The federal government has virtually negated the importance and role of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) by regularising the services of hundreds of contractual employees and daily wagers in BPS-16, 17 and even 18, who were otherwise supposed to clear the FPSC exam to get into government service.
In what seemed to be a backdoor entry into government service in grade 16 and above, the government has recently regularised the services of 632 contractual employees and daily wagers of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and Social Welfare and Special Education, which fall under the administrative control of the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).
Though the government has the authority to bypass the FPSC in such cases as, according to FPSC sources, the previous government had limited the FPSC’s role in regularising the services of contractual employees by amending the relevant laws, the way the Cabinet Division issued the notifications in this regard prior to behind-the-scenes maneuvering raised question on the transparency and merit, which should have been observed had the FPSC been involved in the matter. The process also negated the significance of the FPSC as the supreme institution to fill higher-grade posts.
The government’s decision to regularise the services of these employees generated high-scale activity at the FDE and CADD involving maintaining the lists of the contractual and daily wage employees and the scrutiny of their educational credentials. Sources in both divisions told Pakistan Today that besides the genuine employees, some new names were also inserted in the lists even after the last moment to make them eligible for regular government job. The criterion for regularisation was also changed in the face of political pressure from various quarters and the suspicion in this regard is strengthened by the Cabinet Secretariat’s notifications that it issued in this regard.
Consequent upon the approval of the Sub-Committee of the Cabinet on Regularisation of Contract/Daily Wages Employees of the Federal Government Departments, the Cabinet Secretariat issued a notification on October 26, 2011 to regularise the services of 236 contractual employees of educational institutions of FDE Islamabad in BPS 16 and 17. On October 27, 2011, the Cabinet Secretariat issued another notification to regularise the services of 158 daily wage employees of the educational institutions of FDE Islamabad in BPS 16 and 17. However, the notification in question was cancelled and a third notification was issued on October 31, 2011 which gave effect to regularisation of the services of 195 daily wage employees, 37 more than those regularised in the previous notification just four days earlier.
Earlier, upon approval of the Prime Minister as a special case, the Cabinet Secretariat, through a notification on July 7, 2011, had regularised 201 employees working on contractual basis in various centres of Social Welfare and Special Education across the country in BPS 17 and 18.
When asked to comment, a high official of the FPSC, on condition of anonymity, told Pakistan Today that there was nothing wrong with the government decision on legal grounds, however, he admitted that “on moral grounds we can say that it is a backdoor entry into government service… it is a favour to these people who should have passed the FPSC exam”.
This is really absurd what the government is doing.
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