PPSC chairman unfazed by allegations over lecturers' recruitment issue

• PPSC chairman says no pressure on him regarding the recruitment
• Maqsood Ahmed dismisses allegations of paper leak
• Protesting candidates say PPSC has lost credibility

LAHORE: The Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) chairman Lt Gen (retd) Maqsood Ahmad has said that he is not under pressure and neither are his fellow members of the body.

The PPSC chairman stressed that the commission is an independent and constitutional body.

In a press conference on Monday, the chairman said he is ready for the accountability amid the ongoing protests against him by the candidates who appeared in the PPSC exam.

The former army officer said 500,000 people appeared in the exam for the 2,500 seats open for the post of lecturers across the province.

“Many protesting candidates had applied 30 to 54 times but did not pass,” said the chairman. “Allegations of the paper leak are baseless."

The candidates have demanded an independent inquiry over the leaked audio of allegedly the commission's secretary in which he spoke about the exam paper, arguing that the authority has lost its credibility.

Protests take place outside exam centres in Lahore

The candidates had also staged a protest outside the PPSC examination centres in Johar Town and Lawrence Road on Saturday, alleging serious errors in the exam paper.

A candidate appearing for the position of lecturer said that jobs had already been handed out to people. "By holding examinations, the [PPSC] is only doing a formality," he said.

Candidates had appeared for the Economics exam of the PPSC.

The test was held on December 20, following which a number of candidates took to Twitter to highlight their grievances and demanded that the PPSC authorities look into the issue.

Some candidates had also shared screenshots of their formal written complaints which they had submitted to the PPSC in this regard. They urged others to follow suit to get justice.

The candidates had alleged that besides numerous spelling mistakes, there were a few questions which had more than one correct answer, which confused them while attempting the MCQ-based test.

When contacted, PPSC Secretary Muhammad Nawaz Khalid Arbi said that sometimes candidates who are unable to attempt the test successfully try to make an issue out of nothing.