Provincial services: Civil service hopefuls seek higher age limit
400 sign letter to CM complaining about withdrawal of relaxation in age.
LAHORE:
Hundreds of hopefuls may be unable to sit the Combined Competitive Examinations (CCE) of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) this year as the Punjab government has withdrawn a relaxation in the upper age limit, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The Punjab government is supposed to conduct CCE exams for entry to the Provincial Management Service (PMS) every year, but has only held three in the last seven years, in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
Candidates up to 28 years old are allowed to sit the exam, but the government extended this by five years in 2004 and 2006 and three years in 2008. The extension was granted on the grounds of fairness; since the exams were only being held once every two or three years, not everyone had equal opportunity to sit them before turning 28.
On April 3, the PPSC invited applications for various posts through the CCE. The advertisements said the applicants must not be over the age of 28, without explaining why the previous relaxation on the upper age limit had been withdrawn. The candidates were not informed in advance of the age stipulation.
Many of the candidates hoping to sit the exams this year are over 28. Sources in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat told The Express Tribune that some 400 hopefuls, most of them women, had signed a letter to the chief minister asking for the five-year age limit relaxation to be restored.
In the letter, the candidates said the decision discriminated against those who are 29 years old.
They said it was unfair not to allow them to sit the exam since they had been waiting for it since the age of 26 when it was last held three years ago. They vowed to stage a protest against the Punjab government and move the Lahore High Court if their demands were not met.
They said it was also wrong of the commission to only inform candidates of the age limit in the advertisement and not before, since those 29-year-olds who had been preparing for the exams for the last three years would have had a reasonable expectation that they would be allowed to sit the tests.
On April 3, the PPSC invited applications for three categories under the CCE: 66 PMS posts, six Excise and Taxation Officer posts and 21 Assistant Director of Local Fund Audit posts, all in BPS-17.
Candidates complained that alongside the advertisement for the CCE examinations, the PPSC had invited applications for district zakat officers (BPS-17) offering a five-year age relaxation.
The candidates said that the PPSC should follow the Federal Public Service Commission, which recruits federal government employees, in announcing any changes to the rules such as in age or qualification requirements at least one year in advance.
A PPSC official said that it was for the Punjab government to decide whether or not to raise the age limit.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2011.
Hundreds of hopefuls may be unable to sit the Combined Competitive Examinations (CCE) of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) this year as the Punjab government has withdrawn a relaxation in the upper age limit, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The Punjab government is supposed to conduct CCE exams for entry to the Provincial Management Service (PMS) every year, but has only held three in the last seven years, in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
Candidates up to 28 years old are allowed to sit the exam, but the government extended this by five years in 2004 and 2006 and three years in 2008. The extension was granted on the grounds of fairness; since the exams were only being held once every two or three years, not everyone had equal opportunity to sit them before turning 28.
On April 3, the PPSC invited applications for various posts through the CCE. The advertisements said the applicants must not be over the age of 28, without explaining why the previous relaxation on the upper age limit had been withdrawn. The candidates were not informed in advance of the age stipulation.
Many of the candidates hoping to sit the exams this year are over 28. Sources in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat told The Express Tribune that some 400 hopefuls, most of them women, had signed a letter to the chief minister asking for the five-year age limit relaxation to be restored.
In the letter, the candidates said the decision discriminated against those who are 29 years old.
They said it was unfair not to allow them to sit the exam since they had been waiting for it since the age of 26 when it was last held three years ago. They vowed to stage a protest against the Punjab government and move the Lahore High Court if their demands were not met.
They said it was also wrong of the commission to only inform candidates of the age limit in the advertisement and not before, since those 29-year-olds who had been preparing for the exams for the last three years would have had a reasonable expectation that they would be allowed to sit the tests.
On April 3, the PPSC invited applications for three categories under the CCE: 66 PMS posts, six Excise and Taxation Officer posts and 21 Assistant Director of Local Fund Audit posts, all in BPS-17.
Candidates complained that alongside the advertisement for the CCE examinations, the PPSC had invited applications for district zakat officers (BPS-17) offering a five-year age relaxation.
The candidates said that the PPSC should follow the Federal Public Service Commission, which recruits federal government employees, in announcing any changes to the rules such as in age or qualification requirements at least one year in advance.
A PPSC official said that it was for the Punjab government to decide whether or not to raise the age limit.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2011.