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Default Civil services in tatters?

Saturday March 18, 2006-- Safar 17, 1427 A.H.



Civil services in tatters



Ansar Abbasi

The civil services of Pakistan, once held in high esteem, are in tatters today. Far from being attractive enough to draw the best available talent amongst the country's educated youth, as has been the case in the past, the civil services are now left as an option for the average and below average.

Even for the serving civil servants there is not much left in the "central superior services" to cheer on about. Their pride for being members of the superior class in the bureaucracy has turned into shame because of a bleak future, uncertain career prospects, meagre compensation packages and ever-growing politicisation of the bureaucracy. Frustration, despondency and insecurity instead now rule the civil services thus affecting its output and productivity.

In the name of reforms, the civil services are being "poisoned" to death slowly but surely. There are 13 services/groups constituting the central superior services, commonly known as CSS groups. Unfortunately most of these groups are on the fast track of decline while some are already facing a dead-end.

The district management group (DMG), which has ruled the bureaucracy for decades, is at present in complete darkness. Its fate has hung in the balance since 2001 when the military regime's devolution plan was introduced replacing the centuries old system of district magistracy. While announcing the demise of the old system, General Musharraf had personally assured the DMGs that the group would be re-structured in line with the future needs and to ensure that it remains attractive for the present lot of DMGs as well as for those aspiring to join the civil services. Five years down the road, the DMG is still directionless and the restructuring promise remains a far cry.

The office management group (OMG), whose officers today dominate the federal secretariat, was abolished as a CSS option for new entrants into the civil services in the year 2000. It was promised that a fresh strategy would be evolved to man the lower tiers (BS-17 and BS-18) of the bureaucracy in the federal ministries and division. Regrettably despite the lapse of over five years the promised alternative has not yet been found. This situation resulted into an acute shortage of section officers in the federal secretariat.

Different proposals were made during the last six years to find a way out and overcome the shortage of the section officers but none of the rulers took any decision. Only recently the incumbent prime minister approved an ad hoc solution to this problem. He has allowed the authorities to re-employ 100 retired section officers for one year. The question of finding a permanent solution, however, has been referred to a civil service reform committee. No one knows how many more years the government will need to solve this riddle.

Just like the OMG fresh induction into the military land and cantonment group (ML&CG) was also stopped in the year 2000 but even today there is no future for the officers belonging to this group. The civil service group that was already suffering because of poor career progression prospects has gone from bad to worse with no hint of any encouraging news for its officers even in the future.

Neither the ML&CG has been reshaped nor merged into the DMG as has been proposed in the past. As if this policy of pushing the civil service groups into complete wilderness was working perfectly the government has recently decided to abolish yet another CSS group- the commerce and trade group (C&TG).

Now there will be no future induction through the CSS competition into the C&TG too. Those already serving in the group, the government said, would be considered for their possible induction into the secretariat group (SG).

Aren't the C&TG officers being befooled?

Bureaucrats belonging to the information group (IG) are also full of frustration. They were also promised a dream future but are getting a nightmarish one. A restructuring plan for the IG was prepared 4-5 years back, promising a better service structure and improved promotion prospects for its officer. However, to their bad luck the restructuring plan is still awaiting the government's approval.

The postal group too is facing a dilemma as its top cadre posts are occupied by retired officers thus leaving no room for the serving lot in junior grades to get elevated against the higher grades. The group has only one BS-22 post, which has been held by a retired general for the last five years. The railways group is yet another source of frustration for those who joined it. Its officers have really poor promotion prospects and fewer chances of getting postings outside railways. Even the once prestigious foreign service of Pakistan (FSP) is no more as attractive for its officers as it used to be in the past. Contract appointments, politicised postings and massive super sessions have caused restlessness amongst the FSP officers.

With so much gloominess for so many civil servants all around, how can we expect the bureaucracy to perform well? It is said that a corrupt and despondent bureaucracy cannot be expected to perform. The country's core civil service structure needs to be attractive enough not only to draw the best youth but also to make it a pride for the serving lot.

Ironically a proposal for the creation of an elite service is under consideration since the introduction of the devolution plan in 2001 has also fallen prey to the government's indecisiveness. In view of the changing realities and new emerging challenges, it was recommended that specialised streams in the civil bureaucracy under the umbrella of the proposed national executive service (NES) should be introduced. The plan is dumped in official files and the rulers have no time to look at it. It was not the bureaucracy alone but also the national reconstruction bureau (NRB) during its hey days that had recommended the NES' creation. One wonders if anything good can happen to the civil services of Pakistan.



The writer is bureau chief of The News in Islamabad

Email: ansar.abbasi@hotmail.com


http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/mar20...06/oped/o4.htm
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