Devolution – the way forward

Eight years after the centre decided to devolve some of its powers to the provinces, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has approved the seniority status of 38,395 federal government employees. Did the procrastination and delay on the part of the executive serve any purpose? Apparently not. Until now these federal government workers had been pretty much forgotten and their lives and careers left in limbo in the wake of the 18th Amendment. They were rendered stagnant and could not move up the ladder onto the next grade till their legal position was settled. The status of their employment with either the federal government or the provinces was considered in 2013 – virtually 36 months after the landmark devolution had been initiated.

Only last month the prime minister had approved the summary of a letter determing the seniority of employees of devolved ministries and divisions in line with an apex court ruling. At long last, the employees of devolved ministries will be able to enjoy the same benefits as the employees of merged ministries under the Civil Servants Seniority Rules, albeit after an amendment. This rule change will work out the seniority of civil servants in consonance with the date of their regular appointment in their devolved ministry or division. This victory has not come about without protracted legal challenges. The ministries from where they were devolved refused to accept their seniority from their date of appointment, choosing to recognise instead their date of devolution. Despite court battles after that, the government continued to dither on the issue.

It is unfortunate also that the trickle-down effect of devolution has not been evenly distributed among the lower tiers by the provincial governments. For the most part, provincial legislatures have been reluctant to share fiscal and policy controls with local governments at the district, tehsil and union council levels. It is time that the state concedes more ground on devolution and hurries on with the exercise rather than think of it as a slow pot-boiling process. Greater efforts must be made to turn it into a public policy and governance framework.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2018.

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