government invited lateral entry applications in June last year for 10 joint secretary posts from people who had a good amount of experience and expertise in revenue, economic affairs, financial services, agriculture, road transport, civil aviation, new and renewable energy, and commerce.

The lateral entry approach into the government jobs has proved to be successful in US and UK, and if it is done rightly in India, it may be helpful in bringing new approaches and fresh ideas to governance.

To achieve this, a Delhi-based private institute, the Indian School of Public Policy will soon begin its flagship programme in policy design and management. The school will offer a one-year master’s equivalent course to help students learn what the government is looking for in lateral entry candidates and what all the job will require. Students can benefit from this course by learning leadership skills, communication and administration.

The faculty will constitute of policy experts, former administrators and senior academics and they will train students for placements in consulting firms, think tanks, government organisations or maybe even run for elections at the end of the course. Graduates can directly apply for fellowship programmes such as the fellowship programme of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations or the state government’s CM Fellowship Programme. The Delhi government also announced an Urban Leadership Fellowship last year and the central government has the India Smart Cities fellowship.

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However, candidates need to be sure before proceeding with it as such jobs are usually on a contract basis so there is a possibility of not getting the desired career growth and job security. Secondly, it is totally different from working in a corporate setup as there are some processes in place and protocols that candidates will need to follow.