Legal Position of Recruitment in Govt Departments Through NTS

Legal Position of recruitment in Government Departments Through NTS
Lot of our readers have asked us that what is the legal position of recruitment in government departments through NTS. In this article we shall discuss it in detail.
Constitution of Pakistan has assigned Federal Public Service Commission and Provincial Public Service Commissions the responsibility to conduct tests for recruitment in federal and provincial departments respectively. Both the departments are constitutional and statutory bodies. The members of the FPSC and PPSC have job security and no one can remove them before completing their term. This job security enables them to take the decisions on merit without accepting any pressure from government. Senior serving or retired members from civil service army and judiciary are nominated as members of FPSC and PPSC, because due to their wide experience they can recruit best available talent in the government service.

On the other hand NTS is neither a constitutional nor a statutory institution. Its a private organization which provides quality testing service on commercial basis. NTS has gained a great repute during the past few years. But in spite of all these things Lahore High Court has decided that NTS has not right to take tests for admission in government universities and government universities are not bound to follow the NTS test results just because of the fact that NTS is a private organization. Many public universities are not demanding NTS GAT General or GAT subject test for admission in MS, MPhil and PhD.

Legal Position of Recruitment in Govt Departments Through NTS

Almost same is the case with recruitment in government departments through NTS. But for admission in government universities there is a court decision which declares that NTS tests are not mandatory for admission in government universities. On the other hand for recruitment in government departments there is not a single decision against NTS till now. As a High Court lawyer i can just give my opinion that a private institution can not be assigned the responsibility of taking tests for recruitment in government departments as it is far easier to influence a private organization rather than any FPSC and PPSC. So if some one have reservations against NTS, he should contact to High Court for getting any decision.

Prima facie he will get relief from High Court in this regard as government recruitment is a sensitive issue and FPSC and PPSC are more capable of doing this job. And there is a big question mark about the legal position of recruitment in Public departments through NTS. Although NTS has been assigned to take tests for some recruitment in judiciary but this too don’t grant legitimacy to NTS. No other country adopt such a method for recruitment in Public sector. Even common sense can not accept it that a private agency can be given such a sensitive responsibility. Transparency must be visible in recruitment process and it can be guaranteed through independent constitutional institution like FPSC and PPSC. But its Pakistan dear where every thing is possible. Even KPK government is hiring the services of NTS. So we can just advice to all affected people to consult High Court for any decision against this practice.

SNK