We all know how powerful Pakistan’s bureaucracy is. This has its roots in our history, specifically our pre-independence days, when the British ruled the country through a powerful bureaucracy. Today, the biggest problem is the politicisation of our bureaucracy. This gloomy picture desperately calls for wide ranging reforms in our civil service. While almost every aspect of it needs improvement, three areas that need the most attention are: a) induction, b) postings and transfers, and c) powers and responsibilities.
Attracting the best talent is critical for the success of civil service. In the context of bureaucracy, the definition of talent should not just be limited to intelligence or knowledge, but must also include leadership qualities, analytical skills, as well as the desire to serve the public. To attract such talent, we need to first make government jobs more financially attractive. Salaries of government officers should be made comparable with that of the private sector. To make this practically feasible, we need to monetise perks, which will not only help in raising salaries but will also result in equitable treatment of all officers.
To attract the best talent, we also need to revamp the induction test — the CSS exam, which should focus more on testing one’s problem-solving skills and leadership qualities as opposed to rote learning or testing detailed knowledge of many subjects as it does now. Moreover, in its current format, the CSS exam is highly biased towards those from the English medium background. Most subjects require writing essays in English — for many, this becomes a test of their language skills rather than a test of knowledge or analytical skills. We should try to devise a mechanism to facilitate those candidates whose English may be weak, but are highly talented otherwise.
The second major issue relates to postings, transfers and promotions of civil servants. The first step in this regard should be to remove the discretionary powers of individuals, including the prime minister, in these service matters. Instead, committees comprising men and women of integrity, should handle all appointments, transfers and promotions. Finally, all these service-related decisions should be challengeable at an appropriate judicial forum (e.g., service tribunals).
Perhaps, the most controversial reform relates to revisiting the powers and responsibilities of the bureaucracy. While an all-powerful bureaucracy makes a lot of sense for a colony ruled by an invader, it makes little sense for a democratic country. In a democracy, elected representatives make the policy decisions in line with the wishes of the people. They have the responsibility and hence should have the powers, too. As a nation that wants to strengthen democracy, Pakistan needs to adopt the same model. Bureaucracy should help them in making decisions and executing these decisions with diligence and honesty.
The above suggestions only focus on critical issues. Many other useful recommendations are found in various reports on civil service reforms, most recently by a committee led by Dr Ishrat Hussain. The missing link so far has been the will to implement these recommendations. The bureaucracy will prefer the status quo and will never implement these changes. It is high time the political leadership takes the bull by the horns and takes charge of reforming the bureaucracy. After all, the buck stops with them.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (9)
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If English language should have been so mandatory for the development of a country, then China would have not been a prosperous nation.
We too will have to own and respect our national langauge.
Mr Dogar Your desire and motives are noble and I agree with you, however a "committee" comprising of people with "Integrity"? 2 problems here, one who will these people be? secondly who will constitute this committee? Another committee perhaps? Because if the PM/CM do it we are back to square one!! My advice to you is please be clear headed and present practical solutions and not confused theories. Tribune is giving you valuable space, please make good use of it.
P.S. I am not a civil servant or politician so please take this criticism constructively.
The concept of getting into civil service via CSS exams should be abolished. It does not make sense for doctors and engineers taking exams in religion, history and civics becoming magistrates, policemen and income tax experts.
@Humayun: Agree with you. In fact in spite of English being the mode of testing, you rarely find CSS candidates that are good in English. In fact a lot of the officers are from non-English medium background and usually come from small towns.
I think English is not the issue here, the author seems to be spot on with his argument that intelligent/competitive candidates should be selected through a variety of testing methodologies whether their English is good or bad. If we dont start taking pride in our culture/language, no nation will take us seriously.
For the authors second issue related to postings/promotions, I think the only major impediment over here is political influence. Politicians should be limited to formulate economic, social and macro-level policies only. They have no business in managing, administering districts/institutions.Here I think if and when the civil bureaucracy can adopt the Armed forces model, it would be much beneficial to the civil services framework as a whole. Remain aloof of political bickering and work solely on the tasks assigned to them.
I dont agree with the author's last point about democracy. This form of governance is not suited for Pakistan at the moment. I think dictatorship mixed with democracy would serve us well, the socialist system in China would be more suited for us.
Good points, but was hoping for more specifics.
@Humayun: Agree completely. Logical.
I am surprised that no one bureaucrat got after you and start criticizing . Talk about most of the politicians who don't have the ability or know how to draft a legislation and guess who does it for them. I recall a friend of mine, a judge who came to Washington DC to upgrade his skills to write legislation and according to him some of the legislators could not even write a single legible sentence let alone drafting legislation. The politicians depend on them and in turn they are manipulated by these seasoned bureaucrats. I don't see how the civil service could ever be improved in Pakistan because the legacy of British rule still lingers on and how could one forget their condescending attitude towards the tax payers. When the future politicians get educated to the extent that they don't depend on these CSS people etc. then we may see some reform and it has to be imposed on them. You have great suggestions and solutions but it will be like pulling their teeth to let reform take place now. By the way even in the US, the politicians come and go but the bureaucrats stay there for ever and implement some of the policies dear to their hearts.
'We should try to devise a mechanism to facilitate those candidates whose English may be weak, but are highly talented otherwise.' No! We should not. Though I agree that the standard of testing language skills in CSS is poor and it certainly needs to be improved. But considering that English is the medium for almost all the courses the career officers have to undertake later on, candidates should be expected to display their proficiency in English. After all, English happens to be one of our official languages. CSS exam needs to be revamped altogether and should be devised in such a manner that it measures general abilities of candidates rather than asking them to write sheets and sheets of paper on pointless, repetitious topics. CSS exam, in its current form, favors the mediocre students who can simply pass out the exam through rote learning after spending a few months at a private academy.