Mohandas Pai, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Infosys, on Monday attacked Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury for the latter's comments on lateral entry to 45 specialists across ministries.
Calling Yechury's take against lateral entry in ministries a 'big joke', Pai said that the Left infiltrated governments across many states over decades. "Big joke from a party which infiltrated govt across many states for decades. They think everybody else is like them," Pai said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
In his tweet, Yechury attacked the Modi government over the lateral entry for officers of the rank of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries as an "attempt to infiltrate RSS personnel to further its agenda to subvert our Constitutional Scheme."
Yechury, who is also a former Rajya Sabha MP, also said that such a decision negates the constitutional mandate for reservations. He also claimed that had the recruitment been done through the normal UPSC procedure, at least 23 out of 45 appointees would have been SC/ST/OBC candidates.
"If done through the normal practice of UPSC selection then at least 23 of 45 would be competent SC/ST/OBC candidates. Modi urgency to implement the Manu Smriti social order," he said.
Not only Yechury, Leader of Opposition and Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi also questioned the lateral entry for specialists. Gandhi called it an attack on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis, adding the BJP's "distorted version of Ram Rajya seeks to destroy the Constitution and snatch reservations from Bahujans."
The UPSC announced a total of 45 specialists -- 10 joint secretaries and 35 directors/deputy secretaries -- will soon join key posts of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries in different central ministries. These positions are open till September 17, 2024.
Through this recruitment drive, the Modi government aims to bring in professionals with expertise to enhance the effectiveness of governance in various realms. Usually, IAS, IPS and IFoS officers and officers of Group A services man these posts.
The 10 positions of joint secretaries are in Home, Finance, and Steel ministries among others. 35 posts of director/deputy secretaries are in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Civil Aviation and Information & Broadcasting among others.