Corrupt to the top

Those who paid their way to a job shall have no qualms about making money many times over their ‘investment’. There is the case of two brothers who together paid Rs 1.2 crore for two posts in the state administrative services. Or the successful candidate who paid Rs 60 lakh to get a Dy SP’s post. These men and women can’t be expected to be honest in their dealings; they will look for every opportunity to make money.

Government employees cannot be expected to be honest unless their selection is made honestly by persons of outstanding merit. This is what the framers of the Indian Constitution had in mind when they laid out the provisions for recruitments to the civil services.

The rot has set in, not just in Punjab but in other states as well like Bihar and Haryana, mainly because of the unregulated manner in which appointments are made to such commissions. The president or the governor appoints the chairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and state Public Service Commissions (PSC) under Article 316 of the Constitution. The governor appoints the chairman and members of PSCs on the advice of the chief minister. Article 316 does not provide for any minimum qualification, a minimum age or even any experience, while appointing the chairman of state commissions. Thus such a vital appointment of a person who will be responsible for recruitments of those who could be at the cutting edge of the administration is left to the whims and fancies of the chief ministers.

Article 316 does provide some guidelines for nomination of members. It provides that ‘‘as nearly as may be one-half of the members of every Public Service Commission shall be persons who, at the dates of their respective appointments, have held office for at least ten years either under the Government of India or under the Government of a State’’. Since it is a constitutional post, it is also an onerous task to remove any chairman or member. The state government has to write to the governor seeking his removal on the grounds of ‘misbehaviour’. The governor has to send the recommendations to the president. He, in turn, must refer the matter to the apex court and only then suspension orders can be passed.

V.P. Dubey, a retired IAS officer and a former member of PPSC, gave several suggestions in 1999 in his book ‘State Public Service Commissions’ to cleanse the system and to make it more transparent and efficient. Among them was a proviso that only men and women of outstanding integrity and eminence should be appointed by ending the monopoly of the chief minister in making these recommendations. He also suggested that at least 1/3 members of such commissions should be from outside that particular state and the chairman should invariably be from outside the state.

Ravinder Paul Singh Sidhu, the tainted chairman of the PPSC, had no remarkable qualifications for his post. His only qualification was his closeness to the family of the then state Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar. Given our system and his proven abilities to have his way, it may not be surprising if he gets away with his booty.