Overview
- The centenary programme culminates at Bharat Mandapam on Thursday, October 1, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to address the ceremony and formally release a commemorative coin, a stamp and a book.
- The UPSC began as the Public Service Commission on October 1, 1926, later became the Federal Public Service Commission in 1937 and gained constitutional status as the Union Public Service Commission on January 26, 1950.
- The commission’s core role is defined by Article 320 of the Constitution and includes conducting the Civil Services Examination in three stages—Preliminary, Main and Personality Test—and advising the government on recruitment and disciplinary matters.
- Over the decades the UPSC adopted major procedural and technological reforms, including a formal three-stage exam structure from the late 1970s, CSAT in 2011, language inclusion in the Mains, computerization, OMR processing and online applications.
- Recent coverage highlights changing participation patterns, with women rising to more than 31% of recommended candidates in CSE 2025, and the centenary serving as a prompt for reflection on the commission’s colonial origins, modern reforms and public role.