Shimla, March 7 (IANS): The next national conference of heads of state public service commissions and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will be held here next year, an official said Friday.

Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission chairman K.S. Tomar said a decision in this regard was taken at the 16th national conference of chairpersons and the UPSC chairman in Chandigarh recently.

Several ideas were discussed during the conference to improve transparency in the examination system and enhanced utilisation of technology, Tomar said in a statement.

He said four issues raised by him were taken up at the last conference. These included the dire need for coming up to the expectations of the common people about the credibility of the selection process and viva voce.

Tomar said the state government had agreed to introduce mental aptitude test in schools, colleges and universities which would help candidates, specially from the rural areas, to compete with urban aspirants.

He said the state public service commission had introduced several reforms like online applications, e-payment, bar-coding system to maintain secrecy and toll free service to guide candidates.

When asked about online examination system, Tomar said, "We will gradually take steps to introduce this system."