by Dr Farid A Malik in The Nation, Dec 8, 2020
The writer is a former chairman of Pakistan Science Foundation
The royal, colonial bureaucracy of Pakistan needs a change of mindset which is by no means a trivial matter. Dr Ishrat Hussain has been working on administrative reforms for over two years; the implementation of his recommendations are eagerly awaited but unless the basic approach is reformed, quantum change will not take place. In the formative years of Pakistan, though the bureaucratic set-up we inherited was a leftover of the colonists, it still functioned well. Senior officers provided relief to the public, in other words there was a mechanism of internal accountability like in the armed forces. Low-end executive abuse was contained through the intervention of the seniors who were mostly able, honest and conscientious individuals. There was empathy and caring for the public. At times, even tea was served to the visitors/complainants.
Most nations, after gaining independence, have dismantled the colonial systems as they were never meant to serve the people. Only four countries (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka) have continued with the inherited structures of governance with disastrous results. The United States won freedom through an armed struggle, it then got rid of all the colonial laws to start afresh. Individual liberty is the nucleus of their constitution. China took over control of Hong Kong from the British a few years back. Chris Patton was the last Governor of the shrinking British Empire. When he departed for the airport, his mansion was taken over and converted into a museum; no Chinese ever had the opportunity to live there. It was the end of an era, the message was loud and clear, there was a complete change of mindset.
Despite several feeble attempts, this message has not been delivered nor understood by the people in position of authority and power in the land of the pure. After August 14,1973 with the passage of the unanimous constitution we attained the status of a ‘constitutional democracy’ which should have been respected but it was repeatedly abused. Even today, the document and its clauses are not taken seriously which sends a wrong signal to the bureaucracy which is the custodian of all the files where decisions are taken. Common good seems to be on no one’s agenda. The bureaucrats require directions from the elected representatives who represent public interests but when they forge an evil alliance to watch each others’ well-being, the masses have to suffer. The previous governments worked on the principle of ‘you scratch my back, I will scratch yours’ while the people were left to bleed by scratching themselves in frustration.
After Ayub Khan’s decade of decadence, the elected government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) brought the public back into the corridors of power. It was rightly called: ‘Awami Hukamat’ (the people’s government). Bureaucracy was made to serve, not rule. There were major reforms in the administrative procedures. Getting a passport was made much easier. As a result, thousands of Pakistanis availed this facility and travelled all over the world in search of greener pastures. Today this expatriate community is the major source of foreign exchange remittances. The ‘Zia dark ages’ neutralised all democratic gains of the seventies. Even the constitution was not spared. In the last four decades (1977 to 2018) most civilian institutions have collapsed with bureaucracy being totally non-functional. The situation has to be remedied, which calls for organised and systematic efforts by the elected government.
The first major effort to reform the bureaucracy was undertaken in the early sixties under the ‘Cornelius Commission’. Justice A.R. Cornelius had a distinguished career both in civil service and then judiciary of Pakistan. He had a clear understanding of both the organs of the state and understood the limits of ‘judicial accountability’. He held open sessions at the YMCA Hall on the Mall Road, where public inputs were sought. He rationalised the limits of the executive authority and made it accountable for its acts. Before the Commission could submit its recommendations, the two members from the bureaucracy leaked out the deliberations to build resistance against the reforms. As a result, nothing could be implemented in the land of the pure while the ‘Justice Fullerton Commission’ in the UK picked up the cream from this phenomenal effort. The government of ZAB had a two-pronged approach to reform the colonial structures of governance. He brought in technocrats in senior positions together with changed grade structures (Grade 1 to 22) which are prevalent till today. All promotions in Grades 21 and 22 were made by the Prime Minister himself (PM). With his vast experience in the cabinet and immaculate file work, he kept the bureaucrats on their toes.
