The lawmakers in Senate on Thursday flayed the dismal performance of Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), blaming it for producing below average civil servants who, according to them, have proved to be complete disappointment despite making their way into elite permanent bureaucratic authority.
After the senators pressed for formation of a special committee, Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani announced to form a committee comprising eight members - four each from both treasury and opposition - in consultation with the opposition leader and leader of the house in Senate that will give its recommendations how to regain the lost glory of civil service.
Taking part in a debate on FPSC Annual Report for 2015, the senators said that all the 12 directorates, especially Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), Foreign Service of Pakistan, Police Service of Pakistan and the Customs, have lost their glory due to poor selection as not a single young bureaucrat who is supposed to be the brightest of the country, is capable enough to carry forward the legacy of his predecessors who had left their mark.
They also strongly recommended to immediately stop hiring of politically well-connected retired military generals and bureaucrats who make their way to FPSC after their retirement from government service, adding these are the retired baboos who have destroyed the Commission just for the sake of perks and privileges.
In an obvious reference to Nargis Sethi, a retired bureaucrat who is now member FPSC after her retirement, Seher Kamran of PPP said that some pensioned bureaucrats are also running their academies for CSS aspirants, and they must not be allowed to run such centres. Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who had taught the Foreign Service officers, seemed completely heartbroken, saying the same curriculum which he used to teach some 35 years back is still taught to the newly appointed officers.
"The world has changed altogether but we are still stuck where we started off some over four decades back, which is the reason the new officers are unable to come up to our expectations," he regretted. Senator Shibli Faraz, the son of a renowned poet Ahmed Faraz, said thanks to his great father who asked him not to join the civil service after a panel of selection committee led by a pensioned army general asked him the name of Thailand's capital.
"This was the level of the interview from civil servants who are supposed to represent your country at international level," he added. Senator Taj Haider of PPP proposed to change the pattern of training being imparted to newly appointed CSS officers at Civil Service Academy (CSA), Lahore. He said that the new officers are told the very first day of their training at the academy that they are the rule and the rest of the people are 'cattle and goats, who should be treated the way they deserve.'
"I would suggest these CSS officers should be asked to clean their rooms, cups, clothes and other chores all by themselves during their training at CSA as it was once mandatory during General Ayub Khan regime to make them realise that they are not the rulers," he maintained.
Senator Mohsin Leghari, an independent member of the House, regretted that the young lot of officers are not ready to broaden their horizon and know nothing beyond cramming, adding the need of the hour is that experts in their respective fields should be given the gigantic task to select civil servants instead of relying on retired generals and bureaucrats. Some lawmakers called for changing the CSS curriculum, saying the US history is given top priority which is again beyond comprehension, as science subjects like mathematics, botany, physics, etc, had never been the priority for a CSS aspirant.
Senator Mohsin Aziz of PTI said that the reason why the bureaucrats are considered to be 'touts' of the politicians is because they lack integrity and competence, which has resulted in deterioration of the civil service, adding the incompetence is the curse that compels to compromise on one's conscience.
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