Supreme Court Judge and former chief justice of Allahabad High Court Justice Rajesh Bindal on Sunday emphasised usage of technology to ensure transparency in selection of civil servants.
Addressing the two-day 24th National Conference of STATE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION CHAIRPERSONS held at police headquarters, Bindal said, “Today India’s talent is being respected all over the world. The need of the hour is to make the selection of our civil servants more transparent by using technology more and more. We must create such a single window system from which candidates can apply for the examination of the Public Service Commission of any state of the country through a single website.”
In his presidential address, he said, “I have worked in Uttar Pradesh for a long time, this has been my workplace. I can clearly see today that there is a wave of change in UP. I welcome all the chairpersons and members of State Public Service Commissions who have come from all over the country to the land of Uttar Pradesh and hope that this National Conference of State Public Service Commissions will take a new inspiration from here.”
Justice Rajesh Bindal said that mutual coordination should reflect not only in annual events, but also in day to day activities. “For this, all of us should collectively try to develop such a portal where we can communicate with each other”, he remarked.
Justice Bindal said: “You all have a very important responsibility of selecting candidates who implement the policies for the next 25 to 30 years. In such a situation, it becomes necessary that the selection of the candidates should be transparent and fair.
He said that the public service commissions will have to keep updating their syllabus. He suggested that multiple choice questions (MCQs) is not a very good system, instead there needs to be more emphasis on aptitude based tests for the candidates.
He said that it is often seen that the selection process takes a long time, while according to the norms, any appointment process should not take more than 6 months. Delay in appointment spoils the mental and physical health of the candidates, as well as creates a state of frustration and uncertainty in them.
Apart from this, the state public service commissions need to keep their websites updated at all times. Most of the cases coming in the courts arise due to such situations when the correct information is not provided by the commission. Along with keeping the website updated, rules also need to be updated from time to time. Clear and updated information about courses and universities recognized by the commission should be available on the websites of the commissions. This will reduce legal problems and the burden on the courts, as well as help in completing the recruitment process in a transparent manner within the stipulated time.
“Apart from this, all of you should also take serious initiative in this direction that there should be a single window system to apply for the Public Service Commission examinations of all the states of the country,” he added.
Praising the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission, Justice Bindal said that UPPSC is doing a better job regarding the adaptation of technology. I was told that auto data feed has started here. Everyone will benefit from this technology. States have to further strengthen the database of their Public Service Commission website.
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) member Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla said in his address that earlier there was a saying for UP and Bihar that nothing changes except water in the Ganga here. “But, today we all feel that UP has completely changed. Earlier there was only love for Uttar Pradesh, today on this change we all feel proud along with love. Even today, the public’s faith remains on the Public Service Commission. With time, we have to move fast towards digitization of the Public Service Commission. India is the largest democracy in the world and the ecosystem of the entire machinery that runs this system depends on our recruitment process. It is necessary that our recruitment process should be completely transparent, for this there is a special need for better use of technology.
UPPSC Chairman Sanjay Shrinet delivered the welcome speech on the occasion. Chairman of the Standing Committee of the 24th National Seminar, José Manuel Nornha and senior member of UPSC, Rajeev Nayan Choubey specially addressed the conference. State DGP Rajkumar Vishwakarma and ACS Devesh Chaturvedi were also mainly present on this occasion. The vote of thanks was presented by Prof. RN Tripathi, Member, UPPSC. Before this, the fourth business session was also organized on Sunday morning, in which chairpersons of State Public Service Commissions from across the country discussed on ‘Court Judgment and other legal issues’.
The chairmen and members of the state public service commissions will visit Kashi, Mathura and Ayodhya on Monday after visiting Lucknow on Sunday.