The Public Service Commission in India
| Author | Sukumar Basu |
| Date | 01 March 1953 |
| Published date | 01 March 1953 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1953.tb01764.x |
The
Public Service Commission
in
India
By
SUKUMAR
BASU,
I.C.S.
Mr.
Basu
is Chairman
of
the Public Service Cornmission of West Bengal.
He wishes to make it clear that he alone is responsible for
any
opinion
expressed in the article.
HE emergence of the independent Public Service Commission, both at
T
the Centre and in the States, is one of the high-lights of the Constitution
of India, inaugurated in January,
1950.
This article gives a brief survey of
its genesis and development.
It is scarcely realised that the idea of a Public Service Commission in
India was first mooted as recently as
1919
in the Despatch on tbe Indian
Constitutional Reforms dated the 5th March.
A
relevant extract from
it
is
given below
:
In most of the Dominions where responsible Government has been
established, the need has been felt of protecting the Public Services
from political influence by the establishment
of
some permanent offices,
primarily charged with the regulation of service matters. We are not
prepared at present to develop the case fully for the establishment in
India of a Public Service Commission, but we feel that the prospect
that the services may come more and more under ministerial control
affords strong ground for instituting such a body.
The following provision was made in the Government of India Act, 1919
:
There shall be established in India a Public Service Commission
which shall discharge, in regard to recruitment and control of the public
services in India, such functions
as
may be assigned thereto by Rules
made by the Secretary of State in Council.
But the Public Service Commission was not set up immediately after the
commencement of the Act.
In their report the Royal Commission on the Superior Civil Service in
India under the Chairmanship of Viscount Lee of Farnham, made the
following observations in 1924
:
Wherever democratic institutions exist, experience has shown that
to secure an efficient Civil Service
it
is essential to protect
it,
so far as
possible, from political or personal influences and to give
it
that position
of stability and security which is vital to its successful working as the
impartial and efficient instrument by which Governments, of whatever
political complexion, may give effect to their policies. In countries
where
this
principle has been neglected, and where the
"
spoils system
"
has taken its place, an inefficient and disorganised Civil Service has
been the inevitable result and corruption has been rampant. In America,
a
Civil Service Commission
has
been
constituted to control recruitment
of
the
sew1@e4,
RUT,
for
The
pirpw
nf
Tndia,
ir
k
from
The
hmininnr!
of
the
British
Empire
that
more relevant and useful lessons can
perhaps
be drawn. Canada, Australia and South Africa now possess Public or
81
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