Bureaucratic reforms

Of the many ambitious good-government reforms being pursued by the PTI government, its attempted overhauling of the civil service may be its most difficult. The bureaucracy is one of the most entrenched, powerful groups in government that has usually managed to stymie meaningful change. Prime Minister Imran Khan set up the Task Force on Civil Service Reforms, chaired by Institutional Reforms and Austerity Adviser Dr Ishrat Husain, to begin the process of reforming this most hidebound of institutions. Based on its initial recommendations, it appears that the task force is mainly focusing on reducing political interference in bureaucratic appointments. Its main idea so far is to form a panel of officers who will shortlist names for a vacancy after which the prime minister and chief ministers will have to choose a candidate from that list. The hope is that this will reduce the leeway that elected leaders have to pick only their allies and introduce at least a modicum of merit to the process. As always, however, the success of this proposal will depend on implementation. A government could always constitute a panel that is made up only of their partisans or the prime minister could only choose those from the shortlist someone he is confident will do his bidding.

Just about every government in the past has attempted some measure of bureaucratic reform only to fall prey to inertia or to game the system for its own benefit. There is no reason to believe the PTI will be any different, as the controversy over the transfer of the Pakpatta DPO in Punjab showed. The Task Force on Civil Service Reforms has already come under some criticism since 13 of its 19 members come from either the Pakistan Administrative Service or the District Management Group while the 10 other occupational groups within the civil service has scant representation. This could lead to reforms that end up being skewed in favour of groups like the PAS which have an interest in perpetuating the status quo. The task force should also keep in mind that political interference is only one of many problems that plague the bureaucracy. The civil service is dictated more by seniority than merit and it focuses more on activity than end results. An efficient bureaucracy that is capable of helping the government implement its policy agenda without bias is needed but such a change will require a change in culture that cannot be transplanted through committees and task forces.