PPSC without chief for last three months
July 05, 2006
LAHORE: The Punjab Public Service Commission is functioning without a formal chairman for the last three months while the strength of its serving members has also been reduced to 10 instead of the designated 16.
The former chairman Javed Masood retired on April 10 this year after the completion of his three-year term and the provincial government is yet to appoint his successor. The senior-most member of PPSC Shafqat Ali Shaikh, meanwhile, has been holding the additional charge of chairman's office.
It is pertinent to mention though that Shafqat Shaikh has also completed his three-year term in February this year and is on a one-year extension from February 27. Another member Ali Tahir Zaidi's term was also extended for a year on March 18, 2006.
The PPSC comprises 15 members, in addition to the chairman, but the number has not reached 16 at any stage during the last couple of years. The number of members was 12, in addition to then chairman, at the start of this year (2006).
However, this number was reduced to 10 as Aminullah Chaudhry has been appointed as consultant in Change Management Unit (CMU) Punjab whereas Justice Zafar Yasin (retd) has joined the law department of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.
The next two members, in the order of seniority after Shafqat Shaikh and Ali Zaidi, are Tariq Sultan and Maj Gen Khalid Bashir (retd), whose tenures are set to expire on August 26 and November 20, respectively.
The other eight members, serving the PPSC at present, are Muhammad Akram (retiring in April 2007), Maj-Gen (retd) Tariq Hameed (retiring in June 2007), Yousaf Kamal (retiring in February 2008), Shaukat Ali Shah (retiring in December 2007), Saadatullah Khan (retiring in July 2008) and Daud Tahir (retiring in April 2009).
The retirements scheduled before the end of 2006 will further reduce the strength of the PPSC members to 8, exactly half of the actual, unless and until new members are inducted or the existing lot gets extension. The designated strength of the PPSC members was increased from 12 to 16 during the tenure of former CM Shahbaz Sharif.
The reason given for this decision was that all the appointments (grade 16-22) would be routed through the PPSC instead of the departments making any direct recruitment. The centralised policy was reversed later on but the increase in number of members remained the same.
It is worth mentioning that it is not for the first time that the PPSC has been left to function without a permanent chair in the recent past. When the former chairman Lt-Gen Muhammad Iqbal (retd) took oath as minister in the interim provincial cabinet after the military takeover on October 12, 1999, the PPSC senior member Mian Akbar served as acting chairman for almost five months.
Even prior to that, the then PPSC chairman Lt-Gen Muhammad Iqbal (retd) was appointed as acting governor of Punjab in July 1993 during the caretaker regime of prime minister Moeen Qureshi. Later on, Dr Imtiaz Ali Khan headed the PPSC for six months as acting chairman.
The commission is supposedly responsible for recruitment to various posts falling in Grade-16 to 22 and its primary functions are to ensure that all posts within its jurisdiction are filled strictly on merit, subject to the recruitment policy of the government.
The PPSC is the oldest Public Service Commission in the country and was established in April 1937 under the Government of India Act, 1935. The commission is vested with the responsibility of making direct recruitment for various posts under Punjab government.
It is a statutory body constituted under the provisions of the PPSC Ordinance 1978 and the PPSC (Function) Rules 1978, which have been framed as provided for in Article 242 of the 1973 Constitution. The commission enjoys the status of a special institution and is under the administrative control of S&GAD, Punjab.
On the creation of one unit, the commission was renamed as the West Pakistan Public Service Commission until July 1, 1970 and was again named as PPSC on disbanding of one unit. As many as 22 chairmen have served the PPSC on permanent basis by now while the search for the 23rd is seemingly on at the moment.
The sources in the provincial government said the authorities concerned were yet to converge on one name for the prestigious slot despite the fact that the aspirants had already embarked on intense lobbying.
There was no clue as yet from the top circles in Islamabad regarding the appointment and it could be one of the possible reasons for the delay, they pointed out while adding that the delay could affect the performance of the commission as the process of conducting examinations and interviews for various administrative departments was ongoing.
The senior most PPSC member, holding additional charge as chairman, Shafqat Ali Shaikh, when contacted by The News, said it was inappropriate for him in his present capacity to comment on the appointment of a new chairman and strength of the commission members or its bearing on the performance.
