Some discrepancies in data / conclusions drawn by author:

1. Although 238 is an all time low and discouraging (as well as condemnable) number, one needs to keep in mind that there are usually less than 200 vacancies filled up by this exam every year. So, this discouraging number does not mean that lots of slots will go unfilled - except in case of Balochistan and Sindh-Urban whose number of qualifiers are speculated to be very few.

2. Candidates appearing (and qualifying) from exam centres set up in any metropolis does not necessarily mean that all of them belong to that urban city. As, due to limited number of exam centres, candidates select the venue as per their convenience. For example, a person belonging to less privileged areas such as Noshki, Lakki Marwat, or Ghotki may appear from any of the major cities - viz Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi etc. Similarly a candidate with domicile of Peshawar city might appear from Sargodha or Sukkur (among other options), if he resides (temporarily) or works there. Thus, one can not plot the correct demographic distribution of qualifiers on national map at this stage unless domicile of each qualifier is known.

3. A total number of 17 candidates have qualified from the examination centres of Southern Punjab. Break-up: Multan 12, Bahawalpur 2 and DG Khan 3. Again, as per the preceding point (# 2) this number is not true reflection of South vs Central plus Northern Punjab comparative.

4. A total number of 21 candidates have qualified from examination centres of Sindh province (Karachi 12, Hyderabad 7, Larkana 1, Sukkur 1). Once again, point number 2 limits us to accurately predict rural-urban divide here.

5. The instances that candidates with contiguous roll numbers have qualified is merely a matter of incidence and in no way undermines the credibility of the said examination. Apply any international exam assessment parameter and statistical probailty rule here.

Having said that, I do agree that there lies a huge room at FPSC's disposal to make the CSS examination a competitive and credible one in its true literal sense.