Ahsan calls for fundamental reforms to upgrade bureaucracy on modern lines

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal said fundamental reforms have become essential to upgrade Pakistan’s bureaucracy to modern requirements. 

“The civil service system of 1973 cannot meet today’s world requirements. Now we have to move towards models that are based on the principles of modern state management – under which each field expert should be recruited according to its specific skills,” he said. 

The minister expressed these remarks while chairing a meeting of the Civil Services Reforms Committee which was attended by Secretary Cabinet, Secretary Federal Public Service Commission, Secretary Planning, DG Civil Service Academy, DG National School of Public Policy and senior officers representing different occupational groups.

During the meeting, representatives from different groups of civil service made suggestions related to the cluster based system. An overview of the three proposed clusters was presented followed by input from officers from Information group and Foreign Service.

The minister directed FPSC to include input from Information Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the next meeting. Highlighting the importance of promoting national language competence, Ahsan Iqbal said that the government was working to create a system that gives every capable citizen an equal opportunity. “If English was the only key to development, we would have been one of the most developed nations in the world today. It is time to give the national language Urdu its constitutional and practical position – so that every citizen’s equivalent participation in education, examination and government affairs can be ensured.”

The minister further said that everyone should strive to make Pakistan a country where qualifications were recognized, the rule of merit, and every citizen has the same right to serve his country and is not victimized by the monopoly of a certain class.

 Emphasizing on improving training modules as per modern standards, the minister said that the reforms must include a solution for structural issues as well as content related issues in training. “This two prolonged solution to be presented before the Prime Minister will give a concise vision of future expectations,” he stressed. Ahsan Iqbal also instructed relevant officials to a clear comparison of old syllabus and new syllabus. Suggestions were discussed to incentivize teaching staff in training academies, recognizing top performers and collaborating with national and international think tanks for enhancing training. 

It was decided that the new training modules must enhance officers’ capability in data analytics, big data, and artificial intelligence.