Bureaucracy reform.

WHILE the intention behind the endeavour may be lauded, the civil service reform package unveiled by the government the other day has come as a disappointment to many who believed the bureaucracy would be restructured in such a way as to make it more responsive to the ever-changing requirements of the economy and the needs of the citizens. Instead of reducing the discretionary powers of the bureaucrats and making them accountable to the people, the new reforms only appear to address procedural improvements in the rules of business. It does not mean that the proposed changes, which include new criteria for promotion to higher grades, a mechanism for forced retirement of under-performers, induction of provincial service officers into the Pakistan Administrative Services, new rotation policy, etc are not needed. But these are relatively minor issues that could have easily been addressed as part of an umbrella civil service restructuring plan aimed at boosting overall governance by building the capacity of the bureaucracy to deal with the demands of a changing world, as well as improving public service delivery. The ruling party has come to power on the promise of change - it is only comprehensive, wide-ranging reforms that can ensure this. Indeed, the committee, which had been assigned the job almost two years back, could have done...

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