Introduction
The notion of reform has been around in cultures since renaissance. The Oxford English Dictionary defines reform as “The amendment or altering for the better, of some faulty state of things, esp. of a corrupt or oppressive political institution or practice; the removal of some abuse or wrong” (Reform). With this characterization and its substances, the tendency to associate reform with movement in an improved or better direction may even be synonymous with advancement. Regardless, the primary connotation of reform should be a change for the better, specifically a change more suited for acquiring objectives outlined by decision-makers in a particular vocation of play. The peril tied to assuming a universal meaning for reform is that the word (or any word, really) is context and practice-specific. The term has multiple identities, and the basis for differentiating between them needs to be clarified. The very identity of reform hinges on analyzing factors encircling the term’s application.
What is Civil Service? Civil service is the body of government officials employed in civil occupations that are neither political nor judicial. In most countries, the term refers to employees selected and promoted based on a merit and seniority system, which may include recruitment, training, posting, transfer, promotion, appointment, retirement, pension and other terms and conditions of services.
The article’s objective is to provide constitutional, structural and organizational insight into the rationale of civil service reforms. Reforms are always convoluted and laborious yet imaginatively innovative. Historical evidence ascertains that civil Service reforms in Pakistan have only been restrained to terms and conditions of services, not structural nor constitutional. Accordingly, reformers have been the implied snag in reforms due to their structural service magnets. Then, substantive reforms require autonomous reformers adept in constitutional, structural and coded law expertise and dexterities.
Historically, the East India Company homogenized a patronage system about the nomination of civil servants strictly within the elite club, thus barring a competitive process into the induction of civil service in India. The Government of India Act 1853 substituted the nomination system with an open competitive examination to recruit civil servants. Progressively, the Government of India Act 1858 afforded that India shall be governed by and in the name of Her Majesty. Consequently, this authorized the secretary of state for India to make regulations for the admission of candidates to the civil service of India. Accordingly, the civil service became competitive and accountable to the British Parliament. The Raj reserved the civil service of India only for Britishers; however, consequentially, Raj incorporated the local Indians identified with the Britishers into the Indian civil service through a competitive examination.
Pakistan came into being through the legal instrument of the Indian Independence Act 1947, and section 10 of the act ibid abolished the services of the secretary of state for India. Section 10 of the act ibid produced it clear that no provision of the Indian Act of 1935 relating to the appointment of the civil services and civil posts under the Crown in India by the secretary state relating reservation of posts shall remain enforceable. Pakistan acquired 82 Indian Civil Service Officers. Then, Pakistan Administrative Service PAS adopted all these Indian civil Servants who later became the most potent bureaucrats in the history of Pakistan.
The government of Pakistan published a resolution vide No. F.25/4/50-EST (SEI) dated 8th November 1950 to notify its intention to create the civil service of Pakistan consisting of posts on the cadre of the former Indian Civil Service in the various provinces and on the cadre of the former Indian Political service and most of the higher posts in the central secretariat. However, the lawful authority did not substantiate the intent and authority to create civil service of Pakistan CSP. Then, the government of Pakistan, through a notification of the Establishment Division bearing No. F.25/12/51-SEI, dated 01.06.1954, issued the Civil Service of Pakistan ( Composition & Cadre) rules, 1954 to constitute a service of the federation to be known as the Civil Service of Pakistan CSP to be raised on certain posts connected with the affairs of provinces and federation. The powerful colonial bureaucrats at the helm of affairs inserted the same colonial scheme of reservation of posts into the cadre schedule of the Civil Service of Pakistan. Then, the constituent Assembly of Pakistan enacted the constitution of Pakistan, which was enforced on 23rd March 1956. Article 182 of the constitution provided that appointments to the services of the federation or posts in connection with the affairs of the federation shall be made by the President or such person as he may direct. As regards to service of a province or posts in connection with the affairs of a province, the constitution assigned the exact role to the Governor. Hence, the constitutional provisions drove it clear that posts connected with a province’s affairs shall be the Governor’s constitutional authority; thus, the agreement empowering the Governor-general regarding the provincial posts should have been abolished.
The constitution of Pakistan, 1962, was promulgated on 1st March 1962 and came into effect on 8th June 1962. Article 174 of the Constitution provided that subject to the constitution, the appointment of persons to and the terms and conditions of service of persons in the service of Pakistan may be regulated by law. Article 178 empowered the President or a person authorized by him to make appointments to an All-Pakistan Service, a civil service of the centre, or a civil post in connection with the centre’s affairs. Exact powers were vested in the concerned Governor regarding the civil services of his province or posts in connection with the affairs of a province. The listed posts (Substantive Appointments) Act, 1967 was an Act of the National Assembly which authorized the President to prescribe a percentage of the superior posts in connection with the affairs of a province borne on the cadre of the Civil Service of Pakistan.
The Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, was promulgated on 14th August 1973. Article 240 was specifically inserted in the constitution in the aftermath of Administrative Reforms. Constitutional guarantees of the services were abolished, and it was made a constitutional prerequisite to regulating the service by an organic act of the legislature. Hence, the article confirmed that services could only have been established through an organic act of the legislatures. The constitutional article provided Federal, Provincial and All Pakistan Services on aligned posts. Therefore, All Pakistan and Federal services were required to be established by an act of Parliament on federal and common posts. In contrast, Provincial services and posts were to be regulated by an act of the provincial Assembly. Consequently, Federal and Provincial Civil Servants Acts were promulgated in line with article 240 of the constitution.
The Federal Government established the 12 functional groups or services via miscellaneous executive orders. Accounts Group; Commerce and Trade Group; District Management Group; Foreign Service of Pakistan; Income Tax Group; Information Group; Military Lands and Cantonment Group; Office Management Group; Police Service of Pakistan; Postal group; and Railways Group were established by the Federal government. The services of the District Management Group, Police Service of Pakistan and Secretariat Group were re-organized as All Pakistan Unified Grades APUG. The Federal Government issued several executive orders to remake the groups per choice. Accordingly, The Provincial Civil Servants Acts of Provinces were also promulgated in the wake of Article 240 to regulate Provincial Services and posts.
On 19-09-1993, a formula for the reservation of posts in connection with the affairs of the province was unlawfully and deceivingly imposed without lawful authority distributing provincial posts for APUG and Provincial Services. A couple of SROs in 2014 changed the nomenclature of APUG/DMG to Pakistan Administrative Service PAS. Under the design of Civil Service Reforms, a number of SROs were issued in 2020 relating to enhancing PAS posts in provinces, issuing directory retirement rules and induction of Provincial Officers into PAS.
