Congress’s Legacy Of Lateral Entry: How Former President K R Narayanan Was Inducted Into IFS Without A UPSC Exam

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on 20 June 2024 announced the withdrawal of its advertisement for vacancies in senior echelons of bureaucracy which were to be filled through the lateral entry.

This move was preceded by a letter from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led union government to the constitutional body, raising concerns about the omission of reservation in the notification.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which recruits officers for the 24 civil services entrusted with running India’s quasi-federal administration, had issued an advertisement notifying 45 vacancies to be filled through scrutiny of applications followed by interviews.

The positions ranged from Joint Secretary and Director to Deputy Secretary across 24 ministries of the union government.

The advertisement stated that the recruitment body intended to bring in experienced private sector individuals with domain expertise to assist the government in policymaking and administration, aligning with the country's growing needs.

Right after the announcement, the notification was objected to by the opposition parties and even by a few allies of the ruling government. They claimed that the UPSC was doing injustice to the socially marginalised communities by not categorising the vacancies into different social categories which otherwise benefit from the prevalent reserved quota norms.

In the case of the ruling NDA government, recruitment through lateral entries has been a point of contention right since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term of 2014-2019. Nonetheless, the government has managed to recruit at least 63 candidates with domain expertise to date through lateral entry.

Congress Government’s Trysts with Lateral Entry

Apart from the claim that lateral entries by not envisaging reservations do injustice to certain sections of the society, the Congress-led INDI alliance has consistently alleged that the NDA government was trying to undermine the existent administrative setup of India through such modes of recruitment.

However, history shows that Congress has not been an exception. Since the tenure of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, several governments in power at the centre in past have recruited private sector experts for specialised roles through non-traditional ways of recruitment.

In the Congress-ruled governments of the past, renowned economists like Bimal Jalan, Manmohan Singh, Vijay Kelkar and Montek Singh Ahluwalia were inducted into government services for positions ranging from Deputy Secretary for the Department of Economic Affairs to topmost jobs like Finance Secretary and being appointed on the Planning Commission.

Among others recruited through lateral entry was Nandan Nilekani who spearheaded the Aadhar Card programme as Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India.

Barring the commission appointed in 2002, the other two commissions were in fact appointed when Congress was in power. All three panels had stressed the benefits of having subject specialists in government services to balance the domination of the generalists.

Case Of President KR Narayanan – An LSE Graduate To IFS

Apart from the well-known examples cited above, what is little known is that Congress leader and India’s 10th President, K R Narayanan too was inducted into the union government’s Indian Foreign Services (IFS) without appearing for the civil service examinations (CSE) – touted as one of the toughest tests in the world.

In an article published in the Frontline dated 30 August 2009, former civil servant and noted author Gopalkrishna Gandhi reminisced about Narayanan’s life – from his entry into the IFS to joining politics and ultimately becoming the constitutional head of the country.

Recruitment for the IFS is among the most selective processes for those who clear the CSE, compared to all other services available.

If the number of candidates who clear all rounds of the CSE in a year ranges from 800 to 950, the rank required for general category candidates to be considered for the IFS typically ranges from 90 to 130.

In the case of Narayanan, a simple one-page recommendation letter from his alma mater London School of Economics (LSE) Professor Harold Laski did the job.

According to Gandhi, Narayanan himself recounted how Laski, a prominent 20th-century political theorist who knew PM Nehru personally, had written a letter introducing Narayanan and suggested that he deliver it himself to the latter.

Here is an excerpt from Gandhi’s article:

“On reaching Delhi, I sought an appointment with the PM. I suppose, because I was an Indian student returning home from London, I was given a time slot. It was here in Parliament House that he met me. We talked for a few minutes about London and things like that and I could soon see that it was time for me to leave. So, I said goodbye and as I left the room, I handed over the letter from Laski, and stepped out into the great circular corridor outside.

“When I was halfway round, I heard the sound of someone clapping from the direction I had just come. I turned to see Panditji (that is, PM Nehru) beckoning me to come back. He had opened the letter as I left his room and read it. ‘Why didn't you give this to me earlier?’ ‘Well, sir, I am sorry. I thought it would be enough if I just handed it over while leaving.’ After a few more questions, he asked me to see him again and very soon I found myself entering the Indian Foreign Service."