ment.

The report, which is signed by Mr. A. D. P. Heeney (Chairman) and Mr. R. E. Addison and Mr. Paul Pelletier (Commissions) was signed on December 22, 1958. The Commission has made detailed recommendations about the provisions which should be incorporated in the Civil Service Act or in the Regulations made thereunder. Before doing so, the Commission, in its report has noted: "In the 40 years during which the present Act has been in force, Canada has experienced momentous changes. These have had important effect upon the national Public Service. Population has more than doubled. The immense expansion of commerce and industry throughout the nation has been accompanied by significant developments in labour-management relations. Independence within the Commonwealth has been achieved as international relations have multiplied and the world has contracted about us. During this period, too, Canadians have evolved their concepts of the responsibility of the State for the welfare of its citizens, and legislators

Own

have embodied them in law. All of these developments have teken place against a background of dramatic scientific and material progress which has given to technology a pre-eminence in our scheme of things which could not have been anticipated 40 years ago.

"Growing population, rapide conomic expansion, increased participation and responsibility abroad, and the much wider and more complicated area of government activity at home over these years have led to corresponding increase in the size as well as changes in the character of the Public Service. The Canadian people, like the people of other countries, have demanded of their governments a wide range of services and benefits in areas which, in previous generations, were regarded as the responsibility of the individual or of private organisation. This, too, has inevitably entailed more civil servants. At the end of World War I, the Civil Service comprised about 40,000 continuing employees and an additional 20,000

wartime "temporaries" most of whom were laid off in the next two or three years. In the succeeding years not even the severest of depression economy measures could prevent this continuing process of expansion in Federal government employment. By 1939, there were 46,000 civil servants, and several thousand more government employees in the independent boards, commissions and corporations which had been established to meet new requirements in the previous two decades. World War II gave rise to further large expansion by stimulating productivity and the increased national wealth on which were based further government measures in the fields of welfare, development, and international economic and military co-operation.

Functions of Public Servant

as

"During this period, and particularly since the 30's, the functions of the public servant have undergone a significant transformation. significant transformation. Fifty years ago, nearly alll employees in most Federal government departments could be classified, with reasonable accuracy, clerks, for most were engaged in routine clerical work. To-day, the public servant may be scientist, medical doctor, meteorologist, film maker, airport attendant, forestery expert canal operator; he may engage in any one of a host of occupations which include almost every known skill and calling. Even the administrative tasks are set in quite different context. Modern laws not only cover a much broader field, but the complex and specialised matters with which they deal have magnified the importance of the public servant's skill and knowledge both in their framing and administration.

"Finally, this great extension of government activity over the past generation and the immense volume and importance of public business which it has entailed has added greatly to the responsibilities of public officials. It has become not only desirable but essential in the national interest that Canada should have and maintain a Public Service of high capacity and complete integrity.

Legal Framework

The legal framework within which a public service functions is of importance

because of its direct bearing upon quality and administrative efficiency. Law alone can not guarantee good administration but it can and does have a real effect on the quality of the personnel who are recruited and it can provide incentives to good performance. As conditions change, there developes from time to time a need to re-examine legislative arrangements so as to determine whether the law is well suited to current needs. Forty years ago, the need was for a civil service free from what Sir Robert Borden called the malign influence of patronage'. Forty years ago, and this is all too frequently forgotten, the need was also for a public service free from nepotism, the coddling of incompetent favourites, the granting of promotions for consideration and similar internal abuses. Not much is gained if the 'malign influence' of political patronage is replaced by bureaucratic patronage, which may be less apparent but which can be no less insidious and demoralising. If both are to be kept in check, there is need for independent authority and control such as the Commission was designed to provide. The effectiveness of the Act of 1918 in protecting national Service from these traditional abuses is a convincing argument for preservation of essential legal safeguards of the merit principle. At the same time, in the vastly different social and economic conditions within which public administration must be conducted today, it has become evident that a monolithic merit system is not in itself enough. Mayor Objectives

"In the light of the history of national Public Service, and of the important economic, social and other changes since. the present laws were enacted, and taking into account the consequential evolution in the role of the civil servant, the Commission believes that the basic law for governing in the Federal personnel administration in the Service should now provide for:

(a) the preservation of the merit system. under which appointments are made on the basis of an objective determination of the relative merit of qualified candidates, under which all qualified Canadians have an opportunity for consideration for appointment, and under which duties performed are equitably compensated;

(b) greater speed, flexibility, and simplicity in meeting the needs of those charged with administrative functions in departments and agencies of government without prejudice to the merit principle;

(c) clarification end preservation of the rights and obligations of civil servants to a degree consistent with efficiency in management and the Government's responsibility to the public;

(d) leadership and initiative in the introduction and development of sound and progressive administration techniques;