The historical brief establishes that the civil service structures alongside coded law emanate from colonial governance. The civil service in Pakistan has constitutional, structural and organizational anomalies. Then, coded laws and procedures make it archaic to the governance challenges. The services present a secretariat mode of centralization with a general cadre orientation. Moreover, the services represent class systems. The services discourage specialization, decentralization and lateral entry.
After a brief introduction to the history of civil services in Pakistan, I am contending the five fundamental rules to reform civil services in the republic of Pakistan. These include;
- Constitutional alignment of services
- Structural alignment of services
- Cadre management of services
- Code law of the civil services
- Terms and conditions of the services
Rule No 1. Constitutional Alignment of the Services
The Constitution is the body of doctrines and practices that form the fundamental organizing principle of a political state. In some cases, such as in the United States, the Constitution is a specific written document. In others, such as the United Kingdom, it is a collection of documents, statutes, and conventional practices that are acceptable as governing political matters. States with a written constitution may also have a body of traditional or customary practices that may or may not be considered constitutional. Virtually every state claims to have a constitution, but only some governments conduct themselves in a consistently constitutional manner. Hence, it is a nation’s political contract and the land’s supreme law.
Pakistan has a chequered history of constitutional development. However, the argument shall remain hovered after the 18th amendment. As they say, brevity is the soul of wit; therefore, the opinion shall remain precise and delicate. Chapter XII (Miscellaneous) and Chapter 1 (SERVICES) provide the guidelines for the appointments to service of Pakistan and conditions of service. Chapter 1 contains three specific articles which determine the nature, scope and structures of posts and services.
Article 240 reads as follows;
240 Appointment to service of Pakistan and conditions of service.
Subject to the ConstitutionConstitution, the appointments to and the conditions of service of persons in the service of Pakistan shall be determined-(a) in the case of the services of the Federation, posts in connection with the affairs of the Federation and All- Pakistan Services, by or under Act of [Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)]; and
(b) in the case of the services of a Province and posts in connection with the affairs of a Province, by or under Act of the Provincial Assembly.
Explanation.- In this Article, “All-Pakistan Service” means a service common to the Federation and the Provinces, which was in existence immediately before the commencing day or which may be created by Act of [Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)]
The article provides three types of services and posts.
- Federal services and posts connected with the affairs of the Federation.
- All Pakistan services and posts in connection with the Federation and provinces’ common affairs.
- Provincial services and posts connected with the affairs of provinces
Then, most significantly, these services and posts shall be under the act of relevant legislatures. The first constitutional obligation to create services is that these must be created out of an organic act. Let’s interrogate whether existing civil services are the product of legislation or enactment. Presently, there is a federal civil servants act, and provincial civil servants acts are in place to determine the terms and conditions of the civil servants. Establishment Division and Provincial Services and General Administration departments claim that the acts are the product of Article 240 and thus; cover the constitutional obligation to create and sustain civil services alongside relevant posts. However, it is a ridiculous claim. They must know that the terms and conditions of civil servants have nothing to do with the creation of civil services. Article 240 provides lifeforce for the creation of civil services on aligned posts, not determining the terms and conditions of civil servants, which is structurally a byproduct of the creation of civil service. Then, the byproduct of the terms and conditions of civil servants is creating civil services out of executive orders. It is the ridiculous interpretation ever. Inherently, the acts must envisage the creation of civil services and then the terms and conditions for civil servants may have a lifeforce from these jurisdictional acts under article 240. Hence, the service without organic acts lacks constitutional and legislative support. Therefore, most federal and provincial civil services are illegal and lack constitutional support.
It is even more ludicrous that the reformers in Pakistan reform the civil services on the structures already illegal and unconstitutional. The first measure to reforming a civil service is to enact it. Where is the enactment? A civil service reformer must ask this fundamental question before initiating the reformation process. Then, reforming means substituting, inserting, replacing or superseding the act of the service. How can it be possible that reform products in Pakistan have been mere SORs and summaries? Whatever the reform product is, it must be enacted as the elemental obligation to reform civil service in Pakistan. Hence, the act is the life force of civil service and service without an act is illegal and unconstitutional.
The other Part of the constitutional alignment is the implementation of federalism. Pakistan is not a unitary state. How can unitary SROs reform the federal structures of civil service in Pakistan? To understand the federalism of the state of Pakistan, one must read schedule IV of the Constitution. Schedule four of the Constitution provides the federal legislative list.
Federal Legislative List
PART I
1. The defence of the Federation or any part thereof in peace or war; the military, naval and air forces of the Federation and any other armed forces raised or maintained by the Federation; any armed forces which are not forces of the Federation but are attached to or operating with any of the Armed Forces of the Federation including civil armed forces; Federal Intelligence Bureau; preventive detention for reasons of State connected with defence, external affairs, or the security of Pakistan or any part thereof; person subjected to such detention; industries declared by Federal law to be necessary for the purpose of defence or for the prosecution of war.
2. Military, naval and air force works; local self-government in cantonment areas, the Constitution and powers within such areas of cantonment authorities, the regulation of house accommodation in such areas, and the delimitation of such areas.
3. External affairs; the implementing of treaties and agreements, including educational and cultural pacts and agreements, with other countries; extradition, including the surrender of criminals and accused persons to Governments outside Pakistan.
4. Nationality, citizenship and naturalization.
5. Migration from or into, or settlement in, a Province or the Federal Capital.
6. Admission into, and emigration and expulsion from, Pakistan including in relation thereto the regulation of the movements in Pakistan of persons not domiciled in Pakistan; pilgrimages to places beyond Pakistan.
7. Posts and telegraphs, including telephones, wireless, broadcasting and other like forms of communications; Post Office Saving Bank.
8. Currency, coinage and legal tender.
9. Foreign exchange; cheques, bills of exchange, promissory notes and other like instruments.
10. Public debt of the Federation, including the borrowing of money on the security of the Federal Consolidated Fund; foreign loans and foreign aid.
11. Federal Public Services and Federal Public Service Commission.
12. Federal Pensions, that is to say, pensions payable by the Federation or out of the Federal Consolidated Fund.
13. Federal Ombudsmen.
14. Administrative Courts and Tribunals for Federal subjects.
15. Libraries, museums, and similar institutions controlled or financed by the Federation.
16. Federal agencies and institutes for the following purposes, that is to say, for research, for professional or technical training, or for the promotion of special studies.
17. Education as respects Pakistani students in foreign countries and foreign students in Pakistan.
18. Nuclear energy, including:-(a) mineral resources necessary for the generation of nuclear energy;
(b) the production of nuclear fuels and the generation and use of nuclear energy, and
(c) ionizing radiations [; and]
[(d) boilers.
