GoverNMeNT ProPoses CHANGes IN CIvIL servICe sTruCTure

iSLamaBad Ghulam abbaS

THEbureaucracy of Pakistan has often faced criticism for its failure in delivering the goods. Be it corruption, red tapism and irregularities in law enforcement, it is the bureaucracy that comes under the radar. Keeping that in mind, the government has proposed various structural changes in the recruitment and promotion of the officers.

The proposal initially prepared by Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives (MPD&SI) was shared with the Federal Secretaries for, Establishment, Health and Education; The Special Secretary Cabinet Division; Additional Secretaries for Finance and Planning; Secretary Federal Public Service Commission, Rector National School of Public Policy, Member Governance, Chief Governance and others on Friday.

As per details, during a meeting which was chaired by Minister of PD&SI Ahsan Iqbal, a number of recommendations for improvement in the public sector, prepared after extensive consultations, were presented. As per documents, the ministry, as one of the major steps, has proposed to provide an option of taking CSS exams in Urdu, while making it bi-lingual, which could result in a major change in the recruitment criterion of officers. The ministry believes that language should not be a barrier to entry for talented candidates.

Another important proposal made for the reforms is to set 16 years of education as the minimum criteria for appearing in the CSS exam. Presently at least 14 years of education is mandatory for appearing in the competitive examination.

Furthermore, another major change that the ministry has proposed is to introduce three professional clusters (general, finance & economics and information) for the CSS exam at the entry level. This is to be done on the basis of relevant professional qualifications.

The same solution was also proposed by former President SBP, Dr Ishrat Hussain, as Advisor to former Prime Minister Imran Khan for Institutional Reforms & Austerity. He was reportedly, more interested in dividing the existing officers into various

Former AGP Malik Qayyum passes away

LaHore Staff RepoRt

Former Lahore High Court judge and Attorney General for Pakistan Malik Muhammad Qayyum passed away aged 79. Malik Qayyum, who is brother of interim Punjab Health Minister Dr Javed Akram and the late politician Muhammad Pervaiz Malik, had served as judge of the Lahore High Court and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Malik Qayyum was born on Dec 18, 1944 to former Supreme Court judge Justice Muhammad Akram who was part of the LHC bench which awarded the death sentence to former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered condolences on the demise of Malik Qayyum. He said the deceased had a distinguished position in the field of law. He prayed for the departed soul to rest in peace and for the grant of patience to the bereaved family. Malik Qayyum was a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and advised sitting benches of the higher judiciary on constitutional issues. Qayyum resigned from the LHC following a controversy over a phone transcript in which he was alleged to be approached for fixing a judgment in a high profile political case. He started his career as a legal practitioner in 1964 and was elevated as a judge of the high court in October 1988. He also served as a member of Punjab Election Commission. Justice retired Qayyum resigned as the LHC judge after he was named in a conspiracy regarding the hearing of a case pertaining to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2001. Afterwards, Malik Qayyum started his career as a Supreme Court lawyer and was elected as president of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 2005. He also headed an inquiry panel established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to investigate match-fixing allegations. The report published in 2000 held several cricketers responsible for match-fixing.

43 MNAs’ resignations:

LHC declines PTI plea seeking suspension of NA speaker’s notification

LaHore Staff RepoRt categories, which remained undone for opposition he faced by the bureaucrats.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday turned a PTI petition seeking immediately suspension a notification regarding acceptance of resignations of 43 MNAs of the party by the Speaker National Assembly. Justice Shahid Karim heard the petition filed by Riaz Fatyana and 42 other former MNAs against acceptance of their resignations by the Speaker National Assembly and subsequent action of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). During the proceedings, the petitioner’s counsel Barrister Ali Zafar submitted a civil miscellaneous application, stating that the notification regarding acceptance of resignations of his clients by the Speaker National Assembly had been attached with the application.

The new proposals made by the planning ministry, documents show, however, are to make the changes/ categories in the recruitment process, thus the same may not face opposition from existing officers.

It was also proposed previously that only the relevant officials (like commerce, diplomacy, engineering, medical etc) should head the respective ministries, departments and divisions as secretary/directors etc.

Another reform the ministry proposed is to improve the existing training structure by introducing senior leadership courses. Besides, it has proposed to recruit faculty members at National School of Public Policy (NSPP) and other professional training institutions through a competitive process and improve their remuneration structure.

