Dawn New Article By Jamal Shahid on 26-10-09


ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: They say that educated women can raise a developed nation. But the sad reality is that obstacles, many deeply rooted in our society, remain there to block women’s full participation in most of the fields, particularly in the government.
Yet again, educated women seemed to have been “unfairly” dealt with during the recent Central Superior Service (CSS) examinations.

Some of the girls, who excelled in the 2008 exams, believed that wom en representation in the CSS appointments were grossly disfigured in the male to female ratio. Out of the 4,247 who appeared in the CSS examinations, only 157 females qualified and passed the exam.

“Of these 157, only 57 have been selected for civil service,” said one candidate who cleared both written exam and the interview but was still not allocated a position in the government.

A record number of 445 vacancies were conveyed to the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

But the commission did not allocate 88 vacancies due to “non-availability of suitable candidates.” According to a CSS instructor with a private academy, “This appears to be the highest of injustice because both vacancies and qualified candidates, especially girls are available. Boys securing positions in the 600s (rankings) have been appointed to the best groups. But girls securing positions in the 200s and 300s have been left out.” The instructor, a CSS officer himself, also pointed out provin cial disparities, where lowest of the lowest scoring Sindhi candidates were allocated good groups.

A female candidate with a bright record throughout her academic career was also refused an opportunity to serve her country as a civil servant despite passing the CSS examination.

She said: “So much so, PM (prime minister) of Pakistan was generous enough to allocate 28 extra seats to the Balochs in addition to their quota. Why can’t the PM extend the same generosity to the bright female candidates, who make up 50 per cent of the country’s population but yet denied due representation”?

“If they do not find us suitable then what exactly are they looking for? How do they find boys from Sindh, Balochistan, NWFP and AJK with such low positions (on the rankings) to be more suitable than us for the best of groups,” questioned another candidate.

According to an official in the Cabinet Division, “This is one country and specially the present government, which boasts of having one of the best female leaders of the world. It gives hope that women can also enter the mainstream and make a difference. But such unjust results disappoint and discourage women to make headways, and spread the impression that these exams are not as transparent as they are meant to be.” Female candidates believed that if anything, women should be given extra attention since they made up 50 per cent of the population – the current statistics of the world demanded this. In every field of the world the need to promote women had become more and more obvious so why not in the civil service of Pakistan.

Getting answers out of FPSC was an arduous task. No senior official cooperated “to preserve the sanctity of the only credible department in the country.” Nonetheless, one senior official summed it up by saying: “88 seats have been left empty. There just weren’t enough suitable candidates.”

This is a complex issue and it can not be solved within a night. Pakistan is a federal country and in federal services, provincial qouta has to be maintained. So this is the way through which candidates belonging to others provinces than Punjab get allocations in esteemed groups despite having low positions in overall merit list. This really hit hard candidates from Punjab regardless gender. But if it is not observed, the federating units get annoyed. It is considered that since the quality of education is not up to mark or the students of Balochistan, NWFP or Sindh do not have much access to good and quality education so this qouta system should be maintained otherwise all allocations in major groups would be taken over by Punjabis.
As concern as the women candidates of CSS, it is not worthy to criticise FPSC. 10 % woman qouta is sufficient other than open merit. But if someone who does not fulfill the requirements regarless gender, is not entitled to be allocated. Women are allocated on open merit and on special qouta. In near future, their ratio would be increased. So, they should be patient. All the best for them.

Hi. Could you elaborate kindly in what way their ratio would be increased.

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~*~ Every answer contains a new quest : A quest to non existence, a journey with no end~*~

there is already a 10% women reserved quota. plus they can also compete on the remaining 90% seats. so i dont know why they are complaining.

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Mahmood Khattak
Pakistan Customs Service
36th CTP

This is the most comprehensive & pragmatic answer to this issue.

i guess the writer is himself confused or misguided about the realities of the exam. the news item does not make any sense.

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"The race is not over because I haven't won yet."

Adil Memon
Police Service of Pakistan (P.S.P)
37th Common Training Program

after goin through such a master piece ov poorly researched and home-worked information and an ample example ov psuedo-communication, i cudnot resist to give maself an opprotunity to express ma point ov view.

the first thing that clicks afta readin this column is that " mr. writer " is unaware ov the fact that women r given a full scape opprotunity to compete wid men on open merit-basis" plus ..i emphasize PLUS a 10% quota is also reserved for em.

and the second thing that follows is that "if mr.writer is aware bout the open merit concept along with the 10% quota for women, then the only reason for jottin down such a piece is his expression ov his extra affection for gurlz for whom he tendz to demand a 100% quota along wid open merit." agreed?

moreover, the comparative analysis ov the fact that very bright women have been refused job alhtough they passed both written nd interview portion ov cse and the not very bright boys of balochistan given extra quota for jobs is nufin but sumfin very childish and ridiculous.

in addition to this the madam which the writer quoted sayin that they ( the brutal fpsc guys i guess) only passed 157 gurls and then allocated only 57 to various groups ( extreme brutality, leavin the said ma`am jobless), left me at a loss ov wordz. cud not decide wether it was innosence or stupidity!!

mr. writer and said BB plz..this is wut u call an open house competition, an open merit game..everybody and anybody can play and win no restrictions!! the numba 157 cud have been 257 or 357.. the door is opened. if the numba wud have been limited or no quota wud have been set then the complaint wud have been valid but criticizin in such a silly manner jus for da sake ov comlainin iz jus so...childish.

definin the entire piece ov writin and its aspects in uni-phrase i wud say it was a poorly homeworked and researched piece, creatin an impact ov dysfunctional communication, anonymity ov the various sources quoted further reduced its credibility; all in all it seemed to make out an issue ov "gender bias" in css allocation context widout any former logic and solid argument put forward.

feed back will b highly appreciated.

regardz
ambrosial eloquence.

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"Being exceptional is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." (Margaret Thatcher)

I completely agree with dazzling eye and my fellow commoner Ambroisal Eloquence......i think we Pakistani ladies are very much privileged to be given such an extended support in Civil Services. We hav 10% quota completely reserved for women of our country along with open merit what more we can ask.... and it is because of this favour that alot of us ladies have been allocated in groups which otherwise in open merit we couldnt have get.............

And for provincial quota issue...dazzling eye has answered it well...i wud add further, thinking that has been projected in this news report does not represent the whole of Punjabs mindset.......i hav many well educated and sensible Punjabi friends who completely dont think on these lines ........

Regards