KARACHI: The working scenario of Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) may suffer badly in upcoming future, as the entire Customs department is facing dearth of workforce below Grade BS-17.
According to details, none of the elected governments since 1994 had been paid any attention towards the recruitment of officials up to Grade-16 in Pakistan Customs Service and during last 21 years not even a single recruitment has been made in the department which on one hand creating problems in working scenario while on the other hand affecting the performance of one of the efficient department of federal government.
As per available details, the last batch of lower divisional clerks (LDCs), upper divisional clerks (UDCs) and steno-typists was recruited in the department in the year 1994.
More interestingly, the CSP officers after completing their CSS Examination are regularly appointed and deputed in the Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) at the Grade of BS-17 (assistant collectors).
Sources while commenting on the recent situation informed Customs Today that the remaining recruited staff in Pakistan Customs would be retired and diminished by the year2017 while no hint of inducing fresh blood into the department yet which certainly a matter of concerns to the authorities concerns at government and FBR level.
Sources further said that the experiencing and technical staff in MCC-Preventive and other field formation Collectorates is being retired by every passing day and in response no new recruitment is being made to fulfill the gap.
The sources further revealed that the present strategy of government and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) seem that the authorities concerned in upcoming years would appoint private employees on contract basis to run the affairs at clerical level and report to their high-ups.
The inside sources informed this scribe that the top-level bureaucracy in Federal Board of Revenue-FBR are reluctant to recruit officials in Pakistan Customs Department, as political intervention is in full swing during the entire recruitment procedure which disturbing the merit system in recruitment and not ensuring the transparency during the process.
