INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, QUETTA

11thMid Career Management Course07

Public Policy Implementation and Role of Civil Servants (A Critical Evaluation)

Muhammad Aslam

A paper submitted to the Faculty of the National Institute of Management, Quetta in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the 11The contents of this paper are the end product of my own efforts and research and reflect my own personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the National Institute of Management.

Signature………………….…..……

INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PAPER (IRP)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, QUETTA

Mid Career Management Course 07th March to 11th June, 2011

Public Policy Implementation and Role of Civil Servants (A Critical Evaluation)

By

Muhammad Aslam Tareen BCS

A paper submitted to the Faculty of the National Institute of Management, Quetta in partial ent of the requirements of the 11thMid-Career Management Course.

The contents of this paper are the end product of my own efforts and research and reflect my own personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the National Institute of Management.

Signature………………….…..…………………… Date: ………………………………….

Paper supervised by: Syeda

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, QUETTA

Public Policy Implementation and Role of Civil Servants

A paper submitted to the Faculty of the National Institute of Management, Quetta in partial Management Course.

The contents of this paper are the end product of my own efforts and research and reflect my own personal views and are not necessarily endorsed by the National Institute of Management.

……………… Date: ………………………………….

by: Syeda Mubin Fatima

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PREFACE

Public policy formulation and implementation in Pakistan is a very sensitive issue. Pakistan is a country in a transitional process from under-developed to developing its democratic, social, political and bureaucratic cultures and norms.

The performance of civil servants has always remained unproductive as for as public policy’s proper formulation and implementation is concerned. Our civil servants lack efficiency, effectiveness, capability and dedication, whereas our system of governance is suffering deficiencies in accountability and transparency. Poor governance in Pakistan is the major cause of public policy’s failure at operational and tactical level.

The study highlights the same efforts which the Government in general and The National School of Public Policy in particular have taken to design the training institutions and modules for capacity building of civil servants so as to groom their skills of professionalism and leadership for better service delivery as operational managers of public policy.

The nature of the research demanded the comparison of Pakistan with the developed nations of the world and the past with the present and ultimately leading to a critical analysis. It was my utmost try to be more rational and balanced while confronting with the integers in analysis.

The relevant data has been collected from the websites of United Nation’s, World Bank, Transparency International and International Crisis Group focusing upon Public Policy issues. Some general books were also consulted in order to develop a contextual background. Books of high standard available in the library of National Institute of Management, Quetta were of great help which made me able to comprehend the issue in its totality.

During the research the guidance and cooperation extended by the Director General, NIM, Quetta, Mir Javed Iqbal, Faculty Advisor Syeda Mubin Fatima and ADS (T&C) Maj ® Saleem Baloch was of a high level and without their cooperation I was not in a position to materialize the ideas which at present this paper has done. I am also very thankful to the Chief Instructor Mr. Nazar Muhammad Kakar whose initial discussion over the topic and full time supervision helped me to grasp the issue.

(Muhammad Aslam Tareen) BCS

11th MCMC, NIM, Quetta May 2011

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Public policies are articulated by the state to address the public issues. There are three

components in developing public policy; issues, actors and policy. It is the finalized course of

action decided upon by the government. The legislature formulate policy, whereas, the civil

servants are responsible for its successful implementation to achieve the goals elaborated in the

policy. The study of public policy began in 1922, when Charles Merriam, a political scientist

sought to build a link between political theory and its application to reality. Numerous issues are

addressed by public policy, including national and internal security, education, foreign policy,

health, trade and commerce, finance and social welfare. In Pakistan public policies are usually

designed both by the legislature and executive. Pakistan’s bureaucracy plays pivotal role in not

only tactical and operational level but also in policymaking. Unfortunately, public policies have

always been a failure in Pakistan because of mismanagement, bureaucratic and political

corruption, inefficiency of civil servants on tactical and operational level and above all lack of

transparency and consistency in public policy formulation and implementation. Civil servants are

often allegedly held responsible for policy failure. Governments have endeavored for human

resource development and tandem reforms in civil services, yet the required goals were not

achieved. The recent step to address the issue of civil servants capacity building was abolition of

the National Institute of Public Administration and formation of the National School of Public

Policy, with its constituent units of National Institute of Management at Lahore, Karachi,

Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad. The aim of NSPP is to achieve the goals set out in the

Millennium Declaration of the General Assembly of United Nation’s Organization, which calls

for an efficient and effective public administration, as well as for sound governance system. That

entails adopting proactive measures to develop enabling policy frameworks, enhance human

resource capacity, and promote the use of new technologies, set up performance measurement

and evaluation system, overhaul administrative structures and design adequate patterns for the

collection of internationally comparable, reliable and accurate data for policy making purposes.

Furthermore, it aims to constantly upgrade the skills, develop leadership qualities, emphasize

mobility, integrity and professionalism and override claims of merit in the recruitment,

placement and promotions of public servants, who are indeed the operation managers of

successful public policies.

