HYDERABAD: The protest camp outside the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) head office entered its 24th consecutive day as students, rallying under the Movement for the Restoration of Meritocracy (MRM) and the Sindh Student Action Committee, intensified their demonstration demanding sweeping institutional reforms, transparency, and accountability.
Protesters have accused the commission of rampant nepotism, job-selling, and favoring candidates backed by influential political figures and ministers in the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) and subsequent allocations. The sit-in has drawn widespread solidarity across the political and social spectrum. Representatives from opposition political parties, legal practitioners, student organizations, and civil society activists have visited the camp to express sympathy, declaring full support for the MRM’s ongoing struggle.
Speaking to a TSH representative, PSC Vice President Mansoor Ali asserted that merit in the province has been systematically replaced by political influence. He demanded an immediate halt to controversial recruitments, full judicial audits of past examinations, and the cancellation of all tainted appointments. Mansoor warned that if their grievances are not addressed, the group, backed by growing civil and legal support, will expand the movement into province-wide demonstrations.
Convener of The Struggle, Zabiullah Mastoi, highlighted the erosion of institutional trust among youth. “Students have completely lost their trust in the SPSC; we reject all of its recent results. Our struggle will continue until complete transparency and merit are restored. We came from our homes with the hope of merit and justice, and we will not back down,” Mastoi declared.
MRM Founder Farman Ali emphasized the personal and collective resolve driving the movement. “Every crisis carries an opportunity. The CCE-2024 result was the biggest crisis of my academic life, and it shocked many. However, instead of regretting fate, I chose to fight. What began as a verbal cry against one result has now become a whole movement against nepotism and irregularities in job recruitment processes,” Ali stated. He added that despite CCE-2025 being his final chance to appear, he refuses to sit for it, vowing to continue protesting against the commission’s alleged corruption and injustice.
Action committee leader Wajahat Hingorjo added that they believe SPSC has become the “murderer” of the youth’s future not only in the CCE but in all opportunities such as Town Officer, Medical Officer, and lecturer positions by selling the merit and rights of competitive, deserving candidates. He said their struggle for the complete restoration of merit would continue until a fully transparent, merit-based system is established.
The committee has released a 12-point charter outlining key measures to reform the provincial recruitment framework. The points are as follows:
- Immediate resignation of SPSC Chairman Muhammad Rizwan and all current commission members.
- Complete rejection and annulment of the CCE 2024 results, with a demand to re-conduct the exam.
- Rejection of the current interview process for the engineering cadre, demanding transparent re-interviews.
- Immediate issuance of offer letters to all candidates who secured at least 50 marks in the Junior Science Teacher (JST) test conducted by Sukkur IBA.
- Removal of the SPSC rule prohibiting answer-sheet re-checking, restoring candidates’ right to formal paper re-evaluation.
- Formation of an independent judicial commission to investigate all Grade-16 and Grade-17 single-paper tests and recruitments conducted over the past five years.
- Public disclosure of standardized checking procedures and marking rubrics for written examinations.
- Elimination of discretionary powers held by interview panels, replacing them with a fair, standardized marking system.
- Conducting the upcoming CCE 2025 under direct judicial oversight.
- Mandatory publication of a complete annual examination schedule by SPSC to enable structured candidate preparation.
- Immediate dismissal of all police cases (FIRs) registered against protesting students and activists demonstrating against alleged corruption in CCE 2024.
- Uniform extension of the upper age limit to 43 years for all competitive exams across Sindh.
