Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

PSCs urged to look for new ways to excel

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairman D.P. Agarwal has said that “agile and flexible” systems for candidate selections have to be put in place by the Public Service Commissions (PSCs) to ensure that the government services always rise to the needs of the changing times.

Inaugurating a conclave of the chairmen of all PSCs in the country here on Thursday, Mr. Agarwal said that the demands on the government services (employees) had changed in scope and character over the years. The PSCs needed to ensure that the brightest people with the right sort of qualities got selected to the government services. The selection process should be efficient and transparent.

He said that now the PSCs did not have a mechanism to monitor whether the selected candidates were justifying through their performance the selection process. Such a feedback was necessary for corrections in the system. Career progress of those selected too was not being monitored. These were crucial since the expectations of the employer (governments) and the employees were matters central to a vibrant civil service.

The chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir PSC M.S. Pandit, who presided over the inaugural function, spoke of the initiative of his institution to share all information with respect to the selection process with the candidates. This initiative led to a plethora of litigations in the initial stage, but the PSC kept pressing it forward to its logical conclusion, fighting cases in the court and plugging loopholes exposed by the litigants. He said the situation had magnificently stabilised since then adding to the credibility of the system in his State.

Kerala PSC chairman K.V. Salahuddin welcomed the gathering.

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