The proposed reforms included establishing the National University of Public Policy & Administration (NUPPA) on the model of National Defense University, inculcating data sciences and greater utilization of information and communication technologies for decision making and citizen engagement and introducing training programs for staff in grades 1-16. The proposals further include strengthening FPSC by adding additional members, establishing digital platforms and launching campaigns to attract civil servants from under privileged groups and remote areas. The ministry, through the initiative, wishes to enhance the role of Establishment division as specialized HR Management, career progression and organizational development organization, appoint professional HR Managers at key ministries through a development project at the initial stage, and facilitate annual performance agreements between the ministries and the PM Office.

It has been proposed to introduce Citizen’s Charter as a mechanism for time bound public service delivery to the citizens in Islamabad Capital Territory and introduce Capital Health Authority and Capital Education Authority at Islamabad Capital Territory. As per the documents to introduce Engineers Group in technical ministries, a committee has been proposed to constitute under the chairpersonship of secretary establishment division to prepare a report in this regard within 7 days.

According to insiders, the top bureaucrats, who attended the meeting, have initially endorsed the proposals. The committee constituted for addressing some technical issues would finalize its findings soon.

It may be mentioned here that Dr Ishrat Husain had previously faced immense challenges in his past efforts to reform the government structure, including downsizing the federal government employees, and successfully reducing the number of government institutions from over 400 to 334. He was tasked to streamline the governance and function of over 4 million civil servants in the country, 1 million in the federal capital and 3 million employed by provincial governments.

As per a statement issued by the ministry, Ahsan Iqbal, during the meeting on Friday, remarked that in view of the emerging digital revolution and resultant empowerment of the citizens, the public sector needs to reinvent itself, in order to ensure quality service delivery. There is a widening trust deficit between the state and the citizens due to deteriorating standards of service delivery. Public sector needs to be agile and innovative to meet the new challenges.

It is high time that Pakistan improves professional capacity in the public sector and aligns recruitment & training systems with the new dynamics.

Farah Gogi, Ahsan Jameel submit response to FIA through lawyer

iSLamaBad Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Friday demanded exemplary punishment for “cabal of five” for pushing the country into “economic quagmire”.

Talking to media in London, he said the “cabal of five” must not escape punishment as sparing them would be unfortunate, who he said were responsible for country’s prevailing woes.

“Pakistan is facing grave crisis due to these people and they must pay the price of their deeds,” he said, adding they[cabal of five] were responsible for people’s miserable lives.

He said that his four-year rule should be compared with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan’s four-year (mis)rule.

“People themselves should compare the prices of essential items such as of flour, sugar, edible oil and others during 2018 [When the PML(N) left the federal government] and their prices during Imran’s era. Replying to a question about audio leaks of former Punjab chief minster Pervaiz Elahi, he said the alleged audio leaks of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) leader were serious and a grave issue.

“The audio leak case should be referred to Supreme Judicial Council (SJC),” he demanded, seeking them to be examined thoroughly.

Earlier, Maryam Nawaz Sharif held what she termed a “cabal of five” responsible for the prevailing crises in the country, taking the PTI to task over the poor law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and rejecting criticism of “dynastic politics” in the party.

Addressing the party’s first-ever divisional workers convention, the newly-appointed senior vice president and chief organiser claimed that the PMLN would sweep the next election, whenever it was held. “Right now, the country has no choice but Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N,” she said.

“Someone was taking diamond rings, someone was taking plots, someone was making money through the land, someone was sending money to Dubai and someone built a house on several hundred kanals in Chakwal,” she added.

Among the so-called ‘cabal of five’, she named Imran Khan, former CJP Saqib Nisar and retired Justice Asif Khosa, but left little doubt whom she was referring to as the ‘crutches of Imran Khan’ in her speech.

LaHore

Staff RepoRt

While representing the close aides of former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife and former first lady Bushra Bibi, Ahsan Jameel Gujjar and Farah Gogi on Friday Advocate Supreme Court Azhar Siddique submitted the response to the Federal Investigation Agency for a call-up notice issued by the agency. Advocate Siddique said that probing into the allegations of money laundering, the FIA has summoned Farah Gogi and her husband Ahsan Jameel Gujjar for inquiry on Friday, February 17 and issued the notice to them in this regard. The FIA ordered Farah Gogi and Ahsan Jameel Gujjar to bring Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) records and money transfer documents to explain the fair transactions. Azhar Siddique, the counsel for Farah Gogi and Ahsan Jameel Gujjar, submitted his response to the FIA call-up notice. The response stated that as both of them are abroad they could not be presented before the FIA. It is worth mentioning that Rs222.9 million were transferred from Ahsan Jameel Gujjar’s account to Ghousia Builders while Rs840 million suspicious transaction was made from Farah Gogi’s account.