Govt officers in grip of fear over ‘accountability drive’, says CM

The current situation has created a wave of fear and insecurity among government officers, therefore, they have stopped working, which has become an issue, said Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, making a vague reference to the national graft watchdog’s campaign.

Addressing the graduation ceremony of the 26th Mid-Career Management Course at the National Institute of Management, Karachi, CM Shah said the National Accountability Bureau’s drive has left government officials feeling insecure in their jobs, which is manifesting in them not working, preferring to remain without any posting or remaining on unimportant posts and in the non-performance of those who were at important positions.

“This is a serious situation that has caused a serious dent to service delivery,” he said, urging the officers to let go of the fear [of NAB] and start serving people without any stress and pressure.

Shah said the bureaucracy of this country was highly qualified, efficient and properly trained but their salary structure and perks were considerably lower compared to people serving in the private sector. “Bureaucracy is the backbone of this country and they have to play their due role for its development and people.”

CM Shah appreciated the NIM for offering excellent training programmes for capacity building of the bureaucracy and urged its management to design such courses which inculcate confidence among “fear-infested” officers. “I think such courses are very much required these days.”

Objecting to NAB’s slogan ‘Say no to corruption’, he said that it implied that we as a society and nation are corrupt. “We have governance issues and with the establishment of good governance, corruption would automatically dwindle,” he said.

Talking about the 18th Amendment, the Sindh chief executive said that it was a great achievement of the Pakistan Peoples Party government, which ruled in the Centre at the time. He said the party prepared the draft of the amendment with the collective wisdom of all parliamentary forces and got it approved from the Parliament.

“That was the time of reforms as again the formula of the 7th NFC Award was changed for the first time in history and it paid the province abundantly,” he said. According to Shah, it was the 18th Amendment under which the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) was established for the collection of sales tax on services.

He said the federal government usually gave Rs6-7 billion as sales tax on services to Sindh and the last payment under this head was Rs14 billion, but the provincial government collected Rs27 billion through SRB in the first year of its establishment, while now it generates more than Rs100 billion. “This is the success story of the constitutional reforms the PPP government had introduced under 18th Amendment and now people are talking about scrapping it,” he lamented.

Shah urged the federal government to hand over the authority to collect sales tax on goods to the provinces to collect it on behalf of the federal government as the provincial governments, particularly Sindh and the Punjab were capable to enhance its collection manifold. “This would be in the benefit of the national exchequer.”

Talking about Thar, Shah urged the NIM administration to take their under-training officers to Thar and show them the work done by the provincial government there. “We have improved overall lifestyle and now people have started living there in Pakka (built) houses,” he claimed. “We have also improved road infrastructure, employment opportunities have been created in the Thar coal project, while overall tourism opportunities have been expanded.”

Accepting that Thar is facing a mother and child health crisis, the CM said that the government had started nutrition programmes and is also going to develop a scientific method to maintain mother-child health.

Discussing law and order in Sindh, the chief minister said that when the PPP government came into power in 2008 people used to travel in convoys on highways and Karachi was more dangerous. “With our political will and with the support of the people of Karachi, our government launched a targeted operation and today everything, everyday life, business, trade and commerce, educational and cultural activities have been thriving,” he said.

The CM congratulated the graduates of the NIM course and hoped that in the field they would serve the people of Pakistan to the best of their abilities.

Sindh not getting share

Speaking to the media, CM Shah said the federal government was not giving the due share of funds to Sindh and this year it had given Rs12 billion less than the agreed amount.

Shah said that the Federal Investigation Agency had unearthed fake accounts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa containing Rs10 billion. “I am sure the federal government would take strict action there also,” he said.

To a question, the chief minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech in China was the same which he had used to deliver on the container during his protest days. “This was the same speech he had made in the National Assembly and in his address to the nation,” he said. “The prime minister delivered such a speech when the Chinese refused to give him what he was expecting.”

The CM said he had expected the prime minister would take up the proposed development schemes of Sindh, for which Chinese assistance was being sought, during his visit to Beijing, but the discussion never happened.