LAHORE: Thousands of perturbed candidates who had applied for various posts in government departments through the Punjab Public Service Commission heaved a sigh of relief as the commission started conducting interviews from Thursday after Abdul Rauf was given additional charge of PPSC chairman.
“I am very happy that PPSC is going to conduct my interview today. The result of my written test was announced on September 20 but since then, I just kept on waiting for the interview. I cannot even sleep well during wait period and almost got bored, trying to prepare for the interview. I hope I will pass the interview and get selected,” said Imran Ali, a candidate for the post of lecturer (Arabic) in the Punjab Higher Education Department.
Usman Ahmad, a candidate for the post of lecturer (Biology) in the Punjab Higher Education Department also held identical views. He said his parents and friends had started doubting his written result because the interview was not being conducted by the PPSC.
“I hail from Gujranwala and it was not possible for me to bear the financial expenditure of living in Lahore to prepare for the interview. But now, I am glad that my interview is being conducted. ”
Naureen Khan, a candidate for the post of psychologist said she too suffered mental agony due to delay in conduction of interviews by the PPSC. “My interview is on November 10 after a lapse of three months. Despite being a psychologist, I too suffered a lot of mental stress and anxiety. Everything will be fine if I am selected,” she said.
The PPSC is a constitutional body and recruits about 14,000 suitable candidates for different departments in one year. In 2016, the PPSC recommended 12,138 candidates out of 36,315 interviewed candidates. It has one post of chairman and 14 posts of members normally.
The recruitment process through PPSC had come to a halt and brought mental agony for candidates after the retirement of former chairman Lt Gen (r) Sajjad Akram on September 24 on completion of his three-year tenure. The PPSC had also neither conducted written tests for different posts nor advertised new posts in newspapers after Sajjad Akram completed his tenure.
However, the Punjab government gave Member PPSC Abdul Rauf, a retired PMS officer of grade BS-21 an additional charge to look after the office of PPS chairman on November 1 after a lapse of almost a month and a half.
The PPSC issued the schedule for written tests and interviews for various posts soon after Abdul Rauf assumed the charge of chairman. Written test for posts of Assistant Director (Mechanical Engineering), Assistant Director (Chemical) and Veterinary Officer have been fixed for November 12 while interviews with Assistant Director, Assistant Manager Customer Services, Associate Professor Of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, various posts of lecturers and police sub-inspectors have been scheduled till November 17 in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan.
Before the appointment of Abdul Rauf, the written results for various posts were announced on September 22 and the final result was announced on September 24.
It has been learnt that the Punjab government is still in double minds whether to appoint former inspector general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Nasir Khan Durrani as PPSC chairman or not since Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman praises Durrani for bringing reforms in KP Police. Durrani was considered close to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif before joining KP police.
