IN a welcome development the Federal Cabinet, on Tuesday, decided to initiate process of recruitment against 129,301 vacant posts in the Federal Government Ministries and Departments with instructions from Prime Minister Imran Khan to complete the process within the next four months. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, who briefed media about decisions of the cabinet, asserted that no public sector employee would be removed as the government was committed to providing employment to the jobless, adding that 2020 would be the year of jobs creation.
The decision would widely be hailed by people of Pakistan especially by the job seekers in view of the growing joblessness and sky-rocketing inflation that has created immense difficulties for families to manage their budgets. The move is particularly important in view of a statement by Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry a few months back that people should not look towards the government for employment opportunities as it is in the process of shutting down 400 departments. In a country like ours where private sector has not yet developed enough to play its due role, the Government is supposed to be the biggest job provider both in terms of recruitment in public sector and creation of employment opportunities through developmental activities. The proposed recruitment would not only help provide jobs to over one hundred thousand people but might also lead to improved efficiency, output and productivity of the ministries, divisions and organizations concerned where majority of posts are lying vacant for years mainly because of financial constraints and budget cuts. Non-recruitment for the sake of saving expenditure was, in fact, a short-sighted approach as it weakened ministries and other institutions as they were not able to play their intended role or perform required responsibilities due to shortage of staff. Recruitment after regular intervals is a must as it helps groom the new entrants under the supervision of senior and experienced hands. It has, however, been observed that in some departments entire cadres are vacant with telling impact on their overall performance with serious consequences for the cherished objective of institution building. While welcoming decision of the Government to initiate the recruitment process, we hope that this would be done in a transparent and non-partisan manner. This is because induction of people on considerations other than merit has ruined institutions, therefore, there should be highest standards of transparency in the recruitment process.
