What is Governance?It may be defined as the function of government

to protect life and property of its citizensEnsure rule of lawGainfully exploit country’s assets and resourcesInitiate steps for the well being of its peopleTo put in place state institutions for achieving

these objectivesHowever, in the contemporary global context

governance is much more complex

The state organs available to this end are

LegislatureExecutive Judiciary

Some important aspects of governance in Pakistan

Pakistan’s Governance Experience since 1947Federation – Provinces InterfacePolitical – Bureaucratic InterfaceThe Devolved System of GovernanceAccountability of Civil ServantsCharacteristics of Country’s BureaucracyGovernance in Pakistan in the changing

contemporary scenario

Administrative setup Pakistan inherited in 1947

Perpetuation of colonial ruleExploitation of domestic resources for the

British empireProvided peace and security to the citizensEnsured rule of lawBrought stability and prosperity to the rural

peasantry

Pakistan’s governance experience from 1947 to 1971

Colonial mode of governance continued till 1971

Hallmark of the period between 1947 to 1970: unquestioned ascendency of executive over legislature

Ascendency of the Armed Forces and set back to parliamentary form of government

Next phase beginning in 1971

The pattern of governance underwent a radical change during Mr. Bhutto’s rule from 1971 to 1977

Massive nationalization of industry, financial institutions, banking and insurance and state trading

Land reformsNationalization increased government’s sphere of

influenceIt also resulted in bloating the size of bureaucracyInduction of non-professional personnel in state

owned enterprises Introduction of system of lateral entry

General Zia’s rule from 1977-1988 and thereafterThe fallout of Afghan war: Drugs, drug money

and weaponsFundamentalism and sectarian violenceSecurity problems in the wake of international

terrorism Unprecedented subservience of state

institutions to armed forces and their resultant decline

Federal and provincial bureaucracies virtually marginalized in decision making and public policy during Musharraf rule

The Federation – Provinces InterfaceThe Federal government dominated the provincesAppointment of Senior Bureaucrats from the

federal cadres in the provincesGovernors of the provinces appointed by the

President in his discretion giving immense weightage to federation

Provincial administrative autonomy compounded by frequent interruptions of constitutional rule

The abolition of concurrent list in the wake of 18th Amendment

Political – Bureaucratic Interface

Soon after the creation of Pakistan, bureaucracy assumed unchallenged leadership in the country

This was bound to happen in the absence of well trained cadres of the political parties

Till 1956, the country was run under the government of India Act 1935 which placed a great reliance on the civil servants

Bureaucracy gradually marginalized by military regimes

The Devolved System of GovernanceImplemented in 2001 through promulgation of local

government ordinances (LGOs) and the Police Order 2002 in all the four provinces

Devolution reforms provided a three-tier government system

Many of the functions previously performed by provincial government department devolved to the district governments and Tehsil Municipal Administration

An important assumption in the devolution plan was that it will bring decision making closer to grassroot communities

Lack of qualified and trained human resource in the district and tehsil governments

Prototype system of governance imposed on all the four provinces

The scrapping of the system has created a political void

Accountability of Civil Servants

Accountability of civil servants has a direct bearing on governance

Various attempts in the past to purge the administration from corruption

Quasi-legal Surgical Operation also triedNational Accountability Bureau and NRO

Characteristics of Pakistan’s Bureaucracy

An over-centralized organizational structureLack of career security and demoralizationAn inappropriate skill mixSeriously eroded internal accountability and lack

of accountability to the publicPoliticizing of Civil Service decision makingTension and inadequate cooperation between

different compartmentalized civil service cadresWidespread corruptionIncreasing public sector wage cost

Governance in Pakistan in the changing contemporary scenarioThe problem of reconciling the demand for an Islamic

polity with the equally compelling demand for the formation of a secular polity

The problem of integrating competing regional demands

Unequal levels of institutional and political development

Weak Human Development Indicators coupled with inefficient delivery of public services

Size of the bureaucracy has become bloatedBureaucracy not well-trained particularly in fiscal,

monetary and security related matters Gradual deterioration of state institutions and collapse

of social orderPost 9/11 developments