ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday issued a stark warning about the country’s civil service, calling for an urgent overhaul of a bureaucratic system he described as outdated and misaligned with global standards.
The prime minister while chairing a high-level meeting on civil service reforms, said the bureaucracy – once considered the backbone of state governance – is now struggling to keep pace with the demands of a modern government, hindered by inefficiencies, rigid hierarchies, and institutional inertia.
“The civil service must be brought in line with modern technology and international standards,” Sharif said, calling reform “a crucial need of the time.”
Bureaucracy main hurdle to uplift: PM
He stressed that the state’s ability to deliver policy effectively hinges on the agility and professionalism of its bureaucratic machinery.
At the heart of his message was a demand for sweeping administrative renewal, which he said is now a top government priority.
“This is not just a matter of improving systems, it is about restoring institutional credibility and performance across ministries,” he added.
PM Sharif also urged a more inclusive and collaborative approach to reform. “Ensure the inclusion of views from representative government officers and public representatives in administrative and institutional civil service reforms,” he directed, making clear that change cannot be imposed unilaterally from the top.
At the meeting, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal – an MIT-trained technocrat – laid out a detailed roadmap for civil service reforms.
He highlighted chronic issues in recruitment, promotions, and training, and pointed to widespread under use of institutional capacity – concerns long whispered about within the corridors of power.
Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema – a retired officer of the elite Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) with an insider’s grasp of the system – was also in attendance.
He echoed the prime minister’s concerns, arguing that the current bureaucratic model is ill-suited to the scale and speed of modern governance.
While no formal action plan has yet been unveiled, PM Sharif’s remarks suggest that the government is preparing to take on what many see as one of the most deeply entrenched and politically sensitive challenges in Pakistan’s administrative history.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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