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Old Thursday, August 05, 2010
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Default A discussion on Sehgal's Balancing the Civil Service

Balancing the civil service



Thursday, August 05, 2010
By Ikram Sehgal

Good governance for the populace can only be provided by a capable and effective civil-service mechanism devoted to serving the people. The British established the Indian Civil Service (ICS) to bolster the Raj. It was renamed in Pakistan as Pakistan Administrative Service. Later it became the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) and incorporated other central civil services, such as accounts, foreign service, police and taxation. The provinces had their own Provincial Civil Services (PCS) cadre.

With the demise of Liaquat Ali Khan Shaheed in 1951, the federal bureaucracy took control over the country, lock, stock and barrel. Khwaja Nazimuddin was persuaded by bureaucrats led by Iskander Mirza to step down as governor general and become prime minister, and bureaucrat Ghulam Mohammad took over. Nazimuddin did not last too long at the hands of his all-powerful successor. In 1954 Iskander Mirza replaced a “mentally unfit” Ghulam Mohammad as governor general. Politicians that became prime minister were sacked one after the other on this or that pretext. The CSPs had learnt well from their British masters how to “divide and rule” the politicians.

Under federal bureaucratic rule, the Civil Service of Pakistan (Composition and Cadre) Rules, 1954, was promulgated to regulate the postings of the All-Pakistan Service/CSP in the provinces, the schedule providing the details as to where the all-powerful CSP officers could be posted. The provinces agreed to surrender certain posts to the CSP. Twenty-five per cent of these surrendered posts were given to PCS officers who would opt for the CSP, the cadre also known as District Management Group (DMG).

The rules were later construed as having been adopted under the various Constitutions of 1956, 1962 and 1973. Because this was not contested by the Provincial Services, the constitutionality of the 1954 rules never faced judicial scrutiny. In 1973, the DMG succeeded in getting its seats increased despite the Constitution’s provision for greater autonomy and rights to the provinces.

The Provincial Civil Services are protected under Articles 240 and 148 (2) of the Constitution. Entry to the PCS in Punjab is through a competitive examination conducted by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC). Despite their primary and preferential right to the posts, Punjab PCS officers have been marginalised to accommodate DMG officers, 115 being allowed posting in Punjab.

In 1986, a committee constituted by the Punjab Provincial Assembly to address the grievances of PCS officers and headed by MPA Sardarzada Zafar Abbas, recommended that 75 per cent Grades 17 to 19 cadre posts be given to them; above Grade 19 their share was at least 50 per cent. Despite the fact that the Punjab Assembly passed a unanimous resolution, the DMG was allowed to have these recommendations shelved.

Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the first super-bureaucrat to become head of state after Ghulam Muhammad and Iskander Mirza, stuck to bureaucratic tradition in sacking Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif. Moeen Qureshi’s caretaker cabinet–which took over when Mian Nawaz Sharif’s government relinquished power in the deal brokered by Gen Waheed Kakar that also sent Ghulam Ishaq home–had no mandate to decide a fundamental issue having a bearing on the federation-provinces equation. The chief secretaries who represented both the provinces and the provincial services, who were all from the DMG, “agreed” to a seat-sharing formula giving the lion’s share to the DMG while marginalising the PCS, PSS and the other technical services in the province. No PCS officer was neither present nor consulted when the decision was made deciding their rights.

Because it seriously jeopardised the interests of the provinces, acting president Waseem Sajjad, to his credit, refused to approve the formula. It was therefore neither notified nor made part of the schedule of the Civil Service of Pakistan (Composition and Cadre) Rules, 1954, and the minutes of the meeting were marked secret and never made public. Even then the formula was implemented, and the DMG got every policy-making slot and important position in the Establishment Division and the provinces, despite this having no legal sanction.

Compare the share of posts given to 3,000 PCS/PMS officers to the DMG’s 800 only in the four provinces presently. The unbalanced formula is as under: (1) Grade 22 PCS and PSS (all); (2) Grade 21 PCS and PSS (35 per cent), the DMG (65 per cent); (3) Grade 20 PCS and PSS (40 per cent) and DMG (60 per cent); (4) Grade 19 (50 per cent) DMG (50 per cent) (5) Grade 18 PCS and PSS (60 per cent) DMG (40 per cent); and (6) Grade 17 PCS and PSS (75 per cent) DMG (25 per cent).

The DMGs got posts allocated in numbers that were more than double their cadre strength in various grades in the provinces.

In Grade 18, 145 DMGs were allocated more than 350 posts in the provinces. Thus, 205 posts (in excess of the DMG’s cadre strength) always remain vacant, but are never filled by PCS officers, on the premise that these did not belong to their quota. They have to wait as long as 16 to 18 years for promotion. The total cadre strength of the DMG in Grade 19 is a maximum 125, yet they have more than 230 posts allocated in the provinces. Even the quota allotted to the PCS by the 1993 formula was usurped by the DMG in sheer violation of rules; the PCS was not given a single Grade 22 post under that formula.

The Provincial Management Service Rules, 2004, which govern promotion of PCS officers, is considered unfair. A PCS officer presently spends 16 to 18 years in Grade 17. With promotion prospects better in higher grades, minimum service length rules make it mandatory to serve out a specific period in each grade before the next promotion—8 to 20 years in Grade 17 and four years in Grade 18 for promotion to Grade 19; 20 years in Grade 17 and another four years in Grade 18. By Grade 19 he or she has 27 years’ service and is on the verge of retirement. Most PCS officers thus retire in Grade 18, only a few getting through to Grade 19.

The disparity in Punjab can be further gauged from the following facts: Out of 42 administrative secretaries and nine commissioners, there is not one PCS officer; out of 36 DCOs, only 12 are from the PCS; and among 120 or so houses of general pool in the Government Officers Residence (GOR-1) in Lahore, not one is occupied by a PCS officer. The anomalies go on. A DMG officer is posted as DO (Revenue) on a Grade 18 post only after three months of service as DDO(R), but a PCS officer is posted as DO(R) after 16 to 18 years of service. Junior Grade 17 and 18 DMG officers with less than six years of service are posted as DCOs, whereas PCS officers in Grade 19 with more than 25 years’ experience are posted under them as EDOs. Officers with eight years of service are accommodated as Secretaries, which is unparalleled in administrative history. Obviously, this blatant disparity causes frustration and resentment.

Barring a few exceptions, CSP officers have done yeoman’s service for the country and continue to do so. Quite a number of them have been outstanding. They must recognise that a fair reconciliation of service slots is required between the CSP and PCS officers. The equal opportunity incentive will provide the good governance this country badly needs. If bureaucrats themselves cannot agree on an amicable formula, a judicial commission must sort out the glaring anomalies.

The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: isehgal@pathfinder9.com
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