Lateral entry in civil services means recruiting personnel from the pool other than the civil service cadre and promotional cadre officers. Second administrative reforms commission, Surendra nath committee and hota committee advocated lateral entry into civil services.
Advantages of lateral entry:
- Growing complexity in governance field like finance, administration, health etc requires specialisation in the field. Hence it makes a strong case for lateral entry.
- There is a need of cross flow of ideas between bureaucrats and outside experts.
- given the sheer enormity of most government projects, good managerial talent is critical.
- A judicious combination of domain knowledge and relevant expertise is a critical requirement in governance. It is felt by many that these attributes are often not present in a cadre of generalists.