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Table of Contents PREFACE ......................................................................................................................................................... i

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. ii

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 1

Statement of Problem ............................................................................................................................... 1

Significance and Scope of the Study ......................................................................................................... 2

Review of the Literature ............................................................................................................................ 2

Methodology ............................................................................................................................................. 3

Organization of Paper ............................................................................................................................... 3

SECTION1 ....................................................................................................................................................... 4

Process, Implementation and the Role of Civil Servants in Public Policy ..................................................... 4

1.1 Public Policy Processes ........................................................................................................................ 4

1.2 Implementation of Public Policy ......................................................................................................... 7

1.3 Role of Civil Servants/Bureaucrats ...................................................................................................... 7

SECTION 2 .................................................................................................................................................... 10

Capacity Building of Civil Servants .............................................................................................................. 10

2.1 Functional Specialization and Career-Orientation ............................................................................ 10

2.2 Human Resource Development ........................................................................................................ 11

2.3 Capacity Building of Civil Servants .................................................................................................... 13

SECTION 3 .................................................................................................................................................... 15

Civil Services in Pakistan .............................................................................................................................. 15

3.1 Civil Services Reforms ........................................................................................................................ 15

3.2 Civil Servants and Public Policy Process in Pakistan .......................................................................... 17

3.3 Grooming of Civil Servants in Pakistan .............................................................................................. 19

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................... 21

RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................. 22

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................. 23

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INTRODUCTION

In any society, governmental entities enact laws, make policies, and allocate resources.

This is true at all levels. Public policy can be generally defined as a system of laws, regulatory

measures, courses of action, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a

governmental entity or its representatives. The legislator develops public policy in terms of laws,

regulations, decisions, and actions. There are three parts to public policy making i.e. problems,

players, and the policy. The problem is the issue that needs to be addressed. The player is the

individual or group that is influential in forming a plan to address the problem in question.

Policies are the finalized course of action decided upon by the government. The rational model

for the public policymaking process can be divided into three parts i.e. agenda-setting, option-

formulation, and implementation. Within the agenda-setting stage, the agencies and government

officials meet to discuss the problem at hand. In the second stage, option-formulation, alternative

solutions are considered and final decisions are made regarding the best policy. Consequently,

the decided policy is implemented in the final stage.

Policy implementation is an important component of the public policy process. The

implementation stage of the policy process is by definition an operational phase where policy is

actually translated into action with the hope of solving some public problem. Administrative

decision-making has a significant impact – the determination of who receives benefits and who is

restricted as a result of the implementation of any policy. The bureaucracy is delegated a

significant degree of power during the implementation stage of the policy process because of its

indiscretion in interpreting the actual intent, method, and scope of a policy decision. But the most

important factor in public policy process is its proper and successful implementation which

wholly relies upon the capacity and professional skills of the civil servants who play the pivotal

role in such public assignments at tactical and operational level.

Statement of Problem Public policy is an attempt by the government to address public issues. The government,

whether it is city, state, provincial or federal, develops public policy in terms of laws,

regulations, decisions, and actions. Implementation of the policy is the responsibility of the

public administration for optimum benefits of the masses. Public policy Implementation is

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increasingly being scrutinized due to its crucial role especially in the delivery of programmes.

Therefore, much need to be understood in developing an adequate understanding of the

difference between theory and practice when civil servants implement policy.

The successful achievement of the goals set for public policy calls for an efficient and

effective public administration, which depends on well-functioning institutional structures as

much as on skilled, dedicated and highly motivated public servants. Their skills need to be

constantly upgraded and leadership qualities enhanced, and new career structures that emphasize

mobility, integrity and professionalism must be developed to elaborate and implement reforms

for social and economic development or an efficient and effective public administration, as well

as for sound governance systems.

Human resource capacity plays critical role in public management. As the concepts are

rapidly changing, consequently, public sector employees need to be able to interpret and adapt

those trends to their national context and increase their capacity to analyze future trends in order

to take a proactive rather than reactive approach to minimize the issues and challenges in the

implementation of public policy. This research paper will critically evaluate the role of civil

servants in the implementation of public policy, particularly by highlighting the gapes of

professional skills to undertake the public assignments at tactical level.

Significance and Scope of the Study It is a proven fact that highly qualified and professionally skilled civil servants are key to

the successful implementation of a public policy. The countries having such professionally

skilled human resource have faster economic growth and development as compare to the

countries where capacity building of civil servants is neglected. Keeping in view the theory that

the economy and progress in the present day is led by the proper implementation of public

policies, the importance of professionally skilled human resource in underdeveloped countries

like Pakistan cannot be set aside. The study highlights the weaknesses as well as the strengths

which Pakistan is facing in proper implementation of public policies. The focus of the study is

the capacity building issues of the civil servants with regard to the implementation of Public

Policy in Pakistan.

Review of the Literature Good governance initiatives towards successful formulation and implementation of

public policies are linked to three important relationships: leadership-people, people-leaders,

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people-people1.Although not the only factor shaping the nature of governance, globalization is

clearly a crucial context in which the policy process should be understood2. The term policy

process suggests that there is some sort of system that translates policy ideas into actual policies

that are implemented and have positive effects3. The development of public policy in the society

is practically impossible without strategic planning because the analysis always begins from the

characteristic of the concept of national strategy as a future successful public policy4.Strategic

planning for the purpose of organizational innovation, however, is not the only benefit of

strategy formulation, strategies are also important for interpreting routine policies and goals and

articulating the operational needs of an organization for meeting those goals5.

