Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) June 2009 results

Sindh Ombudsman directs SPSC to cancel June 2009 results
Karachi, Apr 12: The Sindh Ombudsman directed the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) to cancel the results of June 2009 interviews and withdraw the recommendations, if already made, against the posts of Divisional Head Draftsman in the Works & Services Department (W&SD).

The provincial Ombudsman directed the SPSC to undertake the tests and interview afresh of all candidates who had applied for the job in response to the advertisement so that merit may not be sacrificed and candidates having higher academics qualifications and experience may get a fair chance of competition. The Ombudsman further directed that compliance of such directions must be reported within 30 days.

The decision came on the complaint of Imran Arif against an unjustified refusal by the SPSC to accept his diploma certificate for the post of Divisional Head Draftsman in the W&SD that was advertised by SPSC in 2009. The complainant submitted that he had applied for the post however his three years diploma in Civil Engineering was rejected by the SPSC on the grounds that a diploma in civil drafting is required while his appeal was also rejected by the commission.

The complainant contended that Jinnah Polytechnic Institute had issued a certificate mentioning that he had passed DAE Civil Technology within 3 years and studied Civil Drafting (CD) as a compulsory subject. His mark sheet also showed that he studied CD as a subject for 3 years. He said that he held a superior diploma besides he had five years experience in civil draftsmanship and structural designing.

Seeking intervention into the matter, he submitted that the requirement of SPSC was 18 months certificate diploma whereas he possessed higher qualification but even then his application was rejected.

The Ombudsman while conducting the proceedings on the complaint directed Secretary SPSC to allow complainant to appear in the test and interview but his result may be withheld till a decision. During the hearing of the complaint, representative of SPSC pointed out the deficiencies in the advertisement as to duration of diploma which was not specified ad 18 months certificate which possibly could be minimum qualification not the maximum as three years must be the higher qualification.

However, Secretary SPSC reiterated that Commission strictly followed the Sindh Civil Servants rules and the W&SD had prescribed that the applicants must possess 18 months certificate diploma in relevant field. He also refuted that there were deficiencies in the advertisement as the department requisitioned the post of divisional head draftsman along with recruitment rules.

Meanwhile, the joint director of Sindh Board of Technical Education and Deputy Secretary, W&SD also mentioned that the level of 3 years old diploma is superior to 18 months certificate course of civil draftsman. The senior instructor of Jinnah Polytechnic Institute submitted that the curriculum for Civil Draftsmanship of Sindh Board of Technical Education was broad based and the complainant is eligible for the post advertised.

The Ombudsman after hearing the complaint observed that advertisement for the job of Head Draftsman was absolutely defective and misleading and expressed shock that there was no requirement of experience for those persons who were eventually to be the Divisional Heads of such an important department.

"If the works and service department had been scrupulous and specified the minimum qualification as 18 months certificate/ 3 years diploma (instead of just diploma after slash, which was wrongly taken as 18 months diploma), the SPSC would not have been misled and had not rejected the applications of candidates having 3 years diploma, being higher qualification as deposed during proceedings by the officials of the W&SD," the Ombudsman observed in its conclusion.

"The SPSC was however expected to seek clarifications from the administrative department when it was pointed out to them but no cognizance was taken even before announcing the result of the interviews," he observed.

"The W&SD, specially the engineering department, should have appreciated that a person to head their department must have higher level of education/knowledge and must be equipped with the computer aided designing as well as structural designing and must possess adequate experience in the field of civil draftsman," he added.

The Ombudsman noted in its decision that the W&SD has miserably failed to ensure recruitment of meritorious candidates for the job of Divisional Head Draftsman and if requirements had been properly specified the SPSC could have selected better candidates.

Disposing of the complaint, the Ombudsman directed Chairman Sindh Public Service Commission to cancel the results of the interviews held on June 16, 2009 and withdraw the recommendation if already made against the posts of Divisional Head Draftsman and undertake the tests and interviews afresh of all candidates who had applied for the job in response to the advertisement so that merit may not be sacrificed and candidates having higher academics qualifications and experience may get a fair chance of competition. The SPSC was directed to submit the compliance report within 30 days.

The Ombudsman also directed the Secretary W&SD to undertake, improve and revise the rules in consultation with SGA&CD to cater the present and future requirements. He was also directed to make arrangements for the refresher courses for all technical employees, arrange computer aided designing training of all the draftsmen and engineers and hold seminars and workshops. A plan in this regard is to be evolved within 120 days.

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JUW convocation
Karachi: Vice-Chancellor, Jinnah University for Women (JUW) Dr Riaz Ahmed Hashmi, while congratulating the graduating students at the convocation-2009 on Saturday, lamented the culture of making quick money that leads to neglect of Social Science subjects. Dr Hashmi especially mentioned the Urdu Department that could not found any student for the current academic year.

Justice (retd) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan congratulated the vice-chancellor, students and the faculty of the university for thier good performance. Siddiqui advised the students that material gains should not harm the ideological, religious and cultural traditions. "The language, traditions and knowledge of our bright heritage should not be forgotten." Senator Sardar Yasin Malik pointed out that acquiring higher education was commendable but civilised knowledge of heritage, culture and language was also essential. Sardar Malik appreciated the pace of research work at the JUW. He announced substantial monetary donation for PhD scholars and the Department of Pharmacy.

A total of 702 BS and MA degrees were conferred upon students. The news

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Vigilance team attacked at school
Karachi: An examination monitoring team comprising media personnel and an official of the secondary education board was severely manhandled by miscreants at a school in Shah Faisal Town on Saturday.

Mobile phones and some documents were also lost when the troublemakers charged upon the visitors in the presence of police inside the building. A police van stationed outside the building fled the scene rather than helping the monitoring team or take action against the culprits.

According to details, the incident occurred at Jamia Millia Pilot Boys Secondary School when the media team along with the Board of Secondary Education, Karachi (BSEK) Examination Reporting Cell In-charge Abdul Fahim. They were visiting different schools in Shah Faisal during the Class IX, annual exam paper of English.

The staff of the school initially refused to open the main gate of the school's building and said a vigilance team had already visited the place. When the school management did not cooperate, the board official decided to enter into the building from the back gate.

The visit at the particular examination centre was due to reports that majority of the candidates were using unfair means and a large number of impersonators were appearing in the paper.

When the team was able to enter the school premises, the Assistant Centre Superintendent (ACS) started abusing Fahim, who noted over 50 cases of students using unfair means, several cases of impersonation and fake invigilators, and demanded to release the confiscated materials and proofs. The ACS even refused to show his identification and permission cards to the team and threatened them of serious consequences.

In the meantime, miscreants stationed outside the main entrance of the school came inside and start thrashing the BSEK official and media. They forcefully ejected the team outside the building and snatched the proofs of unfair means from Fahim and records from the media personnel.

Officials add: BSEK Chairman Anzar Hussain Zaidi has directed the Examination Controller Kalim Asghar Kirmani, to report the incident to Capital City Police Officer for strict action against people involved in the matter.

Zaidi while talking to journalists said that 'mafia' had become violent after failing to achieve their goals and asked the journalists to take security measures while visiting examination centres.

Senior Education Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq condemned the attack on the vigilance team and directed the Executive District Officer Education Ibrahim Kumbhar to take strict action against the culprits involved. Daily times

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