I WAS asked to appear for an interview for the post of sub-inspector in Punjab police after I passed the Punjab Public Service Commission examinations.

For this I was required to bring for the interview all of my original documents and a medical fitness certificate verified by the district headquarters office concerned that was supposed to be valid before the closing date of the advertisement which was July 22, 2019.

I completed the procedure but unfortunately lost this medical fitness certificate and got another one made from the district headquarters office on Nov 26, 2019.

When I appeared for the interview, the examining authorities refused to take my interview on the grounds that I was not in possession of a medical certificate that had been made before the closing date. I told them the reason why I had a fresh medical certificate prepared but they rejected my contention.

Here I would like to point out that I had presented the original medical certificate that I lost to the relevant authorities at the time of the written test and psychological assessment.

The authorities could have verified had they chosen to take this inconvenience.

My point is that I could have chosen to get a duplicate certificate made of the said date by greasing the palms of the hospital staff but instead chose to be honest. It seems I have been penalised for this.

Arslaan Zafar Sial
Jhang, Punjab

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2020