Abdul Rashid Khan
The Indian constitution provides a constitutional body known as UPSC for recruitment of the gazetted officers for all the central services. It also conducts exams and viva voce tests for selection of the candidates for induction in the elite services like IAS,IPS, IFS and other allied services. Similarly in the country, each state has its own PSC which makes recruitment of all state gazetted service officers and also conduct state level competitive exams for the selection of state administrative, police and judicial services. In our state this institution is known as JKPSC which is responsible for recruitment of officers for various departments of Government and conducting state service exams like KAS, KPS, KCS and other allied services.
The main purpose for constituting this commission in J&K was to select the best lot among the available candidates according to their merit and recommend the list of the candidates as per the vacancies referred to them by the government. The PSC is an independent autonomous constitutional body which is supposed to make a fair selection without any extraneous pressures.
Therefore the chairman and the members so selected and appointed for this commission are required to be of high caliber having mastery in general Knowledge and rich information of current affairs with vast experience in administrative matters. He should be highly qualified and well read person. Besides this, the chairman and the members are supposed to be the men of impeccable integrity and having good reputation in the concerned department and in public.
The JKPSC has been serving the people for more than fifty five years. The people no doubt have also seen before some excellent persons manning this commission but the chairperson and few members who recently completed their term are worth to mention.
The commission has also some times in the past been in the news which the people still remember.
Actually in those days the number of marks fixed for the viva voce test were so high that it could definitely affect and topsy-turvy the merit list so obtained from the written exam. That is how some candidates of 1984 KPS exam,who did not make in the final selection list, got relief from the apex court and got entry in the service in 1992.
Previously there was no criteria laid down for the appointment of PSC Chairman and its members. It was in this context that the present J&K Governor in the last week of February 2015 put in place a transparent framework for appointment of the chairman and the members of the commission so that the PSC functions effectively, efficiently and maintains high reputation of integrity. This was also done to maintain the high standards which must apply to the selection of the best available candidates. Any deficiencies in the PSC functioning could also result in demoralizing the meritorious youth. During very short spell of time, the Governor no doubt did a marvelous job by initiating measures for giving transparent touch to some important institutions of the state.
In J&K state there is no dearth of efficient, well educated, honest, knowledgeable, experienced and high ranking serving officers in the administration who could be considered and nominated for the appointment in the commission. Also from universities and higher education departments, there are many good and experienced people available who could be considered for the panel. Even we have senior IAS officers with proven integrity, though from out side state but belonging to JK cadre, who are available and could also be considered. They could also prove more useful as they work independently without any pressure having nothing at stake. The state is also indebted to them as they spent prime of their life in running the administration here.
Keeping the pay grades of the chairman and the members of the PSC in view, the search committee has also responsibility to take care of this aspect so that the junior person may not occupy the seat which he does not deserve.
The list of the nominees recently recommended for the appointment in the PSC has been observed with some reservations by members of the civil society. They doubt if the process of the selection has been followed and service records examined meticulously by the search committee as envisaged in the frame work laid down by the governor. Whether the search committee has taken into account the aspect regarding the actual status of the professorship, the number of books the incumbent has authored and number of publication of research papers to his credit. If political consideration is no criteria, and integrity is the main qualification, then the name of chairman recommended in the previous list submitted by N.C. and INC coalition government should have also found mention in the fresh list. The sanctity of this prestigious institute needs to be maintained at all cost. To the surprise of all, the appointment of VC of Auquaf trust has been made in a very hush-hush manner again on the political and family considerations. The Muslim community in the valley has not become so bankrupt of the able and honest people, that Mufti sahib could not find any one. Now there is hardly any hope of improvement in the management of this sacred trust. It looks that the promise of providing good governance is eluding us and the present government is adopting the same formula of political ‘Bander- Bhant’ as the previous coalition regime had been doing. The people of J&K ought not to be treated as dumb driven cattle. Keeping the aspirations of the people in view, the head of the administration needs to take each and every decision cautiously so that the history does not repeat it self. Mufiti sahib being a matured politician, people expect some good initiatives from him which can bring a lot of improvement in the existing rotten system, otherwise they will be constrained to repeat the old Kashmiri saying that ‘Kuli kuth Kul che Sarad.’ Thanks;-
(The author is IGP (rtd)
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