Transcript Document

DECENTRALIZATION REFORMS OF
PAKISTAN’S CIVIL BUREAUCRACY
(A STORY OF 10-YEARS EXPERIENCE WITH
NEW POLICY AND PLAN)
Muhammad Ishaque
MEP11127
Country: Pakistan
One year’s Masters in Public Policy Student at
GRIPS, Tokyo / Civil Services officer in Pakistan
Outline
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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
Federation
Provincial Govts
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Federal Govt
Provinces divided administratively into Divisions, each
Division comprised of 5-6 Districts
Total 27 Divisions in four provinces
Overview (Contd…)
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Pre-devolution set up at provincial administration level
B) Division/District Level
A) Provincial Headquarter
Divisional
Commissioner
Chief
Secretary
(C.S)
Additional
C.S
Addl Secy,
Deputy Secy,
Director
Director
General
Deputy
Commissioners
Secretary
Additional Deputy
Commissioners
Addl Secy,
Deputy Secy
Assistant Commissioners
Overview (Contd…)
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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
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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….)
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Issues that led to reform thinking
Britain’s Colonial administration system
Low accountability of bureaucrats to public and for
actions
No grass-root level representation in policy and
decision-making process
 Non-existence of Local Government as third
governmental tier
Centralized mechanism of public services provision
and policy-making
Decentralization based on New Public
Management idea
Decentralization of
Administrative Authority
Devolution of Power
5 Ds
Decentralization of
Management Functions
Diffusion of power-Authority Nexus
Distribution of
resources to
district levels
Decentralization Plan: salient features
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Military government of Gen ® Musharraf initiated
Decentralization reforms in 2000
Creation of third tier of government i.e. local
government with council, budget, etc. with Nazim as
Head of government
Abolished the positions of Divisional Commissioner
and Deputy Commissioner – replacement with District
Coordination Officer (DCO) at District level
Separation of Police and judicial powers from District
Administration
Decentralization Plan: salient
features
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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
schooling
District Assembly to receive budget grants from
Provincial government and allocate
Revised set-up after Decentralization
(Contd….)
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A) Structure of State
B) Structure of District Govt
Nazim
Federal
Govt
Provincial Govts
District Govts
Naib Nazim
DCO
District Police
Officer
Stakeholders involved
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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
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
and
Stakeholders (Contd….)
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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….)
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Composition and Role of NRB
Chaired by an Army General
Hired consultants at national level
Design of devolution plan and implementation
Provide Support to federal and provincial governments in
implementation of decentralization or devolution reforms
interact with the Government organizations for
institutionalizing capacity building of local governments at
all levels
Propose reconstruction of civil services
Stakeholders (Contd….)
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Composition and Roles of Provincial Transition Teams
a) Composition
Executive arm of the Governor of the Province
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Minister for Local Government
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Additional Chief Secretary
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Secretary, Local Government
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Brigadier from the Army
b) Roles
Ensure gradual decentralization; formation of District
Transition Teams for support at District level
Plan formulation and implementation
process
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Given the vision of Gen ® Musharraf, NRB’s consultation with
Provincial Governors and Chief Secretaries
Drafting of plan by the consultants
Presented to the Chief Executive (C.E) through Prime Minister
Secretariat and approval of C.E and Local Government
Ordinance, 2000 issued
Approval
of C.E
Vision
Consultation
Plan
Drafting
Implementation by
Governors
Plan formulation and implementation
process (Contd…)
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Bureaucracy resisted, but strong commitment of Prime
Minister made it possible
Provincial Transition Teams created Transition Teams
at District Level under the Chairmanship of DCO
Transition teams worked for transfer of assets,
employees from Divisional to District Govts
Weekly meetings of Transition team to review the
progress of implementation
Complete implementation of revised structure in
2001
How did the change work?
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Services decentralized
Representation of people in decision-making through
District Council
However, morale of bureaucracy was lowered
law and order situation aggravated
Local government to depend on provincial
government for budget and administrative issues
 Civil services at District level not formed
System failed and could not deliver
Reasons for failure
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Design of system for safeguard of personal interest
No 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 policy
Concurrence of District Nazim mandatory for
appointment of DCO and other executive staff
Reason for failure (Contd….)
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Without capacity building of civil service officers,
such radical structural change proved detrimental to
the public services
Major political parties did not accept the system
Decentralization of only provincial functions –
already limited
Unclear administrative responsibilities between local
and provincial governments
Reason for failure (Contd….)
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Formulation of plan without provinces consultation
No effective administrative control of provincial
government over local governments
Poor coordination between provincial and local
governments
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Thank you