KARACHI, July 26: The chairman and members of the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) shall hold office for a single non-renewable term of five years from the date of assuming office.

However, under an amendment the governor may extend the term of the chairman or of a member holding office on the commencement of the amendment to a maximum period of five years, that is, if a person has been a member for two years before the commencement of the amendment his term shall be extended to a maximum of three years. No one shall be on the Commission either as chairman or member for more than five years.

This is one of the amendments which has been incorporated into the SPSC Act of 1989 on the recommendations of the Commission. The amendments were submitted to the governor for further enhancing the prestige and standing of the Commission, and after approval the government has notified them.

Talking to Dawn, the SPSC Chairman, M. M. Usmani, said following substantial changes to the Act of 1989 the Commission was now under the governor. Before the amendments the Commission was under the government.

This change has removed official pressure, if any, on the members, thereby providing them opportunities to exercise their independent judgment in the discharge of their duty of selecting the best available persons from among candidates to meet the requirements of different departments.

Likewise, the fixation of non-renewable term of members and of the chairman for five years would help further improve the performance of the Commission.

By another amendment, the maximum strength of the Commission has been fixed at 10 members, including the chairman, but the number of members would be determined by the governor. The number of members, including the chariman, shall not exceed 10. However, not less than one half of the members shall be persons who have held office in the service of Pakistan for not less than 20 years, including at least five years’ service in BPS-20 or above with an outstanding career in their profession.

The remaining members shall be private persons of repute and ability with the minimum age of 45 years and maximum age of 65 years representing liberal arts, science and professional fields having a bachelor’s degree with sufficient practical experience in the relevant field, the SPSC chairman said.

“No person in the service of government or in autonomous corporation or body established by government by law or otherwise shall be appointed member.”

By another amendment, which has been incorporated into the Act, it has been made obligatory on the part of the governor that if he does not accept the advice of the Commission, he shall inform the Commission accordingly.

Mr Usmani said the Commission had faced difficulties in certain areas where some departments had chosen to either bypass the Commission, or ignored its recommendations. There had been a reluctance to comply with the provisions of the existing government rules and regulations vis-a-vis the statutory consultative role of the Commission.

He said one of the difficulties faced by the Commission was the equivalence recognition of degrees and diplomas either by foreign institutions or private institutions in Pakistan. Considerable time and effort were consumed in lengthy correspondence with the University Grants Commission, Pakistan Engineering Council and PM&DC, etc.

He said these organizations should publish every year a directory of recognized degrees/diplomas and their equivalence.

Nearly 90 per cent candidates choose a “soft set” of optional subjects that could fetch maximum marks with minimal efforts. These subjects were Islamic Culture, Islamic History, Sindhi, Indian History, etc. “There is a need to revise the syllabus to make it more appropriate to job requirements and to provide an even playing field to students of different academic backgrounds,” Mr Usmani said.

The Commission is also seized with the task of preparing syllabuses and test papers for admission to Nipa course and for promotion to BPS-18, 19 and 20.