• Dept advertised 70 posts and applicants are required to have passed IBA-Sukkur test
• Condition criticised as attempt to ‘deprive Karachi youth of govt jobs’

KARACHI: The recruitment process recently initiated by the Sindh Food Authority (SFA) has been marred by several irregularities, it emerged on Monday.

According to sources, it’s the first time since its establishment in 2018 that the food authority has started recruitments, though without having the rules and regulations needed to be formulated under the Sindh Food Authority Act 2016.

The rules and regulations draft currently awaits approval of the provincial cabinet.

The department, sources say, advertised 70 posts on July 12 — 60 posts of assistant food safety officer, five posts of lab technician and five posts of junior lab technician.

The applicants, among other prerequisites, are required to have passed the test organised by the Institute of Business Administration (IBA)-Sukkur’s testing service.

Speaking to Dawn, university graduates aspiring for the jobs described the condition as a “deliberate attempt by the government to deprive Karachi-based youth of employment opportunities in the public sector”.

“Prior to this advertisement, no information was released by the authority that these posts would be advertised in coming months and that interested candidates should contact the Sukkur IBA (SIBA) testing service for appearing in the test,” a Karachi University graduate shared, questioning as to why a Sukkur-based organisation had been chosen as a testing service.

Secondly, another university graduate pointed out that the post of assistant food safety officer was a technical position and candidates aspiring for the job should be assessed through a specialised test organised by a professional organisation rather than the SIBA.

“In an environment where job opportunities especially in the public sector for Karachi-based youth have already been extensively shrunk mainly due to PPP-led government’s discrimination, this advertisement would only fuel frustration and widen ethnic divide,” he said.

He also alleged that the administration had broadened the eligibility criteria in order to accommodate favourite candidates.

“For instance, the advertisement says that candidates with a degree in analytical chemistry can also apply for the post of assistant food safety, though this subject is completely irrelevant to this job which is all about ensuring compliance with rules and regulations.”

Restricting eligibility criteria

The sources said the SFA in its advertisement ignored the government directives for recruitment on technical posts under which concerned departments were required to engage any other reputable testing agency or organisation for technical screening including SIBA testing service.

“For technical posts, the administrative department having posts in BS-05 to BS-15 for technical or skilled persons requiring distinctive qualification/experience under respective rules shall also engage Sukkur IBA or any other reputable testing agency/organisation /institution for technical screening before the appointment of suitable candidates for such technical posts, after approval of the Competent Authority.

“Furthermore, marks obtained from such other institutes will be counted as the share of SIBA whenever mentioned in the policy,” says the notification released a day (July 11) prior to the publication of the advertisement by the SFA.

Replying to the concerns, director finance at the SFA, Masood Bhutto, said the condition of having passed the IBA-Sukkur screening test was a government policy for all recruitments.

“The tests (organised separately for different categories of candidates) were conducted over a year ago and are required to be cleared by candidates seeking government jobs in any departments including the SFA,” he said.

About the government directives on recruitment on technical posts, he said the July 12 advertisement was in line with the previous policy of the government.

“As per previous policy, all the successful candidates of IBA-Sukkur tests were eligible to apply for any government-departmental post as per its announced vacancies. But, now the government has issued new guidelines (July 11 notification),” Mr Bhutto said, adding that the authority had sought directives from the minister on implementing these guidelines.

Director General of SFA Agha Fakhar Hussain explained that the July 12 advertisement had been sent for publication 10 days prior to the release of new government directives. But, he didn’t reply when asked whether the department would cancel the July 12 advertisement, considering new government directives.

About SFA’s rules and regulations awaiting cabinet’s approval, Mr Hussain said: “The Section 18 of the act clearly empowers the authority to create posts and appoint officers and servants from time to time as it deems necessary. The Sukkur-IBA is a credible organisation having its offices in different parts of the province.”

Mr Bhutto, however, admitted that authority’s rules and regulations hadn’t been approved yet, but added that, “The rules pertaining to recruitment have been approved by the cabinet.”

He didn’t share a copy of the approved draft of recruitment rules when requested to do so.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2023