Methodology First descriptive method is used in order to define and address the issue in its contextual

reference. It studies the process of public policy including its implementation by the civil

servants. The analytical method is also adopted so as to critically evaluate the issue from

different angles. The gaps in public policies implementation by the civil servants and their

impacts on the society is the target data. This qualitative data is collected from concerned

websites, books, journals and articles of the news papers.

Organization of Paper Section 1 highlights the process of public policy, its implementation and the roles of civil

servants. Section 2 will narrow down the issues of the capacity building of civil servants to

functional specialization, career orientation and Human Resource Development and growth in

public policy implementation process. Section 3 comprises of a critical appraisal of civil services

reforms and growth in public policy implementation process in Pakistan. It will analyze the

issues of capacity building and grooming of civil servants from the growth and development

perspective.

1Abdul Rauf, Ambali, Servant Leadership’s values and Staff’s commitment: Policy Implementation focus, American Journal of Scientific Research,(Malaysia: Euro-Journals Publishing, Inc, 2011)30-36 2Patricia, Kennett,Governance, Globalization and Public Policy, (Massachusetts, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2008) 2-6 3Thomas A, Birkland,An Introduction to the policy process (New York, M E Sharpe Inc, 2011)4-25 4Olexandr, kiliievych, Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis, the National Academy of Public Administration (Ukraine, Office of the President) 55 Steven, Gohan, William, Eimicke, Tanya, Heikkila, The effective public Manager (San Francisco, Jossey-Boss, 2008) 188-254

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SECTION1

Process, Implementation and the Role of Civil Servants in Public Policy

1.1 Public Policy Processes Public Policy impacts almost every aspect of our lives, be it economic, social or cultural.

Our economic well-being is, to a large extent, determined by the fiscal and monetary policies of

government. While socially we are directly or indirectly affected by public policy on a range of

issues like healthcare, education, welfare and the legal system of justice. Culturally, too, our

lives are influenced by public policies formulated in the area of working hours, national holidays,

health, education or energy issues. All in all, the presence of public policy is so all-pervading

that its importance in a democracy cannot be overemphasized. As such, it is desirable that every

citizen gains, at the least, a rudimentary understanding of how public policy works and how it

can be influenced so that greater economic and social justice for all segments of society is

achieved.

Experts who study public policy have identified four main steps in the public policy

process. These steps include the identification of a problem, the formulation of a policy change

to solve the problem, the implementation of that policy change, and the evaluation of whether the

solution is working as desired. In this way, public policy process can be seen as the steps a

government takes to address a public problem.

The first step in the public policy process is the identification of a problem. This step

involves not only recognizing the existence of an issue, but also in-depth study of the problem

and its history. This stage of the process often involves determining who is affected, how aware

the public is of the issue and whether it is a short or long-term concern. Another key question

centers on whether altering public policy can effect change. Answers to such questions may give

policy makers a gauge for which policy changes, if any, are needed to address the identified

problem. After identifying and studying the problem, a public policy solution is usually

formulated and adopted. This step in the public policy process is usually marked by discussion

and debate between governmental officials, interest groups, and individual citizens over how best

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to address the issue. The general purpose of this step is to set clear goals and list the steps to

achieve them. The formulation stage often also includes a discussion of alternative solutions,

potential obstacles, and how to measure the effects of the policy change. Policy formulation and

adoption is usually led by the legislative branch of the government.

The final stage in the process, known as evaluation and maintenance, is typically an

ongoing one. While the importance of this step has not always been emphasized, modern policy

makers often incorporate tools for evaluation into the formulation stage. This final step usually

involves study of how effective the policy change is in addressing the original problem, and

often leads to further public policy manipulation. This part of the process is generally

implemented through a cooperative effort between policy managers and independent evaluators.

Policy studies often focus on how policies are made rather than on their content or their

causes and consequences. That study of how policies are made generally considers a series of

activities, or processes, that occur within the political system. The implication of this process

model is that policymaking occurs in identifiable stages and that each stage can be examined

separately6.

Figure 1: A sequential model of policy-making7

6Thomas R, Dye, Florida State University, Understanding Public Policy, 10thed (Delhi: Pearson Education, Inc. 2004), 32 7Commonwealth of Learning Executive MBA/MPA, SC1: Public Policy, Block 2, (Islamabad: Alama Iqbal Open University, 2004) 54

Implementation

Evaluation

Policy

Re-Formulation

Formulation

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These processes are usually presented as follows:

PROCESS ACTIVITY PARTICIPANTS

Problem Identification Publicizing societal problems

Expressing demands for government

action

Mass media

Interest groups

Citizen initiatives

Public opinion

Agenda Setting Deciding what issues will be decided,

what problems will be addressed by

government

Mass media, Elites, including

Parliament, Cabinet, Political

Parties

Policy Formulation Developing policy proposals to resolve

issue and ameliorate problems

Cabinet, Ministries, Legislature

Parliamentary Committees

Interest Groups

Think tanks, Civil Society

Policy Legitimation Selecting a proposal, Developing political

support for it, Enacting it into law,

Deciding on its constitutionality

Executive

Parliament

Higher Judiciary

Policy Implementation Organizing departments and agencies

Providing payments or services

Levying taxes

Civil Servants

Executive departments and

agencies

Policy Evaluation Reporting outputs of government

programs

Evaluating impacts of policies on target

and non-target groups

Proposing changes and “reforms”

Executive departments and

agencies

Parliamentary oversight

Committees

Mass media

Think tanks, Civil Society

Table 1: Process Stages of Public Policy8

The models usually presented are of United States origin, whereas, in the parliamentary

system of Pakistan, as such, there is no role of the President in policy formulation and

implementation processes. Although the President of Pakistan often identify the problem and

8Ibid

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provide with the necessary direction to the Chief Executive of the state, that is the Prime

Minister and the Cabinet, as well as the Parliament, while addressing her joint session as

provided in the constitution.