19. Port quarantine, seamen’s and marine hospitals and hospitals connected with port quarantine.
20. Maritime shipping and navigation, including shipping and navigation on tidal waters; Admiralty jurisdiction.
[] 22. Aircraft and air navigation; the provision of aerodromes; regulation and organization of air traffic and of aerodromes.
23. Lighthouses, including lightships, beacons and other provisions for the safety of shipping and aircraft.
24. Carriage of passengers and goods by sea or by air.
25. Copyright, inventions, designs, trademarks and merchandise marks.
26. Opium so far as regards sale for export.
27. Import and export across customs frontiers as deemed by the Federal Government, inter-provincial trade and commerce, trade and commerce with foreign countries; standard of quality of goods to be exported out of Pakistan.
28. State Bank of Pakistan; banking, that is to say, the conduct of banking business by corporations other than corporations owned or controlled by a Province and carrying on business only within that Province.
29. The law of insurance, except as respects insurance undertaken by a Province, and the regulation of the conduct of insurance business, except as respects business undertaken by a Province, Government insurance, except so far as undertaken by a Province by virtue of any matter within the legislative competence of the Provincial Assembly.
30. Stock exchanges and future markets with objects and business not confined to one Province.
31. Corporations, that is to say, the incorporation, regulation and winding- up of trading corporations, including banking, insurance and financial corporations, but not including corporations owned or controlled by a Province and carrying on business only within that Province, or cooperative societies, and of corporations, whether trading or not, with objects not confined to a Province, but not including universities.
[32. International treaties, conventions and agreements and International arbitration.]
34. National highways and strategic roads.
35. Federal surveys including geological surveys and Federal meteorological organizations.
36. Fishing and fisheries beyond territorial waters.
37. Works, lands and buildings vested in, or in the possession of Government for the purposes of the Federation (not being military, naval or air force works), but, as regards property situate in a Province, subject always to Provincial legislation, save in so far as Federal law otherwise provides.
39. Establishment of standards of weights and measures.
41. Elections to the office of President, to the National Assembly, the Senate and the Provincial Assemblies; Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissions.
42. The salaries, allowances and privileges of the President, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Senate, Prime Minister, Federal Minister, Ministers of State, the salaries, allowances and privileges of the members of the Senate and the National Assembly, and the punishment of persons who refuse to give evidence or produce documents before committees thereof.
43. Duties of customs, including export duties.
44. Duties of exercise, including duties on salt, but not including duties on alcoholic liquors, opium and other narcotics.
47. Taxes on income other than agricultural income;
48. Taxes on corporations.
49. Taxes on the sales and purchases of goods imported, exported, produced, manufactured or consumed [, except sales tax on services]
50. Taxes on the capital value of the assets, not including taxes [] on immovable property.
51. Taxes on mineral oil, natural gas and minerals for use in the generation of nuclear energy.
52. Taxes and duties on the production capacity of any plant, machinery, undertaking, establishment or installation in lieu of any one or more of them.
53. Terminal taxes on goods or passengers carried by railway, sea or air; taxes on their fares and freights.
54. Fees in respect of any of the matters in this Part, but not including fees taken in any court.
55. Jurisdiction and powers of all courts, except the Supreme Court, with respect to any of the matters in this list and, to such extent as is expressly authorized by or under the Constitution, the enlargement of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and the conferring thereon of supplemental powers.
56. Offences against laws with respect to any of the matters in this Part.
57. Inquiries and statistics for the purposes of any of the matters in this Part.
58. Matters which under the Constitution are within the legislative competence of Majlis- e-Shoora (Parliament) or relate to the Federation.
59. Matters incidental or ancillary to any matter enumerated in this Part.
PART II
1. Railways.
2. Mineral oil and natural gas; liquids and substances declared by Federal law to be dangerously inflammable.
3. Development of industries, where development under Federal control is declared by Federal law to be expedient in the public interest; institutions, establishments, bodies and corporations administered or managed by the Federal Government immediately before the commencing day, including the [Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority and the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation] ; all undertakings, projects and schemes of such institutions, establishments, bodies and corporations, industries, projects and undertakings owned wholly or partially by the Federation or by a corporation set up by the Federation.
[4. Electricity.
5. Major ports, that is to say, the declaration and delimitation of such ports, and the Constitution and powers of port authorities therein.
6. All regulatory authorities established under a Federal law.
7. National planning and national economic coordination including planning and coordination of scientific and technological research.
8. Supervision and management of public debt.
9. Census.
10. Extension of the powers and jurisdiction of members of a police force belonging to any Province to any area in another Province, but not so as to enable the police of one Province to exercise powers and jurisdiction in another Province without the consent of the Government of that Province; extension of the powers and jurisdiction of a police force belonging to any Pronvice to railway areas outside that Province.
11. Legal, medical and other professions.
12. Standards in institutions for higher education and research, scientific and technical institutions.
13. Inter-provincial matters and co-ordination.
14. Council of Common Interests.
15. Fees in respect of any of the matters in this Part but not including fees taken in any court.
16. Offences against laws with respect to any of the matters in this Parts.
17. Inquiries and statistics for the purposes of any of the matters in this Part.
18. Matters incidental or ancillary to any matter enumerated in this Part.
Then, the subjects not enumerated in the FLL Part I or II are residuary subjects, and various courts have adjudged that these residuary subjects are provincial subjects. Hence, schedule IV of the Constitution provides power distribution between the Federation and provinces. The Federation of Pakistan is a unique federation as it allows for a common platform between the Federation and provinces, namely the Council of Common Interest. Article 153 forms the CCI, and article 154 provides the functions of the CCI. Moreover, Article 142 (2)(b) provides criminal law, criminal procedure and evidence as concurrence between the Federation and Provinces. Hence, schedule IV provides three types of jurisdictional powers and article 240 also provides three types of services. Therefore, federal services shall be raised on federal subjects, and All Pakistan services shall be raised on CCI and concurrent subjects, whereas provincial services shall be raised on provincial subjects alongside their inseparable domain posts.
Article 241 reads as follows;
241 Existing rules, etc., to continue.
Until the appropriate Legislature makes a law under Article 240, all rules and orders in force immediately before the commencing day shall, so far as consistent with the provisions of the Constitution, continue in force and may be amended from time to time by the Federal Government or, as the case may be, the Provincial Government.
It expressly explains that all rules must be in line with the existing structure of the Constitution. Hence, all rules, including the CSP rules of 1954, must be consistent with the Constitution’s provisions. Then, It is ridiculous that all reforms in Pakistan have been mere extensions of SROs with retrospective effect. It is just a subversion of the Constitution and attracts article 6 of the Constitution. Therefore, civil service reforms mean implementing article 241 of the Constitution. Issuing SROs without application of the Constitution is not a process of civil service reforms but rather a subversion of the Constitution. Furthermore, article 97, read with 137, determines the executive authority of the Federation and provinces. Thus, the federal and provincial executive authorities must remain in their domains. As executive authority takes birth from a legislative authority, and article 142 determines the legislative authority, there must be an alignment between legislative and executive authority alongside financial authority, as the latter is protected in articles 121 and 81 of the Constitution.
Lastly, article 242 is critical to understand the recruitment of civil servants. It reads as follows;
242 Public Service Commission.
(1) [Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament)] in relation to the affairs of the Federation, and the Provincial Assembly of a Province in relation to affairs of a Province, may, by law, provide for the establishment and Constitution of a Public Service Commission.
[(1A) The Chairman of the Public Service Commission constituted in relation to the affairs of the Federation shall be appointed by the President [on the advice of the Prime Minister] .
] [(1B) The Chairman of the Public Service Commission constituted in relation to affairs of a Province shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.
](2) A Public Service Commission shall perform such functions as may be prescribed by law.
It is also essential that federal and provincial public service commissions must recruit according to the affairs of the Federation and provinces. How can the federal public service commission recruit for the provincial post of assistant commissioner, assistant superintendent of police and assistant account general of a province? It is a foremost constitutional obligation that FPSC and PPSCs must work in their domain. It is at the beginning of the civil service reformation that the reformers must implement all the constitutional articles in the structures of civil service reforms. If the reform process cannot implement the fundamental principles of the Constitution, how can it claim to reform the civil services?
Concludingly, the constitutional principles of constitutional authority must be in place for the just creation and reformation of civil service in Pakistan. However, sadly, the civil service reforms have been an eyewash. The above-referred constitutional principles are rule number 1 to initiate the process of civil service reforms.
Rule 2 of the Civil Service Reforms: Structural alignment of the services
Structural reforms change an organization’s fabric, the institutional and regulatory framework in which the organization and human resources perform operations. These aim to ensure the organization is functional and competently able to acknowledge its growth potential proportionally. The reforms intend to replace archaic governance systems with practical and innovative dexterities.
Civil services in Pakistan require structural transformations and reformation. Most of the services emanate from the colonial and archaic models, which are redundant to the technological advancement of the time. Technological advancement has superseded organizational patterns and developmental models. Organizations have gone innovative and potently effective. The structures, human resources, coded law and operations have sublimed into operational productivity and exponential growth. As there are new fundamental challenges, there must be technological and innovative responses to these. Besides technological advancement, constitutional obligations have grown alongside models of governance and administration in the public sector. Hence, the civil services in Pakistan require structural alignment with the legislature, Executive, judiciary, technology, coded law and modern organizational methods and procedures.
The process of structural alignment must corroborate the structure of the state of Pakistan. Pakistan is a federal parliamentary state. What is a federation? The Federation is the government of a national community. In such a model, there are two levels of government, one haggling with the common and the other with the territorially diverse mechanism. Unlike a unitary government, in which power is centralized, in a federation, a mandatory distribution exists between the federal state and its constituent parts, and the equilibrium of power is continually shifting. The federal government often called federalism, is a process rather than a static design. Pakistan is a federation with the distribution of powers according to schedule IV of the constitution.
What is a parliamentary form of government? A parliamentary system is a democratic form of government in which the party (or a coalition of parties) with the highest representation in the parliament (legislature) forms the government, its leader becoming prime minister or chief Executive. Executive functions are exercised by members of the parliament appointed by the prime minister to the cabinet. The parties in the minority serve in opposition to the majority and, therefore, must challenge it regularly. Prime ministers may be removed from power whenever he loses the confidence of a majority of the ruling party or the parliament. Hence, the essential part is that the Executive takes birth from the legislature, unlike a presential system of governance. Therefore, the political and bureaucratic Executive must take birth from the exact legislature.
A government has three primary organs; The legislature, Executive and judiciary. What is Executive? The term ‘Executive’ has been defined in its broad and narrow forms. In its comprehensive form, it is taken to mean all the functionaries, political power-holders (Political executives) and permanent civil servants who undertake the execution of laws and policies and run the administration of the state.
In its narrow form, it is taken to mean only the executive heads (ministers, i.e. the political Executive), who head the government departments, formulate the policies and supervise the implementation of the laws and policies of the government. In the narrow form, the civil service and its administrative functions are not included in the realm of the Executive.
Traditionally, only the narrow meaning used to be accepted by political scientists. However, in modern times, the Executive is defined in its broader form, covering both the Political Executive and the Civil Service. Hence, the Executive has two parts, the political and bureaucratic.
What is the bureaucratic part of an executive? It consists of the civil servants (Bureaucracy) from the lowest to the highest levels. It carries out the day-to-day administration by working in government departments. The civil servants are politically neutral. They do not owe allegiance to any political party.
Their assignment is to carry out the laws and policies of the government without any political contemplation. They are specially familiarised and trained people. They are experts and professionals. They give expert guidance and contention and collect, classify and present data to the political Executive based on which the latter takes all decisions.
Once appointed, the civil servants remain in office till retirement age, usually up to 55 or 60. They get regular and fixed salaries and are hierarchically organized into higher and lower relationships. Hence, the civil service is the permanent part of the executive branch of the government and performs functions under the supervision of the political Executive as per law and rules.
After determining the structural roles of civil services, the civil service reformers must implement the structural rules into the reformation process. The first sub-rule is that there must be an executive alignment of the services. It primarily means that both executive parts must emanate from the same legislature. The civil service structure shall bring administrative and structural anomalies if this elemental principle is not upheld. Firstly, the civil service must align with its inherent political Executive; it must have the same origin as the political Executive from the exact legislature. Then, finally, both parts of the Executive must implement the exact laws of the legislature they take birth from. This is the structural principle to reform the bureaucracy.
Now, we apply this structural principle to the existing model of bureaucracy. Parliamentary governance requires that the Executive must take birth from the same legislature. For example, if the chief minister of a province is born in the provincial assembly, the chief secretary must also be from the same provincial assembly. If this does not happen, the bureaucratic part of the Executive shall be illegal and unnatural. When the Federation appoints its own federal officer to a provincial post of chief secretary, then a structural anomaly arises. It denies the parliamentary form of governance because the chief secretary is not born from the provincial assembly, along with the other executive anomaly that the bureaucratic part does not correspond to the political executive part of the Executive. Therefore, the reservation of posts between the Federation and provinces is a structural anomaly. Hence, civil service reformers must ensure the structural alignment of the parliamentary form of government along with the executive alignment.
Furthermore, the post, cadre, service and subject alignment is critical for structural alignment. It means that all must have the exact Executive, legislative and financial legal authority. As mentioned earlier, if any parts differ in competence, the whole design structure shall become anomalous. Therefore, it is vital to have the structural alignment of post, cadre, service and subject. Let’s again talk about this design applying for the position of chief secretary! The chief secretary is a provincial post; therefore, it must be part of a provincial cadre, not a federal cadre. Then, the position must be filled by the provincial civil service. Lastly, it must implement the provincial laws as per schedule IV of the constitution. However, this is different in the present scheme of things. Thus, the whole system is structurally abnormal and needs to be aligned structurally. Hence, civil service reformers must consider structural rules while reforming the civil service.
Structural alignment requires reforming civil services corroborating with the legislature, Executive and judiciary. Judiciary enjoys the powers of executive review under articles 184(3) and 199. Then, the legislature is the supervisory part of the Executive. Moreover, the political Executive needs to guide the bureaucratic Executive; therefore, the civil service must have a structural alignment with the other parts of the government because it is the implementing part of all government branches. Then organizational structures are also integral. Then, there is a fundamental structural decision on how much the organizations shall have autonomy and to which part these shall connect with the political Executive and other parts of government.
Lastly, the existing system of civil services is facing structural anomalies, and the civil service reformers have never solved them. Hence, rule two concerning the structural alignment of civil service is critical for the objectives of civil service reforms.
Rule 3 of Civil Service Reforms: Cadre Management of Civil Service
Civil service is the executing machine of the legislation, delegated legislation, policies and regulations. Thus, the civil service perpetrates regulatory, executing and enforcing tasks and operations. Civil service performs characteristic functions according to the purposes of the service. Then, it comprises the civil servants to perform those functions. Civil servants require individual positions to accomplish the purposes of the Civil Service. Hence, each position is a post. As there are horizontal and vertical positions, a civil service requires a cadre or schedule of posts to perform the functions of the service. Hence, the schedule or cadre of civil service must approximate the specialized functions of the civil service.
What is a post? A post is a position with a specific job description. Accordingly, a post has a respective hierarchical placement with vertical and horizontal precedences according to the Post’s objectives in executing laws and policies. Hence, Post is an official position with a specific job description۔ it’s a sort of paid employment in which a person is placed on duty for carrying out a particular functional activity۔ What is a cadre? A cadre is generally a collection of analogous posts in nature. However, these similar posts to execute the objectives of a civil service may vary in hierarchy or division. Cadre means a separate functional unit of civil service. Hence, cadre means a group of posts or a part of such group sanctioned as a separate unit of an organization or a department.
Progressive compilation of cadre is the primary cause of civil service reforms. Consequently, cadre formation quality is directly proportional to the executing objectives of a civil service formed under specific execution plans. Reforming a cadre of civil service is the fundamental objective of civil service reforms. Civil service reformers must comprehend the cadre scheme of civil service. Civil service’s whole concept and structure are implementing and executing the law and policies. Therefore, the placement of posts into a cadre is vital for the executing functionality of a civil service. Then, the proposition raises a fundamental question. Why and how should the posts be placed in a cadre or civil service schedule?
The Post, cadre, Service and subject alignment are indispensable for the execution of laws and policies. Thus, posts must be identical in substance, edifice, structure and construction. As the execution and implementation of the subject relating to schedule IV of the constitution through legislation, delegated legislation and policies are concerned; so, the posts comprising the cadre must incorporate the substance and motif of the cadre, service and subjects. A cadre is a functional unit and must have applicable posts. Irrelevant and non-functional posts in a cadre shall create a functional obstruction for the civil service. Thus, it is inevitable to place functional posts in the cadre of Civil Service to meet the objectives of civil service. Reforming the cadre means putting up those posts which enhance the alignment & functional capacity of the service. Erratic & irrelevant posts must be separate from a cadre. It must comprise exact posts of the same nature.
What is a general cadre? It simply means compiling a cadre with different, distinct and erratic posts. It means the reservation of posts belonging to various organizations and departments. Furthermore, it also includes the federal, provincial and local posts in a cadre. Hence, the general cadre creates structural and constitutional anomalies. The civil services in Pakistan comprise general cadres, which is the primary reason for dysfunctional civil services. What is a scheme for the reservation of posts? This scheme allows a specific cadre of service to reserve posts of other cadres or services in order to absorb all the lucrative posts. This reservation of posts can extend to all federal, provincial, and local government departments. The scheme’s objective is to control all tiers of the government to create a centralized cartel that is unaccountable to organizations, governments and people. For example, the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) cadre represents the same scheme to control federal, provincial and local governments. The method enables PAS to be federal and provincial secretaries alongside deputy and assistant commissioners. This colonial scheme renders grave legal, administrative and constitutional infringements. British incorporated the scheme in the constitution of 1935 through article 246, but Pakistan never incorporated it.
The scheme halts the proficiency of the organizations because a general cadre of lucrative posts is established on their posts. The purpose of the general cadre is to control organizations and develop a fast mode of vertical mobility. PAS has developed a general cadre so that each PAS officer reaches the zenith of grade 22, despite compromising organizational autonomy, federalism and constitution. The General cadre of PAS is the primary reason not to establish specialized services. Then, the provincial civil services like the Provincial Management Service PMS and others also comprise general cadres. Hence, these general cadre services have become dysfunctional owing to the specialized nature of tasks in modern administrative governance.
What is a specialized cadre? A specialized cadre comprises the posts of a specialized agency, institution or department. The cluster of posts is similar, comparable and equivalent. Generally, the posts belong to the exact agency, organization or department. Specialized cadres must replace the general cadres. Civil service reformers must focus on the specialization of cadres. It is the primary requisite to reform the civil services. The compilation and selection of functional posts into a cadre of civil service is the hallmark of an effective civil service reforms initiative. Then, there is also a difference between a specialized cadre and a specialized bureaucracy. Either general or specialized, the civil servants shall remain civil servants. General and specialized civil servants are the same product. The difference is only the administrative recruitment, training, skill and work application. The Civil Service in Pakistan primarily requires specialized cadres. If specialized cadres are in place, they shall follow the specialized bureaucracy. Hence, the formulation of specialized cadres is the prerequisite of civil service reforms.
Then, there needs to be more clarity about specialized civil Services. In most public departments, specialized administrative wings exist, and engineers, doctors, or professionals are heading these wings. For example, in the health department, there is an administrative secretary along with a technical or specialized director general of health services. However, the problem is that they need help to perform the administrative-specialized functions of the department. The secretary lacks technical skills, and the DG lacks administrative skills. It requires a person who has both technical and administrative skills. Therefore, medical administrators should be the civil servants of the health department. Neither a doctor nor a generalist civil servant is the specialized person to perform the administrative-technical functions of the health department. Therefore, specialized cadres are critical to ensure specialized bureaucracy. Hence, specialized civil services mean creating specialized cadres of specialized administrators.
The other substantial part of cadre management is the admission, mobility and dismissal from the cadre. It is an essential part of civil service reforms. Civil Service Reforms must provide a competitive and transparent mode to enter and leave the cadre. Therefore, entry into a civil service cadre must be competitive. The promotion, absorption, transfer, deputation or other entry modes into a cadre must assimilate transparent competition. Then, tier vertical mobility must also be competitive. Each step of vertical mobility must have competitive lateral entry. Specialized cadres in place of general cadres shall fetch more professional administrators into the fold of Civil Service. Then, the dismissal of civil servants from the cadre is critical for the smooth functioning of cadre objectives. The only way to purge the cadre of corrupt, inefficient and unproductive civil servants is to ensure vertical mobility on competition and transparency. All those who fail the standards of vertical mobility must be dismissed, and new entrants might replace them in the cadre. Hence, cadre management is the elemental prerequisite of the Civil Service’s functionality.
Distribution of posts vertically and horizontally in a cadre for service mobility is the hallmark of service delivery: The processes of encaderization, rationalization, distribution, upgradation, and proportional division of posts are vital for civil service reforms. If the process of civil service reforms cannot reform the cadre management of the posts, it simply means the process is defective and inefficient. Hence, rule no three concerning the cadre management of civil service is paramount to civil service reforms.
Rule Four of the Civil Service Reforms: Reforming Code Law of the Civil Services
In the legal context, codification is collecting and restating a jurisdiction’s legislation in prescribed areas, commonly by matter, into a law framework, like a codex or book of the law. In civil law approaches, codification is a compulsory element. Codification revises administrative and judicial discretions into statutory law in common law systems. With this characterization, civil law countries depend on codification processes.
It simply means to code or writes the law of discretion. Written laws are critical in the countries like Pakistan, which are maturing as nation-states. Coded or written law helps to remove inconsistencies, contradictions, and ambiguities in the legal system; hence, codification is essential for the rule of law. Professionals and the general public benefit from codification since it provides a unified source of information that is easily accessible and implementable. Thus, codification is gathering rules or laws to construct a logical code. Codification is a technique for converting judicial or administrative decisions or pertinent laws into codified law. Typically, the approach does not lead to the production of a new law. It codifies existing law, which is customarily by subject.
Pakistan is a coded society. Hence, all customary, discretionary and directory laws should have coded arrangements. Pakistan’s civil services are without coded laws and depend upon political, judicial and bureaucratic unwritten and uncodified laws. What to talk of coded law, even these are without substantive laws. Article 240 of the constitution provides the substantive law for creating civil service. So far, most of the civil services still need substantive laws. There are federal and provincial civil servants acts; however, these accord to civil servants’ terms and conditions, not establishing and executing the civil services. Firstly, civil service reforms should have substantive, delegated, and executive laws, and then these law regimes must be codified to provide fluency, transparency and translucency.
Civil services can not function without coded laws. Laws must furnish jurisdiction, competency, immunity and enforceability. The worst nightmare for civil servants is that they have to perform several tasks without law support or availability. The system functions on the discretion than coded law. Especially in field operations, no coded laws exist and administrative operations are carried out on administrative necessities and compulsions. Codification or systematization of law is compiling and restating a jurisdiction’s law in specific areas, typically by theme, to create a legal code. Coded law is critical to prevent municipalities or field administrations from implementing duplicated or inconsistent new regulations. Codification assists the civil servants in seeing the system of law as a collective operational dispensation and notices any shortfalls that may necessitate laws.
Civil servants in Pakistan perform their functions without substantive and codified laws. Unlike the judiciary, where the whole system hinges upon the coded law, the civil service operates in a legal vacuum. For example, irrespective of the constitutional argument, the officers of district administration in Pakistan need more support and power of coded law. The job description is the first part of the coded law of civil service. Then, what is the codified job description of a deputy commissioner in a district? He may be the district collector or the coordinating officer of the provincial government in a district. Then, he performs almost all local, provincial and federal government tasks. He neither has the jurisdiction, powers, resources, nor immunity to perform such tasks. Hence, the whole system expects him to perform all the tasks and punishes him for failure. How can a deputy commissioner function without the support of coded law? How can he perform as a district administrator, economist, agriculturist, industrialist, educationist and much more? How can he be the implementing machine of all the local, provincial and federal departments without the support of coded law? Therefore, this coded law vacuum has rendered the office of deputy commissioner ineffective, and resultantly no writ of the state exists. Hence, there needs to be an administrative and legal correlation between the deputy commissioner’s office and the coded operations law.
The argument does not favour supporting or keeping any office intact. The offices are administrative units. Administrative compulsions and innovations require creating, substituting, amending and overhauling the offices. The argument is that the administrative offices must have legal support by the coded law. All laws must be in writing and arranged to dispose of the operations of such offices effectively. The mergence of substantive law, delegated law and operation law into codification is the hallmark of a delivery system. Codifying laws does not mean creating complexities but ensuring smooth precision and arrangement of laws.
Further, it empowers and supports civil servants to perform all tasks of execution and implementation. Thus, civil service reform means incorporating and merging all the discretionary laws into the coded law regimes. Civil service reforms are a complex proposition. As civil service is the implementing machine of the legislature, political executive and judiciary, it requires a correlation among all these organs of the government. The only way the civil service can corroborate with all other organs is through codifying the laws. This codification shall deter the discretionary power of all these organs on the civil servants, and the latter shall perform their functions with organizational autonomy strictly in line with operational law. Discretion is not law; the only way it can be law is through codification. Civil servants must know that discretion has ruined their institution, and they have become extraneous. They must struggle for the codification of the law. They require coded support for enforceability, execution and implementation.
Consequently, the coded law is inseparable from civil service operations. The first task is a codification of law and discretion. The recodification processes should also follow it. Recodification refers to a process where existing codified statutes are reformatted and rewritten into a new codified structure. It is often necessary as, over time, the legislative process of amending statutes and the legal process of construing statutes by nature over time results in a code that contains archaic terms, superseded text, and redundant or conflicting statutes. Due to the size of a typical government code, the legislative process of recodification of a code can often take longer times. Coded civil service law provides fluency, precision and transparency in administrative operations. The application shall enhance the capacity of the system. It shall also ensure transparency among civil servants. How can civil service work without coded law?
In view of the foregoing, civil service requires two coded law classes. The first coded law class must harmonize the terms and conditions of the civil services. Then the second class of coded law must regulate the administrative operations of the civil service. Applying coded law in the jurisdictions, operations, limits, boundaries, and perimeters is critical for reforming civil service. Once the coded law defines civil service limits, it shall come out of the clutches of the legislature, political executive and judiciary. A governance system can only function with checks and balances. The coded law ensures it. Therefore, civil service reformers must incorporate the coded law, as a rule, no four to the cause of civil service reformation. Civil service needs empowerment and protection so that they can be held accountable. Accountability without authorization shall lead to failure.
What are the writ of a state and the role of civil service? “Writ of the government” means that the laws enacted by the government are implemented and that the civil servants in charge of implementing those laws are protected. Where there is no writ, there is anarchy because laws are not obeyed, and government-appointed individuals become powerless. Therefore, coded law is also essential for civil service to implement the writ of a state. The state must implement its writ with a codified civil service. Hence, rule no four regarding the coded civil service law is critical for reforming civil service. The civil service reformers in Pakistan never deliberate upon this vital issue of the civil service. How can civil service perform without coded protections and regimes?
The fifth rule of civil service reforms is the comprehensive model of the terms and conditions of the civil services.
The terms and conditions of Rule five of the civil service reforms: Reforming the terms and conditions of the civil services
Civil service reforms are directly proportional to the objectives of the civil service as the latter is implementing machinery for the law regimes, so the terms and conditions of civil service must identify with the objectives of the civil service. A state performs several functions through lawful governance models; it is a prerequisite to establishing all the institutions accordingly. All institutions implement the objectives, and the implementing machinery is the civil service. Therefore, each institution requires inherent civil service, and its terms and conditions must reflect its objectives. These institutions contrast in the objectives of science, defense, culture, foreign relations, agriculture, industry, human resource and many more. Thus, the specialized cadres must reflect the substantive objectives of the institutions.
Pakistan is a federation. Thus, federal, provincial and local institutions have assorted and manifold functions. How can a combined competitive examination feed the intricacies of all these institutions? A generalized competitive examination mode can not reminisce the ability and capacity of the professionals who may be the best human resource for recruitment in civil service. Hence, the general method of competitive Examination of civil services is extraneous to the objectives of the institutions. As institutions are the implementing structures of subjects per schedule IV of the constitution, legal and structural alignment is paramount for constructing and reforming a civil service.
It is crucial to restructure the competition examination of the federation and provinces. It mandates the transformation of a specialized assessment into a generalist examination. How can the civil servants of foreign service, audit and accounts and police be selected through the same mode of Examination? Even if the whole method can not transform to the specialized objectives of the services, at least reform it to the core requirements of the administrative compulsions. The core administration tasks are almost the same in all organizations; therefore, the Examination’s essence shall meet the administration’s challenges rather than cramming the English essays and grammar. Hence, restructuring the whole competitive examination system may be the prerequisite for civil service reforms.
A Civil Service is a permanent part of the executive in a sovereign state. It is the permanent professional branch of a state’s administration, excluding military and judicial branches and elected politicians. Civil servants or administrators are the implementers of the policies of a government. Hence, the civil service is the implementing machine of a government. Consequently, specialized and skilled civil services are vital to the cause of good governance and service delivery.
Recruitment of competent, enterprising, professional civil servants is central to the functional recruitment apparatus. Quality of recruitment is directly proportionate to the standards of the recruitment process. Consequently, It is essential to dissect the prerequisite demands of civil services before recruiting civil servants.
Civil services require administrative, executive, technical and managerial skills; therefore, the mode of Examination should necessarily translate these critical skills. Then, civil servants are administrators duly needed to implement the government policies according to administrative structures, requiring an apposite recruitment mode.
To begin with, Pakistan is a coded society. Coded law, either substantive or procedural, is applied to the administrative regimes of the governance system. A civil servant must develop professional skills in coded law, such as articulating legislation and regulation, using rules and policy and implementing the coded law regimes across administrative structures. Against this discerning organizational capacity, the existing recruitment mode is general, not specialized. The syllabus is directly in conflict with the demands of the civil service. It is inapt to recruit civil servants on the competency of essay, general knowledge and writing skills. How can English grammarians be recruited as compact civil servants?
Civil services examinations are in denial mode to the ever-changing dimensions of civil services. How can an essayist, and that too in the English language, make a better civil servant? How can a crammer of facts make a better civil servant? How can narrative expression be more vital for a civil servant when he is required to implement law and governance modules? How can a civil servant be recruited without knowledge of coded law and administrative skills?
The existing recruitment mechanism needs to reflect the dexterous capacity of the civil service. Even the much-hyped central superior service (CSS) or Provincial Management Service (PMS) examinations do not relate to the necessities of civil services. Consequently, the recruited civil servants need help to grasp the administrative acquaintance of governance and administration. Then, the technical or specialized expertise needs also to be incorporated.
Competitive civil service examinations require instantaneous revamping and restructuring of the syllabus. There is a dire need to assimilate the civil service-coded attributes into the syllabus and mode of recruitment processes. Redundant compulsory and optional subjects should be replaced with focused, specialized governance and service delivery subjects. Arguably, civil service reformers may incorporate the mandatory following subject modules into the syllabus of competitive examinations in place of existing generalist subjects. Analytical analysis of the constitution of Pakistan may be introduced as a primary compulsory subject for competitive examinations. Topics relating to legislation, law and policy-making, alongside deriving delegated legislation, may be incorporated into the syllabus. Then, subjects like administrative law, financial law, implementation law, contract law, civil and criminal law, and administrative and procedural law are also instrumental in the syllabus. Competitive Examination must incorporate the coded law of the governance system. A civil servant shall only be competent with skills in applying coded law.
Besides, public financial management, project management and planning management are required to be incorporated as fundamental subjects of competitive Examination. A dynamic civil servant always develops innovative skills for administrative structures essential for good governance and service delivery. Public administration, Human Resource Management, and infotech management may be a compulsory part of the syllabus of competitive examinations. Civil service reformers should incorporate subjects like local government, devolution, federalism and political management in the syllabus of competitive examinations. Incorporating these civil service subjects shall make the examinations focused and enhance the capacity of the civil servants.
Unfortunately, existing competitive examinations are euphemistic expressions of the English language. They represent class patronage of fashionable English-speaking cults. It is structural discrimination that Urdu is not allowed as a medium of Examination. Candidates should be allowed to appear both in English and Urdu. Let English paraphrasers not dictate the terms of the competitive examinations!
Civil services are directly linked to the people, and the best mode of communication is either local languages or Urdu. Civil service is all about communicating with people to settle their issues in implementation. The practice of English is limited to summaries, presentations or official communication; hence, the usage is limited to the administrative demands of civil services in Pakistan.
Civil services epitomize more assertive conduct, attitude and posture. A comprehensive psychological analysis of civil servants is critical to the recruitment process. The current mode of crossing the candidates’ emotional intelligence needs to be more instinctive and substantive. The psychological analysis of the candidates has been surreptitious because candidates securing better-written marks are winning the competitive processes. Administrative and emotional inclinations are not translated for the choice of relevant civil services. Psychosocial analysis should lead to the will to allocate various service groups. Is it not bizarre that only securing more marks results in administering a group of choice despite having different emotional or administrative inclinations?
Civil service is less about writing skills and more about communicating abilities. Barely communication skills are translated into the recruitment process. A casual sitting of half an hour in an interview shall not demonstrate the communicational skills of a candidate. Efficient recruitment entails demonstrative interviews rather than descriptive or narrative interviews. A civil servant accomplished in communication is an influential civil servant. Henceforth, there is a dire need to reconcile the civil service necessities with recruitment processes and examination modes.
The primary reason behind the low quality of civil servants is the existing general mode of Examination. Civil service is a specialized faculty, and it is a prerequisite to revamp the civil service examinations according to civil service obligations involving written Examination, psychological analysis and interview. The specialized mode of administration and technical skills may be an integral part of the Examination. Whether it is specialized, semi-specialized, or even generalist recruitment, the Examination must contain the objectives of the civil services.
Moreover, the existing CSS examination is the product of administrative reforms by Mr Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1973. These reforms specifically inserted Articles 240 and 242 in the constitution of Pakistan. Article 240 (a) provides that an organic act of the Parliament shall regulate the services and posts of the Federation and All-Pakistan Services. Article 242 provides that the Federal Public Service Commission FPSC will be established for the federation’s affairs regarding recruitment and examination conduct. Hence, the Federal Public Service Commission FPSC is the constitutional body to recruit the various groups of so-called central superior services. Competently, FPSC shall recruit for posts connected with the federation’s affairs. Oppositely, Provincial Public Service Commission ordinances shall constitutionally recruit for the posts connected with the affairs of a province. Then, the compilation of various groups by the Establishment Division and subsequent recruitment by the FPSC must substantiate the domains of FPSC and PPSC. But this constitutional position is being violated by recruiting Pakistan Administrative Service PAS, Pakistan Police Service PSP, and Pakistan Accounts Service to the extent of provincial posts. Even the recruitment of Pakistan Railways under the banner of Federal groups is invalid as Railways is a CCI subject according to FLL part II read with articles 153 and 154 of the constitution. Hence, CSS should be reorganized according to the federal structures of the constitution of Pakistan. Hence, competitive examinations of the FPSC and PPSCs must incorporate the constitutional, legal and structural obligations.
After recruiting the best human resource, their training is essential to the growth and development of civil service. There exist common and special training programs for civil servants. Like recruitment, training must also reciprocate the objectives of the civil service. Therefore, more than common training programmes are needed. The training of civil servants must identify the objectives of the civil service. Then, academies must impart training at all levels of growth according to modern requirements. The processes of probation, confirmation and validation must include competition and merit. Generally, all civil servants pass the training and confirmation processes. Hence, it is required that training academies must ensure the merit and fail all those who are not able to pass the training programs.
Appointments through transfer, promotion, posting, deputation, absorption and placement must uphold the canons of merit and coded law. Erratic and ex-cadre appointments ruin the fabric of civil service. It is the fundamental requirement that civil service reforms must ensure the coded guarantees for the appointment process. The condition of promotion is critical for the development of civil service. The principle of seniority cum fitness for the promotion process must replace an open competition with the lateral entry of professionals. The growth within a civil service cadre must ensure a competitive process. This only reforming method shall enhance the quality and capacity of the civil service.
Conduct rules and performance evaluation reports do regulate civil servants. Existing conduct rules are illegal as these take lifeforce from the 1962 constitution. The constitution of 1973 provides fundamental rights to all citizens, including civil servants. Therefore, civil service conduct rules must incorporate the constitution’s fundamental rights. Presently, the governance system denies civil servants all fundamental rights, especially freedom of expression and association. Civil servants can play a significant role in society if they can contribute to society’s realms of social and cultural dispensations. Significantly, they may be held accountable for their administrative work, yet they may have the liberty to pursue other pursuits. For example, it is one of the compulsions that civil servants can not do business. How can the government deny this right to a civil servant? Yes, he is accountable for his public administrative work, but he is also at liberty to perform his other pursuits. Hence, the government can not snatch his fundamental freedom and personal employment rights. Thus, it is essential for civil service reforms to incorporate fundamental rights into the conduct rules of civil service.
Then, there is a need to enhance the assessment standards of the performance of civil servants. The existing assessment criteria are defective and subjective. Article 212 provides for the establishment of administrative tribunals. It has never been talked about reforming the administrative tribunals. Impartial and specialized administrative judges are essential for the cause of civil service. Administrative tribunals can lead to ensuring transparency, performance and merit. The PER system should have better standards of objective assessments. There is also a need to enhance the capacity of the federal Establishment Division and provincial services and general administration departments. Civil service reforms do not mean recruiting the able human resource but reforming all the relevant laws, organizations and dispensations. Then, civil services are dependent upon other supporting and technical services. Supporting services in secretariats are not required as civil servants must enhance their capacity to perform administrative tasks. Hence, reforming supportive and technical services is equally significant for civil service performance. Therefore, abolishing the class system in civil services is essential. These feeding cadres obstruct the performance; therefore, civil service cadres must now incorporate the official tasks of clerks, stenographers and superintendents.
The last term and condition of civil service is the incentive. Civil services enjoy more perks and privileges than salary packages. The culture of perks and privileges obstructs the performance of the civil service. Hence, civil service reformers must ensure to end the culture with market-based salaries. The existing system is unjust for many honest and dedicated civil servants. There is a need to reform the governance system so that honest and talented civil servants can play a better role. Monetizing facilities with market-based salaries shall propel motivation for honest civil servants to perform effectively. The culture of perks and privileges must end for merit and transparency in the civil service. Hence, all terms and conditions of the civil services must incorporate the objectives of the civil service. These must also correlate with the civil service’s constitutional, structural, coded and legal structures.
Hence, five principle rules for civil service reforms are concluded.
