Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Reform in Bureaucracy
Reform in Bureaucracy
Kainat Gul
1
BUREAUCRACY IN PAKISTAN: REFORMS AND THEIR IMPACTS
Introduction
Bureaucracy is an important part of the government of any country. The role of bureaucracyis
not only limited to the implementation of policies and decisions but the governance aswell.
Policies are decided by the Ministers and implemented by the civil servants after
takingadministrative actions.
1
Pakistani bureaucrats still consider them rulers rather than servants
of public. The civil servants of Pakistan inherited the legacy of “royal servants “of BritishIndia as
today’s Pakistan was once the part of the British colonial Empire. The terms of
naukar-e-shahi (royal servants) and afsar-e-shahi (royal officials) are more commonly usedin
Urdu for the bureaucrats of pre-independence era. Bureaucrats and politicians areinterconnected
and dependent upon each other as far as the governance of a country isconcerned.
Bureaucracy and its Functions
“
Bureaucracy is the administrative structure and set of regulations in place to control(rationalize,
render effective and professionalize) activities, usually in large organizations andgovernment
”
If we look into the historical background , we come to know that this term isFrench in its origin
and came into use after the French Revolution of 18 th century. MaxWeber (German sociologist)
is believed to be the first person to deploy and explain the term of bureaucracy in
his famous essay “Bureaucracy” published in 1922. Today, we use thisterm to refer the
permanent members of governmental workforce starting from the bottom level and reaching the
higher echelon of administrative body. Bureaucracy works under the command and supervision
of elected political leadership. They are recruited on the basis of merit and provided with
professional training to serve the public. Bureaucrats are responsible to run the day to day
management affairs of any state. They are state servants and the changeof government does not
affect their positions. They are expected to be neutral, honest dedicated and faithful in
performing their duties. Bureaucracies serve as a crucial part of any government and no state
could survive without this administrative body.
1
2
Research Objective
The main objective of this research paper is to explore and find out the reforms introduced inthe
bureaucratic institution of Pakistan from 1947-till date.
1.
To study the nature of bureaucracy and different reforms introduced by the rulers ofPakistan in
different regimes.
2
.To examine the causes and reasons behind the introduction of reforms in bureaucracy
ofPakistan.
3.
To analyze the impacts of reforms introduced in civil services of Pakistan.
Reforms in Pakistan’s
Bureaucracy: Historical Background , Nature and Impacts inDifferent ErasPre-
Independence Bureaucracy
The term “civil service” was used for the first time in late 18th century for the workers of theEast
India Company who were involved in trade work. The British entered India as traders but slowly
and steadily became the administrators. The civil servants also turned from tradersinto
administrators. From 1858 (after the War of Independence), British started ruling India directly.
Indian Civil Services was established in 1854 for the recruitment of civil servants through
competitive examination. Indian Civil Service was the elite civil service of British rule in United
India. In1896 ,” covenanted’ and ‘uncovenanted’ cadres were renamed as Imperial Civil
Service (ICS) and Provincial Civil Service (PCS).ICS comprised of elite bureaucrats while the
remainingothers were placed in PCS. Till 1915, the representation of Indians in ICS was only 5
percent.Later various commissions were formed to increase Indian representation in civil
services.The Secretary of State for India was the head of the ICS. The civil servants of ICS ruled
overmore than 300 million people of the Indian subcontinent. Their major
responsibilitiesincluded: - a) Maintaining law and order b) Collection of revenue & other taxes c)
Designing& implementation of development plans.They were responsible to run and administer
the governmental affairs in 250 districts ofBritish India and were only accountable to the British
Crown. The bureaucrats were not the personal servants of the king as well as the governor
general.
3
Post-Independence Bureaucracy(1947-59)
After independence in 1947, Pakistan inherited the legacy of British rule in the sphere of civil
services It inherited a strong and powerful bureaucratic institution but a relatively fragile
legislature.
