Khaleeq Nazar Kiani
The federal bureaucracy dominated by one occupational group is facing difficulty to untie the Gordian- knot of civil service reform. They are trying to present a half-cooked recipe to improve the poor service delivery. There is tremendous pressure from the public and political leadership to get rid of the archaic governance style.
Modern countries have brought significant changes in their civil service to meet the challenges in the digitalized world. Now on top positions, the policy analysts are more relevant than the policy administrator. But our bureaucracy is adamant about supporting any structural change in the system. Few amendments in the promotion, directory retirement, rotation policy, and E&D rules cannot bring any radical change in the system.
In the first week of February, Federal Secretaries (cream of the civil service) met to discuss the report prepared by the sub-committee on civil service reform. They agreed to the recommendations of the sub-committee and decided to convince/ take into confidence the Federal Minister Shafqat Mehmood, Dr. Ishrat Hussain, and SAPM on the establishment.
What is in the report?
1. To create a new NES (National Executive Service) cadre comprises of Economic Management, Social Sector Management, Technology Management, and General Management from selected existing 800 federal and provincial posts.
2. For the allocation of posts at the provincial level following ratio is recommended:-
NES/PES-I (80:20), NES/PES-ll (40:60), NES/PES-lll (20:80), PES-IV (100% or PES)
3. Open selection through examination for all employees (Federal, Provincial, cadre, non-cadre, ex-cadre, autonomous bodies, attached departments, state-owned enterprises) even technical recruitment from outside while observing the quota.
4. A good compensation package with MP scale.
5. The additional qualification will be considered for career progression.
6. Retirement is proposed who fail to pass the in-service training (MCMC, SMC/NDU).
7. Creation of a new cadre in PAS, e.g., Chief Operating officers in all the metropolitan corporations.
8. Abolition of OMG group.
9. Protection of officers from the NAB harassment.
10. Libel laws to be improved.
11. Ministers should be made the Principal Accounting Officer.
The report prepared by the establishment division without any consultant’s help is a good effort and gives the inside feeling of top bureaucracy on civil service reform. It consists of some excellent and some biased parts. The creation of NES is a good proposal, but it should not be restricted to four sectors. Service delivery at the provincial level is bad to worse due to political postings/transfers. Only those officers succeed, who can do or act on the whims and wishes of the political masters. They always try and focus on getting/manage the postings by compromising with the ruling political elite. Competence, experience, and qualification are the secondary issues in the provincial service. The bright and talented provincial officers have no opportunity to get entry at the federal level. Hence the induction in the NES will be an incentive for honest and competent provincial officers.
The open selection criteria, MP scale package, rigorous in-service training, and retirement who fail to pass the training benefit the bright and competent officers. The demand for the improvement of libel law is in the interest of all respectable citizens and the need of the hour.
Creating a new cadre of Chief Operating Officers in the Metropolitan Corporation is a biased part of the report. It is proposed just to appease the PAS. Surprisingly they did not think that by doing so, the size of bureaucracy will further increase. After the 18th amendment, fifteen federal ministries were devolved to the provinces, but the bureaucracy’s size at the federal level kept on expanding rather than right-sizing. Moreover, the Local Government is a provincial subject, and any such exercise without the provinces’ consent will be futile.
The confusion and contradiction can also be seen in the sub-committee report. In one place, political leadership’s right is acceptable for placement on top positions, which is a constitutional right. But then also demanded no political interference and suggested a Placement Board to select eligible and appropriately qualified, experienced civil servants for the identified key positions. In the same breath, it is proposed that the posting of federal secretaries be done by the Establishment secretary in consultation with the secretary to Prime Minister.
Unfortunately, the Government’s accountability process is fragile irrespective of how strict are the E& D rules. It is always prone to political and peer pressure, so protection from NAB is not a good recommendation. An independent accountability mechanism is necessary to curb the illegal practices. The suggestion of Ministers being designated as Principal Accounting Officer is in line with the concept of powers/authority with accountability and responsibilities.
As the PAS has lost its utility in the provincial setup, there is a need to close down both the PAS and OMG cadres by replacing them with NES. The allocation of provincial posts between PES and NES is not fair, especially for KPK and Balochistan due to the small share in the center. There was a long-standing demand of the provinces to end the interference in the provincial subjects. However, equal allocation of seats in the province and center based on provincial quota will not be objectionable.
