New Delhi: The Centre has sought applications from ‘talented and motivated Indian nationals willing to contribute towards nation building” to become bureaucrats at the Joint Secretary (JS) rank. This mid-ranking position usually filled by officers selected through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams.
The ministry of personnel said it was looking for 10 outstanding individuals with expertise in the areas of financial services, revenue, economic affairs, agriculture, cooperation and farmer welfare, road transport and highways, shipping, environment, forest and climate change, new and renewable energy, civil aviation and commerce. “It’s an endeavour to get the best from whichever source available,” said minister of state of department of personnel and training Jitendra Singh said.
“It’s motivated with focus on allowing every Indian citizen a fair chance to ensure their growth depending on their potential,” he added. The applications for ‘lateral recruitment of senior positions in the government of India’ can be sent from June 15 to July 30.
“We already have two secretaries who are on contract — drinking water and sanitation, and Ayush. Before that we had a power secretary, who was recruited in the same manner,” said C Chandarmouli, secretary (personnel). Chandramouli was referring to Parameswaran Iyer, who took voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and then returned from the US to head the Narendra Modi government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission and was last year, appointed secretary in the drinking water and sanitation ministry for two years.
Another example is “Vaidya” Rajesh Kotecha, who was first appointed as special secretary in the ministry of Ayush and later promoted as secretary in July last year. Kotecha, a former vice-chancellor of Jamnagar-based Gujarat Ayurveda University and an Ayurvedic doctor, has been given charge for three years. But a joint secretary rank official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, added that there might have been earlier instances of individual ministries advertising for a particular post, but that this is the first time that the ministry of personnel has collectively sought applications for 10 JS-rank posts in various departments.