History of UPSC and the Civil Services

The Union Public Service Commission began as the Public Service Commission, which UPSC's own history says was set up in India for the first time on 1 October 1926. It became the Federal Public Service Commission on 1 April 1937 and took its present name when the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950.

The idea behind it is older still: that the higher civil services should be filled by open competition rather than patronage. This guide follows both stories, the Commission and the services, using UPSC's Historical Perspective, its pages on the Constitution and its museum booklet.

Timeline

Year	What happened
1854	Following Lord Macaulay's report of a Select Committee of the British Parliament, the idea of a merit-based civil service, in place of the East India Company's patronage, is introduced. A Civil Service Commission is set up in London.
1855	Competitive examinations for the Indian Civil Service begin, held only in London.
1864	Satyendranath Tagore, brother of Rabindranath Tagore, becomes the first Indian to succeed. The Imperial Forest Department is started the same year.
1887	The Aitchison Commission recommends grouping the services as Imperial, Provincial and Subordinate.
1893	The first open competition for the Indian (Imperial) Police is held in England in June; the top 10 are appointed Probationary Assistant Superintendents of Police.
1919	The Government of India's First Dispatch on constitutional reforms (5 March) refers to the need for a permanent office for service matters. The Government of India Act, 1919 provides for a Public Service Commission in Section 96(C).
1922	The ICS examination begins to be held in India as well, first in Allahabad and later in Delhi.
1924	The Lee Commission recommends that the Public Service Commission be set up without delay.
1926	On 1 October the Public Service Commission is set up, with four Members and a Chairman, Sir Ross Barker.
1937	On 1 April the Government of India Act, 1935 comes into effect and the Commission becomes the Federal Public Service Commission.
1950	On 26 January the Constitution comes into force and the Federal Public Service Commission comes to be known as the Union Public Service Commission.
1952	UPSC's office moves to Dholpur House on Shahjahan Road, New Delhi.
1966	The Indian Forest Service is created under the All India Services Act, 1951.

The services before Independence

The Indian Civil Service

Civil servants of the East India Company were nominated by its Directors and trained at Haileybury College in London. After Macaulay's report, entry was by competitive examination. The early rules made success hard for Indians, UPSC's history notes: the exam was held only in London, the age limits were 18 to 23, and European classics carried most of the marks. For about 50 years Indians petitioned for the exam to be held in India too. That was agreed only after the First World War and the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms, and the exam was held in India from 1922.

Police, forest and the central services

• Police. Superior police officers belonged to the Indian (Imperial) Police, appointed by the Secretary of State through a competitive examination. Entry was opened to Indians only after 1920, and from the following year the exam was held in both England and India. Till 1931, Indians were appointed against 20% of the posts of Superintendent of Police; more were appointed from 1939 onwards.
• Forest. The Imperial Forest Service was constituted in 1867. Its officers trained in France and Germany until 1885 and at Coopers Hill, London until 1905.
• Central services. The Government of India Act, 1919 split the Imperial Services into All India Services and Central Services. The more important central services included the Railway Services, the Indian Posts and Telegraph Service and the Imperial Customs Service.

From Public Service Commission to UPSC

The Act of 1919 provided for a Public Service Commission but did not lay down its functions, so the Commission of 1926 worked under the Public Service Commission (Functions) Rules, 1926. The Government of India Act, 1935 then provided for a Public Service Commission for the Federation and one for each province or group of provinces. When the Constitution came into force, Article 378(1) made the Chairman and Members of the Federal Public Service Commission the Chairman and Members of the Union Public Service Commission.

What the Constitution says

Articles 315 to 323 of the Constitution deal with the Public Service Commissions. UPSC publishes their text on its website; in short:

Article	What it provides
315	A Public Service Commission for the Union and one for each State. Two or more States can share a Joint Commission set up by a law of Parliament, and UPSC can serve a State if its Governor asks and the President approves.
316	The President appoints UPSC's Chairman and Members. As nearly as may be, half of them must have held office for at least ten years under the Government of India or a State. A member serves six years or until the age of 65, whichever is earlier, and cannot be reappointed to the same office.
317	A member can be removed for misbehaviour only by order of the President after an inquiry by the Supreme Court. The President can also remove a member who is insolvent, takes up paid work outside the office, or is unfit through infirmity of mind or body.
318	The President decides, by regulations, the number of members and staff and their conditions of service. A member's conditions cannot be changed to his disadvantage after appointment.
319	After leaving office, UPSC's Chairman cannot take any other job under the Government of India or a State. Its other Members can become Chairman of UPSC or of a State Commission, but nothing else.
320	UPSC conducts examinations for the services of the Union, and must be consulted on methods of recruitment, on the principles for appointments, promotions and transfers, and on disciplinary matters, except where regulations say otherwise.
321	Parliament can give UPSC additional functions by law.
322	UPSC's expenses, including salaries and pensions, are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
323	UPSC reports on its work to the President every year. The report goes before each House of Parliament with a memorandum explaining any case where its advice was not accepted.

What UPSC does today

UPSC's website lists its functions under Article 320: conducting examinations for appointment to the services of the Union; direct recruitment by selection through interviews; appointing officers on promotion, deputation or absorption; framing and amending recruitment rules; disciplinary cases relating to the civil services; and advising the Government on any matter the President refers to it. The Civil Services Exam is one of its examinations; what UPSC CSE is explains it.

Dholpur House

UPSC's museum booklet says Dholpur House was built in 1920 by Raja Udaybhanu Singh, ruler of the princely state of Dholpur, as his residence whenever he was in Delhi. It became Government property in 1949, when Dholpur State merged with the Union of India, and UPSC's office moved there in 1952. UPSC's museum is within the same premises.

For the exam, these articles matter in GS Paper II, whose syllabus covers appointment to constitutional posts and the powers, functions and responsibilities of constitutional bodies. See the polity syllabus.