UPSC Marks 100 Years with Focus on Reasoning and Digital Reforms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join the centenary celebrations of the Union Public Service Commission on Thursday at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The two-day event, titled 'Manthan', marks a hundred years since the first Public Service Commission was set up on October 1, 1926.

Reforms And Vision

UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar stated that future recruitment will focus on reasoning, spontaneous thinking and judgment in unclear situations rather than coached answers. He outlined three guiding principles for the next phase of the Commission: trust, transparency and technology. Kumar also highlighted recent digital security measures, including digital e-admit cards and face authentication.

Events And Scale

During Thursday's programme, the Prime Minister is scheduled to release a commemorative coin, a stamp and a book titled '100 Landmark Judgements: Shaping the Policies of UPSC and Public Service Commissions in India'. The Commission conducts about 250 distinct recruitment processes every year across engineering, medicine, science, economics and defence, alongside the annual Civil Services Examination for the IAS, IFS and IPS.

Speaker Sessions

During the deliberations, UPSC Member Suman Sharma urged a shift toward outcome-driven administration. Chief of Defence Staff Gen N S Raja Subramani called for intelligent risk-taking, while former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla stressed hiring more candidates from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Principal Secretary-2 to the Prime Minister Shaktikanta Das called the UPSC a gateway to public service and praised its fairness.

Context

The Union Public Service Commission started as an advisory body in colonial times before becoming an independent constitutional body under independent India. Over the decades, it has grown to manage large-scale national examinations that select top bureaucrats and officials for the country's civil services.