Can a working professional from any field join Indian Administrative Services without exam?

In 2008 the Central government of India released a notification for lateral recruitment of 10 Joint Secretaries in various departments. The persons who are working in other government departments or private sector who are having required experience in the required filed can apply for these posts. The qualification required is graduation in the required field and post graduates/ doctorates will be given preference. The minimum age for this entry is 40 years. The minimum experience required in the required area is 15 years. The appointment is on a contract basis and is for 3 years. They duration may be extended on the basis of requirement. Around 6000 application were received. So far no further processing is done. Recently the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) informed taht the seelection process was entrusted to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Now UPSC informed all the candidates who applied earlier to send their application again with the as on date information.
The details of selection procedure are not known. DoPT said that the applications will be scrutinised and the short listed candidates will called for an interview .UPSC will conduct the process of recruitment. The job is a senior position and unless otherwise the candidate is having the worth , they can't manage the work. So chances for malpratcices in selection will not be there and it will go purely on the basis of merit only.
This can't be taken as a lateral entry also and a very few posts will be there . There is no chance for a fresh graduate to become an IAS officer without writing the examination.

There is no continuous entry of people from the industry in IAS positions like joint secretaries in various Govt departments but Govt can time to time notify for that and take the experienced and outstanding people from the industry. For example in 2018 Govt had notified for 10 posts of joint secretaries through this route. The idea was to basically take advantage of the experienced industry persons in the area of civil aviation, revenue, economic affairs, financial services, road, transport, highways, shipping, renewable energy, commerce etc. This scheme of induction of people in IAS positions is known as lateral entry scheme.

The eligibility criterion for applying against such lateral induction whenever the posts are notified is as under -
1. The person should have an experience of at least 15 years in the related field.
2. The age of the candidate should not be less than 40 years.
3. The person should be graduate.

Persons working in comparable levels to the Govt joint secretary post in private, PSUs, state Govt, autonomous bodies etc can apply for these positions and while the Govt employees would be posted on deputation basis, the private employees would be placed on contract basis for a period of 3 years extendable to 5 years based on the performance.

There is no entrance examination for these selections and are to be decided by a selection committee enacted by the Govt. The selection committee would take a personal interview of the candidates and then decide the result of the selection and put it to Govt for approval and issuing of appointment letters. So, what appears as the selection criterion is mainly the experience and background of the candidate and their performance in their core area so far.

Though there is the provision of induction of experienced excutives for the post of Joint Secretary through the process of selection of their names in the following considerations -
1) The aspirant must be at least a graduate.
2) His age should not be less than 40 years of age.
3) He should have at least fifteen years of experience as a responsible executive connected with the relevant field.
The candidates should be from the financial field, power sector, revenue, road, transport, highways, coal sectors etc.
The main objective is to extract their valuable experience in the lines with which they are connected and prove their exceptional potentials during the process of interview. The panel of experts would evaluate their inherent potentials and capabilities so as to be absorbed for the post of Joint Secretary.
After their selection, their names would be forwarded to DOPT ( Department of Personnel Training) for their familiarity with the working procedures and other formalities to be followed in the departments with which they would be attached to.
PSU candidates having wide experience as General Managers and above may be absorbed on Deputation basis for a period of five years extendable as per recommendations of higher authorities after reviewing their performance and for the candidates selected from the private sectors, they would be placed on the contract basis for a specific period recommended by the selection - committee.