KUALA LUMPUR: It’s game on for the Public Service Commission (PSC) in weeding out corrupt public servants from the civil service.
The commission, whose scope includes overseeing recruitment, appointment and promotion in the 1.6 million-strong civil service, was ready to dust off the all-exhaustive screening system that was once used to curb corruption in the sector.
PSC said it was ready to hold talks with government departments and agency chiefs to, among others, identify who would be subjected to polygraph examinations and the frequency of the tests.
The commission was also ready to play its part in stopping corruption from seeping into the service.
“The commission will assist in screening candidates and rejecting them should they fail the lie detector test,” the PSC said, adding that it would use the polygraph test at the final stage of recruitment.
The commission said this was because by that stage, the number of candidates would have been narrowed down.
“If they fail the test, the commission can cross them off the list.”
It was understood that PSC handles more than one million job applications a year to fill the 58,000 vacancies in the public sector.
Last year, 180,000 applicants hoped to join the Administrative and Diplomatic Service. Some 6,400 passed the interview stage.
PSC requires candidates to sit through a psychometric test, as well as other tests, to assess their attitude and aptitude.
It was understood that the commission uses an online psychometric test to assess candidates’ inclination towards crime, including graft.
The commission told the New Straits Times during a sit-down in Putrajaya yesterday that it had no issue with introducing a policy to facilitate using polygraph tests to assess the level of integrity of its officers and red-flag those with corrupt or criminal tendencies.
PSC said the ball was now in the court of the departments and agencies.
It said all they had to do was open themselves up to allow their personnel to sit through the screening.
“We will buy the machines, get them ready and look for trained polygraphists to make this happen. It is a non-issue. If the departments are ready to do this... we will do it.
“The commission is ready to adopt new and efficient technologies to improve the civil service.”
The NST yesterday front-paged calls made by various quarters for a tangible and foolproof system to weed out corruption in the service.
The calls were made in light of the recent spate of massive corruption cases involving civil servants that had been making headlines.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had urged PSC to reconsider the policy on polygraph tests, which was discontinued years ago.
During the sit down yesterday, the NST learnt that the current PSC leadership was unaware such a system had been in place.
PSC said it welcomed the idea of working with the MACC to reintroduce polygraph tests for the graft busting agency.
“In the past, PSC did not look into the threats of corruption because, usually, if one were to start seeking gratification, it will take a while for him to be in the system before he identifies the opportunities (for graft).
“The tendency for a 23-year-old who just joined an agency to be corrupt may not be as great as someone who has contacts with contractors, for example.
“We can also look into implementing polygraph tests for those who are due for promotions.”