1.2 Implementation of Public Policy Implementation is the continuation of politics by other means9 .The responsibility of

deciding whether any action of an organ or authority of the state, or a person performing

functions on behalf of an organ or authority of the state, is in accordance with the principles of

policy is that of the organ or authority of the state, or of the person concerned10.

Policymaking does not end with the passage of a law by parliament and its assent by the

President. Rather it shifts from parliament and cabinet to the bureaucracy, departments, agencies

and commissions of the executive branch11.Implementation involves all the activities designed to

carry out the policies enacted by the legislative branch. These activities include the creation of

new organizations, departments, agencies, bureaus and so on, or the assignments of new

responsibilities to existing organizations. These organizations must translate laws into rules and

regulations. They must hire personnel, draw up contracts, spend money and perform tasks. All of

these activities involve decisions by bureaucrats, decisions that determine policy12.

Implementation involves all such prescribed functions to implement the policies adopted

by the legislature. These functions include the creation of new organizations, departments,

agencies, offices and soon, or assignment of new responsibilities to existing organizations. They

must develop human resource, establish contracts, and spend funds and perform tasks.

1.3 Role of Civil Servants/Bureaucrats As society has grown in size and complexity, the bureaucracy has increased its role in

policymaking process. The standard explanation for the growth of bureaucratic power is that

legislature and cabinet do not have the time, energy or technical expertise to look after the details

of environmental protection or occupational safety or equal employment opportunity or

9Van Meter, Donald S and Vanltorn, Carl E, The Policy Implementation Process, Administration and Society, 6 (February 1975), 447 10Article 30 (1), Responsibility with respect to Principles of Policy, Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 11Thomas R, Dye, Florida State University, Understanding Public Policy, 10thed (Delhi: Pearson Education, Inc. 2004), 50 12Ibid

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transportation safety or hundreds of other aspects of governance in a modern society.

Bureaucratic agencies receive only broad and general policy directions in the laws of legislature.

They must decide themselves on important details of policy. This means much of the actual

policy making process takes place within the hundreds of other bureaucratic agencies13.The

bureaucracy is not constitutionally empowered to decide policy questions, but it does so,

nonetheless, as it performs its task of implementation14.

The paramount responsibility of civil servants is to successfully implement the actions of

an organization of any size. But these are often associated with large entities such as

government, businesses and non-governmental organizations, to reach its goal and mission. Civil

servants are responsible for determining how it can achieve its goal and mission with the greatest

efficiency and lowest cost of all resources. The implementation of public policy is the most

visible and obvious policy of civil servants, only one of several phases. Making public policy

covers complementary processes that take place outside the three core functions of policy

implementation i.e. development of rules, implementation of rules and arbitration of rules. To

obtain optimum understanding of the role of civil servants in the political system, we need to

place the implementation of policy in a broader context.

While the legislature is charged with making all laws or statutes, the bureaucracy usually

must take the general enabling legislation created by the legislature and build real programs and

administrative rules for implementing corresponding public policy. When the enabling

legislation deals with regulation, the bureaucracy’s authority to develop programs and rules is

critical to carrying out the letter and the spirit of the law15.The constitution have defined the

functions of the organs of state as the legislature formulate a law, judiciary is to adjudicate it,

hence, execution is the sole responsibility of civil servants.

Implementation is the stage of cyclic model in which policy is carried out or executed. It

is translation of stated policy into action. The cyclic model assumes that implementation is a

13Ibid 14Thomas R, Dye, Florida State University, Understanding Public Policy, 10thed (Delhi: Pearson Education, Inc. 2004), 50-51 15The Policy Making Process http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/8_3_3.html(Accessed on 14th April, 2011)

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discrete stage that occurs after policy formulation. Once the policy has been enunciated, public

servants are charged with the duty to administer and execute the policy16.

16Commonwealth of Learning Executive MBA/MPA, SC1: Public Policy, Block 2, Understanding Public policy, (Islamabad: Alama Iqbal Open University, 2004) 63

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SECTION 2

Capacity Building of Civil Servants

2.1 Functional Specialization and Career-Orientation

One of the first writers of the civil services and the state administration was the German

sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920), whose writings on civil services has contributed to the

common ideal of impartial, efficient, rational and legal civil servants. Weber noted that each

authority than could be counted by three types: traditional authority in which duties and

responsibilities are not clearly defined and not on merit or competence. The charismatic authority

based on devotion to a particular person and rational and legal authority, on clear, impersonal

rules and the allocation of jobs to functionally specialized and technically skilled human

resource.

Despite having some negative consequences, the rational-legal type of authority is

generally thought to be preferable to traditional or charismatic authority, and to provide model

for bureaucratic behavior in a modern political system. Weber saw the modern “rational-legal”

officialdom ideally functioned according to six principles.

