DT SPECIAL
LAHORE: The Strategic Reforms Unit (SRU) works as a policy implementation and reform cell affiliated with the Punjab Chief Minister’s Office.
Over the years, it has served as a unique model for public service delivery. When it started, it took on board a team of young individuals, driven to create positive impact for the citizens of the country. Since 2014, the team has executed reforms pertaining to women empowerment and protection, law and order, excise and taxation as well as the social sector, by working in close coordination and liaison with provincial government departments.
The SRU team comprises four young professionals headed by a director general. The former serve as unpaid interns for a period of 7-12 months prior to being hired on contractual positions, which are advertised in newspapers. Mr. Salman Sufi, the SRU DG, volunteered for two years prior to being hired on a paid position. Similarly, Ms. Hafsah Rehman, the deputy team lead, volunteered for six months before being hired as an analyst. She was subsequently promoted on the basis of performance. Ms. Rida Shahzad, the associate, volunteered for nine months, Ms. Fatima Khan, the junior associate, and Ms. Maryam Noor, both volunteered for seven months before being hired as analysts. They were subsequently promoted on the basis of performance.
Fresh graduates are assessed on the basis of their commitment to the cause, their passion to create a positive difference and their ability to learn and perform in a challenging environment. Therefore, the opportunity cost of working at the SRU includes forfeiting the salary one would attain at a permanent position elsewhere for a period of 7-12 months. As a result, once candidates are hired, the salary is offered at a market-based rate taking into account the quality of human resource hired as well as the months invested in volunteering. SRU is keen to establish gender parity in terms of the human resource hired and does not entail any wage discrimination on the basis of gender, on the contrary, staff members are paid market-competitive rates in accordance with their posts and work responsibilities. This is to incentivise young professionals, who do not have the power to act on behalf of the state and further do not have the securities/perks Government employees has access to. Furthermore, the SRU’s staff undertakes difficult and tenuous work hours, who go on to work way beyond government’s official timings and on weekends as well.
Young females have often been leading projects at SRU at the core of policy reform in the male-dominated environment of the government.
The SRU with its small, dedicated team is working on multiple reforms in collaboration with various Government Departments to not only conceive projects and take-on their implementation including drafting legislations, spearheading their passage but also ensuring they are fully functional on-ground.
The SRU drafted and spearheaded the passage of the historic legislation: Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2016. The Unit further established the implementation arm of the Act, the Violence Against Women Centres (VAWCs) initiative, by setting-up the first such project in the South Asia region which houses all police, prosecution, medico-legal and psycho-social services under one roof, in Multan. VAWC Multan has resolved more than 2000 cases of Gender Based Violence in one year alone. The SRU further drafted and spearheaded the passage of the Punjab Women Protection Authority, a structure mandated to operate, monitor and set-up VAWCs across the province. The Authority is set to establish further VAWCs as soon as its human resource and financial requirements are streamlined. Due to multi-step bureaucratic processes involved, structures such as the Punjab Women Protection Authority require some time before they are fully established and operational.
Similarly, SRU executed the Women-on-Wheels campaign in collaboration with Punjab Police & district administrations. The project aims to enhance women’s mobility in Punjab through the provision of free motorcycle trainings and subsidised motorbikes in Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi districts. The campaign has trained more than 3500 women and aims to provide 3026 motorbikes to women. Moreover, SRU has drafted and included chapters on gender sensitisationin in Pakistan Studies textbooks of classes 9-12.
The SRU has introduced multiple projects with the Excise & Taxation Department, including Dealer Vehicle Registration System (DVRS), implementation of Token Tax Stickers, centralization of E&T data and crackdown on unauthorized/fake number plates. The SRU has introduced amendments to the Punjab Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965: ?Penalty on fabrication of number plates; Replacement of ownership of number plates from vehicle to the owner themselves; Re-registration of out-of-province number plates; Replacement of vehicle registration book with Automotive Registration Card (ARC); Penalty on refusal to display authorized ET & NC number plates. Other legislative reform includes amendments pertaining to camera integrated fining, increase in motorcycle traffic fines and percentage revenue for traffic personnel and equipment. The SRU has further undertaken establishment and structuring of infrastructure, human resource and administration of Punjab Shehr-e-Khamoshan Authority (PSKA) and has already established Model graveyards in Lahore, Sargodha, Multan and Faisalabad.
Most of SRU’s reforms are already in implementation stage, and further reforms are underway including expansion of Violence Against Women Centres (VAWCs), expansion of Shehr-e-Khamoshan Model Cemeteries & Crematoriums as well as legislation for Senior Citizens & transgender persons.
Currently, two of SRU’s projects- the Punjab Shehr-e-Khamoshan Authority and the Punjab Women Protection Authority do not have staff hired under them as the Election Commission of Pakistan has imposed a ban on hiring till Elections 2018 conclude. Therefore, the SRU is not only working on its own projects but is also looking after the matters of both these Authorities without drawing any additional salaries. The SRU DG has additional charge (pro-bono/unpaid) of the DG of Shehr-e-Khamoshan Authority and Punjab Women Protection Authority respectively, to facilitate in the set-up of these structures.
The SRU has received international acclaim for most of its initiatives as pioneering reforms from Pakistan leading innovative approaches to eliminating Gender Based Violence. UN Women, University of Chicago International Human Rights Clinic, Al Jazeera, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Reuters, United States Institute of Peace, Vital Voices and Norwegian Church are amongst the range of international platforms who have supported and highlighted the work undertaken by the SRU.
Published in Daily Times, June 8th 2018.