The political furore over the lateral entry advertisement by UPSC for 45 mid level positions has led to the Government directing the UPSC to withdraw the advertisements issued a few days back.

Earlier, after the lateral entry vacancies were advertised on 17 August for recruitment of Joint Secretary and Director/Deputy Secretary level officers, the opposition parties, led by LoP Rahul Gandhi, opposed the lateral entry in bureaucracy and called it an attempt to snatch reservation, by the BJP led Government at the Centre.

The withdrawl was justified by the Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who said that PM Modi has emphasized reservations in line with principles of equality and social justice and that the recruitment will be through a transparent and air process in line with inclusion. He added that most lateral entry recruitments before 2014 were made in an adhoc manner with cases of alleged favouritism. In his letter to Preeti Sudan the Chairman of UPSC, the Minister said that since the positions advertised have been treated as specialised and designed as single cadre posts, there has been no provision for reservation in these appointments.