KARACHI, July 28: Transparency in the process of recruiting police constables is jeopardised by a list of names of candidates that have already been decided upon, Dawn has learnt.
According to reliable sources in the police department, political interference delayed the recruitment process in March. They told Dawn that pressure was applied on the former Inspector General of the Sindh Police to accept candidates who were not on the merit list, but he delayed the recruitment until he retired.
On the condition of anonymity, senior officers said that during his tenure, the former IG Sindh constituted four committees that carried out merit-based recruitment across the province. However, he was handed a list bearing names of candidates that did not meet the recruitment criteria. Upon his objection, the former IG Sindh was subjected to such intense political pressure that he suggested that he be allowed to fill half the vacancies with names from the list he had been given, and half with candidates from the merit list.
The sources say that this proposal was rejected, which forced the former provincial police chief to delay the recruitment process until he reached retirement age on April 14 this year.
However, the DIG Administration Khurram Gulzar, who is inducting police personnel under the command of the city police chief Azhar Farooqui, asserted that “The recruitment process is transparent and we maintain the transparency at all levels. We have met all the legal requirements for recruiting policemen. After an advertisement appeared in the media, we received 12,970 applications and their physical tests have been taken. Now, the candidates who have passed the physical tests will take the written examination on August 1.”
Requesting anonymity, a senior police officer made the following comments:
“The police force is going to recruit people of a young age who will remain with the department until they reach retirement age. If the police appoint people under political pressure and by trampling upon merit, how can one expect a favourable change in the police system?”
In 2002, the police department recruited 9,000 constables out of 200,000 applicants from across Sindh. The centralised committee made the recruitments on the basis of merit and no criticisms were raised since the process was transparent and political pressures were disregarded.
However, sources told Dawn that the political groups currently at the helm want to compensate for the damage done to them in 2002.
They want their men to be recruited in the police department since this would benefit them in the long run, said the sources.
In the current recruitment drive, applications were invited against 3,370 vacancies in the Sindh Police across the province.
There are 1,475 vacancies in Karachi, 849 for men and 626 for women. DIG Administration Mr Gulzar said that the department received few applications from female candidates and therefore, the separate seats had been merged.
In Karachi, the recruitment process was carried out at the five police headquarters and a team of three officers — comprising two DSPs and a senior superintendent of the police of BS-18 — was constituted at each headquarters to carry out physical and written tests.
“We are taking care to maintain transparency and the questions for the written paper will be disclosed at the time of the examination,” said Mr Gulzar.
Following the two tests, a centralised board will be constituted to conduct the final interviews of the successful candidates. The names of the board members will be announced later, said Mr Gulzar.
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