SPSC candidates denied AC posts

Though the coveted posts were advertised, they were later merged into the PMS

HYDERABAD: For decades, resentment of the federal bureaucracy has simmered among the bureaucrats of the provincial government, who often blame the former for dominating them. Recent provincial appointments to the Provincial Management Service (PMS) have only reinforced this view.

"Appointments to the district management group and the police group have always remained under the federal bureaucracy's sway," insisted an official, posted in the Sindh education department after qualifying the Combined Competitive Exam (CCE) conducted by the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) in 2018.

"The example of candidates like us, who took the CCE vying primarily for the post of assistant commissioner (AC) but ended up in the education department, highlights our contention," he claimed.

In February, 2018, the SPSC advertised the posts of 82 ACs, 123 section officers (SO), 15 excise and taxation officers and nine assistant registrars. As many as 4,458 candidates cleared the screening test and sat the written exam later that year.

After screening and written exams, the SPSC declared 554 candidates successful in July, 2019, and announced interview dates. The same day, the SPSC informed the candidates that the AC and SO posts had been merged into the PMS.

As a result, the candidates were asked to select among BPS-17 posts of PMS officers, excise and taxation officers and assistant registrars. No choice was given for AC or SO posts, contrary to the advertisement.

"An overwhelming majority of those who secured the top 82 positions wanted the coveted AC post," said an official who ranked among the top 20 but was posted as an SO, requesting anonymity. "It wouldn't be wrong to say that we took the exam for AC posts."

The PMS was notified in March, 2018 - a month after the CCE was announced - and the PMS rules, published in January, 2019, did not mention retrospective applications. Neither was the initial advertisement amended to offer the PMS posts.

After the SPSC issued a merit list recommending 193 candidates for PMS in October, 2019, six candidates took the matter to the Sindh High Court (SHC), arguing that the provincial government could not deny their right to be appointed as ACs under the rules by which the recruitment had been initiated.

They contended that any appointments under the new PMS rules should have been made through fresh advertisement.

The SHC had ordered on February 28 that the candidates' appointment should be made subject to the petition's outcome.

However, the candidates had been issued offer letters on January 30, stating that they would undergo training prior to their posting. The PMS rules also rotate officials in the secretariat, the education department and a field job - assumed to refer to AC posts - for two years each.

"We accepted the offer, hoping that the SHC would provide us justice," said a candidate who, to his dismay, has been appointed as a planning and development assistant director (ADs) at a deputy commissioner's (DC) office. "If we hadn't accepted, we would have been out of the process."

On May 18, the Sindh government issued a notification of the postings of 151 candidates - not a single one of them posted as an AC. Instead, many received SO postings, with others in the education department or ADs in DC offices.

"Some senior officials have conveyed that after the Covid-19 crisis, the 151 officials will be provided training and then a third will be posted as ACs on rotation," said an official.

Another candidate, however, highlighted the problems with such rotation. "It is a denial of merit. Even the last 50 among the 151 officials will be posted as ACs, while if the rules had been followed, only the top 82 would have been offered the post."

In his eyes, political influence would affect the rotation too, while lack of consistency would also disturb performance.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, half a dozen candidates argued that though the PMS was a provincial initiative, the federal bureaucracy had influenced the decision. "If officials appointed by Sindh began to fill the AC posts, very few of these posts would be left for Federal Public Service Commission candidates," pointed out one of them.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2020.