Sindh job reforms fail to curb merit complaints

Despite a series of reforms aimed at making government recruitment more transparent, complaints over merit-based hiring continue to dog Sindh’s job system.

The government’s efforts have struggled to deliver the promised change, largely because key measures have not been fully implemented. Some influential provincial institutions, including the Sindh Assembly and the Prisons Department, have themselves sidestepped the government’s recruitment mechanism.

Rather than using the testing service of the government-run Sukkur IBA University, which was engaged by the provincial government to help ensure merit in BPS-5 to BPS-15 recruitment, the two institutions have hired a private testing company to conduct tests for their vacant positions.

It is worth noting that the system for providing government jobs in the province is divided into three categories. Recruitment to BPS-1 to BPS-4 positions is carried out at the district level. For BPS-5 to BPS-15 positions, a digital platform called the Sindh Job Portal was established in 2025.

All departments were directed to receive applications for their vacant positions through the platform, while candidates who secured at least 40 marks through the testing service of Sukkur IBA University were declared eligible for these positions. The third category comprises BPS-16 and above positions, which are filled through the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC).

Unfortunately, questions have been raised for some time over the transparency of recruitment in all three categories. Several young people who were declared unsuccessful in the SPSC examination held in 2024 continued their protests for several months. Some of these candidates later succeeded in examinations conducted by the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

The very notion that lower-grade jobs, from BPS-1 to BPS-4, are awarded on merit in the province also appears questionable. This can be gauged from a recently viral video of Provincial Minister for Prisons Haji Ali Hassan Zardari. In the video, when a journalist complains to him that jobs in his department are not being awarded on merit, the minister looks at the journalist in surprise and asks, “What merit is there in BPS-1 to BPS-4 jobs?”

A large proportion of government jobs in the province falls within BPS-5 to BPS-15. This is also why the majority of unemployed young people have traditionally applied for positions in these grades. Consequently, the provincial government has also faced greater pressure over government employment in this category.

For this reason, the Sindh government decided to improve the recruitment system, at least for this category of jobs, by establishing the Sindh Job Portal and engaging the testing service of Sukkur IBA University to ensure merit.

However, some influential departments have not implemented these government measures, citing their autonomous status. The Sindh Assembly and the Prisons Department are among the most prominent examples.

The two institutions used a private testing company to fill their vacant positions instead of engaging the testing service of Sukkur IBA University.

In this regard, The Express Tribune contacted the Secretary of the Provincial Assembly G.M. Umar Farooq to ask why the services of a government university’s testing service had not been obtained. However, he did not respond.

The same question was put to Inspector General of Prisons Fida Hussain Mastoi, but he also did not respond.