Central Superior Services of Pakistan is the civil service of the country. It was established in 1973 under Article 240 of the newly framed Constitution. The CSS Examinations are held in the start of every year to recruit the civil servants for the Civil Services of Pakistan.[1]
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The Constitution lays down separate service for federation and Provinces. Federal and Provincial Governments are required to regulate their civil services through Act of parliament in case of federation, and by Act of Provincial Assembly for subjects in Legislative List of provinces. The civil service scheme established by British Raj during the coloniel period was reformed under the administrative reforms in 1973. All services and classes in services were abolished by law. Use of service labels were also prohibited (refer ESTACODE-2010 Its is Establishment Code issued by under authoirty of Federal Government. It contained all valid laws, rules and instructions applicable to civil service of federation). The nominclature of posts was also changed and all services were merged into 'All Pakistan Unified Grades - (APUG).
Legally, there is no service named as 'Central Superior Services of Pakistan'(CSS). This term has emerged from exam conducted by Federal Public Service Commission for appointment on posts at officer entry level in occupational groups of APUG. The FPSC holds the combine competitive exam annually under the title advertised as exam for 'Central Superior Services', the term of colonial days, which survived reforms. Similarly, use of word 'Central' instead of 'Federal' and term 'Superior' are also legacy of past. These were relevant when there was Central Government under 1956 constitution and classes existed in civil service. The 1973 reforms abolished all classes in civil service. The concept of occupational groups was introduced.
Following the foundations laid in the Constitution, the federal government promulgated The Civil Servants Act, 1973 and each province enacted its own Civil Servants Acts. The law allow civil service of federation, and of provinces, to be regulated as per rules notified under these enactments. Consequently, both sets of governments have notified Civil Servants (Appointment, Transfer and Promotion) Rules, 1974. The qualification and method (the way) of filling of all posts is regulated by these rules. The posts at initial officer level i.e. BS-17, are classified to be filled by way of promotion or transfer and by direct recruitment under share fixed for each category. The recommendation for appointment in BS-17, under direct recuritment share, is done by FPSC, which is established under its own law as a requirement of the Constitution. The rest of posts reserved for departmental officers under promotion quota and posts under appointment by transfer is confined for officers inducted through lateral entry or for hardship cases coming from surplus pool. In practical terms, those appointed on posts in direct appointment quota in each occupational groups through CCS Exam have natural advantage. They join service at young age as compared to departmental officers, and therefore reach to the highest slots. Since the number of direct officers at entry level is less but their quota in posts in BS-18 to BS-22 is fixed on higher side so their promotion are on fast phase. This arrangements makes the civil attractive for talented individuals and instill sense of superiority and pride. Currently, CSS Exam is conducted by FPSC includes the following Occupational Groups.
The civil Bureaucracy is a colonial legacy in this part of the world. The British used to rule the native population through Indian Civil Service (ICS) and most of the officers in ICS were British themselves. It was in the early 20th Century that the Indians also started competing against the British and many Indians eventually made it to the ICS. With the partition of India in 1947, the term 'Central Superior Services' was used in Pakistan and the concept of All-Pakistan Services continued. The latter consisted of the Civil Service of Pakistan and the Police Service of Pakistan, whereas the Central Services included the Pakistan Foreign Service and a broad category of Finance and other services. The Finance category included the Pakistan Audit and Accounts Service, Pakistan Railway Accounts Service, Pakistan Military Accounts Service, Pakistan Taxation Service, and the Pakistan Customs and Excise Service. The Central Services other than these included the Pakistan Postal Service, Pakistan Military Land and Cantonment Service, Central Secretariat Service, and Central Information Service. Each of these services had its own cadre and composition rules, specifying the total cadre strength in terms of its number of positions.
With the Civil Services Reforms of 1973 a new system of Common Training Program or CTP was introduced and all of these occupational groups (12 at that time) were required to go through a mandatory combined training at Civil Services Academy (CSA), Lahore. The batch of officers who attended CSA in 1973 is recognized as “1st Common”. Up till 5th Common the allocation of occupational groups was done after the culmination of Common Training Program but from 6th Common onwards this task has also been assumed by FPSC. Even till this day it is an official procedure that once the Probationary Officers successfully complete their CTP then they undergo some further Specialized Training Program (STP) in their own professional academies.
Commissioned officers of Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, and Pakistan Navy have their own quota of 10% in all service groups of the Central Superior Services but historically they have only joined District Management Group (DMG), Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP), and Police Service of Pakistan (PSP). Usually officers of Captain Rank are short listed by General Head Quarters (GHQ) and selected against this quota after the permission directly by Chief of Army Staff before interview process. The interviews are conducted by a committee headed by the Chairman Federal Public Service Commission, same as in the case of regular candidates. Only the written exam is waived off.
Despite the fact that Civil Services of Pakistan have been still running on the pattern set out by British Raj (no major change has been performed), the Musharraf government started a major reform process of it. The task was to be performed by National Commission of Government Reforms (NCGR) under the chairmanship of Dr. Ishrat Hussain, the former governor of State Bank of Pakistan. The final report that was published in September 2007 stated that four CSS cadres i.e., Pakistan Railway Service, Pakistan Postal Service, Commerce and Trade Group, and the Information Service of Pakistan, should be axed. According to the recommendation, Postal and Railway Service should be made autonomous commercial bodies, Commerce and Trade and Information Services be suspended till further notice. The report also highlighted broad changes in the examination system, with the recommendation of a personality test be made part of the selection process.
Every year CSS exams held in the whole country. The exams were conducted by the Federal Public Service Commission of Pakistan(FPSC). FPSC conducts the CSS exams and also recruit the passed candidates on the different departments of Civil Service. A number of candidates every year appears in these exams all over the Pakistan.[14]
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