Punjab Government stops PPSC examination for ACE posts
Lahore: The Punjab government has stopped the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) examination for posts in the Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE), sources said on Saturday.
PPSC Deputy Secretary Zahid Hussain said that the Services and General Administration Department had issued a letter to the PPSC in which the commission was directed to stop examinations for ACE's advertised posts until further notice.
According to government statistics the PPSC advertised 81 ACE Department posts on March 9, 2008. The posts advertised were on a permanent basis and had been advertised during the tenure of the caretaker provincial government. About 25,000 people applied for the posts.
The posts advertised include two Grade-18 posts of deputy director (technical), seven posts of assistant director (AD) (investigation), 37 posts of AD of legal/prosecution, two posts of AD (technical), one Grade-17 post of AD Forensic Lab, two Grade-11 posts of sub-engineer (civil), 13 Grade-16 posts of inspectors/circle officer, three Grade-11 posts of draftsman and 14 Grade-9 posts of assistant sub inspectors.
The applicants criticised the government for stopping recruitments at the advertised posts. They said that they had been preparing for the examination for four months.
According to government sources, the Punjab government does not want to credit postings and reforms in the ACE to the caretaker government. Sources added that the government did not want to appoint applicants on a permanent basis and might instead fill the vacancies on a deputation basis, as was previously done.
Public Relations Officer to the Chief Minister and Punjab government Spokesman Abid Noor Bhatti said that the caretaker government was not authorised to take decisions regarding recruitments. He said that according to the law, the caretaker set up was only bound to conduct elections, while major policymaking decisions like permanent recruitments had to be made by an elected government. He said that the Punjab government had abolished the permanent posts due to technical flaws within the ACE Department. He added that the department was however not being abolished. Daily Times
