The federal government of Pakistan has a total of 649,176 endorsed posts. Out of these almost 6 percent are occupied by women and a mere 2.8 by minorities. The remaining are yet vacant.
It has been expressed that the fear that women won’t continue their posts in the long haul has been a hindrance in their way to get hired.
Punjab now has the largest percentage of women hired in the main departments, Sindh comes close and is followed by KPK, Balochistan, and Kashmir. Rukhsana Shah claims that the discrepancy between men and women being hired is mainly because people don’t expect them to stay in their jobs for too long.
She claimed that the public sector is not welcoming to the concept of women working in sectors that are characteristically for men. Shah claimed that the environment is not favorable to the idea of women working. However, she pointed out the increase in the number of women being hired in the district of Punjab showing a positive development.
Despite this increase, other civil works like Syed Saadat have claimed that the posts for women stay vacant mostly because the environment never encourages them to apply in the first place. However, women can still be seen excelling in comparison to men to all CSS exams. The stats show that in 2016, the top 3 positions were held by women and out of 86 applicants, 84 were endorsed. Similarly, in 2017 111 women qualified the CSS exams out of which 106 were endorsed.
Yousuf Raza Gillani has claimed that the number of posts available for women is not extensive in number. He claimed that no women are hired for rough posts such as policymaking, commerce, and finance. They are reserved to areas of health and tourism automatically limiting their ability to grow and excel in the field. The higher you move in the hierarchy; the lesser women can be seen.
Similarly, non-Muslims in the field are treated in a similar manner. Punjab is claimed to have the highest quota for minorities. Out of 10,405 officers, 10,114 are said to be Christians. More so, out of 14,730 officers, 176 are Ahmadis and 224 of whom are an active part of the federal government.
It is important for the government to realize and assess what the stats show. Women and minorities have continued to prove their intellectual worth and are yet deprived of prominent posts in the government either because of their gender or their faith.
The recent case of Atif Mian and the number of women who are seen in the higher grades of civil service clearly reveals that the environmental response and societal approach to the entire matter need to change.
