The purpose of my amendment is obvious. The power of dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in several capacities under the Union or State should be in the hands of the Public Service Commission. I want that disciplinary matters should not rest in the hands of the Ministers, either Central or Provincial. Sir, I am not in any way suggesting a course of action which has got no precedent in any part of the world. In Great Britain, in Canada, in Australia and in South Africa in all these countries the public servants are not under the Ministers, and there has been no conflict or no confusion of authority. In the circumstances in which we are placed to-day, I am quite clear in my own mind that if the foundations of our civil service are to be laid on sound and scientific basis they must be removed from the control of the Ministers. The independence of the bureaucracy from the control of the Ministers is as important, if not more, than the independence of the judiciary from executive interference. ‘The role of the public servants, according to my humble judgment, is more important than that of Ministers. “Men may come and men may go, but I go on for ever”, The Public servants remain, though Ministers may come in and go out of the cabinet with bewildering rapidity. The foundations of our national life can be secured if the public servants are assured of their security, if they get the conviction that there will be no ministerial interference. For no fault of theirs, if they do not find favour with the Ministers, they are transferred to some unknown regions in some God for saken districts. This creates a sense of insecurity. I am quite clear in my mind that there is need for administrative unification of the country. Sir, I am of opinion that all the civil servants should be brought under the control of the Union Public Service Commission. As a matter of concession I am prepared to agree that some control should also be vested in the hands of the State Public Service Commissions. I stand for the proposition that the civil servants of India, whether Central or Provincial, should be under the Central Public Service Commission. We are passing through a very difficult period, Sir. The whole of our society is passing through a period of decadence and decay and if we want that the birth-pangs of the new social order should not be prolonged, we should lay the foundations of our civil services on safe and secure basis.
