Senate body suggests shortlisting of candidates prior to CSS exams

A parliamentary panel on Tuesday recommended that candidates appearing in the competitive examinations should go through a screening test first with a view to reduce the number of contenders in final process. The meeting of Senate Special Committee to examine the Annual Report of FPSC [Federal Public Service Commission] was chaired by Senator Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah who stated that screening test at the initial stage will also save time and efforts in the whole process.
The FPSC officials who briefed the committee on the procedure of the competitive examinations also supported screening idea of screening test of compulsory subjects before the actual competitive examination. The screening test will be a multiple choice question (MCQ) paper based on the six compulsory subjects. The committee will further discuss mode of the screening test in the next meeting. The FPSC officials also informed the committee that current optional subjects and the 12 service groups are updated and they fulfill the requirements.
The committee also instructed FPSC to prepare a methodology of screening test for the candidates as well as the percentage required for qualifying to the CSS examination. The committee members were of the opinion that candidates appearing in the competition exams should be recruited according to professional background so that they can be posted in relevant departments instead of giving an open choice to selected candidates.
Committee member Saud Majeed stated that officers of the DMG groups are being posted in various departments on favouritism irrespective of their professional backgrounds. He suggested a specialised field of candidate should be his/her ground for posting in any department instead of handing over any department to an officer with an irrelevant background.
Senator Taj Haider objected on the composition of the Commission, saying that instead of a retired military officer and one retired judge, more representations should be given to the civilian bureaucracy of the DMG group. The committee chairman also endorsed the opinion, saying there should be specialised subjects in the competition exams for the candidates and criteria should be set so that a candidate can only serve in a relevant department.
Earlier, the FPSC officials told the committee that as per the set procedure, there is a generalised competition exam and the candidates after qualifying the exam are given open choices. The meeting was attended by Senators Saleem Zia, Daud Achakzai, Mir Kabeer Shahi, Taj Haider and Mohsin Leghari, Secretary FPSC and other senior officers from Establishment Division and FPSC.