A life-cycle approach

Shailesh Pathak’s article, “Lateral entry into top govt posts is the way forward” (July 26), seems out of touch with current developments and construes a limited meaning of lateral entry into civil services — re-arranging career bureaucrats in the pipeline of seniority. 

Nevertheless, it offers encouraging suggestions for better utilisation of talent within the system. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), however, has instructed the Department of Personnel and Training to put forth a proposal for inclusion of “outsiders” in the middle rung of ministries.

The shortage of officials at the senior level has been widely documented. The government’s decision to merge two