If the quota system and deteriorating standard of education is the cause, as FPSC says, of the failure in finding eligible talented, skilled, professional, analytical and creative young men and women to be given power to reign this country of non-educated hapless multitudes, then we will have to give totally free hand first to Lahore, then to Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad and Karachi to select the future ruling elite which are already successfully producing the same for the entire components of the huge republic. According to FPSC Annual Report Report-2016, the number of total applicants was 22, 412 but only 12, 176 appeared in the CSS Exam-2016, 238 were appointed on the 333 vacant posts, leaving 95 posts vacant. Likewise, total number of the vacancies in Grade 16 & above was 5362, a large number of 875281 (.875 million) applicants applied for job, only 7563 were scheduled for interviews, 1235 were called for personal hearing while 1455 were appointed, leaving the 3511 vacancies unfilled. In another table FPSC says that a test for recruitment was conducted for 254 post of the same category, though, 4671 were interviewed at the final stage. Now the question is: if 7563 were scheduled for interviews how were only 4671 interviewed and 1455 got appointed or the written test was conducted only for 254 posts? Were all other posted filled in just on the basis of interviews? Huge explanation is required to justify the numerical juggleries, as table at page III does not match the table in para 3.3. Here is secret hidden in the institutional hegemony by which the lies are always justified. However, the incoherent tale by FPSC does not end here.
In the CSS Exam-2016, out of 238 favoured applicants given the posts 91 belonged to Lahore, 38 to Islamabad (also falls in the Punjab), 18 to Rawalpindi, 6 to Faisalabad, 4 to Sargodha, 3 to Gujranwala (total 160). Again, ten top positions holders belonged to the Pak Army out of whom 7 belonged to the Punjab, 1 Sindh (r), 1 Sindh (u) and 1 KPK. Subsequently going further into details regarding the academic qualifications of the fortunate candidates, majority of them are the bachelors or graduates of Engineering, law, medical and business studies constituting 55% of the total successful candidates at the end. Sadly, 7% M. Phil and 35% master degrees holders were (42%) among the successful slot and the rest belonged to the merit and the seats reserved for Pak Army where highest degrees do not matter. In this perspective, the South Punjab, except Multan and Bahawalpur Divisions having negligible share, are full of non-eligible educated youth lacking creative thinking, skilled and professional analytical faculty, if compared with genetically improved hybrid counterparts in the central Punjab. After Punjab, then we encounter with another privileged class’s offspring that belonged to Hyderabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Abbottabad whose thin share in the ruling junta of the future form part of the national imperialistic system of governance. Thus, the continual disregard of higher education forms integral part of FPSC’s decaying system of judging competence and knowledge, by the authority it declares who is eligible and who is non-eligible in the arena of power and national divide of haves and have-nots. Shockingly or amazingly, the simple graduates excel the Ph. D, M. Phil and Master Degree’s holders who are given the title of the most brilliant breed of the youth living in the metropolises of high-tech train, Metro Bus Service, megamalls and ketches culture.
Here arises a dialectical question to judge the bonafide frame work or modus operandi FPSC justifies in its annual reports: How do the universities produce talented graduates but not the post-graduates? It looks, prima facie, quite advisable option to close down all the faculties imparting higher education. Another flawed system of FPSC is the selection of the examiners, marking the papers attempted by the candidates. Fair and meticulous marking of the thousands of papers is undoubtedly gigantic job to be done by equally competent, honest and unbiased teachers having highest caliber, moral authority and immunity to personal and political prejudices. As we all know that our nation is travelling in time and space, facing moral decline, misuse of authority, personal greed and self-pursuits; how does FPSC find the required breed of professional and teachers in the institutions failed to produce the talented and educated youth having higher degrees like PH.D and M. Phil? A Question was raised in the senate to divulge the name of the examiners and their institutions but the reply was tactfully averted under the pretext of “secrecy”.
Above is depressive, anti-talent and killer of hope, narrating the state of affairs in Pakistan, creating a powerful wave of resentment owing to which the highly educated youth desperately opts to leave the mother land with heavy heart. As a result, the fifth largest democracy is now under the strong hold of incapable but privileged and favoured ones formulating entire bureaucracy totally failed to meet the challenges of complexed rural and urban life. In this system of decay and deterioration, FPSC is neither the exception nor the sole responsible state institution but one among many. In response to my article in the daily nation, one among many readers having Master Degree from leading university sent me mail, narrating her sad story in the style of Thomas Hardy: “The Return of the Native”, adding that “Pakistan’s job environment makes it impossible for talented people to stay in this country due to elite class nepotism and office politics”. She wrote that she came back to Pakistan a year ago in a dream to contribute to legal studies in the country. Despite having a Master’s degree, foreign experience and making impressive presentations at major conferences at the Harvard Law School, she could not find a full-time job in the universities and law firms in Pakistan. At every stage, she was told, she lamented, that she could not be hired as the judges pressurised the law firms to hire their associates. Reaching the depressive conclusion, she has decided to leave the mother land, one more, making her personal bitter experience a part of national history, concluding that the people of lessor qualification had been given prestigious posts due to their family connections. She wrote: “I am just one of several individuals who” are preordained to face brutal discrimination and deprivation, adding: “if I stay here I will be unable to contribute to Pakistan’s legal system under the colonial mentality dominating the lawyers here”.
Historically, a loss of talent and genius is a loss of national brain, leaving a vacuum to be filled by thoughtless fortunate who dig the graveyard of a nation state mistakenly making it invincible. When Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein among hundreds of others were forced to leave their motherland,
Germany was full of brainless ruling elite, leading the nation toward half century slavery within the decade. The same is sad tale of Greco-Roman world, and Muslims’ empires. Depletion in exports, foreign exchange, gold reservoirs and GDP were not the major causes behind the collapse of the empires but the scarcity of the genius. When less than 40000 warriors of Iranian invader Nadir Shah in 1739 defeated Mughal Empire in India having above one million army, a huge mountain of looted gold, precious stones, jewels, artefacts, crows and thorns was built before “Shah” who came to kill the infidels in Sindhind was rich in concentrated wealth but was barren in talented and genius stated functionaries. According to one historical account, though it might be exaggerative, the camels loaded with loot of royal luggage made a long que of 25 km when Nadir Shah was leaving Delhi, after staying a dozen weeks in India, in addition to marrying a young lady of pure royal blood and merciless massacre, as well. When such kind of stories about the concentrated wealth of India reached Europe through Iranian writers, France and UK, particularly, planned to extend their imperial jaws to Sindhind, repeating the same history.
The writer is Ex-Director General Senate of Pakistan.
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