The bureaucratic hydra

The slaying of the Lernaean Hydra was the second labour of Hercules and he had a tough time doing it. The beast lived in a swamp, had multiple heads that regenerated when one was cut off, had poisonous breath and blood so toxic that even its scent was likely to kill you. Hercules did the job using his sword and fire. It is unlikely that those seeking to vanquish the modern Hydra — the bureaucracy — are going to be able to deploy cold steel and flame-throwers but they might at least give it consideration.

The incoming government has challenges on all sides but there can be few as obdurate as an entrenched bureaucracy that has had decades to prepare its defences. As expected there is a bureaucratic reshuffle already in train with notifications being issued and sinecures removed, but the Grey Brigade are not giving up without a fight as representatives of local government in Islamabad are discovering. Specifically the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) is deeply irritated that the bureaucracy is hindering the division of assets and the transfer of functions from various departments to the council.

The tussle centres on the distribution of assets between the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the IMC — the body representing local government. A decision has already been taken to devolve the assets but the CDA is fighting a rearguard action as the last thing it wants is to see power devolved to local government, thereby releasing its stranglehold over innumerable budgets and administrative functions. The finance and interior ministries are working hand in glove with the CDA, returning summaries with a sheaf of objections all designed to impede the establishment and funding of local government.

It is alleged that the unions at the heart of the CDA are instrumental in the resistance, and they are going to take Herculean efforts to circumvent. This is an issue that the PTI is going to face everywhere that it is in governance, federal or provincial. Big money and considerable power is at stake, and the bureaucratic Hydra has any number of spare heads yet to deploy.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2018.

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