Daily Times

Why are the youth today generally pessimistic about their future? Is all this talk about merit being the sole consideration a hollow political slogan? Why is the governance at what appears to be the lowest ebb? Why do the youth doubt that Pakistan can ever become a great nation?

In a public speech, Prime Minister Imran Khan is reported to have said that the reason why the nation did fairly well in the 1960s was that it had a capable, merit-based and honest bureaucracy. What caused the loss of pride over the last four decades is a million dollar question. The answer has to be multi-faceted: i) the bureaucracy has become highly politicised and inefficient; ii) the recruitment process in all government departments, including the CSS and the PMS, is not seen to be merit-oriented; and iii) educational institutions have become money-making plants.

The prime minister has constituted a task force to reform the civil services. Its first duty is to diagnose the root causes of deterioration. The causes might include the lack of an education system that comes up to international standards. The educational institutions do not cultivate critical thinking, innovative attitudes or problem solving skills. The examination system is flawed. It favour those who reproduce crammed material often without understanding the concepts. This allows below-average students to gain civil service jobs ahead of better graduates. Being incompetent, they are vulnerable to political pressures and extraneous considerations and often exhibit an apathy towards public. No public sector institution is immune from the malaise.

The civil service system is celebrated as a great political invention. The impact it can have on the public welfare is directly linked to the performance of those assigned the tasks. Their integrity and skills are a matter of great concern

The situation calls for radical measures akin to major surgery. The reforms need to be started at the grassroots level. Capable, honest, God-fearing, merit-based and public-friendly recruits are needed in all sectors. The Indian Civil Service was created by the British at a time when there was no great educational system in place in the sub-continent. Today, there is a pressing need for a common syllabus of international standard, to be taught at all public and private schools and colleges. A robust education policy is therefore needed foremost.

We also need to say good-bye to the outmoded system of selection to civil services. Let the Federal Public Service Commission and the Provincial Public Service Commissions be given fresh statutory mandates to select personnel through talent hunt programmes so that the most brilliant candidates from amongst the educated youth are brought forward to serve the country. The stereotyped examination system for recruitment to civil services has outlived its utility.

Recruitment examinations for federal as well as provincial services should be subject-oriented. For every job, the candidate must be examined in the relevant field. In case of Pakistan Administrative Services, the candidates should be examined in disciplines like public administration, sociology, governance and public policy.

All promotions to the next grade should be linked to performance evaluation, intellectual growth, in-service trainings and higher education in the relevant field. The training courses should be designed to inculcate creativity, innovation, understanding and use of modern methods to solve complex problems and handle uneasy situations.

Private sector institutions have been more successful because they pick the best talent and job security is closely linked to performance and specialised knowledge. Public bureaucracy meanwhile seems to banks on stereotyped question-answer system of examinations for selection, having no relevance to jobs like district management, customs, taxation, commerce, office management and policing.

The recruitment and training system needs to be scrapped and rebuilt from scratch. The process has to be gradual and requires appropriate statutory measures, rule-making and administrative actions to improve the education and managerial monitoring systems at every step.

The civil service system is celebrated as a great political invention. The impact it can have on the public welfare is directly linked to the performance of those assigned the tasks. Their integrity and skills are a matter of great concern

The idea is to develop a loyal and efficient civil service to serve the public. The government should also consider raising salaries of civil servants in accordance with their market value and responsibilities entrusted to them; ii) linking annual increments to performance; iii) abolishing automatic promotions; iv) linking security of tenure and promotion to performance; and v) setting up a body dedicated to monitoring the performance of every department and its officers.

The writer is a lawyer