I APPLIED for the post of DDO, social welfare advertised by the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC). The written examination for the said post was held in 2015. The result of that pre-interview examination was declared by SPSC on Dec 7, 2015.

I passed the written examination and received a letter from the SPSC the same month, asking me to submit academic documents, which I did.

However, I received another letter in January 2016 from the commission head office, Hyderabad, informing me that I was not eligible for an interview because I was an MSc in anthropology, which was, in its opinion, not equivalent to disciplines like social work or sociology.

To resolve this issue I got an equivalence certificate from the chairman of anthropology department, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. It was sent to the SPSC. It proved that anthropology is sisterly discipline of sociology and social work and it must be considered for the said posts.

The SPSC, however, has ignored my case. On the other hand, students having degrees in Pakistan Studies and management sciences have been considered for the post of DDO, social welfare, by the SPSC. This is grave injustice.

I request the authorities concerned to look into the matter and ask the SPSC to consider a degree in anthropology eligible for the post.

Arslan Hyder
Khairpur

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2016