From The Hindu Archives, March 30, 1976: Space dept. posts out of UPSC purview

Though the Union Public Service Commission is not in favour of excluding from its purview technical and administrative posts, it has finally made an exception in the case of the Department of Space and the Space Commission in “national interest”.

The Commission’s view had been that certain Ministries and departments tended to seek exemption from the requirements of Article 320 (3) of the Constitution in regard to large categories of posts under them. Several proposals for the exclusion of posts, mainly scientific and technical, had been referred to it, and the Commission had advised against them. It considered that proposals of this nature raised fundamental issues of national importance, the precise impact of which on the role and functions of the Commission, on the standard and quality of public services and on the morale of officers manning these services needed to be clearly understood. As an instance, it has pointed out that the Government had referred to it for reconsideration the proposal for exclusion of technical and administrative posts in the Department of Space and Space Commission from the Commission’s purview. While appreciating the fact that the work in the Department and Space Commission was of a highly technical nature, the UPSC said that it had already explained that special arrangements had been made for obtaining the best technical advice for making selections to these posts.