THE ongoing operation by the Rangers to cut off the linkages between lawlessness and administrative and political corruption in Sindh is a commendable step but its effects may not last for long. Those who understand the basics of public policy know it is not these types of operations, but treating the root cause that is key to a durable solution.

The country has been rocked by terrorism, violence and other challenges. Sindh, however, appears to be in a worse shape than the rest of the country. The province is in a state of institutional decay. It is Pakistan’s worst-governed province. But what has brought this once well-managed province to such a pass? To answer this, we need to step back a little.

It is axiomatic that a system that causes frustration at every step cannot engender positive thinking, tolerance or open-mindedness needed for a peaceful resolution of conflict. Social scientists too have found causal links between social injustice and social unrest. History is replete with instances of poor governance including corruption, flawed justice systems, and selective property rights that have led to turmoil and eventually spiralled into cataclysmic consequences for both society and the state.

Recently, a number of renowned economists, such as Douglas North, Elinor Ostrom, Daron Acemoglu, Parnab Bardhan, and Dani Rodrik, to mention some, have written extensively on the importance of institutions and institutional change in social development and economic growth of countries. Acemoglu and his co-authors have shown that strong institutions constrain individuals and establish a system of checks and balances that prevents misuse of authority or unprincipled use of political discretion.

To stop the corrupt elements and their promoters in the province, the only solution is to undertake comprehensive civil service reform.

The governance model in place in Sindh denotes a high degree of institutional malaise and decay. Successive rulers in Sindh have systematically gnawed at the roots of every existing institution. But the institution that has borne the brunt is the civil service. Once a highly respected institution, Sindh’s civil service has sunk low in terms of professionalism, integrity, and competence.

Financial corruption in Sindh has reached dizzying heights. Nothing moves here without the greasing of official palms. And there is no such thing as accountability as an acceptable ‘spoils system’ has been worked out with those occupying the higher rungs of the administrative and government hierarchy.

The province’s government departments appear to have been parcelled out as domains of influence to henchmen of powerful elites. The chief minister and ministers have been reduced to puppets.

Chief Minister House itself has become the graveyard of undecided summaries on files, and people have been running from pillar to post for years to get their pending matters resolved. On the other hand, official files and summaries get turbo-charged when a government henchman issues directives.

There is no concept of recruitment on merit in government departments. Government jobs are either sold to the highest bidder or doled out to cronies. The provincial Public Service Commission has been degraded to a rubber-stamp authority, which is allowed to function just to provide a semblance of legality to recruitments approved in drawing rooms. Recently, a chairman of the Sindh Public Service Commission resigned because he was under tremendous pressure to make selections to important civil service posts on the ruling elite’s advice.

Many honest officials have had themselves transferred from the province or eased out to less important offices. The Sindh Secretariat has hundreds of officials who have not been transferred from their section or sub-department in decades. They know all the legal and administrative loopholes to push their own agenda. Such people get promoted and posted to lucrative posts, while the honest and competent are bypassed even when they are due for promotion.

There is no talk of any procedural or structural reform to provide relief to the public. In this era of information technology, the main government secretariat, where the province’s highest-ranking civil servant, the chief secretary, sits is being run via the old style, red-taped files full of dust and mites. There is hardly any effort to computerise decision-making and the system of approvals on policy and administrative matters.

Digitisation of record and computerisation of processes will surely lay bare countless skeletons that adorn the secretariat’s dilapidated closets. Computers time-stamp every piece of correspondence and it would be virtually impossible for government functionaries to sit on files indefinitely to tire people into paying speed-money to push their files to the next level of decision-making.

Further, automation of workings of the government departments will make malpractices, sleaze, and administrative blight difficult to conceal. Computerisation creates a back-up of the government record, which also renders ineffective the favourite practice of unscrupulous elements of eliminating through ‘accidental’ fires the proof of their misdeeds.

To stop the corrupt elements and their promoters in the province, the only solution is to undertake comprehensive civil service reform to ensure that only professionals appointed on merit, enjoying a reputation for the highest level of integrity, occupy positions of authority and address people’s problems. Since the process may take a number of months, the first, immediate step would be to bring civil servants of unblemished integrity back to the province.

Parallel to these measures, the authorities should initiate digitisation of government records and computerisation of decision-making processes. It would not cost much if compared to the billions of rupees squandered in Sindh on projects that only exist on paper.

If the current leadership is serious about setting the nation back on the path of sustainable socioeconomic well-being, they should start with Sindh. The Augean stables of nepotism and cronyism that have been allowed to mushroom in the province need to be cleaned. Without a stable, well-governed Sindh, the country cannot attain its economic and social goals. And good governance cannot be ensured without restoring the civil service to pristine efficiency, professionalism, and integrity.

The writer is a civil servant in Sindh. He also teaches at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2015

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