The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission has been constituted under Article 315 (1) of the Constitution of India as an autonomous body to carry on its functions independently, fairly and impartially. The Commission consists of a Chairman and fourteen Members. In order to cope with the large number of recruitments to be conducted, consequent on lifting of ban on filling up of vacancies by this Government, the strength of the Commission has been increased from 11 to 14 Members in G.O.Ms.No.155, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (M) Department, dated 20.06.2007. The service conditions of the Chairman, Members and staff of the Commission are governed by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission Regulations, 1954.

2. The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission is discharging the following duties and functions specified in Article 320 of the Constitution of India:

(i) It functions primarily as a recruiting agency;

(ii) It advises Government on all matters relating to framing of recruitment rules, principles to be followed in making appointments, promotions and transfers from one service to another service and in respect of appeal in disciplinary matters affecting Government Servants;

(iii) It conducts Departmental Tests for Government Servants;

(iv) It conducts examination on behalf of the Government of India, Ministry of Defence, for admission to Rashtriya Indian Military College , Dehradun.

3. During the year 2007–08, the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission has issued 34 notifications for Direct Recruitment to various posts in the State and Subordinate Services. Out of the 34 notifications issued for direct recruitment, the total number of candidates appeared for examinations conducted for 17 recruitments are 10,53,176. The approximate number of candidates expected to appear for examinations to be conducted for the remaining 17 recruitments would be around 1,74,882. The total number of candidates to be selected is 12,017. During the period from 01.04.2007 to 13.03.2008, the Commission held 75 Departmental Promotion Committee Meetings and 1117 candidates have been selected.

4. The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission has proposed to conduct various competitive examinations to fill up vacant posts in various State and Subordinate Services for the year 2008-09. The approximate number of candidates expected to appear in the said examinations will be 2, 94,100.

5. The expenditure of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission including salaries, allowances and pension is charged on the Consolidated Fund of the State. Every year the Annual Report of the Commission is laid on the Table of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly with an explanation for the deviations from the views of the Commission, if any.

The Government, after assuming charge on 13.05.2006, have taken effective steps and issued various orders to fill up vacancies in Government Departments expeditiously through the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission / Teachers Recruitment Board / Uniformed Service Recruitment Board / Employment Exchange/ Selection Committee as the case may be. So far, 2,32,417 vacancies have been filled up as detailed below:

(i) The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission has so far recruited 6,397 candidates for appointment to various posts in the State and Subordinate Services by direct recruitment;

(ii) The Teachers Recruitment Board has recruited 13,299 candidates for appointment as Graduate Assistants etc.;

(iii) The Uniformed Services Recruitment Board has recruited 5,360 candidates for appointment as Sub Inspector of Police etc.;

(iv) Through Employment Exchange 46,931 candidates have so far been appointed in various posts;

(v) So far 43,033 persons have been recruited by the Selection Committee for appointment as Village Assistants in the Revenue Department, Typist and Steno-typist Grade - III as per Employment Exchange seniority through the Director of Technical Education, Makkal Nala Panialargal in the Rural Development Department and Cooks, Noon-meal Organisers, etc. in the Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme Department, etc. by the Special Recruitment Committee.

(vi) So far 37,625 vacancies have been filled by promotion and by other methods of appointment;

(vii) So far 1,436 retrenched employees of Census 1991 have been absorbed in Government Services;

(viii) The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission has conducted examination to fill up the vacancies of 3,368 Typist and 507 Steno-typist Grade - III through Group-IV Examination and to recruit about 4,103 candidates through Special Competitive Examination to absorb contract employees working on consolidated pay of Rs.4,000/- p.m. as Junior Assistant;

(ix) The Secretary, Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, has also conducted 'One to One' meeting with Secretaries to Government accompanied by the Heads of Department concerned as was done last year so as to clear doubts, to ensure early approval of estimates and to speed up the filling up of vacancies at the earliest;

(x) Consequent on the orders issued to absorb the daily wages / consolidated pay employees in Government Services on regular basis, in the time scale of pay, necessary follow up action has been taken:

(xi) Based on the orders issued providing reservation for appointments to B.C. Christians and B.C Muslims at 3.5% each, the existing 100 point roster has been revised to 200 point roster and orders were issued in G.O.Ms.No.241, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (K) Department, dated 29.10.2007. Further, orders have also been issued in G.O.Ms.No.20, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (K) Department, dated 12.02.2008, prescribing the ratio to be followed between the priority and non-priority categories subject to rule of reservation in respect of the appointments made through Employment exchanges.

