PM's Office Minister Dhipavadee Meksawan said the amendment would also focus on decentralising power from the OCSC to Civil Service Commission subcommittees attached to all 20 ministries.

The subcommittees will be given a broader range of authority to deal directly internally with officials attached to each ministry, including for disciplinary action, promotions and salary rises.

Each OCSC subcommittee will consist of 11 members, including the minister as the chairperson and permanent secretary as a deputy. The other nine will be chosen from a pool of highly qualified candidates nominated by the OCSC to ensure a balance of power among subcommittee members.

OCSC subcommittee members are presently chosen internally from officials in only one ministry, resulting in frequent partial rulings in favour of those close to members.

A special committee, dubbed the Merit Protection Board (MPB), will be established and directly supervised by the OCSC to look into appeals of officials who claim they have been unfairly punished or disciplined. The seven MPB members will be chosen by a board chaired by the Supreme Court president, his deputy and a selected OCSC member. The MPB committee will function independently from the OCSC to ensure maximum transparency and prevent external interference, Dhipavadee said.

The 1979 Civil Service Code amendment, which takes effect next month, also proposes scrapping the existing rank-classification system, which divides civil service ranks from C-1 to C-11, and replacing it with a new ranking system.

Dhipavadee said the new system, which classifies officials into four groups according to career expertise - general affairs, academic, administrative and executive management - had been widely used in developed countries and proved to be more efficient than the C system.

The new system would also allow regular transfers of officials between ministries and a more flexible management of pay scales according to individual performance of officials.

Piyanart Srivalo

The Nation