3
In his addresses at different occasions, M.A Jinnah made it clear to the civil servants that they
were no more the rulers of India like the British Raj but will have to serve as the servants of
public and the state of Pakistan.
4
After partition, the administrative sector of Pakistan once dominated by well-trained Hindus of
British Colonial Empire, suffered from the shortage of well trained, eligible and competent
officers. Ill-trained bureaucrats werer ecruited on vacant positions in bureaucracy and were
blessed with quick promotions.
In 1950’s the Civil Services of Pakistan (CSP) formerly known as Pakistan Administrative
Service (PAS) became more and more powerful under former elite bureaucrats,
GhulamMuhammad and Iskandar Mirza. In 1954, One Unit Scheme was introduced in order to
unite all the four provinces of West Pakistan and to create parity between the provinces of East
and West wing of the country.
5
A group of senior bureaucrats ruled Pakistan from 1947-58 with the help of military as a junior
partner. About 105 junior ICS officers were instantly promoted to higher positions.Between
1953-58, army supported the civilian bureaucrats and friendly politicians. President Iskandar
Mirza abrogated the Constitution of 1956 on 7
th
October 1958. On 27
th
October1958, Ayub Khan deposed Iskandar Mirza and became Chief Martial Law
Administrator(CMLA) and led to the onset of military rule in country. With the passage of time,
the bureaucratic institution suffered from more deterioration because of the political instability
inthe country which paved the way for repeated martial laws.
Ayub Khan
’s Regime
(1959-69)
In Ayub’s era, the Bengalis were not given proper representation in civil services. Theystarted
demanding their proper share in civil services because they had realized the influence and control
of civil services over the process of policy making of the country. In order toincrease the
participation of Bengalis and to improve the civil services, Ayub Khan introduced many reforms
in bureaucracy.
3
4
The constitution of 1962 promulgated in Ayub regime provided constitutional protection
to bureaucrats and made them insulated and free from the interference of politicians. They
weregranted job protection. The Basic Democracies System introduced by Ayub Khan on
October27,1959 enhanced the powers of bureaucrats at local level.
6
Quota system was introduced forthe selection of civil servants from East Pakistan.
7
In civil services, 20% seats weredistributed upon merit while the remaining 80% seats were
divided based on equality amongthe people of East and West wing. For the first time in 1969,
prominent positions at provincial level were granted to Bengalis. In
1959, a “Pay and Service Commission” was
made by Ayub Khan to bring improvement and positive changes in the structure andorganization
of civil services of Pakistan.Ayub deposed few high ranked ICS officers anddismissed, retired
and reduced the ranks of about 3000 civil servants mostly at lowerrank.
8
He recruited several army officers on prominent administrative positions
in bureaucracy. More than 12 CSP officers were suspected of involved in dishonest practicesand
were forcibly deposed.
9
Ayub’s
regime is known as the “Golden era of bureaucracy” in the history of Pakistan
because during his rule, bureaucrats got enormous powers to control and influence the process o
f policy making. Ayub era gave free hand to bureaucrats in policy making and administration.
The civil servants were involved in policy making and execution. They enjoyed wide
discretionary powers. Some civil servants went into family ties with military officials and
commercial class. Bureaucrats were not accountable and answerable to the elected political
representatives.
