Over 50pc of federal decisions delayed due to excessive bureaucracy: PIDE

ISLAMABAD: More than 50% of all federal decisions are delayed due to excessive bureaucracy, a fresh report by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), an affiliate think tank of the Planning Commission, has revealed.

A new report titled ‘Modernizing Governance: Challenges and Solutions in Pakistan’s Rules of Business and Secretariat Instructions,’ authored by Dr. Nadeemul Haque, Vice Chancellor of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Prof. Nadeem Ahmed Khan, Dr. Khurram Elahi Khan, and Prof. Hassan Rasool, has been released by the PIDE, highlighting key inefficiencies within Pakistan’s government framework.

This report comprehensively addresses the challenges and provides actionable solutions aimed at improving governance and modernizing the country’s administrative structures, using best practices from global governance models.

The report reveals that while Pakistan’s Rules of Business 1973 and Secretariat Instructions are the backbone of federal governance, they have not sufficiently evolved to meet modern administrative needs. For instance, over 80% of federal processes still rely on outdated, manual systems, significantly delaying decision-making and policy implementation.

Centralized approval mechanisms alone account for up to 60% of these delays, creating bottlenecks across ministries. Furthermore, the report shows that more than 50% of all federal decisions are delayed due to excessive bureaucracy, with less than 10% of officials held accountable for inefficiencies.

The report also highlights inefficiencies in inter-divisional consultation, noting that over 70% of inter-ministerial communications face delays due to centralized control and ineffective processes. These challenges have resulted in a slow and unresponsive governance system that lacks the accountability necessary for effective administration.

In response, the report proposes several reforms aligned with global benchmarks, showing that countries modernizing their public administration have seen efficiency increases of up to 40%. These recommendations include streamlining government systems, with the potential to reduce delays by 50-60%, and organizational restructuring, which could shorten decision-making times by up to 30%.

The report also advocates enforcing accountability measures, with penalties for noncompliance potentially improving operational efficiency by at least 20%. Additionally, adopting New Public Management (NPM) and Post-NPM models could align Pakistan’s governance practices with international standards, achieving governance improvements similar to countries that have seen a 40-50% increase in performance after reforms.

The urgency for reform is clear. Without modernization, Pakistan risks continued inefficiencies and a lack of accountability that hinder economic development and erode public trust. The Modernizing Governance: Challenges and Solutions in Pakistan’s Rules of Business and Secretariat Instructions report provides a comprehensive roadmap for reform, aiming to align Pakistan’s governance system with international standards for responsiveness, transparency and accountability.

This report aims to inform government stakeholders, policymakers and the public about the critical need for governance reforms in Pakistan’s Rules of Business and Secretariat Instructions to foster a more accountable and efficient public administration system.