KARACHI: In a rare consensus, Sindh’s ruling party’s opponents and allies have accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of nepotism, toeing ethnic lines and defying merit in the recruitment process to fill the recently advertised jobs in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and Karachi Development Authority (KDA) using ‘the cover of IBA Sukkur’s credibility’.

They asked the Sindh government to review its policy and give priority to the people of the city who deserved to be served by these civic institutions.

Despite the fact that the share of urban and rural candidates in government jobs was separate, they alleged, the PPP government had ‘smartly devised’ a mechanism which kept the people of Karachi deprived of the job rights and allowed candidates from other cities to fill the positions in both categories.

The first objection has come from the key ally of the PPP at the Centre, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which in a meeting of its labour wing called the development a ‘sheer violation’ of the prescribed rules and described the practice as ‘nepotism’ in the recruitment process for a Karachi’s institution, the KWSB.

“The recruitment process in the institutions of Karachi should entirely be carried out in Karachi,” said a statement issued after the PML-N meeting.

PML-N, MQM-P and JI accuse Sindh govt of depriving Karachiites of jobs

“This is an open nepotism and for this defiance the IBA Sukkur is being used. The PML-N labour wing condemns this mindset and also demand to set aside the quota for the family members of the deceased employees in overall recruitment policy for the KWSB.”

A buzz over the social media against the recent advertisements of the Sindh government for the recruitment of sub-inspectors in the KWSB and senior clerks in the KDA — both BPS-14 positions — has created waves in the political circles and created differences between PPP and its allies, besides provoking the opposition in Sindh.

The reservations expressed by the PML-N also reflect serious criticism of opposition parties in Sindh — the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) — which have been actively campaigning against the ‘policy of nepotism’ of the Sindh government when it comes to recruitment in the provincial institutions.

The MQM-P even moved the Sindh High Court to challenge the recruitment policy, but its petition was turned down.

The party says it hasn’t given up and it has already challenged the court’s decision and will keep pursuing against the injustice and ‘dubious’ role of IBA Sukkur.

“Every single person living in Sindh or even in any part of Pakistan knows how transparent the recruitment policy of our province is,” said MQM-P leader Khawaja Izhar ul Hassan while speaking to Dawn.

“The IBA Sukkur has become an independent body and people are still under the impression that this is a kind of a recognised institution of some very well-reputed institution. It’s not like that. This independent body is actually doing all those things under the Sindh government control, which keeps government jobs reserved only for candidates with certain backgrounds.”

He said the MQM-P was in court against this whole ‘flawed process’ of recruitment in the Sindh government institutions, which was not only depriving deserving candidates of jobs, but also creating a sense of isolation among urban youths.

Speaking about the development, Osama Razi of the JI said that such steps were the reason prompting his party to launch its campaign for ‘Karachi rights’ and it was a charge-sheet against the ruling PPP that it had been building for the last three years under ‘Haq Do Karachi Ko’ movement.

“When you would involve institutions and bodies of Sukkur or Jacobabad for recruitment in an institution of Karachi or even for grade-14 jobs, you would divide it between urban and rural candidates; how would you expect that you are seen and regarded as a democratic party?” he said.

He said it’s not a matter of urban-rural quota, but in fact a deliberate attempt from the ruling party to create differences, trigger hatred and widen the gulf between the two sides for vested political interests.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023