The Civil Services Academy (CSA) has completed a month-long National Outreach Program (NOP) at its Walton Campus in Lahore, delivering intensive training to 42 minority CSS aspirants from Hindu, Christian, and Sikh backgrounds. The initiative represents a significant move towards increasing diversity and inclusion in Pakistan\u2019s civil service, addressing the historic underrepresentation of minorities in the country\u2019s administrative institutions.<\/p>\n
Participants were selected through a nationwide competitive process and engaged in a comprehensive curriculum including orientation for the Central Superior Services (CSS) examination, mentorship sessions, policy briefings, leadership development, and mock testing. The program aimed to prepare these aspirants with the knowledge, skills, and confidence required to compete in the rigorous CSS exam.<\/p>\n
At the closing ceremony, Rabiya Javeri Agha, Chairperson of the National Commission for Human Rights, commended the CSA for providing a \u201csecond chance\u201d to minority communities that have historically been marginalized within government structures. She emphasized the critical role of mentorship in empowerment and urged participants to extend similar support to others as they progress in their careers.<\/p>\n
CSA Director General Farhan Aziz Khawaja reaffirmed the government’s dedication to constitutional principles of equality and inclusion, attributing the success of this program to the support of the Establishment Division and the Prime Minister\u2019s Office. He also expressed gratitude to the mentors, faculty, and officials who contributed to the initiative.<\/p>\n
Dr. Shabbir Akbar Zaidi, CSA\u2019s Director of Capacity Building, stressed that the NOP was not merely a training exercise but a step toward building a civil service reflective of Pakistan\u2019s diverse population. He highlighted that graduates of the program are now well-equipped to pursue roles in public service with renewed purpose and confidence.<\/p>\n
Despite policy changes such as the introduction of a Special CSS Examination with relaxed age restrictions and additional attempts for minority candidates, minority participation remains low. Only 16 candidates from minority backgrounds qualified in the recent round, and 14 joined the 53rd Common Training Programme. With more than 100 CSS seats still unfilled, there is a clear need for further targeted support measures.<\/p>\n
The NOP is part of the CSA\u2019s broader strategy to create opportunities for individuals from underrepresented regions and communities. Building on the positive outcome of this minorities-focused initiative, the CSA plans to soon roll out similar outreach programs for youth from Balochistan, the merged districts (formerly known as FATA), and children of industrial workers, in collaboration with the Workers Welfare Fund.<\/p>\n
The closing ceremony was attended by various dignitaries and senior government officials, including the Ambassador of Norway, Secretary Minority Affairs Department Balochistan Saeed Ahmed Umrani, Secretary Price Control and Commodities Management Punjab Ehsan Bhutta, Secretary and CEO Punjab Workers Welfare Fund Dr. Mujtaba Arfat, Special Secretary to the Chief Minister (General) Zulfiqar Ali Kharal, Secretary Special Education Punjab Muhammad Khan Ranjha, and DG PILAC Beenish Fatima, among others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Civil Services Academy (CSA) has completed a month-long National Outreach Program (NOP) at its Walton Campus in Lahore, delivering intensive training to 42 minority CSS aspirants from Hindu, Christian, and Sikh backgrounds. The initiative represents a significant move towards increasing diversity and inclusion in Pakistan\u2019s civil service, addressing the historic underrepresentation of minorities in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7549,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7547\/revisions\/7549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}