KARACHI, April 20: The provincial government is under tremendous pressure not only to lift ban on recruitments but also to bypass the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) while making appointments in BPS 11 to 16 grades.

The matter was taken up in the previous cabinet meeting but a decision to this effect was left pending till a clearance sought from the federal government which had already taken a similar decision in the past.

The practice of referring recruitment cases in grades 11-16 was adopted by the Musharraf government with an aim of ensuring merit and transparency in recruitment process towards achieving the goal of good governance.

According to official sources, the government’s decision to pursue the policy was taken in the light of a Supreme Court directive that no appointment on an official post be made without publicizing the vacancy and without referring it to the concerned departmental selection committee/commission.

The SC directive prompted the federal and provincial governments to amend the Civil Servant Act rules pertaining to appointments, promotions and transfers. The amendment made it mandatory upon the government to make appointments on any post in any grade by publicizing the vacancies which gave all the eligible candidates an equal opportunity to appear before the concerned selection committee/commission.

The decision to bring the procedure of appointments in grade 11-16 also under the same system was taken following complaints in the subsequent years that certain departmental selection committees were flouting the rules by accepting political pressure and obliging influential figures and, as a result, the principles of merit and transparency was being violated.

Insiders told Dawn that the next meeting of Sindh cabinet would finally take up the matter of lifting the ban on recruitments through departmental selection committees instead of the SPSC. They referred to the pressure from provincial ministers and MPAs as well as MNAs and Senators belonging to ruling and opposition parties in this regard. The pressure, they indicated, had mounted following decisions on recruitment issue already taken by the Centre, Punjab and Balochistan governments.

The matter is also likely to be taken up in the provincial assembly through a motion amid considerable unrest over rising unemployment rate. The ban, in place since 1990, is being regarded as one of the major factors contributing to the deteriorating situation. The other major factors are been identified as down-sizing, right-sizing and winding up of a large number of government, semi-government and autonomous organizations. They included Sasso, Sazda, Sindh sugar corporation, Bureau of Supply and Prices, etc.

A rough estimate puts unemployment rate in Sindh at above 20 per cent which, according to the surveyors, could rightly be put at 30 per cent if the rural population rendered jobless due to water crisis and natural calamities were included. Such people have resorted to move into urban areas in search of jobs.

There have been more than 30,000 posts lying vacant in different provincial departments. However, the apparent reason preventing the government to lift the ban on jobs seems to be the already soaring salary bill which has touched the mark of Rs30 billion per annum.

Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar, soon after taking oath of his office, had promised on his government’s behalf that the ban on recruitments would be lifted in February 2003. He pledge was repeated by Home Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad on the floor of the House with an assurance that a decision would be taken in the ‘next’ cabinet meeting.

However, no decision could be taken in the following four cabinet meetings. The lapse is being attributed to the ‘imposed financial disciplines’ by the International Monetary Fund.