Serving the servants

[Neo]

Serving the servants
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Proposals, plans and measures to reform the civil service are as numerous as institutions to oversee them. Their outcome still remains awaited though
By Noreen Haider
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Presenting a paper at a conference on 'Economic Policy Reforms in Asia' at the Stanford University in Palo Alto, the United States, in June this year, Dr Ishrat Husain said: "Pakistan has shown exceptional economic performance in the short period of six and a half years. The (annual) GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth has increased from 6 per cent to 8.4 per cent, the incidence of poverty has declined from 34 per cent to 25 per cent and the size of economy has doubled to $130 billion."

Dr Ishrat, who now heads the National Commission for Government Reforms after his retirement as the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, added: "According to all, this has been possible because the strategy formulated by the Musharraf government in 1999 has been successful... The strategy formulated in December 1999 and implemented faithfully since then was premised on the belief that it is only a multifaceted attack that combined macroeconomic stabilisation, fundamental structural reforms and improved governance that would lead to sustainable growth and poverty reduction."

He said: "The cornerstone of the governance agenda is the devolution plan (put into effect in 2001) which transfers powers and responsibilities, including those related to social services from the federal and provincial governments to local levels."

The main premise of the devolution plan was the belief that development effort at the local level should be driven by priorities set by elected local representatives, as opposed to bureaucrats sitting in provincial and federal capitals. Devolution of power was to therefore strengthen governance by increasing decentralisation, transparency, accountability of administrative operations, and people's participation in their local affairs.

In order to realise this goal of decentralisation and reforms, a long term strategy was drawn which included process of decentralisation in the civil services and a massive capacity building programme for the civil servants. This was of course necessary because when civil service functions are to be decentralised, existing patterns of its working have to change. Decentralisation, therefore, intensifies the need for the presence of capable staff at the local level. Hence the need for capacity building programmes.

Along with these programmes, a number of other initiatives were also planned to reform the civil service. For instance, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have come up with draft strategy papers on the issue. The Establishment Division also came up with proposals suggesting major changes in induction and the creation of new services, besides setting up the Civil Service Reforms Unit (CSRU) to oversee the implementation of the reforms.

The division also proposed setting up the National School of Public Policy (NSPP). The National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) too chipped in.

The government, therefore, allocated substantial amount of financial resources -- with the assistance of multilateral donor agencies -- to build the capacity of the civil servants and retrain them in the light of changing work requirements necessitated by decentralisation. The Ministry of Finance with the assistance of ADB earmarked money for the Decentralisation Support Programme (DSP) and has set up National Programme Support Office (NSPO) at the federal level along with Provincial Program Support Offices (PSPOs) at the provincial level to train the executives of the local government. The ministry has also invited Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from the private and public training organisations.

But the most important head of expenditure to reform the civil service has been the 'Public Sector Capacity Building Project' funded by the World Bank. This $55 million project aims at supporting the government's ongoing economic reform programme by improving its capacity in implementing the reforms it undertakes. The project is meant for funding training and professional development of over 500 public servants, in order to enhance capacity in key ministries/agencies which are in the forefront of designing, implementing and monitoring policy reforms. The training is also aimed at strengthening key regulatory agencies.

To keep a track of the reform process, the government has set up the National Commission for Government Reforms (NCGR), which Dr Ishrat Hussain heads. Other members of the commission include economist Shahid Kardar, former federal minister Shafqat Jamot along with officials like secretary establishement and secretary cabinet division. The remit of the commission is to "review the size and structure of government, the processes and procedures it uses, the governing rules and regulations, the current level of institutional capacity and the state of the public services with the objective of providing a modern, efficient and accountable system of governance on a sustainable basis".

Talking to TNS, Ishrat Husain says: "The scope of work of the commission is huge". In fact, he says, it is for the first time that a work like this has been taken up in Pakistan.
The commission is divided into subcommittees on health, education, land revenue, police reforms and rules of business. These committees review the current situation in their respective areas to recommend changes. The commission then presents these recommendations to a steering committee which is co-chaired by the President and the Prime Minister and has chief ministers of the four provinces as its members.