1. Fixed division of labor, with specialization of workers.

2. Positions organized in a chain of command, a hierarchy.

3. Rules and regulations regarding work.

4. Separation of personal and official property.

5. Selection of personnel on the basis of technical qualifications.

6. Employment that is career-oriented17.

17Bureaucracy and Modernity, http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/8_2_0.html (accessed on 14th April, 2011)

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Thus the criteria for induction into civil service and nature of jobs in modern era have

completely changed, since the major function of civil servants is not mere secretarial and clerical

duties but of a competent manager entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the public

policies of the state in order to gain the welfare of the society. But the competence and skills as

required in the prevailing environment cannot be achieved without proper capacity building of

the available human resource.

Unfortunately, civil servants have a reputation for being lethargic. Although there may be

some bad apples in the bunch, as there is in most clusters, the civil servants are not likely to

follow red-tapism culture. Most of the civil servants are hard working and ambitious. Believed

by many to be among the most secure work environments, jobs in government are highly sought

after. Excellent retirement and health benefits are what attract many people to civil services. Not

all governments, though, are generous in the benefits they offer. In addition, government

agencies have faced some of the same problems that the private sector has faced in recent years.

Downsizing is one of these problems. Such are the factors that have affected the performance of

the civil servants in implementation of public policies, both in negative as well as in positive

manner.

Civil service is organized upon standard bureaucratic lines in which a chain of command

stretches in pyramid fashion from the lowest offices to the highest. This command implies

obedience to the lawful orders of a superior, and in order to maintain this system, the hierarchy

of offices is marked by fixed positions, with well defined duties, specific powers and salaries and

privileges objectively assessed.18

Job security, career-orientation opportunities, functional-specialization training, freedom

of work according to the rules and regulations are such unavoidable aspects which directly

influence the performance of civil servants in implementation of public policy.

2.2 Human Resource Development Human resources (HR) professionals have many important roles and responsibilities. For

example, HR professionals recruit, interview and hire new employees, develop compensation

18Muhammad Abbas, Abba Saeed, Civil Service: Could It Be Neutral ?Pakistan Administration, A Journal of The Administrative Staff College (Lahore, Vol XXIX, January-June 1992)24

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and benefits packages, ensure employment and labor laws are observed, train and coach

employees across different business functions, and develop strategies for employee retention.

According to the US Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics, HR jobs are expected to

“grow faster than average” (18 – 26% by 2014) and be competitive due to HR being a course at

many universities.19

Talent Development, part of human resource development is the process of changing an

organization, its employees, its stakeholders and groups of people within it, through learning

planned and unplanned, in order to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage for the

organization. Although the development of talent is reserved to senior management, it is

increasingly clear that career development is necessary for the maintenance of an employee,

regardless of their level in society. Research has shown that a certain type of career is necessary

for job satisfaction and job retention so. Perhaps organizations need to include this sector in their

overview of employee satisfaction.20

The term talent development is becoming increasingly popular in civil services and

organizations, as corporate culture is now evolving from the traditional term training and

development. Talent development encompasses a variety of components such as training, career

development, career management, and organizational development, and training and

development. The vision is that during the 21stcentury more organizations will begin to use more

integrated terms such as talent development instead of mere training of bureaucrats.

These changes have been sited due to the phenomenon of proper implementation of

public policy as the prime object of civil servants. Capacity building and human resource talent

development refers to an organization’s ability to align strategic training and career opportunities

for civil servants. It aims at inculcating such special qualities and abilities in the civil servants

engaged in implementation process of public policies that could ensure their capacity to

accomplish the assigned function with integrity, accountability, transparency and confidence of

achieving the targeted goals. 19Pace University, Human Resources Management, MBA Concentration http://www.pace.edu/lubin/lubin-academic-programs/graduate-programs/mba-programs/mba-degree-concentrations/management-concentration-mba/human-resources-ma(Accessed on 15 April, 2011) 20Talent Development, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Resource_Development(Accessed on 15 April, 2011)

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There are two logical laws of talent development:

First law of talent development: “The beginnings of any technology-rich business are all

characterized by a shortage of large numbers of technically trained people needed to support

ultimate growth”

Second law of talent development: “The resources will come when the business becomes

attractive to the best-and brightest who adapt skills to become part of an exciting opportunity”21

In human resource development, leadership and commitment issues are point of reference

to public policy implementation in public organizations and always warrant the attentions of the

governments around the globe. Success of formulated public policy and its implementation by

the agency or organization in charge solely depends on the leader’s characteristic attributes and

commitment of the followers. Researchers have generalized the significant influence of all

leadership attributes on organizational commitment of staff.22

2.3 Capacity Building of Civil Servants

The importance of human resource development and capacity building of civil servants

for effective and efficient implementation of public policy is major element as desired by United

Nation’s Secretary General’s Millennium Declaration.

The achievement of the goals set out in the Undated Nation’s Millennium Declaration

calls for an efficient and effective public administration. This depends on well functioning

institutional structures as much as on skilled, dedicated and highly motivated public servants.

