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Old Thursday, June 21, 2007
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Reforming the government in Pakistan: rationale, principles and proposed approach-II


ISHRAT HUSAIN

ARTICLE (June 21 2007): Another way to promote human development and deliver social services to the poor segments of the population, that has worked, is through the wider participation of the private sector, communities and civil society organisations.

Participation, besides being considered a means to further human capabilities a la Sen, is also a way of choosing the right kind of projects and ensuring that development funds are used more judiciously. Private - public partnerships and public - NGO or Civil Society Organisation partnerships are being successfully used in many countries for provision of infrastructure, education, health and other social services.

These partnerships not only supplement the limited public resources and counter the governance issues, through monitoring, evaluation and corrective actions but also enable local communities to participate in decision making through their organisations. The reduced efficiency of public sector expenditure can also be corrected through these partnerships.

(C) CHANGES IN PAKISTANI SCENE:

We now turn to the diagnostic studies and the changes that have taken place in the landscape in Pakistan in the past several years and are likely to affect the functioning of the government in the future too. A number of Commissions, Committees, Task Forces, and Working Groups have examined and made recommendations about the changes in our administrative system. These recommendations and studies have been scanned and sifted and the proposals that are still relevant and useful and will form a part of the NCGR's recommendations. But in addition to the historical reasons there have been at least seven new developments in the last few years that clearly point to the need for reforms in the structure, processes and human resource management policies and practices.

First, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the benefits of economic growth have not been distributed equitably among the lower income groups, backward districts, rural areas and women. Although the government has used the channels of devolution and poverty targeted interventions to spread these benefits, the results have been less than satisfactory.

Almost all studies point out that the institutions of governance, ie the governmental machinery at the Federal, Provincial and Local Governments, have become largely dysfunctional due to the protracted neglect of our institutions. Almost all comparative country rankings, whether originating from the World Bank* or Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum or other think tanks and institutions, consistently rate Pakistan quite low in Public Sector Management, Institutions and Governance.

Along with the low Human Development Indicators, this weak institutional dimension makes the task of poverty reduction, income distribution and delivery of public services quite difficult. The impact of good economic policies upon the lower strata of our society, particularly those who are illiterate and are not well connected, thus gets muted. The widespread hue and cry about the absence of a trickle-down effect of good economic policies is a manifestation of the dysfunctional nature of our public sector governance. Government institutions have to be strengthened to meet this challenge.

Second, the responsibilities of the government in the field of owning, managing and operating public enterprises and corporations have a undergone significant change, both in the thinking as well as action during the last sixteen years. A large number of government owned corporations, businesses, industrial units, banks and financial institutions and service providers have either been privatised, or are in the process of privatisation.

This will reduce the burden on the administrative apparatus at all levels of the government. The shedding of these activities by the government has serious repercussions for the oversight function of the Ministries/ Departments in the post privatisation period.

Third, the devolution of administrative, operational and financial powers to local governments, since 2001, has introduced a completely new element in the governance structure that will require suitable modifications in other tiers of the government.

The Federal Government is seriously considering the transfer of some functions, listed in the concurrent list of the constitution to the Provincial Government's projected increase award of financial resources to the provinces, under the national finance commission, should provide some fiscal space to them for carrying out essential public services directly, or through the District Governments. This implies a reallocation of administrative resources and strengthening of capacity at the local government level.

Fourth, the unbundling of the policy, regulatory and operational responsibilities of the Federal Ministries has shifted the focus on the policy-making, monitoring and evaluation functions. But this transition has been incomplete, uneven and mixed across the ministries and needs to be firmly rooted.

The lack of adequate competence and knowledge of regulatory functions would demand development of expertise in this field, as well as in policy formulation, implementation and evaluation.

Fifth, some limited success has been achieved by fostering private - public partnerships in the fields of Infrastructure, Education and Health. But these partnerships can only be nurtured if the government departments and ministries have the adequate skills to design concession agreements, B.O.T or contractual arrangements, monitoring and evaluation tools and legal recourse to enforce the obligations and stipulations agreed by the private sector partners. Similarly, the NGOs and community organisations such as Rural Support programmes have been actively engaged in the delivery of public services in the fields of education, health, water supply etc.

The government departments and ministries have to be reconfigured for developing the capacity to design and operate these partnerships. Sixth, there is a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety among the members of the civil services of the country about their future career prospects.

Those specialists serving in ex-cadre jobs, such as scientists, engineers, medical doctors, accountants etc, are demoralised because they have limited opportunities for career progression. They also feel that they are not treated at par with the cadre service officers in matters of promotion and advancement.

Seventh, the switch-over from manual to automated processes and the government's commitment to move towards E-Government would require a look at the skill mix and training requirements of the existing and future civil servants, throughout the entire hierarchy.

E-Government will itself flatten the hierarchical texture and throw up the redundancies in the system. At the same time, it will involve basic computer literacy at all levels and grades digital archiving, storage and retrieval of all files and documents. Consequently, only few of the clerical and subordinate staff positions can be utilised in the future government organisation.

(To be continued)

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