The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) is a department of the government of Tamil Nadu that is responsible for governing the recruitment of personnel into the state's public service. It is the successor of the Madras Service Commission, which came into being under an Act of the Madras Legislature in 1929 and was the first Provincial Public Service Commission in India. It adopted its current name in 1970. TNPSC operates under Articles 315 to 323 of Part XIV of the Constitution of India.
In 1923, the Indian Government established a Public Service Commission to examine the salary structure of the Indian Civil Service and the possibility of transferring some of the duties to provincial services. The commission was composed of five Englishmen and four Indians, with Viscount Lee of Fareham serving as chairman. The commission also addressed the rate of Indianisation of the Indian Civil Service and the Indian Police. It determined a rate which in 15 years would make the Indian Civil Service with a 50% Indian membership and the same in 25 years for the Indian Police.
It was left largely to the discretion of provincial governments to recruit and exercise control over their services, as deemed proper. As a result of the discretionary powers left to provincial Government, the Government of Madras and Punjab proposed to set up their own public service commissions.
Madras Presidency was the first province in India to establish their own service commission when the Madras Service Commission was established under an Act of the Madras Legislature in 1929. The Madras Service Commission started with three members, including the Chairman. After re-organisation of the states in 1957, several state level commissions were constituted. The Madras Service Commission became the Madras Public Service Commission with headquarters at Madras in the year 1957. During 1970, when the name of the state was changed to Tamil Nadu, the Madras Public Service Commission was renamed as the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC).