Yahya Khan
’s Regime
(1969-71)
In 1969, Ayub Khan resigned and handed over the rule of country to another dictator YahyaKhan
who abrogated the constitution of 1962 and declared martial law in the country. He tried to bring
reforms in administrative machinery of country. In 1969 he sent 303 high
anked officers on suspension under Martial Law Ordinance
Pakistani bureaucrats suppressed the civil servants of East Pakistan. Their humiliatory anddiscri
minatory behaviour created the feelings of resentment and hatred among the Bengalisand led the
country towards the verge of collapse in 1971.Purging of senior bureaucrats curtailed the
influence and strength of the CSP. As
Yahya’s regime was very short, he could not bring enough and long-lasting impacts on civil
servicesof Pakistan
Bhutto Era
There was no discrimination betweenCSP, PSP and other civil service groups in All Pakistan
Unified Group. Along with CSP andPSP, the DMG, TAG, Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Income
Tax, Information, Secretariat,Railways and Police Group were also included in this grand group
A
new scheme of “LateralEntry” was introduced for the direct recruitment of high ranked officials
in civil bureaucracy
Zia Era
On 19th, February 2015, Ishrat Hussain, former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (1999-
2006) and the Dean and Director of Institute of Business Administration, Karachi delivered alect
ure over the topic of “How to reform the civil services of Pakistan? “. He suggested that in order
to bring reforms in the sphere of civil services, civil services of Pakistan should be divided into 4
different categories with each having its own sub-categories of services
he officer will reserve the right of appeal in the court against his/her transfer. Job securityshould
be granted to all the civil servants District Services would comprise of the civilservants of grade
1-16. efficient, skilled and well-trained employees should be inducted atdistrict level for the help
and service of citizen. Employees of the District Services will haveto possess the skills and
technical training required for the concerned job. Skills of the civilservants should be upgraded,
and they must be trained properly according to the needs ofmodern time. Promotion and
Placement policies for civil servants must be based on criteria ofmerit, experience and good
performance rather than upon personal grudges and politicalgrounds. For the purpose of
providing modern training to the doctors, teachers, engineers,economists, accountants, scientists
etc, new institutions should be established on modernlines and the old ones should be provided
adequate financial resources to bring improvementin them. Adequate check and balance should
be maintained to keep an eye over
the performance of civil servants through Open Performance Evaluation Report system (PER).
Employees showing weak or poor performance should be focused more to bring positivechange
The citizens should have an easy access to the policies, rules, regulationsand instructions of the
government in order to keep them aware about their rights andresponsibilities. Such instructions
or rules should be available in most recent and updatedform on the websites of government for
the public. Power concentrated in the hands of fewministries should be devolved to the local
level i.e. from centre to divisions. Accountabilityof bureaucrats should be ensured by National
Accountability Bureau (NAB) without thediscrimination of ranks or posts. NAB should be
insulated from the influence of powerful bureaucrats and the politicians to work effectively and
independently.alpractices of corruption
15
In 2016, PML-N government finalised the package to introduce reforms in civil serviceswhich
included the following proposals: -
•
New system will be introduced for the performance evaluation of civil servants as theold system
contain many flaws.
Formation of three new civil service groups of energy, legal affairs, transport andcommunication
was also the part of reform proposals.
A Pay Commission would be appointed to solve the issues regarding the pays/ salariesof civil
servants.The reforms meant to upgrade and redesign the civil bureaucracy according to modern
needs.The government cancelled the proposal of formation of a new civil service group-
NationalExecutive Service (NES), which was at first the part of the reform package. The
governmenthad to take this decision after facing strong opposition from Pakistan Administrative
Service(PAS). The proposals of the abolition of the posts of deputy secretary (grade-19)
andadditional secretary(grade-21) were withdrawn from the reform package.
27
Dr. Ishrat Hussain, former Governor ofState Bank of Pakistan and current Advisor to PM on
Institutional Reforms and Austerity.The commission will have to make recommendations and
suggestions that could beimplemented successfully and will not have to face resistance or
disapproval from bureaucracy.
29
In the way of implementing reforms, PM Imran Khan has to face resistancefrom some of his
own ministers who consider that granting job security to civil servantswould result in further
increase in influential role of elite bureaucrats.
30
Some observers have a point of view that the appointment of 13 PAS officials as themembers of
reform committee of civil services will bring no positive change in bureaucracyand will only
grant powers and monopoly to PAS over civil services. PAS is enjoyingexcessive powers and
privileges over the other 12 occupational groups of civil services. It isdominated over the posts
of directors and secretaries in governmental and non-governmentalinstitutions.
