Daily Times

While moderating a session on public sector leadership challenges with some senior bureaucrats in Karachi, three words were repeatedly used in the three-hour long discussion: governance, pressure and accountability. It strikes one that the people whom we stereotype as majorly corrupt, useless and parasitical to the system echo exactly what the society says about them. It is ironic that through our tinted glasses we miss out on the real people with real problems running our country and our administrative systems day in and day out. While the majority of us continue to look at bureaucracy with the stereotypical (and, to much extent, true) image of corruption and complacency, it is important to realise that one cannot generalise.
The other side the story is rife with political pressures, bureaucratic delays, frustrations, forced transfers and even death threats. The honest admission that an order needs to be followed despite not being in compliance with rules is painful. The fear that going against the system will result in a reaction detrimental to one’s career is not surprising. The most common frustration, however, remains political interference, victimisation and pressure. The political-bureaucratic nexus is tricky. The argument that repeatedly arises from bureaucratic circles is that the short-term political stints of politicians ruin the long-term reputation of the bureaucracy. The constant interference by politicians and forced appointments leads to hurdles in development work. Each time a fresh politician takes charge all bureaucratic work comes to a halt. On the other hand, politicians argue that bureaucratic red tape and complacency are the reasons efficient service delivery to the public is affected and that political will to serve the citizens is quashed by bureaucratic ill will.
Conformism is the name of the game in bureaucracy. Those who resist are punished. Those who comply are rewarded. It takes a lot of courage to go against the tide. In the sea, when one goes against the tide, the boat gets rocky and the water splashes across one’s face. In bureaucracy, going against the tide means one’s career becomes rocky and a lot of murk is splashed across one’s face. The Anita Turab case and recently the case of Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Mohammad Ali sometimes serve as warning signs to the majority of our civil servants who do not conform. The public, whom the bureaucratic and political institutions claim to serve, sees them both as evil; the kind of evil they have to deal with and the kind of evil their day-to-day life is intertwined with. Unfortunately, this is the kind of evil that holds the key to the future of their children and this country.
Governance is a hot word these days, a fancy word used in donor conferences and articles. The fact remains that the true essence of a properly managed, well-oiled and efficiently governed system cannot be understood without fully appreciating the complexities, trials and tribulations of the process. It is more about mindsets, decades’ old systems, said and unsaid pressures, following rather than leading, complying rather than questioning. While one part of what might constitute good governance is making service delivery to the public efficient and speedier, the other also involves strengthening and improving systems that will lead to transparent, accountable and less corrupt institutions, less corrupt because zero corruption is a mirage one should not run after. Temptation is an inherent part of human DNA. Even some of the most celebrated governance structures in the world have their black sheep. The challenge is to produce systems and institutions that minimise the misuse of authority, curtail political interference and increase accountability of those working in the system.
The public sector managers that we know as bureaucrats are a lot more than mere slaves to the system. A closer look shows some really talented men and women who are passionate about what they do. They might lament being part of a system that requires a lot of moral and professional sacrifices but they do their own bit in their individual capacities to reform the system, one baby step at a time. They do not shy away from admitting how corruption has seeped into the deepest layers of their setup but they still hope the mess can be cleaned.
What is the real need of the hour is creating an enabling environment for the administrative structures and systems to function effectively. There has to be a will to reform. The political, bureaucratic and, to some extent, media nexus needs to be sorted out. Instead of working against each other, working with each other will solve problems. A utopian thought at the moment but perseverance and commitment never go in vain. Ever!
The much maligned, much criticised system will be fixed by the very people who run it and are a part of it. The much-used cliché — where there is a will, there is way — fits in perfectly. Here, the will has to be top down. Expecting the clerical cadre to fix themselves while the upper echelon is disinterested will not work. A surgical solution — the quick fix Pakistani answer to all our problems — will not work here. The road is long and the journey arduous but the goal is not unattainable.
The bureaucracy has to be de-politicised and the media can play a major role in ensuring that. When prime time talk shows pick up one delay, one interference and one misuse of authority at a time, things will start improving. The political-bureaucratic-media relationship is a symbiotic one; one feeds on the other but can help hold the other accountable too. While political interference has to stop, political will to reform needs to strengthen. While bureaucratic red tapism has to go and the pressure of accountability has to increase. The media has to be the watchdog that, instead of having an agenda to manipulate, should have the agenda to hold accountable.
At the end of the three-hour discussion the three words were still being echoed: governance, pressure and accountability. But they had a new meaning; they were solutions rather than problems now: governance to deliver, pressure to perform and accountability to reform. The oft-quoted system will have to reform, restructure and reinvent itself before it is too late. As Pakistanis we need to learn to find the shining stars on the otherwise dark horizon. As the charismatic John F Kennedy would have said, “Things do not happen; things are made to happen.” It is time we make this happen. The lives, aspirations and futures of 182 million Pakistanis depend on this.

The writer is a communications specialist, former television producer and director communications at the Centre for Governance and Public Management at LUMS. She can be reached at gulalaikhan@gmail.com