Daily Times

The government’s decision to give an executive allowance equivalent to 150 per cent of the basic salary for a select few divisions and ministries on and around Constitution Avenue and some other important offices has created great resentment amongst the unfortunate ministries that were ignored, such as the Foreign Office; especially at a time when the ongoing economic crisis has deeply impacted the purchasing power of salaried classes causing a steep fall in the standards of living.

Pakistani diplomats, already demoralised by indecisions and delay in postings, which has resulted in an inordinately long stay at headquarters, as well as a lack of merit during former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s tenure have been hit hard by this discriminatory dispensation for allowing executive allowances in the public sector.

The younger officers are particularly perturbed by this state of affairs and some have shared with me that the situation may lead to some kind of a revolt not far in the future.

Reportedly, a number of senior officers of the Foreign Office have also strongly objected to the ministry’s exclusion from the executive allowance policy and are questioning as to why the foreign secretary did nothing to prevent this open discrimination.

There are indications that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is keen to ensure that Pakistani diplomats focus their energies on promoting Pakistan’s interests abroad.

If that was not enough, the likely imposition of a 35 per cent tax on the foreign allowances of diplomats posted abroad is being seen as another bolt from the blue for which the top bureaucracy of the Foreign Office did nothing to prevent.

It is also being said that entertainment, medical, travel & other allowances, alongside educational subsidy, would be revised downwards. This basically means that diplomats shall be forced to pay for any additional costs beyond rent paid and salary from their own pockets.

This will not only burden them unduly but also severely constrain their capacity for conducting political, economic and public diplomacy, creating a new challenge for Pakistan’s foreign policy.

Foreign Service of Pakistan (FSP) is amongst the most coveted occupational groups of the civil services. By forcing its officers to live in subsistence, if not abysmal conditions, the state will be hampering the achievement of any foreign policy objectives, as an unhappy human resource is bound to impact the organisational capacity.

While overindulgent perks for some sections of Pakistan’s bloated bureaucracy are often under the radar of the media (for the right reasons), creating serious economic challenges for the Foreign Office, which is the first line of the country’s defence, is ill-advised and could be counterproductive, given that diplomats have to compete with the extensive networking paraphernalia of their counterparts from other countries that Pakistan is in competition with, and who have much larger resources that can afford to invest in their diplomacy.

It is hoped that the new political leadership of the Foreign Office which is striving to bring back merit in the institution and is working to motivate the officers to perform even better will take cognisance of this sad state of affairs and protect the institution from further degradation and loss of morale.

As per diplomatic sources, there are indications that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is taking the concerns of FSP officers quite seriously and is keen to ensure that merit is observed in postings, transfers and promotions on the one hand and tell appropriate living conditions and institutional support is ensured on the other, so that Pakistani diplomats could focus their energies on promoting Pakistan’s interests abroad, especially in the commercial and economic domains. He has been also calling for a better work-life balance against a culture of excessively long working hours and no vacations which does not allow the officers to give adequate time to their families.

Many diplomats are expecting some solid steps in this direction in the coming days. If these expectations are not met, the frustrations of the FSP cadre will grow manifold.

The writer is Associate Editor (Diplomatic Affairs), Daily Times. He tweets @mhassankhan06