DECENTRALIZATION REFORMS
OF PAKISTANS CIVIL
BUREAUCRACY
(A STORY OF 10-YEARS EXPERIENCE
WITH NEW POLICY AND PLAN)
Muhammad Ishaque
MEP11127
Country: Pakistan
One years Masters in Public Policy
Student at GRIPS, Tokyo / Civil Services
officer in Pakistan
Outline
2
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:
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)
4
Pre-devolution set up at provincial
administration level
B) Division/District Level
Headquarter
A) Provincial
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 thinking
Britains 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
Distribution of
resources to
district levels
Diffusion of power-Authority Nexus
Decentralization Plan: salient
features
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
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
10
Revised set-up after
Decentralization (Contd.)
A) Structure of State
District Govt
B) Structure of
Stakeholders involved
11
Institution
Chief Executive/Prime
Minister
(Gen Musharraf)
Roles and responsibilities
Vision, approval of the
composition and tasks for
Provincial Transition Teams
National
Design and formulation of plan
Reconstruction Bureau and
responsible
to
ensure
(NRB)
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
Stakeholders (Contd.)
12
Leaders 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.)
13
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.)
14
Composition and Roles of Provincial
Transition Teams
a) Composition
Executive arm of the Governor of the Province
Minister for Local Government
Additional Chief Secretary
Secretary, Local Government
Brigadier from the Army
b) Roles
Ensure gradual decentralization; formation of District
Transition Teams for support at District level
15
Plan formulation and
implementation process
Given the vision of Gen Musharraf, NRBs
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 Approval
issued
Vision
of C.E
Consultat
ion
Plan
Drafting
Implementatio
n by
Governors
16
Plan formulation and
implementation process
Bureaucracy resisted, but strong(Contd)
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?
17
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
18
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
19
Reason for failure
(Contd.)
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
20
Reason for failure
(Contd.)
Formulation of plan without provinces
consultation
No effective administrative control of
provincial government over local
governments
Poor coordination between provincial
and local governments
21
Thank you
