ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Thursday observed that the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) had suffered due to non-representation of women and experts from the private sector.

“Good governance and efficient delivery of services can be ensured if the 11 members of the FPSC that selects government officers are not all retired bureaucrats and military officers but also include women along with specialists and technocrats from the private sector,” said Senator Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, chairman of the Special Standing Committee of the Senate which is examining the Annual Report of the FPSC, 2015.

The committee was formed after the FPSC report was presented to the Senate in 2015. It was directed to examine whether the FPSC’s mandate, structure, syllabus and mode of examination met the contemporary needs of governance in the delivery of services and relevant matters.

The report articulates concerns over the falling standards, possibly because the best talent is staying away from joining the civil service as the quality of education is so poor that out of the 40,000 applicants who took the Central Superior Services examinations, only 350 were able to pass.

Earlier on Wednesday, the special committee was critical of the FPSC’s mandate, structure and mode of examination, describing it as outdated and irrelevant. When it met again on Thursday to discuss the report, members expressed displeasure over the government’s failure to notify rules over the past five years for laying down eligibility criteria for members from the private sector.

Members observed that in the past women were inducted into the commission twice but those appointments were mainly made under the political influence, in clear violation of the rules and procedures. The commission has never inducted experts and technocrats as its members from the private sector, the committee observed.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2017