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THE CONSTITUTION, MADE UNDERSTANDABLE

Article 309
Recruitment and conditions of service of persons serving the Union or a State

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26 Parts12 Schedules506 indexed article entries, including historical omissions
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Source edition: as on 1 May 2026. Omitted and struck-down reference entries remain labelled. Open the authoritative PDF ↗

Article 309 / Part XIV

Recruitment and conditions of service of persons serving the Union or a State

included in edition
THE PLAIN-LANGUAGE GUIDE

What does this mean?

The appropriate legislature can regulate public-service recruitment and conditions of service, with rulemaking power in the meantime as stated. Service rules remain subject to the Constitution.

Public-service recruitment, tenure safeguards, All-India Services and Public Service Commissions.

PURPOSE & CONTEXT

Why is this provision here?

Public employment needs authorised recruitment and service rules rather than only informal administrative choices.

Historical evidence

This Article number belongs to the original constitutional framework, but its present wording may include later amendments or substitutions. A provision-specific original Assembly debate has not been verified here. The explanation of function above is editorial inference from the text, not an attributed single motive of the framers. The original draft-making archive is a research resource, not proof of a particular historical reason.

The explanation of purpose is an editorial reading of the provision. A drafting motive is attributed only where a linked historical source supports it.

Limits, exceptions & reading carefully

Educational summary of the linked source text. Exceptions, provisos, implementing laws and applicable judgments must be read before applying it to a real case.

Read the official constitutional text
309. Recruitment and conditions of service of persons serving the Union or a State.—Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Acts of the appropriate Legislature may regulate the recruitment, and conditions of service of persons appointed, to public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of any State: Provided that it shall be competent for the President or such person as he may direct in the case of services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union, and for the Governor *** of a State or such person as he may direct in the case of services and posts in connection with the affairs of the State, to make rules regulating the recruitment, and the conditions of service of persons appointed, to such services and posts until provision in that behalf is made by or under an Act of the appropriate Legislature under this article, and any rules so made shall have effect subject to the provisions of any such Act.
Source-page notes · may concern neighbouring Articles

1. Subs. by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29 and Sch., for "means a State specified in Part A or Part B of the First Schedule" (w.e.f. 1-11-1956). 2. The words "or Rajpramukh" omitted by s.29 and Sch., ibid (w.e.f. 1-11-1956). 3. The words "or, as the case may be, the Rajpramukh" omitted by s.29 and Sch., ibid. . (w.e.f. 1-11-1956).

Extracted from the Legislative Department’s May 2026 edition. Page footnotes may refer to neighbouring provisions; check their markers in the PDF. Inclusion in this edition does not by itself establish commencement or judicial effect.