LAHORE: The Pakistan Civil Services Academy (CSA), Lahore on Monday inaugurated the second batch of its National Outreach Programme (NOP) for minority CSS aspirants aiming to address the chronic underrepresentation of minorities in the civil services despite reserved quotas.
The ceremony, held at the Iqbal Auditorium, Walton Campus, was attended by faculty members, probationers of the 53rd Common Training Programme, participants of HEC Cohort-III, and the new group of aspirants. Punjab’s Minister for Minorities, Mr. Ramesh Singh Arora, presided as chief guest.
Launched under the auspices of the federal and provincial governments, the initiative comes in response to stark statistics from the Special CSS Examination 2023, where only 16 minority candidates qualified against 121 quota seats nationwide. The NOP seeks to bridge this gap by offering awareness drives, mentorship, structured training, and advanced coaching to help aspirants compete on merit.
Director (Capacity Building) Dr. Syed Shabir Akbar Zaidi briefed participants on the programme’s objectives and CSA’s evolving teaching methods. He highlighted the success of Batch-I, which concluded in August after training 42 aspirants, and urged Batch-II candidates to seize the opportunity for both personal growth and professional advancement.
Addressing the gathering, Ramesh Singh Arora praised the federal and provincial governments as well as CSA for conceiving the initiative, describing it as a step toward inclusivity and national integration. He encouraged universities across the country to replicate such models, adding that stronger minority representation in the bureaucracy would bolster national unity. He assured participants of continued government support.
In his closing remarks, CSA’s Director General Farhan Aziz Khawaja reaffirmed the academy’s commitment to building a pluralistic bureaucracy that mirrors Pakistan’s diversity. For Batch-II, 50 participants have been nominated by provincial governments: Punjab (16), Sindh urban and rural (16), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Ex-FATA (10), and Balochistan (8). They have begun a one-month residential training at CSA Walton Campus.
The programme unfolds in three stages including Awareness and Mobilization through outreach in universities and minority communities, with a focus on women, Orientation and Training in 2025, covering exam strategies, mentorship, and mock evaluations and Advanced Coaching in 2026, featuring subject specialization, mock exams, and interview preparation.
The curriculum includes CSS exam structure, paper patterns, guidance on compulsory and optional subjects, time management, current affairs, ethics, public administration, and personality development. Mentoring by senior civil servants and mock performance evaluations form the backbone of the training.
By expanding access and providing tailored support, CSA hopes the outreach programme will enable more minority candidates to enter the civil services, thereby strengthening inclusivity in Pakistan’s governance structures.
