Art of inaction
NEWTON’S first law of motion states: “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” It seems Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government religiously follows the part of Newton’s first law of motion that deals with objects at rest.
According to the Federal Public Service Commission’s recently released annual report for the year 2013, it has been a year — in some cases even more — since the FPSC forwarded to the government its recommendations for initiating reform in civil service by improving appointment, promotion and recruitment procedures of public-sector organisations. The government’s decision is still awaited on those recommendations. What follows is a brief overview of all that has been ignored.
The number of candidates appearing in the Central Superior Services (CSS) exam for entering Pakistan’s civil service increased from 9,056 applicants in 2009 to 24,640 applicants in 2014. The entire process, from appearing in the exams to final results being announced, takes more than 12 months to complete.
Keeping this in view, the FPSC had forwarded to the government a comprehensive screening test scheme on June 28, 2013 for approval, which is still awaited. Such a scheme would help shortlist candidates in a month-long process at the most, thereby allowing the unsuccessful applicants to get on with their lives. India is already managing a similar scheme with a considerable degree of success.
Proposed changes in the CSS course are gathering dust.
Similarly, given that all CSS officers have to deal with accounts in one capacity or the other, it is mind-boggling that the compulsory subjects in the CSS exam do not include finance or economics. It was 1981, the year Lady Diana married Prince Charles, when the written examination course and the scheme of optional subjects’ selection was last revised. A lot has happened in the world since then, but the FPSC’s recommendations for much-needed change in course content and exam format are gathering dust in the prime minister’s secretariat.
Before elucidating on the next point, a little anecdote. A friend of mine working at the Federal Secretariat commented “Could not agree more” on a written proposal that his subordinate section officer had earlier verbally discussed with him. When the file returned to the SO, he inquired of his boss in absolute bewilderment as to why he disagreed with the proposal in writing after concurring with it verbally. The officer replied that he had fully agreed to the proposal in writing as well. The man then asked with a confused smile why the officer had commented “could not agree” on the file.
The said individual had been elevated to the position of section officer after passing the SOs’ promotional examination which the FPSC holds against the seats reserved for lower staff serving in federal government departments. Once they qualify, they form part of the combined seniority list with CSS officers as SOs in Grade 17 and are eligible for promotion to even BPS 19.
Last year, the FPSC proposed to change the eligibility qualification from Matriculation to a Bachelor’s degree and also make the exam for selection more competitive because, given the candidates’ pivotal role, a certain level of proficiency was expected. Nothing has been heard from the government on that since then.
Earlier in July this year, the prime minister turned down the Central Selection Board’s recommendation for the promotion of 27 officers, and issued instructions to make recommendations consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in a constitutional petition in 2013 which called for rejecting individuals with dubious financial assets and clear political affiliations.
The prime minister’s decision, however, was set aside by the Islamabad High Court on the pretext that it was arbitrary and that the board’s recommendations were in accordance with the promotion policy and gave due weight in terms of marks for every attribute necessary for consideration of promotion.
Interestingly, following the Supreme Court judgement in the aforementioned constitutional petition, the government notified a committee headed by Mr Abdul Wajid Rana, member FPSC, to undertake the exercise of outlining objective criteria for promotion. The report by the said committee sought to redesign performance evaluation and was forwarded to the government by the chairman FPSC in December 2013. Had timely action been taken on those recommendations and a fair system been in place, it would have saved the prime minister the “arbitrary” decision making.
I wonder what those in power blame for these delays in decision-making — the tsunami, the flood, the cyclone or simply Newton’s science? Perhaps it is simply the art of inaction, which they have mastered so well.
The writer is a former civil servant.