Lateral entry into civil services is seen as a reformative step, yet it continues to attract criticism and controversy. Discuss.

Recently in 2024, UPSC had to backtrack lateral entry after opposing parties certified over bypassing reservation. [Reformative Step] 1) Bring technical & managerial expertise in civil service, at system. 2) Address 1000+ IAS vacancies across departments. 3) Reduce bureaucratic apathy in bodies where there is lack of efficiency & accountability. 4) Create public friendly environment as private knows how to build rapport with people.

in based on expertise. 5) Tyranny of Merit: Merit without equality leads to injustice. 6) Opaque appointment procedure. Possibility of ruling party bias. 7) Demonstrate hardworking civil servants when made to compete with outsiders. [Way forward] 1) Address vacancy by increasing. 2) Lateral entry in core expert jobs with transparent procedure. 3) Hybrid model: using technologist through UPSC exam. g Lateral entry is an important step to strengthen bureaucracy (cited from block), by bringing new expertise to competition