ISLAMABAD: The Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) has “sensitised” the government about the expiration of quota regime relating to share of underdeveloped and backward areas in the federal service.
The News has learnt on good authority that while reminding the government about the end of the quota system the FPSC alluded to the “illegality” being committed by continuation of the share of various areas in appointments in bureaucracy through the competitive examination.
FPSC Chairman Haseeb Athar, Executive Director General Tahir Iqbal and Director General (Recruitment) Ramiz Ahmad were repeatedly contacted and messages were dropped with their staff to get their version but they didn’t call back.
Despite the expiry of the quota system applicable to specific areas, it has been continued, which, in the words of a senior official, is unlawful because the constitutional cover is no more available to this practice. The 1973 Constitution introduced the quota system in order to give representation to the underdeveloped and backward areas in the federal jobs till the time they come out of this state of affairs.
According to that quota allocation, Punjab including the federal area of Islamabad was earmarked 50pc jobs; and Sindh including Karachi 19pc. The share of Sindh was further sub-allocated with the urban areas, namely Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur, getting 40pc of 19pc or overall 7.6pc; rural areas i.e. the rest of Sindh excluding Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur 60pc of 19pc or overall 11.4pc of the province’s share.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was allocated 11.5pc quota of jobs; Balochistan 6pc; Gilgit–Baltistan and tribal areas 4pc; and Azad Kashmir 2pc. Women were given the reserved quota of 10pc, which is observed and calculated from the share of each province and region.
The official believed that the cancellation of quota in the wake of the expiry of the time period, if implemented, will have serious consequences for rural Sindh, KP, Balochistan and tribal areas. It means that allocation of all jobs of the Central Superior Service (CSS) and other federal quotas would be illegal.
He said that in the absence of extension of the period, given in the Constitution, implementation of the quota regime has already become unlawful. He said the parliament was required to extend the timeframe by amending the Constitution.
Article 27 is relevant here and provides safeguard against discrimination in services. It says no citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence or place of birth.
However, for a period not exceeding forty years from the commencing day (of the 1973 Constitution), posts may be reserved for persons belonging to any class or area to secure their adequate representation in the service of Pakistan. In the interest of civil service, specified posts or services may be reserved for members of either sex if such posts or services entail the performance of duties and functions which cannot be adequately performed by members of the other sex.
Under-representation of any class or area in the service of Pakistan may be redressed in such manner as may be determined by an act of Parliament.
At the very outset, the Constitution had fixed ten years for the continuation of the quota system. Later in 1985, it was extended for ten years. In 1999, it was expanded by another twenty years. The overall forty-year extension ended in 2013. Since then, it has not been enhanced.
A strategic point of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) for cooperation to elect Imran Khan as the prime minister after the 2018 general elections said all appointments in the government should be based on merit and according to law through an accredited, impartial testing system implying open merit.
If the open merit is observed in recruitments in the federal service, the candidates from the underdeveloped and backward areas will naturally be unable to compete with aspirants from developed areas where better educational facilities are available, the official said.
When the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had extended the quota system in 1999, the MQM had resisted it as it wanted its abolition. The MQM had not allowed the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government to extend the quota. Later, the PML-N regime also could not address the mater since it did not have the two-thirds majority in the Parliament.
In October, 2017, the federal cabinet instead of approving extension of quota, decided to “revise” it as the underdeveloped and backward areas including Balochistan and tribal areas could not be brought on a par with the developed regions by granting jobs only. Since then, nothing has been heard officially about the matter.
