Quota System in Pakistan

Quota System in Pakistan was established in Pakistan to give every region of the country representation in institutions according to their population.^[1] The Civil Service of Pakistan selects only 7.5% of the applicants by merit, education, qualification and experience.

University and college admission Quotas

There is quota system in Pakistan in admission to universities and colleges where a certain number of places are reserved a priori to applicants who have completed their pre-university studies rural and undeveloped regions of the country. Candidates with low grades (marks or GPA) may qualify for admission to Medical college and Engineering college if they were from rural areas.^[2]

2014 Quota System

In 2014 , a notification issued by Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) created a storm of controversy among the medical students of Pakistan. According to notification , 2014-15 admissions would be held on quota system rather than open merit i.e. 50 % seats in medical colleges of Pakistan were reserved for girls and 50 % for boys.^[3] But there was silence on the side of University of Health Sciences, Lahore so students could not guess whether quota system would be applied from 2014 or next year.^[4] However, few days before the issuance of UHS's first merit list , the notification was challenged in Lahore High Court. On October 29 , Lahore High Court took the decision that quota system was illegal, as it would be unfair for girls so 2014-15 admissions would be held on open merit.^[5]

Civil Service of Pakistan Quotas

The Civil Service of Pakistan selects only 7.5% of the applicants by merit, education, qualification and experience^[6] while the 92.5% are selected by using quota system.

Merit 7.5%
Punjab (Including Federal Area of Islamabad) 50%
Sindh (Including Karachi) 19%
The Share of Sindh will be further sub-allocated in the following ratio:
Urban Areas, namely Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur 40% of 19% or 7.6%.
Rural Areas i.e. rest of Sindh (Excluding Karachi, Hyderabad & Sukkur, 60% of 19% or 11.4%)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 11.5
Balochistan 6%
Gilgit–Baltistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas 4%
Azad Kashmir 2%
Women Reserved Quota: 10% Women quota will be observed / calculated from the share of each province / region

Reserved political positions in Pakistan

Quotas in Pakistan were introduced in order to give equal opportunity for jobs, representation in assemblies and educational institutions to women, non-Muslims and people from under developed rural areas. Quotas are also called reservations in Pakistan.^[7]

Provincial Assembly	General	Women	Non-Muslim	Total
Balochistan	51	11	3	65
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa	99	22	3	124
Punjab	297	66	8	371
Sindh	130	29	9	168
Total	577	128	23	728

Armed Service Quotas

The Sind Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army established on 1 July 1980. Prior to this date there had been no regiment in the Pakistan Army specifically intended to recruit primarily from the Sindhi population.^[8] After 1989 the proportion of actual Sindhis in the Regiment was increased to over 50%. The Sind Regimental Centre is located in Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan.

Educational Institutions Quota

University of Karachi is the only public university serving nearly 20 million people in Karachi. According to the University of Karachi “Only a few students from rural Sindh are rejected”.^[9] The Government of Sindh has established many universities in in smaller towns of Sindh but the standard of education is still not high. The medical college and engineering colleges in Karachi also have quotas that limit the qualified students while admitting the rural students with lower academic achievements.^[10]

Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry

Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry, son of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, in spite of receiving a C grade (third division) in High School (Intermediate) was admitted to Bolan Medical College on the quota reserved for the Chief Minister of Balochistan. In Pakistan, medical college degree is awarded after five years but it took 7 years for Arsalan to graduate from medical college.^[11] Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry was a medical officer and within a month of graduation and then he was promoted as a section officer in the Department of Health of Government of Balochistan.^[12] Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry has never practiced medicine.

Human rights

The quota system has also been a Human Rights issue where a person with a regional, linguistic and rural/urban background is discriminated through quota system and denied public employment admission to colleges and universities.

Constitutional rights

The 1973 constitution of Pakistan clearly describes in Chapter I titled, “Fundamental Rights and Principles of Policy”, of Article 27 Clause I about safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens of Pakistan against the discrimination in the federal and provisional government services in these words:

The constitution gives equal rights:

“No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence or place of birth.”

The quota system limits the constitutional rights:

“Provided that, for a period not exceeding twenty years from the commencing day, posts may be reserved for persons belonging to any class or area to secure their adequate representation in the service of Pakistan.”

Quota system and ethnic clashes in Karachi

In 1973, the Government of Sindh imposed quota system in Sindh where the employment and admissions to the elite colleges and universities was not based on merit but on the ethnic origin and the place of residency.^[13] The quota system in the province of Sindh was imposed in 1973 for 40 years but in 2013 it was extended for another 20 years.^[14] In 2033, it will be 60 years of quota system in Sindh and according to some it will be extended for another 20 years. The Government of Sindh even after making huge investment in rural areas for the last 40 years failed to raise the educational standards in the rural areas.^[15] In 2013 Sindh budget, over Rs 675 billion are spent on rural area development and Rs 30 billion in Karachi.^[16] The huge investments in rural Sindh infrastructure and educational institutions in last 40 years has been mostly wasted due to the poor planning, political corruption, feudalism and apathy of the rural population. The quota system hit the Muhajir community. The nationalization of Pakistan's educational institutions, financial institutions and industry in 1972 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan Peoples Party impacted the Muhajirs hardest as their educational institutions, commerce and industries were nationalized without any compensation.^[17] Then the quota system was introduced that limited their access to the education and the public service employment. Karachi is the largest commercial city of Pakistan and the Muhajirs are the main stakeholder in this city. This city generates about 70% of Pakistan's revenue but this city is not governed by its local representatives as the elections of the local government was replaced by a commissioner.^[18]