KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has asked the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) to establish a computer-based testing laboratory to make recruitment process more transparent and uphold meritocracy.

He also asked the commission to ensure holding of combined competitive examination every year so that shortage of officers can be met within time.

This, he said while speaking in a meeting he held with a delegation of SPSC members at CM House on Tuesday.

Led by SPSC chairman Mohammad Waseem, other members of the delegation included Rizwan Memon, Rizwan Ahmad, Malik Ghori, Qazi Shahid Parvaiz, Arif Hanif, Farhat Kamal, Vikram Singh Sodho, Nusrat Mangan, Kalpna Devi, Rabia Salahuddin, Dr Qazi Masood, Muzaffar Leghari, Dr Saeed Mangnejo, and commission’s secretary Nazeer Qureshi.

Murad asks commission to hold combined competitive exams every year

The SPSC chairman, along with other members, presented the annual report of the commission to the CM.

In response to a question, the CM was informed that the commission was in the process of selecting suitable candidates for 9,466 posts.

These posts include 2,600 of the school education department, 1,659 college education, 383 in agriculture, 34 works and services, 179 health department, 1,881 assistant sub-inspectors in the Sindh police, 1,300 medical officers.

Mr Shah directed the commission to select the best teachers for school and college education.

The SPSC chairman briefed the CM that the commission was a constitutional body with the primary task of recruiting competent officers opting for civil bureaucracy for the Sindh government.

He added that the SPSC tried to recommend most suitable candidates through a fair, transparent, and merit-based recruitment process.

The CM was informed that approximately 28 requisitions were received from various departments of the provincial government for recruitment against different posts.

The SPSC issued eight consolidated advertisements and organised Combined Competitive Examination-2023 promptly.

Subsequently, more than 30 interview programmes/sessions for different posts under different committees were scheduled simultaneously, and results were announced to complete the recruitment process.

The CM was informed that after due diligence, 5,435 appropriate and qualified individuals, including medical officers (male/female) in BPS-17, staff nurses in BPS-16 division-wise, lecturers in BPS-17, subject specialists in BPS-17, municipal officers BPS-17 and town officer in BPS-16 were recommended to the administrative departments concerned.

The CM instructed the chairman to establish a computer-based testing laboratory to bring more transparency to the commission and uphold meritocracy.

The number of posts recommended by the SPSC for various departments in 2022 (September 2022 to December 2022), 2023 (January 2023 to December 2023), and 2024 (January 2024 to April 2024) is 9,836.

The chairman of SPSC informed the CM that the five major departments served by the commission include the health department with 591 posts, the livestock department with 257 posts, agriculture supply & prices with 127 posts, environment, climate: 93 posts, and college education with 83 Posts.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2024