Public contact offices like the PM and CM Secretariats were manned by able bureaucrats together with party office bearers who were there to respond to public complaints. The federal and four provincial legislatures were very active in public welfare legislation, which did not allow the bureaucrats to hide behind colonial rules of secrecy. People had free access to the government offices at all levels. Even the gates of the Governor Houses were opened to the public. As student leaders, we could show our ID and meet Ghulam Mustafa Khar or Hanif Ramay, the Chief Minister. Appointments could be scheduled on the telephone which were mostly kept. Ministers including the PM worked long hours—seven days a week, attending to public issues. Letters were promptly replied, now they are not even acknowledged. Several of my written communications are even returned, forcing me to send them through registered mail or courier service. Having experience of various governments, I found the administrative machinery of Azad Jumma and Kashmir (AJK) the best and Punjab the worst.
Dr Ishrat Hussain has a tough job of reforming the bureaucrats who are now used to their ugly ways of denying relief to the public. Judicial accountability is ineffective as it takes forever to be heard. In the interim 1972 Constitution, there was a provision of administrative courts where executive abuse could be challenged, but in the permanent 1973 version, Clause 212 was dropped. Due to rampant corruption or misuse of perks, there is very little moral authority and no change of command in the bureaucracy. Public complaints are considered an impediment in the flow of work, which is why they are not addressed or taken seriously. The PM, CMs, governors, ministers, chief secretaries, and secretaries all seem helpless. Even access to files and records is controlled by the mafias that operate within the system. This rampant ‘executive abuse’ can only be contained through ‘executive authority’ exercised through competent and honest officers recruited on open merit through ‘lateral entry’. Now that the burning of record rooms has stopped in Naya Pakistan, it is time to wrest back the control of these record rooms from the ‘monsters’. All public records should be first audited and then rehabilitated and secured for proper use. Most universities have a system of teacher evaluation by the students; such a process can be implemented for civil servants as well to evaluate their record of service to the masses. No system can function without accountability. In the last four decades, the people of the republic have been subjected to the worst abuse which needs to be corrected by out-of-the-box solutions which can change the colonial mindset of the non performing bureaucracy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
https://nation.com.pk/08-Dec-2020/changing-the-bureaucratic-mindset
Changing the bureaucratic mindset
by Dr Farid A Malik in The Nation, Dec 8, 2020
The writer is a former chairman of Pakistan Science Foundation
The royal, colonial bureaucracy of Pakistan needs a change of mindset which is by no means a trivial matter. Dr Ishrat Hussain has been working on administrative reforms for over two years; the implementation of his recommendations are eagerly awaited but unless the basic approach is reformed, quantum change will not take place. In the formative years of Pakistan, though the bureaucratic set-up we inherited was a leftover of the colonists, it still functioned well. Senior officers provided relief to the public, in other words there was a mechanism of internal accountability like in the armed forces. Low-end executive abuse was contained through the intervention of the seniors who were mostly able, honest and conscientious individuals. There was empathy and caring for the public. At times, even tea was served to the visitors/complainants.
Most nations, after gaining independence, have dismantled the colonial systems as they were never meant to serve the people. Only four countries (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka) have continued with the inherited structures of governance with disastrous results. The United States won freedom through an armed struggle, it then got rid of all the colonial laws to start afresh. Individual liberty is the nucleus of their constitution. China took over control of Hong Kong from the British a few years back. Chris Patton was the last Governor of the shrinking British Empire. When he departed for the airport, his mansion was taken over and converted into a museum; no Chinese ever had the opportunity to live there. It was the end of an era, the message was loud and clear, there was a complete change of mindset.
Despite several feeble attempts, this message has not been delivered nor understood by the people in position of authority and power in the land of the pure. After August 14,1973 with the passage of the unanimous constitution we attained the status of a ‘constitutional democracy’ which should have been respected but it was repeatedly abused. Even today, the document and its clauses are not taken seriously which sends a wrong signal to the bureaucracy which is the custodian of all the files where decisions are taken. Common good seems to be on no one’s agenda. The bureaucrats require directions from the elected representatives who represent public interests but when they forge an evil alliance to watch each others’ well-being, the masses have to suffer. The previous governments worked on the principle of ‘you scratch my back, I will scratch yours’ while the people were left to bleed by scratching themselves in frustration.
