Article 320 (3) (b) states that the State Public Service Commission shall be consulted "On the principles to be followed in making appointments to Civil Services and posts and in making promotions and Transfers from one service to another and on the suitability of candidates for such appointments, promotions or transfers."
In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the following steps in regard to Departmental Promotions are followed by the State Public Service Commission.

COMPOSITION OF D.P.C. :

Departmental Promotion Committees are headed by the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission or by the Member nominated by him / her. If the departmental recruitment rules do not permit this provision, the same must be included by making necessary amendment in the rules. The Departmental Promotion Committees also comprise of the Secretary or the Principal Secretary of the concerned administrative department (not lower in rank than Special Secretary), the Head of the Department and a Government officer belonging to SC or ST as a representative of the SC/ST categories where posts for such categories have been reserved. The Members of the D.P.C. shall be appointed only by designation, care shall be taken to ensure that the designations are updated from time to time wherever so necessitated.

D.P.C. PROCEDURE : 

The administrative department sends the proposal for calling meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee in the proforma prescribed by the Public Service Commission along-with all relevant information and the latest gradation (seniority) list of the Officers borne on the feeder cadre.*6 After scrutinising the proposal by the Commission's office with the help of a comprehensive checklist that should be signed by a senior official of the Department and Commission, the preliminary assessment of the annual confidential reports of the officers-in-charge in the zone is made jointly by the Under Secretary of the department concerned and the Under Secretary-In-charge of these matters of the Commission. Final grading is done by the Departmental Promotion Committee itself. The ACRs shall be updated, reviewed, kept ready (till the year of review). Extreme care should be taken to ensure that the candidate whose name is being considered for promotion is indeed the right candidate. Instance have come to notice wherein the good ACR of candidates having the same name of a candidate coming for consideration before the DPC, was attached to the candidate's average or bad ACR leading to a situation where the wrong (not fit) candidate was promoted overlooking the deserving candidate. 

PREPARATION OF MINUTES :

After the meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee is over, the minutes of the meeting incorporating the recommendations of the Departmental Promotion Committee are prepared by the Administrative Department in the proforma prescribed by the respective Commission.The brief minutes are signed by all the members of the Departmental Promotion Committee. The minutes should clearly spell out the decision of the Departmental Promotion Committee, almost like a precise speaking order.


FOLLOW-UP ACTION : 

The Promotion list so prepared remains valid generally for a period of eighteen months or the next meeting whichever is earlier. The Departmental Promotion Committee also reviews the action taken on the recommendations made in the preceding meeting. The sealed cover system shall be adopted in the case of candidates against whom disciplinary action is pending or stayed by the STAT/Courts.

MODEL CALENDAR :

A model calendar for initiating the process of Departmental Promotion well in advance shall be prepared so that the promotions are brought up-to-date without causing hardship to the candidates, who are otherwise forced to retire without getting their due promotions, due to administrative delay and bureaucratic inaction and also to avoid the need to resort to ad hoc promotion. In other words, PSCs should takes pro-active role in upholding the importance & utility of DPCs.

CONDUCT OF DEPARTMENTAL TEST EXAMINATIONS BY THE STATE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION :

Some of the State Public service Commissions are already conducting the Departmental examinations / Language Tests for number of departments in their states including the All India Service Officers posted in the State. Some of the Departmental Examinations are even conducted twice a year. It is desirable that such tests are conducted by all the State Public Service Commissions. One of the provisions laid down in the Constitution of India is to make recommendations for Departmental Promotion so as to ensure the promotion of the deserving, within a reasonable period of time, and with all fairness and transparency. It is an important duty of the Public Service Commission and is naturally given the priority it demands and deserves.