The archaic Civil Service of Pakistan

Some pointers on how it can be improved

The news of CSS reforms has rolled out on the social media right when the aspirants are set to take the examination which affects the ability of the candidates enrolled. The psychological influence of the rumour and uncertainty about its implementation has invoked fear and disappointment, leading to an increased dropout rate.

One would plea to the Chairman FPSC as to the veracity of the news: whether it is true or not and if it is, they should go ahead and implement it, allowing enough time to aspirants for ideal preparation. The government appears to be in conflict with the proposed amendments, which is resulting in diluting the prestige of the CSS examination. This has become a habit in Pakistan and this indecision ends up leaving the educated, professionally grown individuals stressed.

The argument

While the world is heading towards professionalism, we still linger on archaic “BA pass” criterion to appear in the exam, that too of the C Class. I think graduates of professional degrees should have at least equal rights to appear in the exam and no stigma should be attached to them.

Pardon me, I do not intend to hurt the sentiments of a qualified BA. The point I am trying to make is that it needs to be more focused and rational. A simple BA (graduation, or 14 years of education in Pakistan’s most public colleges and universities) cannot beat the efforts invested by an individual who has spent more years in a higher education institute. The current speculations on changing CSS syllabus makes me a believer that a systematic approach is required to introduce error free changes before taking any major decision.

A comparison

I went through Indian civil service, called Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), syllabus at http://www.upscsyllabus.in/. My request to the Chairman FPSC is to go through the list of subjects UPSC offers for a fair chance to all the interested candidates. Their competence is based on the following criteria:

It has two stages: Preliminary Exam and Main Exam. Only those candidates are allowed to appear in the Main Exam who pass the Preliminary Exam. The syllabus for the first stage consists of two papers, 200 marks each with two-hour time duration. Paper 1 has the following focus areas: Current events of national and international importance.

• History of India and Indian National Movement.
• Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic geography of India and the World.
• Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization
• General Science

Paper 2 has the following focus areas:

• Comprehension
• Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability
• Decision making and problem solving
• General mental ability
• Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. – Class X level)
• English Language Comprehension skills (Class X level).
• Questions relating to English Language Comprehension skills of Class X level (last item in the Syllabus of Paper-II) will be tested through passages from English language only without providing Hindi translation thereof in the question paper.
• The questions will be of multiple choices, objective type.

Main Exam has four subjects with 250 marks each, an Essay paper of 250 marks. Candidates have to appear in two English and one Language (any of India’s national languages) papers as well, but their marks don’t count. Other than that a candidate also has to opt for two Optional subjects with 250 marks each.

The grand total of written exam is 1750 marks. The Interview/Personality Test has been set at 275 marks.

Equality for all

Apart from the difference in compulsory subjects, they have offered optional subjects in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 21(2) and 23(1) which state that ‘everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country’ and ‘everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and protection against unemployment’.

Subjects such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, medical sciences, animal husbandry, veterinary science and management are offered for all.

The brain drain argument

There has been a great debate about the shortage of doctors and engineers. They claim that government money spent on doctors and engineering has been squandered as technocrat leave their fields and become bureaucrat. These arguments are good for the sake of discussion but they hold no ground if statistics are taken into consideration.

There is only one doctor per 1,700 citizens in India. The World Health Organisation (WHO) stipulates a minimum ratio of 1:1,000 but is that too alarming a situation?

How many policemen do we require as per international standards? The United Nations recommends a minimum police strength of 222 per 100,000 people and we have around 207, though half of them may be excluded as they have been deployed on the security of VIPs and VVIPs. We follow a substandard lifestyle. As far as the question of money spent by government on doctors and engineers is concerned, you can easily check the total cost of graduation studies in different institutes. A comparison of fees of medical/engineering students to other graduates in government institutes per year would suggest that the fee for engineering student is 40-50 thousand in UET whereas doctors pay around Rs20,000 annually. It may also be noted that average fee of graduation programme in Punjab University is Rs40,595 for a three-year law degree to an average of Rs23,000 for other programmes. If engineers and doctors get any subsidy in education, so do the others.

The expense count

Therefore, the question of expense borne by the state on engineers and doctors or any other student stands no ground. Why is a fake degree holder politician afraid of doctors and engineers? Who is responsible for the brain drain in Pakistan? Why engineers and doctors are leaving Pakistan for their professional growth? Who is more suitable to improve the system of the country? Who is more suited to ensure the compliance of laws?

The question that a technocrat gets wasted is useless as the total number of doctors and engineers who have joined Pakistan Civil Services is not more than one percent. Presently, doctors and engineers work under bureaucrats. Admittedly, the career prospects in the specialist services will have to be substantially improved and emolument structure requires optimal modification so that these services can outshine and act as add-on to the permanent assets of the society.

The lateral entry argument

Moreover, the middle and senior level positions in the specialist departments of the state require governance by the members of related specialist services alone. This is a well-established practice in advanced countries, like in France. As a matter of principle, the post of Secretary to Public Works Department is manned by the senior most civil engineer of the government and not by a career bureaucrat. The same rule can be applied to other departments like health, agriculture, forestry, railways, planning and so on. For this to happen, there has to be mechanism on how promotions are awarded.

Considering the potential pitfalls of implementing inadequate or imperfect reforms, and in order to create uniformity at all levels, FPSC has to come out with a systematic and sustainable approach to design and implement CSS reforms.