According to Syed Najam Saeed, general manager of the Civil Service Reforms Unit, prompt decisions are being taken on the recommendations of the commission.

The unit he works for is now serving as secretariat for the commission. It will "formulate and present technical recommendations in order to support civil service reforms through outsourcing technical studies and organising seminars/workshops by involving all the stakeholders at the provincial and national level to develop consensus on various aspects of civil service reforms".

There are two major components of the Civil Service Reforms Unit. One of them is to bring about structural reforms while another is capacity building and training.

The structural reforms it deals with include:
• Devolution
• Recruitment reforms
• Promotion reforms
• Accountability and custom focus
• Pay and pension reforms

According to the documents available with TNS, reforms being done in these are as follows:

• Devolution: To improve governance through decentralisation and weakening of the system of patronage. This has been kickstarted by the promulgation of an ordinance in 2001 and subsequent elections for local governments.

• Recruitment reforms: In order to institutionalise merit-based and transparent appointments ensuring de-politicisation of civil service. In this regard, the government has amended the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) Ordinance so as to enhance the commission's independence, increase its financial autonomy, extend its role in the recruitment, promotion and major disciplinary matters of public servants and limit and define the posts which are outside its purview.

• Promotion reforms: In order to check inflationary trends and to make evaluation of officers more objective. To ensure that this happens, the performance evaluation system has been revised. Similarly, the Central Selection Board has been made broad based and more representative to ensure transparency in promotion of officers against selection posts (grade-19 and above). The selection board is now chaired by FPSC Chairman. Previously, it used to be chaired either by the principal secretary to the Prime Minister or the Establishment Secretary. Also, promotion of civil servants in grade-17, grade-18 and grade-19 to higher grades, has been linked to successful completion of mandatory 12 days concept/skill mix training at various civil service training institutions. No such requirement existed previously.

• Accountability and custom focus: A National Accountability Bureau has been set up to strengthen the role of anti-corruption agencies in the federal and provincial governments. Offices of federal, provincial and district Ombudsmen have been set up as well as Police Complaint Authority and District Public Safety Commissions.

• Pay and pension reforms: Pay and pension reforms were complemented by a programme to right-size the federal workforce approved by the Cabinet in June, 2001.
Talking to The News on Sunday, Ghulam Qadir Khan, the director of the Public Sector Capacity Building Project, says the reform process is progressing successfully. "So far, 173 civil servants have been sent abroad for further education and training in their particular disciplines under the Professional Development Programme to the top ten universities of the world." It takes around $100,000 to send one officer for advanced studies. The list of the universities, he says, was jointly prepared by the project team and the World Bank. "Other than that around 90 top civil servants of grade 21 and 22 were sent to the Harvard University for training under the Executive Development Programme". According to him, the project was a huge one, involving training and capacity building of officers working in all the government departments.

But Ghulam Qadir clarifies that it is a misconception that all trainings are being conducted abroad. "We have done a large number of trainings of officials in different departments here in Pakistan also... (For instance) 90 officers have been trained in finance at the National Institute for Business Administration. (These) officials are being trained in corporate finance etc. Some trainings are also being conducted by the Establishment Division and others (local players).

Answering a question about the impact of training, Ghulam Qadir says: "It is still very early to say anything about the impact of the training because the first batch of the trainees has not yet returned from abroad. The Director General of the National Commission for Government Reforms has ordered an impact analysis of the trainings and it is to be carried out as soon as possible though in my opinion impact analysis is possible only after two to three years."

Some major questions still remain to be answered, the most important of them being, Is the money being spent on training civil servants and elected representatives justified? Talking to TNS, Said Memon, general manager finance at the Civil Service Reforms Unit, agrees that training is of course expensive. But still it remains to be seen if civil servants will be better able to deliver much needed services. If they can't despite all the millions being spent, plethora of institutions working on reforms and unlimited number of plans and proposals flying around, the people of this country have every right to ask questions. Let's hope that large sums being spent on reforming the civil service does not turn out to be good money thrown after the bad already being spent to keep up an inefficient and non-performing civil service.