Human resource development is a critical factor in ensuring that the development goals outlined

in the report of the Secretary General on a road map towards the implementation of the

Millennium Declaration are effectively achieved. Public servants’ skills need to be constantly

upgraded and leadership qualities enhanced. New career structures that emphasize mobility,

integrity and professionalism must be developed in order for countries to elaborate and

21Talent Development, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Resource_Development(Accessed on 15 April, 2011) 22Abdul Rauf,Ambali, Servant Leadership’s values and Staff’s commitment: Policy Implementation focus, American Journal of Scientific Research,(Malaysia: EuroJouranls Publishing, Inc, 2011)

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implement reforms for social and economic development. The present report explores some key

dimensions of human resource development, including leadership and vision. It further adds

human resource competencies, training, performance, conditions of work, ethics, integrity,

management of diversity and gender and empowering public service users.23

While focusing on changes in management, the state must be in the forefront of

implementing the change and smoothing the path for progress. The entail adopting the proactive

measures to develop enabling policy frameworks, enhance human resource capacity, promote the

use of new technologies, and set up performance measurement and evaluation systems. Overhaul

administrative structures and design adequate patterns for collection of internationally

comparable, reliable and accurate data for policy making and implementing processes.24

The Road map highlights the importance of promoting the public service in cognitive

abilities, technical skills and capacity building, which are scarce in many countries such as

Pakistan. In fact, in most developing countries and countries in transition, the gaps in skills have

often been substantial in civil servants capability to implement public policies.

23Enhancing the capacity of public administration to implement United Nation’s Millennium Declaration, Economic and Social Council, (New York, United Nations, 2002) 24Ibid

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SECTION 3

Civil Services in Pakistan

3.1 Civil Services Reforms In recent years civil service reforms has become increasingly viewed as a key

development priority for Pakistan. Although past attempts did not achieve desired results, the

strong interest in civil service reform recently shown by the political leadership, by large parts of

the government bureaucracy, and by civil society as a whole is a very positive development. This

interest stems from a widespread perception that the civil service has been unable to cope with its

increased responsibilities as the role of the state in Pakistan has expanded and changed over the

years.25

The civil service is also viewed as ill-equipped to assume new and more complex roles

that are needed in the context of broader structural reforms that are currently being implemented.

Severe fiscal constraints further underscore the urgency of reforms to ensure appropriate balance

between wage and non-wage public expenditures.26

A civil service exists to provide services to the public, to carry out regulatory functions,

and to assist ministers in formulating policy. The public needs to know that these functions are

being carried out well, cost-effectively, and honestly. This implies the need for some way to

measure the outcomes achieved by public service in performing its tasks. It also implies a chain

of accountability from every civil servant up through the internal chain of command to the

minister and through the Assembly to the public.27

The present system of administration in Pakistan is a legacy of colonial rule. Any

modifications introduced were to promote the interests of groups holding the levels of power

within the government and administration. The administration thus became its own master.28

25A Framework for Civil Services Reform in Pakistan, Report No. 18386-PAK, (Document of the World Bank) i 26Ibid 27A Framework for Civil Services Reform in Pakistan, Report No. 18386-PAK, Document of the World Bank, 21 28 Ijaz, Rahim, Administrative Reforms in India and Pakistan: A Comparative review, A Journal of the Administrative Staff College (Lahore, Vol XXIX, January-June 1992, 24)66

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The Government of Pakistan has an ambitious and comprehensive program of reforms to

accelerate growth and poverty reduction by proper implementation of public policies.

Governance reforms, particularly in the areas of tax administration, procurement, financial

management, and devolution of power to local governments are key features of the program.29

Pakistan’s bureaucracy, although not large by international standards, suffers from

structural weaknesses, that are fairly common in the region. Progress in civil service reforms has

been quite limited. While a Civil Service Reform Unit (CSRU) was created to catalyze and

oversee the implementation of reforms, there has been little progress in civil service

restructuring. Future reforms are likely to be given the politically difficult issues involved, at best

incremental. Wage decompression and pension reforms have been politically difficult to

implement. Despite some progress in the past five years, in particular the increased autonomy of

the Federal and Provincial Public Service Commissions, ensuring merit-based recruitment into

the bureaucracy continues to remain a challenge.30

In 1973, PM Bhutto promulgated civil service reforms which brought drastic changes in

the civil services of Pakistan, but the goals of efficiency, effectiveness, integrity, transparency,

accountability and capacity building of civil servants could not be achieved. Again in 2001,

devolution of power by Musharraf introduced some cosmetic changes in the civil services but,

unfortunately, the experiment resulted in total failure with the decline of the regime.

Contrary to US model bureaucracy, civil servants in Pakistan play the pivotal role in not

only the process of implementation of public policy, but also in the policy formulation and

evaluation processes. It is the dire need of the system to identify the gaps in the areas of

professional skills to undertake the public assignments at tactical and operational level, through

effective, progressive and meaningful reforms.

29Governance in Pakistan, World Bank Report http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSAREGTOPPRISECDEV/0,,contentMDK:20584876~menuPK:496677~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:496671,00.html (Accessed on 16 April, 2011) 30Ibid

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3.2 Civil Servants and Public Policy Process in Pakistan Pakistan’s civil service system is composed of federal and provincial civil service system.

