Planning minister proposes Urdu as optional subject in CSS exam

ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has advocated for a considerable modification in the entry examination for Pakistan’s civil service (CSS), recommending Urdu as an optional medium in the compulsory subject paper.

At present, English works as a critical requirement, causing many deserving students to fail simply as a result of their underperformance in the language paper.

Iqbal asserted that English serves as both an unjust requirement and that it removes deserving candidates from the system, stating, “If English was the key to performance, our civil service would be the best in the world.”

The Minister feels that granting the option of Urdu would aid inclusion, national integration, and giving rightful recognition to the national language. This is an extension of greater reform efforts that are already underway in the bureaucracy.

Iqbal has expressed that the civil service requirements outlined in 1973, are obsolete and should reflect a contemporary social and institutional realities.

Other major reforms include Cluster-Based Structure: This will bring possible professionals representing major fields, reduce the bureaucratic shortage of technical experts.- Duplication of Corporate Sector Models: Offering efficiencies in public offices via best practices utilized in the corporate sector– Bureaucratic Review: Updating the existing civil service model to reflect contemporary realities and needs.

These structural reforms are targeted to substantially reformulate a consequential national debate of Pakistan’s civil service.