The Evolution of the Public Service Commission in India

Every year, over a million aspirants sit for examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission – a number that speaks to both the scale of ambition and the enduring trust placed in this institution. But the UPSC as we know it today did not appear overnight. It is the product of nearly a century of administrative reform, colonial legislation, nationalist pressure, and constitutional deliberation. Tracing the evolution of the Public Service Commission in India reveals not just the history of a recruiting body, but the story of how a nation sought to build a professional, merit-based bureaucracy from the ground up.

The colonial backdrop: Why a formal commission was needed 🔗

In the early twentieth century, recruitment to higher civil services in India was anything but systematic. The East India Company’s civil servants had once been selected by the company’s own directors, trained at Haileybury College in London, and dispatched to the subcontinent with little concern for merit or fairness. Even after the Crown took over administration following 1857, the system remained largely exclusionary – exams were held only in London, making it practically impossible for most Indians to compete.

The demand for a more transparent and merit-based recruitment process grew alongside the nationalist movement. Indian political leaders and administrators pressed for reform repeatedly, arguing that governance could not improve without a professional civil service selected on objective grounds. The idea of a permanent, independent body to oversee civil service recruitment gradually gained traction – and it was the constitutional reforms of 1919 that gave it its first formal shape.

The Government of India Act, 1919: The first statutory foundation 🔗

The Government of India Act, 1919 – commonly referred to as the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms – marked a turning point. Section 96(C) of the Act provided for the establishment of a Public Service Commission in India, tasked with functions related to recruitment and control of public services as may be assigned by the Secretary of State in Council.

The language of the Act was specific in its composition: the commission was to consist of not more than five members including a chairman, each holding office for five years and eligible for reappointment. Significantly, no member could be removed before the expiry of the term except by order of the Secretary of State in Council – an early attempt at insulating the body from arbitrary executive interference.

However, this was a recommendation in law, not yet a reality. The commission did not immediately come into existence. Translating the statutory provision into an operational body required additional political will – and that push came from an important inquiry body set up shortly after.

The Lee Commission of 1923-24: The decisive push 🔗

In 1923, amid growing political pressure for the Indianisation of the civil services, the British government appointed the Royal Commission on Superior Civil Services in India, chaired by Lord Lee of Fareham. The Commission had an equal number of Indian and British members – a deliberate attempt to lend the inquiry some degree of balance. It submitted its report in 1924.

The Lee Commission reviewed the existing structure of the All-India Services and Central Services, drawing on earlier recommendations from the Islington Commission of 1912. One of its most consequential recommendations was the immediate establishment of a Public Service Commission – something it described as a “cardinal feature” of its report, essential to the future structure of the services.

On the question of recruitment composition, the Commission proposed that 40 percent of future entrants to the higher services should be British, 40 percent Indians recruited directly, and 20 percent Indians promoted from provincial services. The goal was to achieve a 50:50 ratio of European and Indian officers in the Indian Civil Service within fifteen years.

Equally important, the Commission also recommended that the Public Service Commission, provided for under the Government of India Act, 1919, be established with functions relating to recruitment, disciplinary control, and the protection of services from political influence. This triple mandate – recruitment, discipline, and independence – remains central to the Commission’s role even today.

Why the Lee Commission mattered 🔗

The Lee Commission was not just a technical exercise in administrative design. It acknowledged, for the first time in an official report, that the pace of Indianisation was too slow and that structural reform was overdue. By recommending the establishment of an independent Public Service Commission, it laid the political and administrative groundwork for what would be built in 1926. The British government accepted its recommendations, and action followed swiftly.

Establishment of the first Public Service Commission: 1926 🔗

Acting on Section 96(C) of the Government of India Act, 1919, and the strong recommendations of the Lee Commission, the first Public Service Commission in India was established on 1 October 1926. It consisted of a Chairman and four members. Sir Ross Barker, a member of the Home Civil Service of the United Kingdom, became its first Chairman.

The newly established commission had a limited advisory role. It could conduct examinations and advise on recruitment-related matters, but its recommendations were not binding on the government. Leaders of the freedom movement were quick to point out this constraint, arguing that a commission without binding authority could not truly protect the services from political patronage or executive pressure.

The Public Service Commission (Duties) Rules, 1926, enacted under sub-section of the Act, governed its day-to-day functions – including matters not explicitly specified in the legislation. In 1927, the commission oversaw the examination for civil service recruitment on behalf of the Civil Service Commission of England, marking an important step toward conducting such examinations within India itself.

The Government of India Act, 1935: A federal upgrade 🔗

The Government of India Act, 1935 brought about the next major transformation. This legislation introduced a federal structure for British India and, in keeping with that new architecture, it provided for a Federal Public Service Commission at the centre and separate Provincial Commissions for the provinces.

The renaming from “Public Service Commission” to “Federal Public Service Commission” was not merely cosmetic. It reflected a recognition that with a federal framework came a clearer division of administrative responsibilities – the central body would handle recruitment for All-India and central services, while provincial commissions would manage appointments at the provincial level. This two-tier architecture introduced the structural logic that still underlies the relationship between the UPSC and the State Public Service Commissions today.

