Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
Raza Baloch
Hopes of students from under-privileged sections of society lean upon competitive exams in Pakistan. It remains a dream for farmers, labors and middle-class, without political background, to have their offspring toil hard and get through commissioned examination for distinguished positions. The official websites of Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), Balochistan Public Service Commission (BPSC), and National Testing Service (NTS) are frequently visited by unemployed graduates to check for job advertisements. Transparency of these institutions is the least of their hopes; therefore, aspiring graduates burn the midnight oil to get them prepared for the commissioned tests.
Prestigious FPSC conducts examinations of Central Superior Services (CSS) and other federal vacancies. Applying for jobs advertised by FPSC is not only easy but also affordable for under-privileged candidates. FPSC requires candidates to fill an online application form, download fee slip and deposit it along with fee in a designated bank. There is no need to send documents to FPSC via post and it saves time and money of the applying candidates.
On the contrary, BPSC has a complicated, time consuming and costly procedure of application. It requires candidates to buy a challan [Fee slip], pay the fees and bear the costs of 2 postal envelops of Rs.35 each. Recent amendment in BPSC rules, for applying for the Consolidated Advertisement No. 07/2015 of Secondary school Teachers (SST) posts, has added fuel to the fire which is, seemingly, designed to keep the poor candidates away from applying for those posts. Applicants are required to get all their credentials verified from the respective issuing body. For instance, a candidate having passed matriculation from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Sindh needs to get their respective degrees verified from the concerned boards.
Verification is a time consuming and costly procedure where candidates need to spend 5000 rupees approximately. This new amendment in BPSC rules is being widely criticized by public; meanwhile, candidates are not only considering it time consuming, but also a financial burden.
BPSC needs to review this policy and benchmark FPSC regarding the job application procedure to make it possible for all candidates to apply for the recently advertised posts of SST. Latest changes in rules of BPSC privilege only few candidates and majority of candidates would find it almost impossible to submit complete applications before deadline.
It’s requested from Governor of Balochistan and the new chairman of BPSC to take notice of the changes in application rules which are tantamount to forcing candidates out of competition. BPSC management needs to take instant action in order to prevent mass protests by candidates like they did against the former Chairman of BPSC who was eventually sacked for corruption.
Published in The Balochistan Point on June 1, 2015
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and The Balochistan Point not necessarily agrees them.
