ISLAMABAD, March 11: Of the 3,673 candidates who sat the Central Superior Services (CSS) Examination 2005, only 224 have been declared successful, giving a miserable pass percentage of 6.09 per cent.

The final result of the exam for recruitment to posts in BPS- 17 was declared by the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) here on Saturday.

Only 276 candidates qualified for interview after clearing the written part of the exam.

The successful candidates include 43 females. A big chunk of them — 156 in number — belonged to Punjab, followed by the NWFP with 22, Sindh with 19 and Fata and the Northern Areas with 13. Balochistan came last with only 10 candidates clearing the examination.

No candidate from Azad Kashmir could get through the exam.

Punjab also bagged all the three top positions.

This was the first result announced by the FPSC after it decided to cut down the time gap between announcing the result and the recruitment process.

Physically challenged candidates were allowed by FPSC to compete in the exam for the first time. Twelve candidates appeared but only Mohammad Masood Imran, a software engineer from Fata/NA, passed the exam. He secured 84th position on the merit list.

His father was a former member of Wapda. Suffering from muscular dystrophy, which had restricted him to a wheelchair, he wants to join the audit and accounts group.

Handicapped candidates can only opt for one of the four groups: commerce and trade, audit and accounts, information, and postal service.

Umar Riaz, presently a lecturer of economics, stood first in the exam. Born in Gujranwala district, he got his initial education from F.G. Public School, Kharian Cantt, and went on to do his master’s in economics from Zamindar College in Gujrat. He would join the police service of Pakistan.

Mr Riaz lost his father at the age of three years. He feels that his real strength lies in strong will power, dedication and honesty towards work.

Mohammad Haroon Joya stood second. He is a software engineer and got his bachelor’s degree from National University of Science and Technology (NUST).

He too plans to join the police service. He believes that he was able to perform well in academics because of being more disciplined.

The third position holder, Saleha Saeed, did her master’s in English literature from F.C. College, Lahore, and is presently working with a newspaper.

She plans to join the district management group and owes her success to strong support of her parents.