The politics of civil service reforms

ISLAMABAD: In a new episode of the politics of civil service reforms in the country, the Planning Commission has sought suggestions on Friday through newspaper advertisements from all and sundry to reform the bureaucracy.
Over the past 68 years more than 20 commissions and committees were formed and studies and recommendations were made to successive governments but mostly the suggested reforms remained unimplemented because of political reasons and owing to rulers’ unwillingness to depoliticise the bureaucracy.
History of civil service reforms shows that more than the civil bureaucracy, the political leadership and rulers (both democratic and dictators) have failed to restrain themselves from interfering into the bureaucratic affairs and getting the bureaucrats appointed and promoted on the basis of personal whims and wishes.
At least six studies of civil service reforms were conducted from 1996 to 2008, mostly during General Musharraf’s dictatorship, pointing out the real ills of the civilian bureaucracy. But all these studies were shelved as even the dictator avoided to depoliticise the bureaucracy because of personal political gains.
One of the detailed reform packages was prepared by National Commission on Government Reforms headed by former governor State Bank of Pakistan and ex-WB top official Dr Ishrat Hussain during Musharaf tenure. However, neither Musharraf, nor his handpicked Prime Minister Shoukat Aziz, showed any interest to look into the report.
“The civil service reforms would remain a non-starter unless the rulers and politicians decide to reform themselves and stop interfering into the service matters of the bureaucracy, “ a senior bureaucrat said, adding that without depoliticisation of the civilian bureaucracy no reform, no committee, no commission would work.
Every committee and commission has identified the ills of the civil bureaucracy. “The lack of progress on these reform studies and recommendations has always been due to political factors,” the source said, adding that the reforms would start when the prime minister and his cabinet would decide not to interfere in bureaucratic matters at any level and would let the system, as envisaged in the Estacode, work.
During the previous PPP rule the special parliamentary committee of the parliament led by Senator Raza Rabbani on 18th Constitutional amendment, also considered the issue of providing constitutional protection to civil servants from political interference. But the political parties decided against it clearly stating that this would make the bureaucrats get out of the politicians’ control.
During the initial few decades of the country’s independence, the civil bureaucracy had an effective role in policymaking and there has been little or not influence of the politicians and others. The bureaucracy was generally depolitcised and there was a strong system of personal management for government servants under the Establishment Division and the Federal Public Service Commission.
However, both these institutions were later weakened and turned useless to protect the bureaucracy from external influences and politicisations. No institution in the country has gone downhill like civil bureaucracy, whose members are today considered personal slaves of political masters and rulers.
The most serious attack on bureaucracy’s neutrality was made during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s tenure who not only compulsorily retired 1300 civil service officers but introduced administrative reforms which weakened the civil service and removed their constitutional protection.
Later through a “lateral entrant” system a brigade of officers was inducted into the civil service to have a compliant bureaucracy. Among the lateral entrants several dozens, according to media reports, were inducted on the recommendations of Bhutto’s cabinet. Following the revoking of constitutional security for government servants during Bhutto’s tenure, the bureaucracy was on the fast track towards complete impotency and compromises.
After the departure of Bhutto, General Ziaul Haq wanted to give back the bureaucracy its constitutional security but later he too changed his mind and instead inducted a long list of captains and majors in the top civil service groups and cadres.
After Zia, the government of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif furthered the politicisation of the civil bureaucracy. When Musharraf imposed martial law, he also promised to reform the bureaucracy and had assigned the National Reconstruction Bureau to prepare the reform package. But he soon realised that he needed a compliant and weak bureaucracy to accomplish his personal agenda.
He not only turned blind eye to NRB’s civil service reforms but also ignored the reports of the subsequent commissions and committees - all of which sought depoliticisation of the bureaucracy, respect to the tenure of government servants, empowerment of the Establishment Division as the topmost personal management body of the government and complete security for civil servants from external influences in their service matters.
The previous PPP government did not show any interest in civil service reforms. The present government, however, has expressed its willingness to reform the civil service, which calls for a change in the attitude of politicians and rulers to improve the effectiveness of the bureaucracy.