Civil service reforms — an exercise in futility

Letter April 28, 2016
The next round of reforms should emphasise merit rather than quotas, which remain open to abuse

KARACHI: According to a recent news report, the prime minister has, once again, sought a briefing on civil service reforms. Every past reform had lowered, rather than enhanced, the competence and integrity of civil servants in all branches and cadres of public service. The result this time around, surely, will be no different. This observation is based not on a mere hypothesis but actual experience of this writer over 36 years of service in every part of the country, ranging from the tribes in the northwest to Karachi. With every reform effort, the effectiveness of professional administrators in all areas and disciplines, has taken a downward plunge. The result of the reforms now in the making will be no different. In fact, the administration needs to revert to the system and values of the pre-reforms era of the first decade of independence.

The basic flaw in the contemplated ‘reform’ process is that it seeks to cater to personal and political interests, superseding merit. The discarded system provided adequate safeguards to the backward regions without jeopardising the underlying principle of good governance. India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other former British dominions have adopted reforms that assure representation to backward regions without undermining the basic principle of merit. The next round of reforms should emphasise merit rather than quotas, which remain open to abuse.

Kunwar Idris

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th,  2016.

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