NA members object to appointment of retired bureaucrats at FPSC top slots

ISLAMABAD: Members National Assembly on Friday objected appointment of retired bureaucrats as Chairman and Members of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

The PTI parliamentarian Nuzhat Patthan during the question hour asked why retired senior government officers are appointed as Chairman and Members of FPSC. “Why they are appointed in FPSC to take key decisions after their respective Governments and departments had retired them?” she questioned.

On that, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi said there was a criterion for appointment of Chairman and Members of FPSC and appointments are made by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister keeping in view their service record.

To another question of Saira Bano, the Minister said the vacant post of FPSC Chairman would be filled shortly as no promotion of Government officers is being affected by the non-appointment of the FPSC Chairman.

Asked by Shaikh Salahuddin as to why FPSC examinations for different posts are not conducted in Urdu despite orders from the court, the Minister said the Government was hopeful of doing so but it was possible only after a uniform education system in the country.

Unlike the previous few days, it was the day of routine proceedings on Friday which lasted for a little over an hour. Bashir Mahmood Virk, a member of the panel of chairmen presided over proceedings which later were adjourned till Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain informed the National Assembly that the Government had set an ambitious target to bring all 70,000 out-of-school children in the Islamabad Capital Territory to zero by June 30.

Replying to supplementary questions during the question hour, the minister said currently around 70,000 children were out of school in Islamabad and all-out efforts were being made to enrol them by June 30.

Rana Tanveer said the Government had also launched the Schools on Wheels initiatives in Islamabad to educate the children of rural areas, for which buses were converted into mobile schools having state-of-the-art facilities, including toilets.

He said on the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the ministry was also planning mobile buses facility for children of flood-affected areas of Balochistan and Sindh. “Even the World Bank (WB) had also appreciated the government’s initiative, besides assuring the provision of 30 buses for the noble cause,” he added. He said the Government had also started the tele-school system and it had also undertaken an accelerated learning programme with the cooperation of the United Kingdom to enhance the literacy rate in the country.