(xii) Regarding filling up of shortfall vacancies, the Government have decided that the adequacy of representation of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes in each Group of posts in Government Departments shall be assessed and persons belonging to Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes shall be appointed by direct recruitment, where the representation of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes is less than 19% (18% + 1%) respectively and such direct recruitment shall be at the lowest level in each group of A,B,C and D. Hence, to enable filling up the identified shortfall vacancies of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes, necessary rule provision has been made in the General Rules for the Tamil Nadu State and Subordinate Services in G.O.Ms.No.220, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (S) Department, Dated 14.09.2007, to the effect that in order to restore the representation of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes in a service, where their representation is less than 18 per cent and 1 per cent respectively, each Department shall furnish the shortfall vacancies of Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes in the lowest level of posts in each of the Groups A,B,C and D, besides the posts of Junior Assistant, Typist, and Steno Typist – Grade III in the Tamil Nadu Ministerial Service and Tamil Nadu Judicial Ministerial Service to the Government and the Government in turn shall inform the same to the recruiting agencies for notifying the vacancies for direct recruitment as one time measure.

The State Vigilance Commission was set up in the year 1965. The main functions of the Commission are to advise the Government on major administrative problems in Prevention of Corruption in Public Services and the manner in which the individual cases of corruption brought to light should be dealt with. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption is assisting the Vigilance Commission in discharge of its responsibilities.

2. The powers and functions of the State Vigilance Commission in respect of the following matters are as follow as:

i) to undertake enquiry into any transaction in which a public servant is alleged or suspected to have acted in a dishonest or corrupt manner;

ii) to cause enquiry or investigation to be made on a complaint that a public servant has exercised or refrained from exercising his power for dishonest or corrupt purpose;

iii) to collect such information or statistics as may be necessary;

iv) to call for any information from any Department or undertaking of the Government or from any public servant on matters within its jurisdiction including information on the action taken on the Commission’s recommendations.

The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-corruption was formed in February, 1964. At present, this Directorate is headed by a Director in the rank of Additional Director General of Police. He is assisted by a set of Police officials and Law Officers drawn from Police Department and Directorate of Prosecution respectively.

2. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption undertakes the following functions:

(i) to collect intelligence for detection of cases of bribery and corruption and to investigate offences falling within the purview of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Central Act 49, 1988);

(ii) to institute enquiries into complaints made by members or public or the Government, Vigilance Commissioner and Departmental Authorities relating to Criminal Misconduct (Bribery and Corruption), Criminal Misappropriation and Criminal Breach of Trust, etc. and other venal practices by public servants;

(iii) to conduct surprise checks in sensitive areas in different Departments with the help of Officers of District Inspection Cells and Departmental Officers in each District as a preventive vigilance;

3. The investigation reports are sent to the Vigilance Commission. The Vigilance Commission, after examination, forwards them to the administrative Departments of Secretariat concerned with its recommendations for taking necessary further action.

The Tribunal for Disciplinary Proceedings is a quasi-judicial body. At present, eight Tribunals for Disciplinary Proceedings are functioning at Chennai, Vellore, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil. Each Tribunal is presided by an I.A.S. Officer / District Revenue Officer. The Tribunal shall inquire into such cases referred to it by the Government under the Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Disciplinary Proceedings Tribunal) Rules, 1955, and to forward its findings to the Government either holding the charges as proved or not.

Training plays an important role in the improvement of efficiency, constant upgradation of knowledge, skills and general capabilities of Government servants. Training on administrative development programmes are imparted to the Government servants to enable them to understand the problems of the public and to render efficient service delivery to them. Five Training Institutes are functioning under the administrative control of the Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Training) Department as detailed below:

(i) SECRETARIAT TRAINING INSTITUTE

The directly recruited Assistant Section Officers, Assistants, Personal Clerks and Typists of the Departments of Secretariat are imparted foundational training at the Secretariat Training Institute on general administrative procedures and financial administrative procedures required for perfect processing of files in the Secretariat for 60 working days. A pass in the examinations conducted at the end of the Foundational Training is a pre-requisite qualification for declaration of satisfactory completion of probation for directly recruited Assistant Section Officers and for inclusion of the names of Assistants, Personal Clerks and Typists in the panel for promotion as Assistant Section Officers. Other training programmes, such as procedures to be observed in dealing with the Disciplinary cases and Court cases, are also imparted to the Officers and staff of Secretariat in the Institute to update their knowledge and to enhance their ability to deal with such cases. Basic computer training is also imparted to all the newly recruited Assistants / Personal Clerks of the Departments of Secretariat. So far, 57 batches of Foundational Training have been conducted in this Institute.

