History of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission

The Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) is the constitutional body responsible for recruiting officers into the civil services of Madhya Pradesh. Its origins go back to the reorganization of Indian states in 1956, when several predecessor commissions were merged into a single institution for the new state. This article traces that history and explains how the Commission took its present form.

The Reorganization of 1956

Consequent on the reorganization of States on 1st November 1956, eight districts of Madhya Pradesh were transferred to the Bombay State, and the remaining fourteen districts of Madhya Pradesh, along with Madhya Bharat, Bhopal and Vindhya Pradesh, were merged to form the new Madhya Pradesh.

As there was no Public Service Commission for the States of Bhopal and Vindhya Pradesh — these being Part "C" States — recruitment for them had been handled by the Union Public Service Commission, and the records of those cases were not available to the new Commission. The Annual Reports of the former Madhya Bharat Commission for 1954–55 and 1955–56 had been presented to the Rajpramukh but were never published or placed before the legislature as the Constitution required.

Constitution of the New Commission

Under Section 118(2) of the States Reorganization Act of 1956, the Public Service Commissions of the former States of Madhya Pradesh and Madhya Bharat ceased to exist from 1 November 1956. The new Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission was constituted from the same date under Section 118(3) of the Act, by order of the President vide Notification No. 59/6/56-SR-II dated 27 October 1956 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

The founding members of the Commission were:

• Shri D. V. Rege, I.C.S. (Retired) — first Chairman;
• Shri N. Padmanabhan Shastri, M.Sc.;
• Shri S. N. Bamroo, M.A., LL.B.;
• Dr. H. C. Seth, M.A., Ph.D. (London);
• Shri S. S. Pande, B.A., LL.B.;
• Shri E. M. Toshi, M.A., Bar-at-Law;
• Raja Dhondiraj Bahadur, B.A., Bar-at-Law.

The First Years

Shri S. N. Bamroo, Member, and Shri D. V. Rege, Chairman, retired on 23 January 1957 and 17 September 1957 respectively. Shri N. Padmanabhan held current charge of the duties of Chairman in addition to his own until his retirement on 23 October 1957, when Dr. H. C. Seth was appointed Chairman.

Shri D. N. H. Rao, Secretary of the former Madhya Bharat Public Service Commission, became Secretary of the new Commission. Shri Nagendra Mohan Vyas, Under Secretary of the former Madhya Bharat Commission, and Shri G. S. Pandya, Assistant Secretary of the former Madhya Pradesh Commission, were appointed Officers on Special Duty.

Milestones of the Commission

From these beginnings, the Commission grew into the institution that today conducts the State Service Examination, the State Forest Service Examination and dozens of specialized recruitments every year, advising the state government on appointments, promotions and disciplinary matters under Article 320 of the Constitution.