Aspiring railways employees must wait for elections
Recruitment suspended by election commission till further notice.
PR had initiated recruitment in November to fill 1,600 vacant posts for junior subordinates in Basic Pay Scale (BPS) 1 to 10. ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID
LAHORE:
Pakistan Railways (PR) says it has stopped its recruitment process following the directions of the chief election commissioner.
Although the recruitment process was nearly complete in some divisions, with tests and interviews of eligible candidates already conducted, the process was immediately suspended following the instructions of the election commission, said a senior railways official requesting anonymity.
Although the election commission has issued its directives to all concerned offices, the PR general manager has additionally instructed all divisional superintendents to suspend recruitment till further notice, the official added.
PR had initiated recruitment in November to fill 1,600 vacant posts for junior subordinates in Basic Pay Scale (BPS) 1 to 10. The process was to be concluded by the end of December in all divisions, but was delayed due to some issues.
An official familiar with the matter said applications had been invited from unemployed youth in nearly all divisions through advertisements, and above 15,000 candidates applied.
The Ministry of Railway’s had earlier authorised the PR management to immediately invite applications for all vacant vacancies. The old recruitment policy, which awarded jobs on a divisional domicile quota basis, had been changed and fresh recruitment was to be done on a provincial quota basis. Under the new policy, all divisional superintendents were empowered as the competent recruitment authority.
The recruitment process was completed in different phases: all ‘essential’ staff cadres were filled first, which includes assistant station masters, guards, assistant drivers and gangmen. Office subordinates were recruited in the second phase.
All divisional superintendents had initiated the process and hiring was nearly complete. Only offer letters remained to be issued to selected candidates, an official said.
Meanwhile, the chief election commissioner issued directions calling for a halt to all recruitment activity to avert any pre-poll rigging, as major opposition parties had raised issues with the timing of the process, alleging that it was tantamount to bribing individuals to secure votes, the official said.
PR is currently facing severe financial constraints that periodically hinder its day-to-day operations.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2013.
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Pakistan Railways (PR) says it has stopped its recruitment process following the directions of the chief election commissioner.
Although the recruitment process was nearly complete in some divisions, with tests and interviews of eligible candidates already conducted, the process was immediately suspended following the instructions of the election commission, said a senior railways official requesting anonymity.
Although the election commission has issued its directives to all concerned offices, the PR general manager has additionally instructed all divisional superintendents to suspend recruitment till further notice, the official added.
PR had initiated recruitment in November to fill 1,600 vacant posts for junior subordinates in Basic Pay Scale (BPS) 1 to 10. The process was to be concluded by the end of December in all divisions, but was delayed due to some issues.
An official familiar with the matter said applications had been invited from unemployed youth in nearly all divisions through advertisements, and above 15,000 candidates applied.
The Ministry of Railway’s had earlier authorised the PR management to immediately invite applications for all vacant vacancies. The old recruitment policy, which awarded jobs on a divisional domicile quota basis, had been changed and fresh recruitment was to be done on a provincial quota basis. Under the new policy, all divisional superintendents were empowered as the competent recruitment authority.
The recruitment process was completed in different phases: all ‘essential’ staff cadres were filled first, which includes assistant station masters, guards, assistant drivers and gangmen. Office subordinates were recruited in the second phase.
All divisional superintendents had initiated the process and hiring was nearly complete. Only offer letters remained to be issued to selected candidates, an official said.
Meanwhile, the chief election commissioner issued directions calling for a halt to all recruitment activity to avert any pre-poll rigging, as major opposition parties had raised issues with the timing of the process, alleging that it was tantamount to bribing individuals to secure votes, the official said.
PR is currently facing severe financial constraints that periodically hinder its day-to-day operations.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2013.
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