Following twelve occupational groups are included in federal and provincial services of
Pakistan: -
The Railways GroupAmong these 12 groups, PAS (former DMG) enjoys enormous powers and
privileges over allother groups of civil services. They are bestowed with promotions and traAll
Pakistan PMS/PCS Officers Associationconducted a seminar in which the PMS officers of all the
four provinces demandedrepresentation in civil service reform committee made under Dr. Ishrat
Hussain. Theydemonstrated that no reform package would be acceptable to them which lacks
theinvolvement of PMS officials.They presented their reservations about giving massive
representation to PAS officials inreform committee (the elite cadre of Pakistan's civil services)
and giving no representation toPMS which is the representative of about 4000 provincial civil
servants and are given preference over provincial bureaucrats.
The total number of employees in civil services of Pakistan today is about half a million.90%of
the bureaucracy consist of employees of grade 1-15. While the remaining 10% consist
ofemployees of grade 16-22. Among this 10%, the share of the Central Superior Services is5%.
37
t’s why i
t is necessary to depoliticize the bureaucracy of Pakistan.Before independence, the bureaucrats
served as the masters of the common people and keptthemselves distinct from the public in
British Empire. But after independence, it wasnecessary to bring a change in their behaviour
because now they were the servants of public,not masters. Unfortunately, most of the people join
civil services to enjoy its powers
and prestige. Their aim of joining lacks the elements of establishing rule of law and serving thest
ate and its citizens. It was mandatory to bring a change in their behaviour and outlook.
1) Improper Implementation
As the politicians in every era manipulated bureaucracy to gain self-interests through
unfairmeans, such reforms introduced to bring positive changes in civil services could not
beimplemented properly and effectively. Their implementation remains unsuccessful. The black
sheep’s in politics create hurdles in the way of successful implementation of reforms. So, the
reforms could not bring the desired fruits. Recommendations made by previous
reformcommissions in different governments suffered from the lack proper implementation.
Lack ofefficiency and bad governance issues also led to the failure of reforms because without
anefficient, effective and responsive governance, development in any state institution cannot
beachieved.
2) Resistance in Bureaucracy
Like politics, there are also many black sheeps present in civil services.Although 18
th
38
Reforming one state department will not be proved as fruitful because all the statedepartments
function like the organs of the state. They all are interdependent and interlinkedwith each other.
One improved department cannot survive alone without the contribution ofothers. As the focus
by every government is given only over introduction of reforms in civilservices and neglecting
the other departments, so the reforms in bureaucracy get failed. Toreform bureaucracy, it is
necessary to improve all the organs of the state
4) Lack of Sincerity
Another major reason of the failure of reforms is that the rulers try to reform civil
servicesaccording to their own preferences. They are not sincere with the state. They want to use
the bureaucrats as puppets to implement the policies of their desire. The dream of reforms in
civil
services couldn’t be translated into reality because of the lack of sincerity in the rulers of
5)Politicization
Bureaucracy is over-crowded and burdenised at the lower grades (BPS1-16) due tounnecessary
recruitments. Civil servants below grade 17 are paid with adequate and attractivesalaries while
the officers of higher grades (BPS17-22) are paid salaries which are less andinsufficient as
compared to their duties and responsibilities. It is not an easy thing to reformsuch a vast and
crowded institution.
deterioration of civil bureaucracy makes the state more dependent upon military that’s why it
Being the largest province with respect to population, Punjab gets more share in developmentand
more representation in civil services as well. Other provinces and ethnic groups claimabout being
neglected and deprived of their actual share in civil services of Pakistan. Suchdeprivation of due
share forces the provinces on agitation and results in reforms failure.
