Central Superior Services of Pakistan

Pakistan
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The Central Superior Services (denoted as CSS; or Bureaucracy) is an elite permanent bureaucratic authority, and the civil service that is responsible for running the civilian bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of Pakistan.^[1] The civil service defined itself as "key wheels on which the entire engine of the state has to move."^[1] Derived from the colonial legacy of the former Indian Civil Service, the civil came into its modern formation immediately after the establishment of Pakistan as a "Civil Service of Pakistan."^[2] During its time of formation, the bureaucracy produced Ghulam Ishaq Khan who would go on to become the President of Pakistan. It had influence on many of the state's defence, internal, foreign and financial policies.^[3] In 1971 it was re-organized and reestablished under "Chapter I: Part-XII, Article 240" of the Constitution of Pakistan which gave it foundation and constitutional status.^[4] The civil bureaucracy closely collaborated with the military establishment of Pakistani Armed Forces in issues concerning the national security.^[2] The bureaucracy consists of 12 directorates that provide vital office and secretariat related duties to the Government of Pakistan.^[5]

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 a quota system. The civil service exams are competitive^[1] and provides equal opportunities to males and females, depending on their qualifications.^[7] The CSS Examinations are held at the start of every year. The exams are conducted and supervised by the Federal Public Service Commission.^[7]

Constitutional structure

The Constitution of Pakistan lays down separate services for the central government and the provincial governments. Although, both types of the governments are required to regulate their civil services through the "Article 240 of Chapter I of Part XII", in case of the central reservation of the government and by the provisional assembly decrees for officers subjected in legislative list of the provinces. The idea of civil service was established by the British Empire during the colonial period of the British Indian Empire. It was derived into as "Pakistan Civil Service" in 1947 and reorganized and re-established into its modern form in 1973. The Constitution of Pakistan describes the constitutional status as below:

Appointment to service of Pakistan and conditions of service: (a) in the case of the civil services of the Federation, posts in connection with the affairs of the Federation and Civil Services by the Parliament).
(b) in the case of the services of a provinces, the posts in connection with the affairs of the provinces, by act of the Provincial Assembly.
Existing rules: All rules and orders in force immediately before the commencing day shall, so far as consistent with the provisions of the Constitution.
Public Service Commission: The Parliament in relation to the affairs of the Federation, and the Provincial Assemblies of the Provinces in relation to affairs of the Provinces, may, by law, provide for the establishment and constitution of a Public Service Commission.

— Part XII: Chapter 1: Services and Miscellaneous [Article 240-242], source^[4]

Naming Convention

The Constitution of Pakistan does not set the legal name for the civil service and there is no service named as "Central Superior Services of Pakistan" (or CSS).^[8] The constitution allowed the government appointed officer and chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission to choose the name.^[8] The term "CSS" emerged during the first public examination of the civil service for the appointment on posts at officer entry level in the occupational groups of All-Pakistan Unified Group (APUG).^[8] 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.^[8] Similarly, the use of word "Central" instead of that "Federal"; as well as the term "Superior" are also the legacy of the past.^[8] These were relevant when there was central government under 1956 constitution and classes existed in the civil service.^[8] The 1973 constitution abolished all classes in the civil service as the concept of occupational groups was introduced.^[8]

Act

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.

1. Pakistan Customs Services (PCS)^[9]
2. Commerce & Trade Group (PCG)^[10]
3. Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP)^[11]
4. Inland Revenue Service of Pakistan(IRS)^[12]
5. Information Group (IG)^[13]
6. Military Lands & Cantonment Group (MLCG)^[14]
7. Office Management Group (OMG)^[15]
8. Pakistan Administrative Service (DMG)^[16]
9. Pakistan Audit and Accounts Service (PAAS)^[17]
10. Police Service of Pakistan (PSP)^[18]
11. Postal Group (PG)^[19]
12. Railways (Commercial & Transport) Group (RCTG)^[13]

History of civil services in Pakistan

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 time the independence of Pakistan 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.

Armed forces and civil services of Pakistan

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 the Pakistan Administrative Service (previously known as the District Management Group), Office Management Group (OMG), Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP), and Police Service of Pakistan (PSP). Usually officers of Captain / Lieutenant / Flight Lieutenant (BPS17)^[20] Rank are short listed by respective Services Headquarters and selected against this quota after interview process. The interviews are conducted by a committee headed by the Chairman Federal Public Service Commission, same as is the case for regular candidates. Only the written exam is waived.

Reform of civil services

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.^[21]

Revised syllabus and age relaxation reforms

The civil services reforms have been under consideration and the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal has announced that the upper age limit would be increased up-to 30 years instead of 28, for taking the Central Superior Services (CSS) examination from 2017 onwards.;^[22][23] where as the increase educational qualification by 14 to 16 years.^[24] The CSS Aspirants collected funds from their pocket money and filled a petition in the Lahore High Court and Peshawar High court for the age relaxation.^[25][26]

CSS Examination and statistics

The CSS examination is extremely competitive ; for every one aspirant selected there are 100 who are not; in 2014, more than 28000 candidates competed for 186 post as compared to 2011 when approximately 12,000 candidates participated in the open public examination of the civil service; only 8.0% of them were qualified for 188 government jobs.^[27]

Every year CSS exams are 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 appear in these exams all over the Pakistan.

See also

• Civil Services Academy
• Police Service of Pakistan
• Quota System in Pakistan

References

External links

• Official Website