The developing domestic and international environment has significantly increased the complexity and importance of governance, which requires extensive reforms of officials.
The largely urban, educated, middle class, young and technical knowledgeable citizen-with greater gender parity in day-to have a much different set of needs and hopes than their colleagues 50 years ago.
Today, they expect a digital-first approach to the provision of services, want to be active participants in the decision-making process and can hold the government in real time through social media.
On the other hand, the expansion of the private sector and devolution of several responsibilities to provinces has made political decision-making a multi-actor exercise with increasing complexity.
The global environment is also increasingly shaped by disturbing changes, including geopolitical shifts, unprecedented technological advances, climate change, traditional and non-traditional security threats and economic shocks that create greater uncertainty.
In a interconnected and globalized world, these trends affect each country today like never before. The progress of protectionism, weakening of multilateralism and the retreat of liberal democracy in the West has further complicated the international environment.
The civil service system created in the British colonial time last changed in 1973 remains grossly unable to navigate the uncertainty and complexity released by these factors.
It is still an employment -based, hierarchical and generalistic institution that focuses on administrative stability and internal control. However, the needs of modern governance require a smooth, citizen -centered and results -oriented office service.
Under the previous PML-N government (2013-18), it (then named) Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms led a national consultative exercise consisting of over 200 sessions. It engaged over 5,000 citizens from all areas of life to formulate concrete proposals for civil service reforms.
Two presentations on this were given to the then prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and some recommendations were implemented. However, the induced political crisis in the name of Panamagate and the resulting political instability derived this central reform initiative.
Despite its high promises, the PTI government, despite its high promises and having borrowed the complete reforms from us, was only able to partially introduce a few ideas, while an outdated and archaic civil service system remained intact. The reformer cell and the task force, the created, could not make any significant changes despite several meetings.
The current government led by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif undertook the mantle of introducing cautious and structural civilian reforms. To this end, the Prime Minister established a committee on reforms of civil service under the author’s presidency.
The committee has since held 15 detailed meetings and engaged several stakeholders, including academics, the business sector and government officials, to update, refine and conclude specific recommendations for reforms.
The committee conducted a comprehensive study of civil service reforms in over 15 countries. It also studied detailed HR practice from the Pakistani Army, which maintains high levels of meritocracy in its ranks and identified lessons that can be learned.
Based on these detailed studies, consultations, considerations and past experience, we strive to make the transition to Smart Civil Service Framework in Pakistan with the following features:
Specialized: The right person for the right job ‘is more necessary today than ever before. Given the depth and the breadth of knowledge in the most important sectoral areas, increased complexity and uncertainty, and the need to understand the nuances of various political imperatives, domain knowledge and specialized experiences in different sectors have become central demands for government managers.
Most countries in the world are decisively moving towards ensuring greater specialization among cadres in officials.
We must therefore adopt specialized recruitment through the CSS exam to ensure that candidates with relevant domain knowledge and experience can adapt their career ambitions with related business groups in the official administration.
We must also institutionalize lateral entry through a national executive service (NES) by opening a certain percentage of positions at senior level in class 20 or more for all candidates from the private sector, academia and government to inject high quality professional human resources through a competitive and transparent process. Many countries such as New Zealand, Australia, USA and India have developed successful models for such a senior executive service.
Meritocratic and promotes leadership: Currently, Civil Service has a rectangular organizational structure where almost all officers rise to least class 21, primarily on the basis of employment period and seniority.
This needs to be changed to a pyramid structure with performance-based campaigns through a multi-level performance evaluation system as well as a semi-annual feedback process.
Secondly, we need to upgrade the education provided to officials by establishing the National University of Public Administration (NUPA) to oversee improvements in curriculum, pedagogy and teachers and integrate education with education and research.
Knowledge of using new technologies, such as AI and Big Data, as well as public-private partnerships and the development of emotional intelligence and empathy, should be included in the curriculum.
We also need to make the selection process for Mid-Career Management Course (MCMC), Senior Management Course (SMC) and National Management Course (NMC) more competitive. Officers who are unable to get to these courses and/or NES or another degree 20 -position must have a route to honorary early retirement.
The establishment department should be upgraded to an HR and organizational development department to control human resources for the entire federal government. An objective, fair and companion management system is important for performance -based campaigns and for deterring uniform suboptimal performance.
Responsible and results oriented: An important transformation needed in civil service structure is to change it from ‘process -centered’ to ‘results oriented’. Each ministry must formulate its vision, mission and values, set clear goals and most importantly sign an annual ‘performance agreement’ with the Prime Minister.
This must then be translated into individual key prestigants indicators (KPIs) for officers and affiliated departments. Everyone must be held responsible based on agreed results and their potential influence on service delivery in the relevant sectors.
An independent performance observatory should be established in the Cabinet Department for third -party performance evaluation of all ministries and government organizations to report to the government on results.
Rooted in humans: The legitimacy of a bureaucracy rests not only on its competence, but also on its ability to mirror the diversity of the community it serves.
We must therefore provide equal conditions to candidates from all sections of society and focus on assessing critical thinking skills, analytical skills and the ability to construct a compelling and informed argument – not just linguistic skill in Shakespearian English.
In 2022, about 99% of the candidates failed the English essay exam, which appears to favor form over fabric. Therefore, it seems relevant to combine the essay, accurate and understanding in a paper and provide an opportunity for candidates to try this either at Urdu or English.
This reorientation will ensure that candidates from elite English-media schools do not have an unreasonable advantage over their URDU media colleagues. In the long term, arranged to allow all topics to be taken in Urdu. Also, unspoken quota seats from underrepresented regions, minorities and women must be filled through affirmative action.
Technically-enabled, innovative and transparent: Digital Revolution has changed the management paradigm and the use of technology to ensure efficiency, transparency and data-driven decision-making across all functions of Civil Service Management.
First, complete automation of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), including its recruitment system, is required to reduce the recruitment cycle from two years to six months. Members of the private sector and civil society, including IT experts, must be included in FPSC.
Secondly, Performance Management, from the performance agreements down to the individual performance evaluation reports (Pers), should be digitized and processed through an online system. An online academy under the proposed NUPA should bring learning opportunities to the fingertips of officials. Performance Review Dashboard must track progress towards achieving results across ministries.
Together with the implementation of these recommendations, the business rules as well as general financial and PPRA rules must also be reviewed and updated thoroughly. A clear separation between decision -making, regulatory functions and implementation must be ensured together with implementing performance audits and incorporating corporate management mechanisms for state -owned companies and binding service delivery organizations for service standards.
Nearly 50 recommendations, including the highlighted above in areas such as recruitment, education, performance management, institutional restructuring and compensation, are part of an official reform presented to the Prime Minister, who is obliged to lead transformative reforms to office services and is still our best hope of taking them through to the implementation. However, this will require coordinated efforts and support from all relevant stakeholders.
There should be no doubt that the reach of goals defined by the national agenda, such as Uraan Pakistan and SIFC, and to shape the fate that our nation deserves is critical of the above -mentioned officials.
The author is the federal minister of planning, development and special initiatives. He tweets/posts @betterpakistan
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and does not necessarily reflect Pakinomist.tv’s editorial policy.
Originally published in the news
