Job applicants protest at exam delay

300 job applicants staged a protest and accused the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) of rescheduling exams.

LAHORE: Some 300 job applicants, mostly from South Punjab, staged a protest on The Mall on Thursday and accused the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) of rescheduling their exams without informing them.

The crowd of young men and women shouted slogans denouncing the commission in front of Governor’s House and blocked the road for two hours.

The protesters were upset that they had spent precious time and money to get to the testing centre in Lahore from places in South Punjab, only to learn that the test had been rescheduled for two weeks from now.

Officials of the PPSC said that they had informed the applicants of the delay through advertisements in the print and electronic media and by mail.

The PPSC invited applications for seven posts of district zakat officer (BS-17) and 27 posts of senior subject specialist (education) around three months ago. The applicants were meant to sit tests for the posts on September 18 and September 19, respectively. A total of 3,287 candidates applied for the DZO posts and 1,500 for the SSS posts.

A PPSC official said that the commission had decided to reschedule after receiving a large number of letters from candidates living in flood-hit areas stating that they would not be able to sit the exams because of the floods.

According to the official, the commission advertised this information in the media on September 9 and sent letters to all the applicants informing them that their exams had been postponed to October 3 at 10 am to 12 pm for the DZO posts and 2 pm to 4 pm for the SSS posts.

But several applicants only learned of the rescheduling when they turned up for the DZO test on Saturday. “I did not get any letter or notification about the postponement,” said applicant Syed Mumtaz. “I only received one letter from the PPSC, stating that all the applicants should take their test at the centre in Lahore.”

The commission should set up an exam centre in Multan to accommodate students from South Punjab, he said, adding that he had made this request to the chief minister several times in writing, but not received a favourable response.

A candidate from Muzaffargarh whose home has been destroyed in the floods said getting to the testing centre in Lahore had been expensive. “I was barely able to borrow the money to travel here with my brother,” said Saima. “And then when we got here I saw the notice on the door about the postponement. I was stunned.” She said many other students from South Punjab had similar problems concerning travel to and accommodation in Lahore when applying for PPSC jobs.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2010.