SOME ministers and ruling party lawmakers often request the Public Service Commission for lenient assessment of tests so that as many candidates as possible can pass the civil service examinations, says the chairman of the commission, Saadat Hossain.
'We have refused to do it as I believe it will open the floodgate for substandard candidates, something we must not do,' he said in an exclusive interview with New Age on July 4. 'We have told them [these ministers and lawmakers] that the commission's task is to conduct examinations and it is the candidate's task to qualify.'
Saadat said the public administration ministry did not seem to agree with the idea of making the commission's secretariat independent.
'They seem to think that the secretariat is a directorate under the ministry,' he added. 'How can the secretariat of a constitutional body
be a directorate of a ministry?'
Saadat, a former cabinet secretary, claimed that the commission had sent the ministry some strongly-worded letters.
'Some junior officials are doing this,' he said. 'I believe it is very bad.'
The quota system for selection of public servants needs to be simplified, he said.
Saadat believes the annual report of the
Public Service Commission should be discussed in parliament.
Source : New Age
