Public Service Commission

“ The Chairman should be a person who will command the respect both of government and of the Service and should be given the authority and standing necessary to establish the Commission as an important and respected national institution, 45.⁠ We have agreed that the Public Service Commission should exercise its responsibilities in respect of all branches of the service other than the Judiciary and the Police. ”

“ The Civil Service Commission is greatly embarrassed in its work for want of an adequate permanent force for clerical and other assistance. Its needs are fully set forth in its report. I invite attention to the report, and especially urge upon the Congress that this important bureau of the public service, which passes upon the qualifications and character of so large a number of the officers and employees of the Government, should be supported by all needed appropriations to secure promptness and efficiency. ”

“ In the Public Service Commission, it is recommended that the PSC have an office in every region for more effective supervision and collection of fees. A Field Examination Unit should be created to examine books of accounts. ”

“ The Commission may appoint such staff as it may deem necessary for the efficient performance of its functions and administration, and may, in consultation with the Public Service Commission, determine the remuneration and conditions of service of staff members who are not public servants seconded to the service of the Commission. ”

“ The appointment, promotion, transfer, disciplinary control and dismissal of all Heads of Department shall, vest in the Cabinet of Ministers. (3) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the appointment, promotion, transfer, disciplinary control and dismissal of public officers shall be vested in the Public Service Commission. (4) The Commission shall not derogate from the powers and functions of the Provincial Public Service Commissions as are established by law. ”

“ Persons appointed to the Public Service Commission must be chosen for their ability and experience in administration or their professional qualifications or their general suitability for appointment, and the chairperson must have held a post or grade in the Public Service for one or more periods amounting to at least five years. ”

“ Provided that the President as respects the all-India services and also as respects other services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union, and the Governor or Rajpramukh, as the case may be, as respects other services and posts in connection with the affairs of a State, may make regulations specifying the matters in which either generally, or in any particular class of case or in any particular circumstances, it shall not be necessary for a Public Service Commission to be consulted. ”

“ The provisions of this section shall not apply to any service or department under the control of the Railway and Harbour Board, or to any person holding office under the Board.
Public service commission. 142. After the establishment of the Union the Governor-General-in-Council shall appoint a permanent public service commission with such powers and duties relating to the appointment, discipline, retirement, and superannuation of public officers as Parliament shall determine. ”

“ For these and other obvious reasons it is apparent that a corps of men in the employment of the government under the civil service, whose permanent duty it should be to probe into, obtain and correlate these facts, would be of great public advantage and utility. A permanent commission, like the Interstate Commerce Commission, has been spoken of, which should have authority to investigate, and upon giving notice of from one to three years, to change the rate or schedule within certain limits prescribed by Congress, say from three to five per cent. ”

“ Positions shall not be created nor abolished except for reasons of administrative efficiency. Any employee considering himself aggrieved by the abolition or creation of a position shall have a right of appeal to the commission through established grievance procedures. The civil service commission shall recommend to the governor and to the legislature rates of compensation for all appointed positions within the executive department not a part of the classified service. ”

“ Whenever the Commission finds, after due notice and opportunity for explanation, that any person has been appointed to or is holding any position, whether by original appointment, promotion, assignment, transfer, or reinstatement, in violation of the Civil Service Act or Rules, or of any Executive Order or any regulation of the Commission, or that any employee subject thereto has violated such Act, Rules, orders, or regulations, it shall certify the facts to the proper appointing officer with specific instructions as to discipline or dismissal of the person or employee affected. ”

“ The commission will then occupy the position of a disinterested tribunal rendering expert service, doing that which is not practicable for the local authorities to do, such as valuation of plant, uniform accounting, reviewing and acting as arbitrators in matters of rates and in all other disputed matters arising between the municipalities and the public service corporations.
"Thus the commission becomes an efficient aid to local control. It enlists active public interest through publicity, thus bringing to bear upon the subject the powerful controlling influence of intelligent public opinion. ”

“ It seems to us very important that the United States Civil Service Commission should be regarded and treated as an essentially non-partisan body, and that it should, therefore, not be subject to sweeping changes as to its composition with every change of Administration. ”

“ Nor should we fail gratefully to remember the valuable services rendered by the National Civil Service Commission, which has proved itself conspicuously faithful, judicious, and efficient, and the loyal enforcement of the law in the several Government departments, especially that of the Post Office, which has resolutely sought to rescue the country Postmaster from the reach of spoils politics, and that of Agriculture, which has carried the domain of the competitive rule to the very top of its organization. ”

“ The present single-headed Civil Service Commission will be converted into a three-man Commission to serve primarily as a standard-setting and enforcing agency, while personnel functions will be decentralized to line agencies and regional offices. The career civil service will be reinvigorated primarily through (a) a single career undersecretary for each department, and (b) a career executive service composed of well-selected and development-oriented administrators to provide administrative leadership while serving as catalysts for administrative efficiency, innovation and, development. ”

“ For the administration of the Act a Civil Service Commission is created, consisting of two members appointed by the Governor in Council, who are to have no other office or employment, and who may employ necessary assistance for the examinations they conduct. ”

“ Acting under this statute, which was interpreted as intended to secure a system of just and effectual examinations under uniform supervision, a number of eminently competent persons were selected for the purpose, who entered with zeal upon the discharge of their duties, prepared with an intelligent appreciation of the requirements of the service the regulations contemplated, and took charge of the examinations, and who in their capacity as a board have been known as the "Civil Service Commission." ”

“ The departments are invariably consulted as to the requirements desired and as to the character of questions that shall be asked. General invitations are frequently sent out to all heads of departments asking whether any changes in the scope or character of examinations are required. In other words, the departments prescribe the requirements and qualifications desired, and the Civil Service Commission co-operates with them in securing persons with these qualifications and insuring open and impartial competition. ”

“ For the purpose of developing in the Federal Government a more effective and economical system of employment and personnel management, and to promotethe general welfare of the employees of the National Government, there is hereby established a Council of Personnel Administration, under the chairmanship of the President of the United States Civil Service Commission. ”

“ Further than this, the payment of salaries is made dependent upon the certificate of the commission that the appointments of the recipients were made in accordance with the civil service law and rules. Thus these commissions have absolute power to prevent irregular or illegal appointments by refractory appointing officers. Their powers being so much greater than those of the national commission, their action can be much more drastic in most cases, and they can go more directly to the heart of an existing abuse, and apply more quickly and effectually the needed remedy. ”

“ Civil service reform.—The interference of partisan influence in the appointment of subordinate officers of the government, and clerks in the departments, attracted a good deal of attention and censure during General Grant’s administration, and he sought to effect a reform of some of the abuses, by appointing a commission to devise a system of competitive examinations, and by conferring appointments and promotions on those who proved competent in such examinations, and to those whose service in office entitled them to be advanced to better positions. ”

“ When a minister considers that some institution in his branch of the service requires to be reformed, he begins by submitting to the Emperor a formal report on the matter. If the Emperor agrees with his minister as to the necessity for reform, he orders a Commission to be appointed for the purpose of considering the subject and preparing a definite legislative project. The Commission meets and sets to work in what seems a very thorough way. ”