PM Imran says govt committed to de politicize bureaucracy

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday said that the government was committed to depoliticize and insulate the bureaucracy from all kinds of political pressures as it had been heavily politicized during past ten years.

Chairing a meeting of Task Force on Civil Service Reforms, the prime minister said that the government was resolved to undertake structural reforms in bureaucracy to make it efficient and responsive to the needs of time, a PM Office statement said.

He directed the Task Force not to hesitate to make bold recommendations in the best interests of the country.

He viewed that the politicization of bureaucracy in the past had resulted into inefficiency and created fear among bureaucrats.

He said till 70s, Pakistan’s civil service had been considered as the best in the region and officers from other countries used to get training here.

He said the existing government system could not compete with private sector where positions and seniority were determined on merit.

The prime minister believed that no system could sustain or deliver in absence of accountability and merit.

He said there was a need to restructure and reform bureaucracy to make it progressive and innovative.

There is also need to promote professionalism in every sphere, he remarked.

He said the government was committed to protect integrity and security of tenure of bureaucrats so that they could devote their energies for translating political vision into reality.

The PM said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had introduced administrative reforms in the province that had improved governance there.

The prime minister said the country would have to attract the best minds to serve the country as talent was abundant and existing system did not allow it to flourish.

He said the people having good repute and competence were being inducted in the boards of government-run companies and institutions to better serve the masses.

The prime minister said the education and health sectors were of utmost importance and steps would have to be taken to avoid wastage of resources.

He said in this era of specialization only the skilled people could succeed.

He told the meeting that the government was introducing a local government model to enable the local representatives play their due role.

He observed that the political class also needed to be trained to deal with the changing times.