Despite this structural upgrade, the fundamental limitation remained: the Federal Public Service Commission’s advice was still not binding on the executive. The commission could recommend, but the government could disregard. It would take independence and a new constitution to address this gap in a more lasting way.

Independence and the constitutional status: 1947-1950 🔗

The Federal Public Service Commission continued to function after independence in 1947. It was during this transitional period that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, then Deputy Prime Minister, famously called the recruits of the civil services the “steel frame of India” – acknowledging the critical role that a well-trained administrative cadre would play in holding the newly independent nation together.

The definitive transformation came on 26 January 1950, when the Constitution of India came into force. With the adoption of the Constitution, the Federal Public Service Commission was renamed as the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), and the existing Chairman and Members were reappointed under Article 378(1) of the Constitution.

The provisions regarding the composition of the UPSC, the appointment and removal of its members, and its powers and functions are laid down in Part XIV of the Indian Constitution, under Articles 315 to 323. This constitutional entrenchment gave the UPSC something it never had under colonial legislation – genuine institutional independence.

What the Constitution guaranteed 🔗

The constitutional provisions did more than rename the commission. They restructured its foundations. Article 315 mandates a Public Service Commission for the Union and for each State. Article 320 makes it the duty of the Union and State Public Service Commissions to conduct examinations for appointments to the services of the Union and the States respectively.

Under Article 316, the Chairman and other members of the UPSC are appointed by the President, with the condition that nearly half of the members must have held office under the Government of India or a State government for at least ten years. A member holds office for a term of six years or until the age of sixty-five, whichever comes earlier – and crucially, the conditions of service cannot be varied to the member’s disadvantage after appointment. This protects members from executive pressure and ensures their independence.

The Commission is also required to be consulted on all matters relating to recruitment methods, appointments, promotions, transfers, and disciplinary matters affecting civil servants. While the commission reports directly to the President and can advise the government through the President, such advice is not binding. However, the President must lay before Parliament – along with the annual report – a memorandum explaining any cases where the Commission’s advice was not accepted and the reasons for such non-acceptance. This accountability mechanism gives the Commission’s advisory function real weight in practice.

State Public Service Commissions: Extending the model 🔗

The Constitution did not stop at the Union level. Articles 315 to 323 provide for the establishment of a Public Service Commission for the Union and a Public Service Commission for each State, with each State PSC exercising functions broadly similar to those of the UPSC. Two or more States may also establish a Joint Public Service Commission if their respective state legislatures agree to do so by resolution.

State PSCs conduct examinations for state civil services, advise on recruitment to state posts, and deal with disciplinary matters at the state level. The Governor of a State may also request the UPSC to serve the needs of that State, with the approval of the President – a provision that allows smaller or newly formed states to draw on the institutional capacity of the central body when needed.

From 1926 to today: A centenary of service 🔗

In October 2025, the UPSC completed a hundred years since its establishment in 1926 – a centenary that underscored its role in upholding meritocracy across a century of profound national transformation. What began as a modest advisory body with five members and limited powers has grown into one of the most consequential institutions in the country.

Today, in a single year, over 1.3 million applicants compete for just over a thousand positions through UPSC’s Civil Services Examination – a ratio that reflects both the scale of public aspiration and the rigour of the selection process. The commission conducts multiple examinations beyond the civil services, covering engineering services, combined medical services, defence services, and more. It also advises on recruitment rules, framing of service regulations, and disciplinary proceedings for Group A and Group B posts.

The UPSC’s evolution – from a colonial creation designed to manage administrative needs under imperial oversight to a constitutional body that now serves as a guardian of merit-based governance in a democracy – is a story of institutional resilience. Each phase of its history, from the 1919 Act’s tentative provision to the Lee Commission’s urgent recommendation, from the 1926 establishment to the 1935 federal restructuring, and finally to its constitutional enshrinement in 1950, built upon what came before, correcting limitations and reinforcing the core principle that public service must be based on ability, not privilege.

What do you think? The UPSC’s advice to the government is not binding under the Constitution – the executive can override it, though it must explain why publicly. Does this advisory-only status adequately protect the merit principle in civil service recruitment, or does it leave room for political influence? And given how dramatically the scale of competition has grown since 1926, is the current structure of Public Service Commissions still fit for purpose in the twenty-first century?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Public_Service_Commission
2. https://judiciaryexam.com/en/union-public-service-commission/
3. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lee-Commission
4. https://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/search/archives/441a5908-b18c-3104-8f35-381f4a5e7f45?component=bb4e3df3-495a-31df-b204-bb94e56f1c10
5. https://prepp.in/news/e-492-lee-commission-1924-modern-india-history-notes
6. https://www.drishtiias.com/important-institutions/drishti-specials-important-institutions-national-institutions/public-service-commissions-union-and-state
7. https://upsc.gov.in/about-us/constitutional-provisions/article-315-public-service-commissions-union-and-states
8. https://upsc.gov.in/about-us/constitutional-provisions/article-320-functions-public-service-commissions
9. https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-172-public-service-commission.html
10. https://www.drishtijudiciary.com/ttp-constitution-of-india/public-service-commissions-under-union-and-state
11. https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/centenary-of-union-public-service-commission-upsc-