It is rank based system, where generalists are preferred to specialists and life time employment is

provided to its incumbents. The pay and perks received by the civil servants are many time

higher than the per capita income of the common men in the country. However, these perks have

definitely been on the lower side as compared to what is being received by the private sector

managers and employees of multinationals in Pakistan.31

Decades of mismanagement, political manipulation and corruption have rendered

Pakistan’s civil service incapable of providing effective governance and basic public services. In

public perceptions, the country’s 2.4 million civil servants are widely seen as unresponsive and

corrupt, and bureaucratic procedures cumbersome and exploitative. Bureaucratic dysfunction and

low capacity undermine governance, providing opportunities to the military to subvert the

democratic transition and to extremists to destabilize the state. The civilian government should

priorities reforms that transform this key institution into a leaner, more effective and accountable

body.32

If the flaws of an unreformed bureaucracy are not urgently addressed, the government

risks losing public support. The recommendations of the National Commission on Government

Reforms (NCGR), which was set up by the military regime in 2006 and presented a report to

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in May 2008, if properly implemented could help reform the

civil service.33

The policy of civil service reforms can be better understood through the critical and

conceptual framework. Then it should be applied on the Public Services. Pakistan can meet the

goal of good governance through the system of professional service and results-based calendar.

We need to focus on high quality training of civil servants, as they play an important role in

governance being the key participant in the formulation and implementation of public policy.

31Muhammad, Iqbal, Is Good Governance an Approach to Civil Services Reforms? Public Private Choice, (The Pakistan Development, Volume 45, Part 4, The Winter 2006) 621-637 32 International Crisis Group, Reforming Pakistan’s Civil service, Asia Report N°185 16 Feb 2010. http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/pakistan/185-reforming-pakistans-civil-service.aspx(Accessed on 17 April, 2011) 33Ibid

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Good policy is the soul of good governance in any political and bureaucratic system; likewise,

good governance is the backbone of good policies.

Corruption is one of the malaises of public sector affecting their efficiency and

performance. It can be defined as misuse of an employee’s authority by not fulfilling his/her duty

properly; not taking care and protecting public’s interests; stealing wealth and resources from

organization; exerting unjustifiable influence on policy making and implementation process and

employing unskilled workers of certain jobs etc. The most obvious cause of corruption is low

salaries, insecure tenure, and outmoded accountability mechanism. Recruitments, postings and

promotions are not merit-based; Bureaucratic corruption takes several forms, including abuse of

discretionary power, misuse of regulatory authority, as well as institutionalized and participative

practices of corruption.34

There is lack of transparency, political influences, lack of resources, delayed projects,

large and unskilled work force, low earnings and wages, unjust employment opportunities and

promotion criteria. On the other hand, public sector is required to “serve” the “common people”

and protect their interests by facilitating them indiscriminately. For this very objective, it is

imperative for public sector organizations to adopt “good governance” practices in these

organizations in order to be more efficient and effective.35

There is a crisis of competence, in the civil service, linked to low pay, difficulties in

recruiting high quality candidates and low incentives to display skills are exacerbated by the

generalist tradition. There is no discernable systematic transition towards functional

specialization, as the few individuals selected from the private sector do not reflect a systematic

trend and there is lot of resentment against pay and perks enjoyed by them. Civil servants collude

with Ministers in manipulation of laws. They are mostly inefficient, unsympathetic to public

problems, decisions are not taken promptly, but only when necessary and where necessary to suit

the circumstances.36

34Aliya, Abbasi, Public Sector Governance in Pakistan, International Journal of Politics and Good Governance, Volume 2, No. 2.1, Quarter 1, 2011 35Ibid 36Transparency International., Nature and Extent of Corruption in Public Sector 2002, http://www.transparency.org.pk/documents/csr.pdf(Accessed on 21 April, 2011)

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It can be argued that Pakistan has a huge potential for foreign investment but this is not to

suggest that Pakistan can attract foreign and local investment only by its policies of privatization

and liberalization. There is an “implementation gap” in the policy making process and its

implementation. Policy making and implementation are inter-related with each other and cannot

be separated. Pakistan cannot emerge as a developed country until and unless those gaps are

identified and appropriate measures are taken to address the issues of improper implementation

of public policies in Pakistan.

3.3 Grooming of Civil Servants in Pakistan

The civil service’s falling standards impact mostly Pakistan’s poor, widening social and

economic divisions between the privileged and underprivileged, with citizens increasingly

affected by conflict and militancy.

The dominant paradigm of capacity building in most developed countries is state-centric

and based on the premise that a highly educated and talented generalist well trained in public

administration and on-the-job can perform a variety of managerial jobs in the government

ministries without much difficulty.37

There are two parallel tracks for capacity building in developing countries. One that of a

facilitator and catalyst for the private sector to seize the opportunities presented by increased

participation in the global economy. And second that of direct responsibility of the government

for equipping its own public servants in the specialized fields of macroeconomic and policy

management, regulation and oversight, social sector and infrastructure provisioning, law and

order and security.38

To make capacity building process sustainable, it is envisioned that the National School

of Public Policy (NSPP) shall aim to reform the training methods, syllabi, quality of education

for civil servants and to consolidate fragmented training efforts in specialized fields such as

public policy, economics, finance and management sciences.39

37Ishrat, Hussain, Changing Paradigm of Capacity Building, The International Congress on Human Resources (Islamabad, 7 June, 2003) 38Ibid 39National School of Public Policy,27-28-29, The Agenda for Civil Service Reforms, 11-12

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Drastic changes have been observed in the performance of civil servants after training at

NSPP and NIMs, as for as the delivery and quality of service is concerned. The modern training

methods applied at these institutes have optimized the capacity of civil servants in public policy

at tactical and operational level.