The Anna Institute of Management, promoted by the Government of Tamil Nadu as a registered Society, is the designated nodal training institution and serves as a training consultant to the Government of Tamil Nadu. This Institution has a governing Committee with the Hon’ble Minister (Electricity) as Chairman and Chief Secretary to Government as Vice-Chairman besides other officials, eminent persons in the areas of education and management.

(1) Anna Institute of Management has all the necessary facilities, logistics and infrastructure for imparting training, which includes well-furnished hostel facility, library, computer center, lecture halls and auditorium etc.;

(2) It offers training to Officers of the Government of Tamil Nadu, Government of India, other State Governments and Public Sector Undertakings in areas of General Administration, Information Technology, Finance, Behavioural Science, Personality Development, etc.;

(3) It has a natural Disaster Management Cell with the assistance of the Government of India for imparting training in Disaster Management;

(4) It is also recognized by the University of Madras as an Institution for carrying out research programme leading to Ph.D. in Management with specialization in Finance.

In Anna Institute of Management, training on various management development programmes and organisation based programmes are imparted to the Officers of the Government of Tamil Nadu, other State Government Departments and officials of the Government of India and Public Sector Undertakings. During the year 2007-08 upto March 2008, this institution has conducted 248 training programmes and trained 6,123 Officers corresponding to 784 programme days in the areas of General Administration, Information Technology, Behavioural Science, Marketing, Productivity, Quality, Disaster Management etc. A new training programme highlighting different aspects of Medical Tourism and training programme for Tourist Guides was organized jointly by the Anna Institute of Management and the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation during 2007-08. The Anna Institute of Management has conducted 58 training programmes upto March 2008 on the provisions of "Right to Information Act". In the area of Computers, a special training on "Computer Applications and Tamil Nilam Software" was conducted for officials of the Survey and Settlement Department from April to September, 2007. This enables the participants to computerize their work quickly and serve the public effectively. The Disaster Management Cell has conducted 24 programmes upto March 2008 covering topics on Flood and Cyclone Management, Earthquakes, Landslides, Industrial Disaster, Environment etc. The Anna Institute of Management has also conducted 11 special programmes on the effective implementation of the "Public Distribution System" for the officials of the Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department. The Governing Committee of the Anna Institute of Management, in its meeting held on 05.11.2007, has approved in principle signing of MOUs with Centre for Public Policy (CPP), Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB), The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI) Chennai Chapter, University of Madras and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

The A and B Wing Foundational Course Training Institute of the Anna Institute of Management caters to the training of Officers belonging to the A and B Groups both direct recruits and promotees. The training content has been improved with audio-visual presentations and additional subjects. The subjects covered during the training period include Office Administration, Financial Administration, Public Administration, Law, Economics, Planning and Development, Disaster Management and Computer.

During the year 2007-08, A and B Wing of Foundational Course Training Institute of the Anna Institute of Management conducted 15 programmes and trained 313 Officers.

Based on the announcement made by the Hon'ble Chief Minister in the Budget Speech for the year 1999-2000, the two Institutes, one for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the other for Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes for imparting training to the candidates appearing for the All India Civil Services Examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission were merged and "All India Civil Services Coaching Centre" at Anna Nagar, Chennai, has been formed. The aim of this coaching center is to enhance the standard of training offered and, thereby, to increase the number of candidates selected from this State for All India Civil Services. This Coaching Centre is functioning with a Principal and Faculty Members under the overall administrative control of the Director, Anna Institute of Management, and Director General of Training.

Intensive coaching is given in this Institute to candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, to enter into highest Civil Services in India by providing boarding, lodging, and library and computer facilities under one roof. 300 selected candidates are trained in this Institute every year to write the Preliminary as well as Main examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission; Mock Model interviews are also conducted for the candidates selected in the Main examination to face the interview. From the year 1996, 231 candidates have been selected for the All India Civil Services through the All India Civil Services Coaching Centre at Anna Nagar. In the year 2007, 54 candidates have cleared the Main examination and are appearing for the Union Public Service Commission interview from 31.03.2008.

All India Civil Services Coaching Centre is now functioning in the building belonging to the Tamil Nadu Housing Board by paying an annual rent of Rs.2.35 lakhs. To upgrade the Institution, proposals have been sent for transfer of the land and building to the All India Civil Services Coaching Centre from the Tamil Nadu Housing Board and this is under consideration of the Government.

