Furthermore, wholesale politicisation of an organisation that is supposed to uphold the principles of merit and equal opportunities for all took place on a such scale that prospective candidates began to believe that there was no future for them if they had no political connection or money to bribe the recruiters. Nothing could be more disastrous for the entire civil service than such a degeneration of the government's highest recruiting body. Take for example the doubts that have crept in over the fairness in conducting the 27th BCS. The PSC's failure to remain above controversy has created a situation in which it will very difficult to ensure justice to all the candidates, regardless of what is done about the 27th BCS.

The PSC's standing in the public eye could well be gauged by the fact that a number of 27th BCS candidates, who attended a TIB seminar, openly complained that they were victims of gross irregularities and corruption. Whatever might be the basis of such allegations, it is now generally believed that the PSC has long abandoned its policy of making merit the sole criterion of recruitment.

So, the new chairman's job is well cut out. He has to ensure efficiency and put an end to the corrupt practices at the PSC. There should not be any more reports on question paper leakage or bribing the recruiters.

It is more than an issue of making it a level playing field, it is a question of saving an age-old institution devoted to supplying quality manpower to the administration on the basis of certain rules and regulations. But when the recruiting process loses its credibility, the government has to think in terms of tough measures against the people responsible for such a state of affairs. The PSC is too important an organisation to be tinkered with or reduced to a politically exploited recruitment agency.

We wish Saadat Hussain good luck.