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CONCLUSION

It is an established fact that bureaucracy plays a significant role in administrative

development and political stability in any political setting. Political systems are composed of

different components, such as bureaucracy, military, political elite and other institutions. These

components are independent to each other. Each of them has specified function to perform for

the accomplishment of common goals. Yet the role of bureaucracy or the civil servants in

Pakistan is more important keeping in view its operational and tactical responsibilities regarding

public policies and national interests.

Thus an organized and effective bureaucratic system can act as a stable center around

which rapid political changes can swirl without destroying the incipient state and hampering the

consistency in implementation of policies of public interest. The desired effectiveness and

efficiency of civil servants can only be achieved through capacity building as well as character

building of our mid career managers at best training methods in the institutes like National

Institutes of Management and of senior officers at National School of Public Policy.

The efforts of the Government and the National School of Public Policy are to meet the

challenges of new millennium as described in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of

United Nation’s Organization. National School of Public Policy aims at inculcating the

leadership qualities and professionalism in the civil servants for better service delivery while

acting as field officers or operation managers of public policy.

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RECOMMENDATIONS a) Conducting regular training, including refresher courses, at all levels of the bureaucracy

at National School of Public Policy. Improving standards of instruction of Mid Career

Management Course, Senior Management Course and National Management Course to

inculcate professional skills as well as norms and practices that reward character

building, integrity, professional commitment and providing competitive compensation

and benefits to attract qualified and motivated instructors in faculty.

b) Increasing salaries and pensions, particularly for those at the bottom of the hierarchy,

providing better housing, transport and health insurance for all government employees,

and subsidized schooling for their children.

c) Linking an officer’s performance during training programs with promotions, thus no

longer using successful completion as the only yardstick. Hence, modifying Annual

Confidential Reports to include tangible, performance-oriented criteria instead of

subjective evaluations of officers’ characters.

d) Establishing and strictly abiding by new criteria for secretariat appointments to include

professional expertise, diversity of experience, demonstrable leadership in public

institutions, and ability to tackle challenging assignments like public policy

implementation.

e) Instituting a transparent and competitive selection process to encourage representation

of all occupational groups, and reserving positions in each basic pay scale for officers

from each of those groups and ensuring that specialists have the same access to training

facilities at National School of Public Policy, as generalist officers in occupational

groups.

f) Eliminate military interference by ending the practice of hiring serving or retired

military officers in the civil service and abolishing the annual 10 per cent quota

reserved for military officers.

g) Refraining politicians from unnecessary interference in the administrative matters,

especially in public policy implementation.

h) Empowering federal and provincial ombudsmen to redress public grievances against

bureaucratic malpractice.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books, Journals, Reports, Articles

Dye, Thomas R, Florida State University, Understanding Public Policy, 10thed (Delhi: Pearson Education, Inc. 2004)

Commonwealth of Learning Executive MBA/MPA, SC1: Public Policy, Block 2, (Islamabad: Alama Iqbal Open University, 2004)

Donald S, Van Meter and Carl E, Vanltorn, The Policy Implementation Process, Administration and Society, 6 (February 1975)

Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Article 30 (1), Responsibility with respect to Principles of Policy.

Ambali, Abdul Rauf, Servant Leadership’s values and Staff’s commitment: Policy Implementation focus, American Journal of Scientific Research,(Malaysia: EuroJouranls Publishing, Inc, 2011)

Kennett, Patricia, Governance, Globalization and Public Policy, (Massachusetts, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2008)

Birkland, Thomas A, An Introduction to the policy process (New York, M E Sharpe Inc, 2011)

kiliievych, Olexandr, Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis, the National Academy of Public Administration (Ukraine, Office of the President)

Gohan, Steven, Eimicke, William, Heikkila, Tanya, The effective public Manager (San Francisco, Jossey-Boss, 2008)

Commenwealth of Learning Executive MBA/MPA, SC1: Public Policy, Block 2, Understanding Public policy, (Islamabad: AlamaIqbal Open University, 2004)

Aba Saeed, Muhammad Abbas, Civil Service: Could It Be Neutral? Pakistan Administration, A Journal of The Administrative Staff College (Lahore, Vol XXIX, January-June 1992)

Economic and Social Council, (New York, United Nations, 2002)Enhancing the capacity of public administration to implement United Nation’s Millennium Declaration,

Document of the World Bank, A Framework for Civil Services Reform in Pakistan, Report No. 18386-PAK,

Rahim, Ijaz, Administrative Reforms in India and Pakistan: A Comparative review, A Journal of the Administrative Staff College (Lahore, Vol XXIX, January-June 1992, 24)

Iqbal, Muhammad, Is Good Governance an Approach to Civil Services Reforms? Public Private Choice, (The Pakistan Development, Volume 45, Part 4, the winter 2006)

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Abbasi, Aliya, Public Sector Governance in Pakistan, International Journal of Politics and Good Governance, Volume 2, No. 2.1, Quarter 1, 2011

Hussain, Ishrat, Changing Paradigm of Capacity Building, The International Congress on Human Resources (Islamabad, 7 June, 2003)

The Agenda for Civil Service Reforms, National School of Public Policy

Websites

University of Texas http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu

Pace University, http://www.pace.edu

Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org

World Bank http://web.worldbank.org

International Crisis Group http://www.crisisgroup.org

Transparency International http://www.transparency.org.pk