The former chairman Javed Masood retired on April 10 this year after the completion of his three-year term and the provincial government is yet to appoint his successor. The senior-most member of PPSC Shafqat Ali Shaikh, meanwhile, has been holding the additional charge of chairman's office.
It is pertinent to mention though that Shafqat Shaikh has also completed his three-year term in February this year and is on a one-year extension from February 27. Another member Ali Tahir Zaidi's term was also extended for a year on March 18, 2006.
The PPSC comprises 15 members, in addition to the chairman, but the number has not reached 16 at any stage during the last couple of years. The number of members was 12, in addition to then chairman, at the start of this year (2006).
However, this number was reduced to 10 as Aminullah Chaudhry has been appointed as consultant in Change Management Unit (CMU) Punjab whereas Justice Zafar Yasin (retd) has joined the law department of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.
The next two members, in the order of seniority after Shafqat Shaikh and Ali Zaidi, are Tariq Sultan and Maj Gen Khalid Bashir (retd), whose tenures are set to expire on August 26 and November 20, respectively.
The other eight members, serving the PPSC at present, are Muhammad Akram (retiring in April 2007), Maj-Gen (retd) Tariq Hameed (retiring in June 2007), Yousaf Kamal (retiring in February 2008), Shaukat Ali Shah (retiring in December 2007), Saadatullah Khan (retiring in July 2008) and Daud Tahir (retiring in April 2009).
The retirements scheduled before the end of 2006 will further reduce the strength of the PPSC members to 8, exactly half of the actual, unless and until new members are inducted or the existing lot gets extension. The designated strength of the PPSC members was increased from 12 to 16 during the tenure of former CM Shahbaz Sharif.
The reason given for this decision was that all the appointments (grade 16-22) would be routed through the PPSC instead of the departments making any direct recruitment. The centralised policy was reversed later on but the increase in number of members remained the same.
It is worth mentioning that it is not for the first time that the PPSC has been left to function without a permanent chair in the recent past. When the former chairman Lt-Gen Muhammad Iqbal (retd) took oath as minister in the interim provincial cabinet after the military takeover on October 12, 1999, the PPSC senior member Mian Akbar served as acting chairman for almost five months.
Even prior to that, the then PPSC chairman Lt-Gen Muhammad Iqbal (retd) was appointed as acting governor of Punjab in July 1993 during the caretaker regime of prime minister Moeen Qureshi. Later on, Dr Imtiaz Ali Khan headed the PPSC for six months as acting chairman.
The commission is supposedly responsible for recruitment to various posts falling in Grade-16 to 22 and its primary functions are to ensure that all posts within its jurisdiction are filled strictly on merit, subject to the recruitment policy of the government.
The PPSC is the oldest Public Service Commission in the country and was established in April 1937 under the Government of India Act, 1935. The commission is vested with the responsibility of making direct recruitment for various posts under Punjab government.
It is a statutory body constituted under the provisions of the PPSC Ordinance 1978 and the PPSC (Function) Rules 1978, which have been framed as provided for in Article 242 of the 1973 Constitution. The commission enjoys the status of a special institution and is under the administrative control of S&GAD, Punjab.
On the creation of one unit, the commission was renamed as the West Pakistan Public Service Commission until July 1, 1970 and was again named as PPSC on disbanding of one unit. As many as 22 chairmen have served the PPSC on permanent basis by now while the search for the 23rd is seemingly on at the moment.
The sources in the provincial government said the authorities concerned were yet to converge on one name for the prestigious slot despite the fact that the aspirants had already embarked on intense lobbying.
There was no clue as yet from the top circles in Islamabad regarding the appointment and it could be one of the possible reasons for the delay, they pointed out while adding that the delay could affect the performance of the commission as the process of conducting examinations and interviews for various administrative departments was ongoing.
The senior most PPSC member, holding additional charge as chairman, Shafqat Ali Shaikh, when contacted by The News, said it was inappropriate for him in his present capacity to comment on the appointment of a new chairman and strength of the commission members or its bearing on the performance.
