The Centre has decided to recruit 17 senior officers -- three joint secretaries and 14 directors and deputy secretaries -- through the lateral entry mode, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to induct these senior officers from the private sector in six departments.

This is the fourth such recruitment drive proposed to be undertaken by the Narendra Modi government, which had in 2018 initiated lateral entry -- referred to as the appointment of private sector specialists in government departments -- to bring fresh talent and augment the availability of manpower.

Usually, the posts of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries are held by officers of all-India and Group A services, among others.

The latest recruitment will be in the Department of Health and Family Welfare under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Power, the Department of Rural Development under the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the Department of Financial Services under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, according to the statement issued by the personnel ministry.

The proposed recruitment is in addition to 20 such specialists -- four joint secretaries and 16 directors and deputy secretaries -- sought to be inducted through lateral recruitment. The UPSC issued an advertisement to fill these posts on May 20.

Now, according to the requisition received from the DoPT, the UPSC will fill 17 additional posts -- three joint secretaries and 14 directors and deputy secretaries -- through lateral entry on contract basis, the statement said.

A detailed advertisement and instructions to the candidates will be uploaded on the commission's website on June 3. The interested candidates can apply from June 3 to July 3, the statement said.

The candidates will be short-listed for interviews on the basis of the information provided by them in their online applications and they must ensure that such information is correct, it added.

The personnel ministry had, in June 2018, invited applications against 10 joint secretary-rank posts through lateral entry for the first time. The recruitment for these posts was also done by the UPSC.

The commission had again, in October 2021, recommended 31 candidates for appointment as joint secretaries (three), directors (19), and deputy secretaries (nine) in different central government departments as part of the second tranche of lateral-entry recruitment.

On May 20, the process for such recruitment for the third time was initiated with the issuance of a detailed advertisement by the UPSC.

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