Article Type

Article

Description

Good governance is closely linked with sustainable and equitable development. However good the policies may be, they will have little positive impact unless the institutions implementing them are effective and efficient. One of the main institutions required for good governance is a competent, neutral and honest bureaucracy. For ordinary citizens, it is civil servants who are most germane to their daily lives. Pakistan was fortunate to have inherited a steel frame for its bureaucracy from the British. Initially, the civil services remained true to their tradition and were governed by the hallmarks that had distinguished the Indian Civil Service (ICS), like constitutional protection, political neutrality, permanency, security of tenure, anonymity, recruitment based on open competition and merit, and rigorous post-induction training.

Publication Source

Dawn

Publication Date

8-14-2022

Pages

1-7

Notes

The writer carried out extensive institutional reforms as SBP Governor and IBA Director. He chaired the National Commission for Government Reforms (NCGR) in 2006-08 that produced a comprehensive plan for civil service reform and restructuring of the federal, provincial and local governments. In 2009-10 he was head of the Pay and Pension Commission, and from 2018 to 2021 adviser to the prime minister on institutional reforms and austerity

Share

COinS