Although 18
th
amendment includes the element of giving more autonomy to the provinces butis not yet
implemented in actual sense. Still the civil servants of federal are dominated overGrade 20 and
above posts in provinces. This posting of federal bureaucrats is against theessence of provincial
autonomy being discussed in 18th Amendment. Provincial civil servantsconsider it a violation of
their rights at the hands of Federal Civil Service and sometimesseem to be protesting this
injustice.
Provinces are not provided with the autonomy they deserve. They are granted only with less than
five percent autonomy being promised in the18th Amendment because the power actors of
capital Islamabad and federal bureaucrats arereluctant to devolve their powers and authorities to
the provinces. Because of such reluctanceand unjust behaviour, East Wing of Pakistan got
separated and became Bangladesh in1971.
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Critical Analysis
Defective bureaucracy effects the functioning of government and its abilities to maintain law and
order situation in the country and may result in lack of providing basic needs to the citizens. Due
to the inefficiency and lack of understanding of governmental policies and its formulation, the
politicians must rely upon bureaucrats. Citizens of Pakistan don’t have good perceptions about
the bureaucracy of their country. They consider that it lacks the essence of responsiveness,
honesty and competence.
Bureaucrats remain indulge in trying to get the favour of their masters as well as the ruling
government of the country. In order to build a better image of bureaucracy,
such perceptions about the bureaucracy need to be changed. Government must take seriouseffecti
ve steps to rid the bureaucracy off the evil of corruption otherwise it will completely rotten the
foundations of bureaucracy. Many people think that the institution of NAB in PTIgovernment is
only targeting and holding those elite bureaucrats accountable who were loyalto the previous
government of PML-N. They consider it a targeted and selectiveaccountability on the wishes of
current ruling government. Removal of job security, influenceand esteem of civil services results
in discouraging the young people from joining the civilservices. In Pakistan, the bureaucrats or
civil servants are given low salaries but providedwith excessive perks in the form of furnished
houses of rent paid by the government, cars, fuel, free and better education for children in high
standard educational institutions, healthfacilities etc.
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Conclusion
transfers don’t let the officers to stay longer in an area and to perform well. It gives rise to
lack of consistency in policies. Such policy needs to be limited to make transfers only ongenuine
reasons.
In order to curb the practices of corruption in civil services, strict accountability in needed.
Accountability should be un-biased and transparent. Instead of granting unnecessary and
excessive luxurious facilities to the bureaucrats which burdenise the economy and the common
taxpayers, their pays/salaries should be increased according to their grades and responsibilities.
Salaries of civil servants should be equally attractive to the salaries of the employees of private
sector. Attractive pay and allowances should be offered to the employees being posted in remote
areas. Corrupt and incompetent servants are a burden on economy, so they must be purged.
Federal and provincial civil services need to be separated from each other. Both the services
must be provided with equal powers and prestige.
43
The posting of federal officers in provincial services and then return into the federal service after
spending a huge time of their tenure in provincial civil services needs to be stopped.it is
necessary that the distinction between the federal and provincial
civil services in terms of recruitment and
training should be abolished. Senior posts at provincial level should be granted to brilliant and ca
pableofficers of provincial civil services. Provincial civil services should be given more
resources and authority for the recruitment of civil servants of their own need and the influence
offederal should be reduced in this case. Performance assessment of subordinate civil servants
should be done by the senior officers with greater transparency, honesty and fairness. The
monopoly of PAS officers over civil bureaucracy and its elite posts should be abolished. Only
those candidates should be recruited who possess the required qualification and expertise and are
eligible for the concerned post. Civil servants must not be recruited or posted in the departments
in which they have no knowledge and expertise. Such practice is disadvantageous for both; the
service and the s ervants as well. Electronic media, print media, academia, researchers and think
tanks of Pakistan can play an important role in bringing reforms in civil services. Media,
academia and think-tanks should also hold debates over the issue of reforms in civil services.
Efficient political leadership is needed to formulate effective policies to bring reforms in civil
services to regain its lost position and prestige.