governance and administrative reforms

Governance and Administrative Reforms

Q.1. Theories of Administrative Reforms

Blue team

Administrative Reform

“Administrative reform means an induced, permanent improvement in administration” (Wallis 1989, 170)

• An administrative reform is a conscious, well-considered change that is carried out in a public sector organization or system for the purpose of improving its structure, operation or the quality of its workforce.

• According to Caiden (1968), “Reform is based on the simple idea that man should not wait for changes to take place naturally but should seek to speed, by artificial means, improvements in the world order.”

• While all organizations seek to do better at achieving their objectives (effectiveness) – and boosting their productivity (efficiency) – public sector organizations must also concern themselves with the political dimensions of administrative life.

• Thus, beyond economic dimensions, public administration reforms can target objectives concerning improvements to public life, such as eliminating patronage, nepotism and corruption, increasing representativeness, fostering the participation of citizens and groups, and enhancing accountability and transparency.

• In addition, every administrative reform has a political dimension, since the notion of improvement implies a choice of values. As a result, any ensuing change will be viewed as a reform or a setback depending on the ideology of the observer or actor involved. Thus, for example, the privatization of state-owned enterprises, the introduction of user fees for public services, programs of employment equity or access to information will be seen as reforms by some and their opposite by others. Admittedly, a technical reform to streamline bureaucratic procedures will carry little political freight, but even so, it is likely to produce winners and losers. The emergence of typewriters in the 19th century created an opening in the employment market for women, who quickly familiarized themselves with this new technology; at the same time, one of the oldest professions of the world – that of scribe – underwent a transformation at the expense of those whose primary qualification had consisted in having fine handwriting. Ultimately, most reforms run up against resistance or inertia, thus forcing their proponents to engage in some measure of advocacy.

Defining the term public administration reform

• Public administration with both of its components (state administration and selfgovernment) is considered to be the most dynamic part of the modern state.

• That is why the word “reform” is inherited feature of public administration.

• Generally, the word reform means to make something better, to improve something or to remove the faults of something, in our case - the change of public administration.

• Generally, the word reform means to make something better, to improve something or to remove the faults of something.

• Public administration reform has also many aspects that can be (and often are) interlinked,

e. g. - political, - Legal- Institutional- technical (IT utilization - e-government, e-democracy etc.)

• personnel, • financial, • social, • psychological and many more.

The meaning of public sector reform

• “Induced, permanent improvement in administration” (Wallis 1989, 170)

• Administrative reform strategies (Turner and Humle 1997)– Restructuring– Participation– Human resources issuesAccountability Public – private mixes

• Challenges– Management (finance/human resource/leadership)– Measuring performance– Accountability/responsibility for implementation– Governance

Historical overview

Q.2. Types of Administrative Reforms

Administartive reforms in Pakistan

Civil Service Reforms

• Soon after the independence of Pakistan, the government decided to review the system of administration and some foreign experts were invited to study and make recommendation in this connection.

• The famous among those expert reports were the two reports on administrative reforms. These were:

1. Egger Report 19532. Gladieux Report

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Civil Service Reforms• In 1953, Rowland Egger of USA made following observations

about the civil service of Pakistan:

1. It is possessed with interests of those already in service.

2. Recruitment standards are out-dated.

3. Recruitment techniques are far from currently accepted good practices.

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Rowland Egger recommended the following to improve civil service working:

a. Standardized pay scales based on comprehensive job analysis

b. The generalists should not dominate other services.

c. There is need to have specialization in the civil service.

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Civil Service Reforms• In 1955, Mr. Bernard Gladieux also from USA was engaged

by government as consultant on Public Administration.

• He said that technical and professional civil servants also possessed administrative skills and should be encouraged to hold higher positions.

• In 1955, the First Five Year Plan of the Government of Pakistan also took note of dominance of the generalists cadre of civil service over other cadres.

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• It was recommended in the plan that non-technical Central Superior Services should be converted into branches of this combined civil services all having identical pay scales.

• These should be treated as if they were the branches of a single central service.

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Civil Service ReformsPay and Service Commission (1962)• In 1962, the Pay and Service Commission also criticized the reservation of the

senior posts for the CSP especially at the centre. • This report recommended that the entire public service should be build up in

seven tiers of groups. These are:

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GROUP GRADE DESCRIPTION

F 4 Unskilled workersE 4 Semi-skilled workersD 5 Skilled workers and rank and file staffC 5 Lower inspectional and middle supervisory staffB 4 Basic officer classA 4 Managerial class, District level up to

Divisional level

PAS (Pakistan Administrative Service

4 Top directly and higher administrative post.

Civil Service ReformsWorking Group (1969)• A Working Group which comprised of CSP as well as non-CSP officers was

appointed by the Government to study the structure of the civil service. • The Working Group gave the following recommendations:

All branches of civil service should have same status, though they should retain their individuality

For ex-cadre positions, same criteria should be used as for the cadre services

There should be no difference of pay scales of the provincial and central civil servants.

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• Several Commissions and Committees were formed in the first twenty five years after independence for reform of the administrative structure and civil services. Some changes were introduced during Ayub Khan’s regime in the 1960s to improve the efficiency of the Secretariats but the tendencies for centralized controls and personalized decision making got worse in this period.

• Pakistan continued to suffer from what has been termed as “Confused federalism” in which weak local and provincial bodies are unable to match the ability of the Central Government to mobilize resources and provide services


Administrative Reforms Committee (1972)• This committee was appointed to study all aspects of the civil

service and made the following recommendations based on careful observations:

All services and cadres should be merged into a unified graded structure with equality of opportunity for all who enter service at any stage based on the required professional and specialized competence necessary for job.