(e) clearer definition of the division of authority and responsibility for decision as between departments of Government on the one hand and, on the other, the Commission to which, as a body independent of the Executive, certain functions are assigned by Parliament;

(f) greater authority for decision and action for Ministers and Deputy Heads of departments in matters of managerial concern, subject only to such safeguards as may be necessary to maintain the merit principle and

At the Commomwealth Educational Conference, held recently at Oxford to decide on a New programme on Commonwealth scholarships and fellowships, Britain's Minister of Education, Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd (left), is seen with Mr. S. M. Sharif (Pakistan), Dr. A. L. Mudaliar (India) and Lord Home, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations.

to such other restrictions as the Government may impose;

(g) a programme that will, within a reasonable time result in "One Civil Service" in which all are subject to the same standards of obligation and benefit; and

(h) greater participation by employees in the process leading to the determination of their conditions of employment.

"In the Commissin's judgment, such provisions are now essential to good personnel administration and to the standards in the conduct of the nation's business which the Government and the public have a right to expect. In particular, these features are necessary if the Service is to:

(a) develop employees with the capacity and sense of responsibility needed to maintain a high order of managerial efficiency in the increasing complex business of govern

ment;

(b) retain the element of central control necessary in the general interest and, at the same time, develop sufficient flexibility to permit adjustments in organisation and alterations in staff for the purpose of maintaining efficiency under changing conditions; and

(c) maintain good morale by clarifying the rights and obligations of employees. Principal Recommendations

"The Commission does not suggest any substantive changes in the fundamental principles underlying the merit system as it has obtained in the Federal Service since 1918. At the same time, in the Commission's experience, certain detailed provisions of the present Act are difficult to administer efficiently and promptly. This does not mean that they recommend change for the sole sake of administrative convenience. Any new Act should be more flexible certainly, but not to the extent to admit deviation from principle. Indeed, the Commission have strongly urged that those provisions which are directly related to the maintenance of the merit system be stated clearly and in detail in any new legislation in to order ensure strict compliance in the years to come."

The more important proposals that in the Commission's opinion should be incorporated in the new Civil Service Act or in the Regulations to be made thereunder, will be summarised in the next issue of the Civic Affairs.

Andhra

Employees' Cases Against

The Andhra Pradesh Government has directed that Government servants seeking redress of their grievances arising out of their employment or conditions of service should in their own interest and also in consistency with official propriety and discipline first exhaust the normal official channels of redress before they take the issue to a court of law.

Financial Advisers

The State Government has sanctioned the appointment of Financial Advisers to Secretariat Departments in accordance with the recommendations of the State Economy

Committee. The status of the Financial Adviser will be that of a Deputy Secretary and he will assist the Secretary of Department in the preparation of schemes and proposals involving financial consideration and in the scrutiny of budget.

Assam

In-service Training

The Assam Government has introduced a new scheme of in-service training of the I. A. S. Officers allotted to the State and the Assam Civil Service Officers. An I.A.S. Officer on his initial appointment will be attached to the Headquarters of a district as an Assistant Commissioner, under the personal guidance of Deputy Commissioner, to enable him to get acquainted with the different aspects of administration. In the case of Class I and II Assam Civil Service officers, who do not receive any institutional training like I.A.S. officers, emphasis will be laid on their training on the job than on the utilisation of their services during their period of probation. It is proposed to organise a State Training School to impart institutional train ing to the Assam Civil Service officers. Attendence At Official Functions

To avoid dislocation of office work the State Government has issued instructions that senior officers should attend official functions only if they are conveniently timed, that is,

He said that the rule of the country by a single party would lead to tyranny of legislature. The ruling party was apt to disregard the rights of individuals and to undertake all kinds of legislation. Mr. Setalvad also warned against politicians attacking judiciary. True democracy was based on the rule of law and it was the judiciary in the country which enforced the rule of law.

Rs. 93,000 Fine On Ex-Secretary

The Chief Presidency Magistrate of Bombay on July 25 convicted Mr. Dina Nath Mehta, 60 year old former Secretary to the Bombay Government, and sentenced him to pay a fine of Rs. 73,000 or in default to undergo six moths rigorous imprisonment for contravening the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act and another fine of Rs. 20,000 or in default to undergo three months imprisonment for contravening the Sea Customs Act. According to the prosecution, when the accused was about to leave for Zurich in February last by air his brief case was searched and currency notes worth Rs. 1,91,100 were found in it. Ón his person a cheque for £100 and

20 Swiss Franc notes were also found. Employees' Claim To Relief

Mr. Justice K. K. Desai at the Bombay High Court, while dimissing a writ petition filed by Mr. K. P. Shankerlingam, a chargeman of the Central Railway, challenging the