The Quota System in Pakistan: Women, Religious Minorities, and the Challenge of Substantive Equality

Abstract

This article examines the quota system in Pakistan as a mechanism for improving the representation of women and religious minorities in higher education, public employment, and political institutions. It is adapted from an M.Phil. thesis that combined a survey of institutional practice with a review of annual reports of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) and Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), together with institutional information and interviews. The evidence indicates that quota arrangements have created formal routes into institutions, but implementation has remained uneven. In higher education, the thesis reports that a 2% quota for religious minorities was introduced in 2020, followed by differing patterns of institutional implementation in 2020–2021. At Government College University Faisalabad, the study reports 27 reserved seats for minorities out of 4,600 total seats and one reserved seat for KP women in each department. At Agriculture University Faisalabad, 57 minority seats were reported in 2021. In federal employment, the thesis reports 16,711 minority workers in 2017–2018, representing 2.8% of the federal workforce in the cited data, with 13,401 minority workers (80.19%) in BPS 1–4. The FPSC figures cited in the thesis show 120 minority-reserved positions in 2017, of which 83 were filled and 37 remained vacant. PPSC data cited in the thesis similarly show substantial unfilled quota positions. The findings indicate that the existence of a quota is not equivalent to effective representation. Recruitment, educational access, availability of qualified applicants, monitoring, and institutional implementation shape the practical impact of affirmative-action measures. The article concludes that quota policy should be evaluated not only by the number of seats reserved, but also by the number filled, the distribution of beneficiaries across institutional levels, and the opportunities available for advancement.