With a view to have a systematic, periodical and complete inspection of the offices of the Heads of Department and to tone up their administration, the scheme of periodical inspection of the offices of all Heads of Department by Senior Level Officers was introduced by the Government in the year 1959. Accordingly, an Inspection Wing consisting of three sections is now functioning in the Secretariat under the administrative control of the Secretary, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Training) Department. The Inspection-I and Inspection-II sections are supervised by the Inspection Officers in the cadre of Deputy Secretary and Additional Secretary respectively and the Inspection-III section is supervised by the Officer in the cadre of District Revenue Officer.

The three Inspection sections conduct inspection of 30 Heads of Department including Departments of Secretariat as per the inspection programme drawn up annually and they prepare preliminary inspection notes. Final inspection will be conducted by Senior Level Indian Administrative Service Officers nominated for the purpose of taking up final inspection and the report will be submitted to the Government.

Two days Pilot Course on Disciplinary Procedures to District Level Officers and three days Short Course on Office Procedures to Superintendents and Managers are also conducted by the three Inspection Teams of the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department in coordination with the District Inspection Cell Officers. The above training courses are imparted at the District Collectorates in all the Districts every year. During 2007-08, 30 Pilot Courses and 30 Short Courses have been conducted.

The District Inspection Cells were set up during 1975 to tone up efficiency in administration in the District offices and to exercise control over the subordinate Officers.There are eleven District Inspection Cells each functioning under the control of District Inspection Cell Officer in the cadre of Deputy Collector assisted by one Deputy Inspection Cell Officer in the cadre of Tahsildar, two Cell Inspectors in the cadre of Assistant, one Typist and two Office Assistants.

The District Inspection Cells conduct annual inspection of District Level offices, surprise inspection of offices, where there is public complaints, besides assisting the District Vigilance and Anti-corruption detachments in their surprise checks under the direction of each District Collector. During 2007-08, the eleven District Inspection Cell Officers have conducted 96 detailed inspections, 2,209 surprise checks besides conducting 68 liaison meetings with the Vigilance and Anti-corruption officials in the presence of the District Collectors.

Organisation and Methods Cell mainly aims at undertaking studies for the rationalization of procedures, assessment of manpower and enforcement of economy in various Departments of the Government.

a. Assessment of Man Power;

b. Simplification of Systems and Procedures;

c. Enforcement of Efficiency and Economy in Government Departments;

d. Delegation of Powers and

e. Better Record Management.

2. At present, the Organisation and Methods Cell has two Administrative Teams. One Team is headed by Additional Secretary -cum- O and M Specialist and the other by a Joint Secretary (O&M), who is also co-ordinator of the Teams. A Monitoring Cell consisting of one Research Officer and one Assistant Section Officer is also functioning under the supervision of the Joint Secretary (O&M) to look after the work relating to follow-up action on the recommendations made in the Organisation and Methods Report and to attend to house-keeping functions, including preparation of budget.

3. All the Heads of Department and Departments of Secretariat are requested every year through a call letter issued by the Monitoring Cell to provide information as to whether there are any problematic area in their Departments, which requires O and M study. Based on their requests, an action plan is drawn up and each team is allocated with study works. Apart from the studies included in the Action Plan, special works/studies are also undertaken based on the requests made by the Departments. During this year, special studies on the functioning of the "single file systems" between the Departments of Secretariat and Heads of Department, "introduction of level jump in Government offices", procedure on "movements of the files" in the Departments and "Uzhavar Santhai" have been undertaken. Four studies undertaken in the office of the Director of Agricultural Marketing and Agricultural Business, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare and Tourism and Culture are in progress. So far, the Organisation and Methods Cell has undertaken 228 studies and forwarded them to the Department concerned for implementation.

It has been proposed to implement the following schemes under Part-II Schemes for the year 2008-09:

I. Purchase of 32 Computers with Software and other accessories to implement the Electronic File Processing System;

II. Purchase of 7 Air conditioners and Xerox Machine for Computer wing of Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department;

III. Popularisation of Right to Information Act, 2005, through multi-media, viz., Press, Radio, Television, Conducting Seminars, Educational and Cultural Programmes.

Purchase of tables, chairs and almirah for classrooms and office for the A and B Wing Foundational Course Training Institute.

Purchase of 10 Computers with UPS (5 KVA) Scanner and LAN Networking and Computer Furniture for the All India Civil Services Coaching Centre.

Purchase of Computers and Furniture for Class rooms, a new generator for the Hostel, electrical cables to the new Computer Lab, construction of compound wall and to undertake special repair works to the Quarters used by the Faculty Members and staff for the Civil Service Training Institute, Bhavanisagar.

ARCOT N. VEERASWAMI