After Ayub Khan’s decade of decadence, the elected government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) brought the public back into the corridors of power. It was rightly called: ‘Awami Hukamat’ (the people’s government). Bureaucracy was made to serve, not rule. There were major reforms in the administrative procedures. Getting a passport was made much easier. As a result, thousands of Pakistanis availed this facility and travelled all over the world in search of greener pastures. Today this expatriate community is the major source of foreign exchange remittances. The ‘Zia dark ages’ neutralised all democratic gains of the seventies. Even the constitution was not spared. In the last four decades (1977 to 2018) most civilian institutions have collapsed with bureaucracy being totally non-functional. The situation has to be remedied, which calls for organised and systematic efforts by the elected government.
The first major effort to reform the bureaucracy was undertaken in the early sixties under the ‘Cornelius Commission’. Justice A.R. Cornelius had a distinguished career both in civil service and then judiciary of Pakistan. He had a clear understanding of both the organs of the state and understood the limits of ‘judicial accountability’. He held open sessions at the YMCA Hall on the Mall Road, where public inputs were sought. He rationalised the limits of the executive authority and made it accountable for its acts. Before the Commission could submit its recommendations, the two members from the bureaucracy leaked out the deliberations to build resistance against the reforms. As a result, nothing could be implemented in the land of the pure while the ‘Justice Fullerton Commission’ in the UK picked up the cream from this phenomenal effort. The government of ZAB had a two-pronged approach to reform the colonial structures of governance. He brought in technocrats in senior positions together with changed grade structures (Grade 1 to 22) which are prevalent till today. All promotions in Grades 21 and 22 were made by the Prime Minister himself (PM). With his vast experience in the cabinet and immaculate file work, he kept the bureaucrats on their toes.
Public contact offices like the PM and CM Secretariats were manned by able bureaucrats together with party office bearers who were there to respond to public complaints. The federal and four provincial legislatures were very active in public welfare legislation, which did not allow the bureaucrats to hide behind colonial rules of secrecy. People had free access to the government offices at all levels. Even the gates of the Governor Houses were opened to the public. As student leaders, we could show our ID and meet Ghulam Mustafa Khar or Hanif Ramay, the Chief Minister. Appointments could be scheduled on the telephone which were mostly kept. Ministers including the PM worked long hours—seven days a week, attending to public issues. Letters were promptly replied, now they are not even acknowledged. Several of my written communications are even returned, forcing me to send them through registered mail or courier service. Having experience of various governments, I found the administrative machinery of Azad Jumma and Kashmir (AJK) the best and Punjab the worst.
Dr Ishrat Hussain has a tough job of reforming the bureaucrats who are now used to their ugly ways of denying relief to the public. Judicial accountability is ineffective as it takes forever to be heard. In the interim 1972 Constitution, there was a provision of administrative courts where executive abuse could be challenged, but in the permanent 1973 version, Clause 212 was dropped. Due to rampant corruption or misuse of perks, there is very little moral authority and no change of command in the bureaucracy. Public complaints are considered an impediment in the flow of work, which is why they are not addressed or taken seriously. The PM, CMs, governors, ministers, chief secretaries, and secretaries all seem helpless. Even access to files and records is controlled by the mafias that operate within the system. This rampant ‘executive abuse’ can only be contained through ‘executive authority’ exercised through competent and honest officers recruited on open merit through ‘lateral entry’. Now that the burning of record rooms has stopped in Naya Pakistan, it is time to wrest back the control of these record rooms from the ‘monsters’. All public records should be first audited and then rehabilitated and secured for proper use. Most universities have a system of teacher evaluation by the students; such a process can be implemented for civil servants as well to evaluate their record of service to the masses. No system can function without accountability. In the last four decades, the people of the republic have been subjected to the worst abuse which needs to be corrected by out-of-the-box solutions which can change the colonial mindset of the non performing bureaucracy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
https://nation.com.pk/08-Dec-2020/changing-the-bureaucratic-mindset
Published in Pak Media comment and Pakistan