THIS is with reference to the article ‘Civil service reform’ (June 18), which, among other things, mentioned the Institutional Reforms Cell (IRC) that was headed by Dr Ishrat Husain between 2018 and 2021, and which had pointed out causes of bad governance in the country.

According to IRC, flaws in the system were rooted in political interference as well as the relevant examination system that only benefits rote learners. Surprisingly, however, the IRC did not make the slightest reference to the dangerous effects of the quota system that has been prevalent since the 1950s.

Initially, it was introduced for 15 years to help alleviate people of backward/underdeveloped areas of different provinces. With the passage of time, the main purpose of the quota system was forgotten, and it was used as a shortcut to the choicest position in the choicest ministries through a manipulated examination system.

The major loophole in the quota system is that people in rural areas, especially, though not exclusively, related to the feudal landed gentry, get education in high-ranking and costly educational institutions in the developed urban areas, but when it comes to the Central Superior Services (CSS) examinations, they use their rural domicile to exploit the full potential of the quota system to their advantage. It is not unfair to urban candidates alone; it is just as damaging to the cause of the candidates from rural areas for whom the quota system was designed in the first place.

Having thus cheated their way into the realms of bureaucracy, these people run government offices and institutions, with politicisation and mediocrity soon turning into corruption and bad governance.

It is high time centralised recruitment through the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) was done away with. If FPSC cannot abolish the quota system, it can at least make an amendment to its quota rules. The amendment should bar all candidates having academic qualifications in urban areas from applying against rural quota.

The FPSC should preferably adopt a system based on open merit, which is a routine across civilised world. One may see the benefits the world at large is enjoying because of merit-based policies. Why should we not follow suit?

Abid Mahmud Ansari
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2023