CSS results 10-year data: Not all vacant posts being filled for want of fit candidates

ISLAMABAD: The last 10-year official data show the government failure to fill all CSS posts mainly because of non-availability of suitable candidates from Sindh, Balochistan and the minorities.

Consequently, more and more CSS posts get vacant every passing year and the situation in 2019 reached a level where almost half of total CSS posts remained unfilled. In 2019, out of total 410 vacancies, only 214 got appointments whereas in 2010, the vacancies stood at 271 with 205 appointments made to the civil services. The total number of vacant posts for the year 2011 was 285, whereas recommended appointments stood at 239. For the year 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, the vacant posts were 252, 266, 315, and 333, while the appointments during those years were 222, 195, 233 and 238, respectively.

In the year 2016, a total of 191 appointments to civil services were made, while 351 vacant posts were available. In 2017 and 2018, vacant posts were 484 and 466, whereas 260 and 278 appointments were made in those two years, respectively. The FPSC Annual Report 2019 showed that the vacancies, which had increased throughout these years, mainly belonged to the reserved quota for women from Balochistan, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan, and minorities from all over Pakistan. These groups repeatedly failed to pass the Civil Superior Service Competitive Examination (CSS CE) and secure their specific quotas, causing spike in the overall vacancies.

Dr Ramesh Kumar, who is a Member of National Assembly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and belongs to the minority community, told The News that the government should ease the criteria for CSS exams for minorities as most of them fall below the poverty line. In addition, Dr Ramesh suggested that the government should largely advertise the carry forward vacancies across the country belonging to minorities and should encourage their participation for better outcomes. The gap between the vacancies and appointments grew up to 300 per cent during the last 10 years, according to the data available with The News. The posts advertised for minorities for the year 2019 were 87 across Pakistan, where only 30 nominations were made for jobs in Pakistan civil services. Fifty-seven posts, however, could not be filled due to non-availability of qualified candidates belonging to minorities, stated the FPSC annual report.

The unfilled posts are carried over to the next year in the same quotas to have their representation in the federal services, as envisaged in the commission, though it may increase the workload and financial burden on the Commission to re-advertise vacancies, added the report. The commission had also advised the policymakers to take appropriate measures so that the minorities and women could benefit from the seats, reserved for them. In the last CSS exam, only one candidate could pass the exam, though a hundred seats were lying vacant. Bureaucrats suggest that people, especially women from Balochistan, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan, and minorities communities should be motivated to appear in CSS-CE so that the quota seats could be filled.