JSC vacancies pile up in Pakistan every year, 10-year data shows
- 10-year CSS results data show that not all vacant positions are filled for lack of suitable candidates.
- Pakistan’s reserved seats for women and minorities are not filling, according to FPSC’s 2019 annual report.
- The government should relax the criteria for CSS exams for minorities, as most fall below the poverty line, suggests PTI MP Dr Ramesh Kumar.
ISLAMABAD: The government has not been able to fill all CSS positions mainly due to the unavailability of suitable candidates from Sindh, Balochistan, The news reported, citing official data spanning more than 10 years.
Most of those vacancies are on quotas reserved for women in Balochistan, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan, and minorities across Pakistan, according to the FPSC’s 2019 annual report.
These groups continue to fail the senior civil service competition (CSS CE) and are unable to secure their specific quotas, resulting in an increase in the total number of vacancies.
What do the numbers look like?
The situation in 2019 reached a level where almost half of all CSS positions remained vacant. In 2019, out of a total of 410 vacancies, only 214 appointments were made, while in 2010 the vacancies stood at 271 with 205 appointments made in the civil service, the publication said.
He added that the total number of vacancies for 2011 was 285 while the recommended appointments stood at 239.
For the years 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, the vacancies were 252, 266, 315 and 333, while the appointments during these years were respectively 222, 195, 233 and 238.
In 2016, a total of 191 public service appointments were made, while 351 vacant positions were available. In 2017 and 2018, the vacancies were 484 and 466 and 260 and 278 appointments were made during these two years, respectively.
“Government should relax CSS exam criteria for minorities”
The government should relax the CSS review criteria for minorities, as most of them fall below the poverty line, said PTI MP Dr Ramesh Kumar.
Dr Ramesh suggested that the government should “widely advertise” vacant positions across the country belonging to minorities and encourage their participation for better results.
The gap between vacancies and appointments has grown by up to 300% over the past 10 years, according to data available with The news.
The advertised positions for minorities for 2019 were 87 across Pakistan and only 30 appointments were made for Pakistani civil service jobs. Fifty-seven positions could not be filled, however, due to the unavailability of qualified candidates from minority groups, according to the FPSC’s annual report.
Unfilled positions are carried over to the following year in the same quotas in order to have their representation in the federal services.
Bureaucrats suggested that people, especially women from Balochistan, Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan, and minority communities should be motivated to run for the CSS-CE so that quota seats can be filled.