All “classes” among government servants would be abolished and replaced by a unified graded structure: a peon at the bottom and Secretary at the top.

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Administrative Reforms Committee (1972)• This committee was appointed to study all aspects of the civil

service and made the following recommendations based on careful observations:

The correct grading of each post will be determined by job evaluation.

There should be provision for entry into government service of talented individuals from private sector in such fields as banking, insurance etc.

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Implementation of the ReformsIn the light of directives, the measures taken for implementation of the reforms included:

The head of Ministry was Secretary who was in Grade 22, the Additional Secretary was in 21. There were lower grades for junior executive.There were about 600 grades or scale of pay of the government which were reduced to 22 grades. These were applicable to all government organizations and professions.Grade 1 was the lowest and Grade 23 was highest grade. Grade 23 was the post of Secretary General and there were only 2-3 positions in government.


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In order to emphasis professionalism in field of administration, the following “Occupational Groups” were formed:

1. District Management Group2. Police Group3. Income Tax Group4. Customs and Excise Group5. Accounts Group6. Information Group7. Postal Group8. Commerce Group9. Foreign Affairs Group10. Office Management Group11. Military Land and Cantonment Group12. Railways Group13. Secretariat Group14. Tribal Areas Group15. Economists and Planners Group


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Promotion was made purely on the basis of merit and performance.Common training was given to all the officers in Academy for administrative training.Rules and regulations were framed for the implementation of these reforms.


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The Civil Service TodayThe Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973 gives the:

“Executive Authority of Federation which is exercised by the Government in the name of President.

The PM is the Chief Executive of the Federation and the Federal Cabinet exercises its authority to him”.

According to the 4th schedule, there is concurrent list of areas/responsibility of Federal Government.

The concurrent list gives responsibilities of both the governments (Federal & Provincial).


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Categories of the Civil ServiceThe services and posts under the government of Pakistan whether under Federal or Provincial can be classified in the following 3 categories:

1) Generalist Services: recruitment is based on the basis of general education of candidate

2) Semi-Technical Specialized Services: recruitment is based on advanced academic attainment in University without formal education or training in professional institution.

3) Purely Technical Services: recruitment on technical qualification like doctor, engineers.


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Civil Service Recruitment in PakistanThe criteria of recruitment to civil service are:

Based on pure merit.All posts must be advertised before selection.Assessment is based on selection boards, selection committees etc.Due representation to every province is given.


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Main Recruiting AgenciesThe main recruiting agencies are:

• Federal Public Service Commission at the Federal Level

• Provincial Public Service Commission at the Provincial Level

• Departmental Selection/Promotion Committees


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TrainingTraining of Civil Servants is divided into the following:

Pre-Service Training: This training is given before entry to service.

In-Service Training: This training is given during the service.

On-the-job Trainings:

Off-the-job Trainings:


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The Major Training Institutions are:-

• National Institute of Public Administration

• Pakistan Academy for Rural Development

• Pakistan Administrative Staff College

Problems with civil services• absence of accountability for results. There is both too much and too little

accountability of those involved in public affairs in Pakistan. • On one hand, the plethora of laws and institutions such as Anti Corruption

Bureaus, National Accountability Bureau, Auditor General’s reports, Public Accounts Committees of the legislature, parliamentary oversight, judicial activism and the Ombudsman system have created an atmosphere of fear, inertia and lack of decision making among the civil servants.

• On the other hand, instances of rampant corruption, malpractices, nepotism and favoritism and waste and inefficiency have become a common folklore in the administrative culture of the country.

• Too much emphasis on the ritualistic compliance with procedures, rules and form has taken the place of substantive concerns with the results and outcomes for welfare and justice.

Reforms

The Government established the National Commission for Government Reforms (NCGR) in April 2006 and mandated it

to prepare proposals for governance reforms in Pakistan. The Commission decided that the following broad principles will

underpin reforms in each area of responsibility:

Civil services• open, transparent merit – based recruitment to all levels and grades of public services with

Regional Representation as laid down in the constitution.• Performance – based promotions and career progression for all public sector employees

with compulsory training at post induction, mid-career and senior management levels.• Equality of opportunities for career advancement to all employees without preferences or

reservations for any particular class.• Replacement of the concept of Superior Services by equality among all cadres and non-

cadres of public servants.• Grant of a Living wage and compensation package including decent retirement benefits to

all civil servants.• Strict observance of security of tenure of office for a specified period of time.• Separate cadre of regular Civil Services at the Federal, Provincial and District levels co-

existing with contractual appointments.• Creation of an All Pakistan National Executive Service (NES) for senior management

positions drawn through a competitive process from the Federal, Provincial and District level Civil Servants and outside professionals.

• Introduction of three specialized cadres under the NES for Economic Management, Social Sector Management and General Management.

Structure of Federal, Provincial and District Governments.

• Devolution of powers, responsibilities and resources from the Federal to the Provincial Governments.

• Establishing inter-governmental structures with adequate authority and powers to formulate and monitor policy formulation.

• Clear separation of policy making, regulatory and operational responsibilities of the Ministries/ Provincial departments.

• Making each Ministry/ Provincial department fully empowered, adequately resourced to take decisions and accountable for results.

• Streamline, rationalize and transform the attached departments/ autonomous bodies/ subordinate offices/ field offices etc. into fully functional arms of the Ministries for performing operational and executive functions.

governance and administrative reforms

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