A bureaucracy paralysed.

THE impression that the bureaucracy is reluctant to discharge its responsibilities because of the fear of various accountability processes has been confirmed in an authoritative study that has made the administration's fine-tuning a priority task.

The study, titled Bureaucratic Decision-Making Amid Multiple Accountability, has been done by senior administrators Shahid Raheem Sheikh and Saifullah Khalid, for the National Institute of Public Policy, of the National School of Public Policy at Lahore, and issued as an NIPP policy paper.

The study is based on 610 full responses, from 721 civil servants in BPS 17-22. The sample is significant. Out of the 581,240 civil servants on federal government posts 95.02 per cent are in BPS 1-16 and only 4.98pc are in BPS 17-22. These officers hold positions at crucial decision- making levels.' Of the respondents, 49.1pc are in BPS 17-18 and 49.3pc in BPS 19-20. While 13.5pc of them have service experience of between three and five years and 21.9pc of 13-17 years, a much higher proportion (61.5pc) have been in service for more than 17 years.

The respondents were asked for their views on the stated current state of bureaucratic indecision and what their opinions were regarding the four factors that are contributing to indecision. The respondents' replies deserve serious attention.

About the public perception of their indecisiveness, a majority of the civil servants say that although they are working hard and are competent enough to solve complex problems, (a) the bureaucracy is not taking decisions, (b) the bureaucracy is avoiding responsibility, (c) the bureaucracy is not accessible to the public, (d) the bureaucracy lacks a problem-solving approach, and (e) the bureaucracy gives preference to personal interests instead of to public interests.

Civil servants and students of public administration will benefit from a detailed study on the bureaucracy.

As regards the role of NAB, a majority of the respondents agree that (a) NAB is not independent of external influence; (b) NAB officers lack strong professional experience or technical competence; (c) there is a lack of clear boundaries between different accountability organisations; (d) governments have used NAB as a weapon against civil servants considered close to political opponents; (e) accountability procedures are generally insulting and humiliating for civil servants; and (f) NAB arranges media leaks against civil servants.

As regards perceptions about...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT