DECENTRALIZATION REFORMS OF PAKISTAN’S CIVIL BUREAUCRACY

(A STO RY O F 1 0 -YEARS EXPERIENCE WITH NEW PO LICY AND PLAN)

Muhammad IshaqueMEP11127Country: Pakistan One year’s Masters in Public Policy Student at GRIPS, Tokyo / Civil Services officer in Pakistan

Outline2

Public Management Overview of Pakistan Decentralization based on New Public

Management idea Decentralization plan: salient features Revised set-up after Decentralization Stakeholders involved Plan formulation and implementation process How did the change work? Reason for failure

Public Management Overview of Pakistan:

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Federal state structure with Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoonkhuwa as Provinces (Federating Units), Islamabad & Federally administered tribal areas

Provinces divided administratively into Divisions, each Division comprised of 5-6 Districts

Total 27 Divisions in four provinces

Overview (Contd…)

Pre-devolution set up at provincial administration level B) Division/District Level

A) Provincial Headquarter

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Overview (Contd…)5

Civil Bureaucrats as Administrative Head of Ministry/Agency/Provinces

Divisional Commissioner supervising the whole Division, answerable to Chief Secretary of the Province

Deputy Commissioner as the administrative head of District level, answerable to Divisional Commissioner

Strong administrative authority at District and Divisional level in the provinces

Control of police and judicial powers Powers of revenue collection and land administration Management of development fund allocated to

parliamentarians

Overview (Contd….)6

Issues that led to reform thinkingBritain’s Colonial administration systemLow accountability of bureaucrats to public and

for actionsNo grass-root level representation in policy and

decision-making processNon-existence of Local Government as third governmental tierCentralized mechanism of public services

provision and policy-making

Devolution of Power

Decentralization of Management Functions

Decentralization of Administrative Authority

Decentralization based on New Public Management idea

5 Ds

Distribution of resources to district levels

Diffusion of power-Authority Nexus

Decentralization Plan: salient features8

Military government of Gen ® Musharraf initiated Decentralization reforms in 2000Creation of third tier of government i.e. local government with council, budget, etc. with Nazim as Head of governmentAbolished the positions of Divisional Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner – replacement with District Coordination Officer (DCO) at District levelSeparation of Police and judicial powers from District Administration

Decentralization Plan: salient features

Essential basic services devolved from provincial governments to Local Govts – Health, Education, Agriculture, Revenue, etc.DCO and other district level officers accountable to Nazim and District Assembly, as well as to Chief Secretary Qualification for candidacy of Nazim just 10 years schoolingDistrict Assembly to receive budget grants from Provincial government and allocate

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Revised set-up after Decentralization (Contd….)

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A) Structure of State B) Structure of District Govt

Stakeholders involved11

Institution Roles and responsibilities

Chief Executive/Prime Minister(Gen ® Musharraf)

Vision, approval of the composition and tasks for Provincial Transition Teams

National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB)

Design and formulation of plan and responsible to ensure implementation

Provincial Governments Coordination and providing support to NRB and implementation of structure through Provincial Transition Teams in each province

Pakistan Army • Monitoring of the whole plan formulation and implementation process

• Membership in each Provincial Transition Team

Stakeholders (Contd….)12

Leader’s Vision“To empower people and hold public offices

accountable to public and ensure service delivery at the doorstep of people” –

General Musharraf 2000

Came in Power in 1999 and left in 2008 after the defeat of his favorite political party in general election

Stakeholders (Contd….)

Composition and Role of NRBChaired by an Army GeneralHired consultants at national levelDesign of devolution plan and implementation Provide Support to federal and provincial

governments in implementation of decentralization or devolution reformsinteract with the Government organizations for

institutionalizing capacity building of local governments at all levelsPropose reconstruction of civil services

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Stakeholders (Contd….)

Composition and Roles of Provincial Transition Teamsa) CompositionExecutive arm of the Governor of the Province

Minister for Local GovernmentAdditional Chief SecretarySecretary, Local GovernmentBrigadier from the Armyb) Roles

Ensure gradual decentralization; formation of District Transition Teams for support at District level

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Plan formulation and implementation process

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Given the vision of Gen ® Musharraf, NRB’s consultation with Provincial Governors and Chief SecretariesDrafting of plan by the consultantsPresented to the Chief Executive (C.E) through Prime Minister Secretariat and approval of C.E and Local Government Ordinance, 2000 issuedVisionVision

Plan DraftingPlan

DraftingConsultati

onConsultati

on

Approval of C.E

Approval of C.E

Implementation by Governors

Implementation by Governors

Plan formulation and implementation process (Contd…)

Bureaucracy resisted, but strong commitment of Prime Minister made it possibleProvincial Transition Teams created Transition Teams at District Level under the Chairmanship of DCOTransition teams worked for transfer of assets, employees from Divisional to District GovtsWeekly meetings of Transition team to review the progress of implementationComplete implementation of revised structure in 2001

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How did the change work?

Services decentralizedRepresentation of people in decision-making through District CouncilHowever, morale of bureaucracy was loweredlaw and order situation aggravatedLocal government to depend on provincial government for budget and administrative issues

Civil services at District level not formedSystem failed and could not deliver

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Reasons for failure

Design of system for safeguard of personal interestNo involvement of civil bureaucracy

NRB with no feedback from the most affected stakeholders, i.e. no policy ownership by civil bureaucracy

Bureaucracy answerable to less qualified elected representatives under the policyConcurrence of District Nazim mandatory for appointment of DCO and other executive staff

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Reason for failure (Contd….)

Without capacity building of civil service officers, such radical structural change proved detrimental to the public servicesMajor political parties did not accept the systemDecentralization of only provincial functions – already limited Unclear administrative responsibilities between local and provincial governments

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Reason for failure (Contd….)

Formulation of plan without provinces consultationNo effective administrative control of provincial government over local governments Poor coordination between provincial and local governments

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Thank you

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