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Print Print edition: 2018-02-26

Reforming bureaucracy

Published February 26, 2018 Updated February 26, 2018 12:00am

In his 11 August 1947 address to the First Constituent Assembly, Quaid e Azam referred to bureaucracy when he stated that "one of the biggest curses from which India is suffering is curse of bribery and corruption". The British Raj created paid bureaucracy to serve their interest and not to serve people. Unlike their own bureaucracy trained to serve citizens of the UK, in accordance with laws in existence, they housed British Indian Civil Service and its affiliates in gated housing societies, alienating them from masses and rewarded those who were seen to be loyal servants of colonial masters with allotment of lands and titles, which are tactics they employed to reward Unionists of Punjab and others of their like in India. In fact when Mian Fazal-e-Hussain, an advocate of communal harmony and politician of repute passed away in 1936, the Raj appointed a paid bureaucrat Sir Sikandar Hayat to head Unionist Party, to oppose independence.
Unfortunately, however, instead of reforming and restructuring bureaucracy to perform their newly-assigned role as servants of people, which is what Quaid wanted them to be, the vested interests and lobbies, after Quaid's death, continued to nurture mindset of bureaucracy inherited from Raj. Enough damage has been done to this country by corrupt elite and paid civil or uniformed bureaucracy and if an elected PM can be punished for irregularities and abuse of power, so must the paid employees of state. This practice of bureaucrats busy in justifying creation of endless housing societies and allotment of multiple plots, or as facilitators of family business ventures and a culture where speed money has become a norm for public to get files moved for legal works, must be curtailed. Today, the unfortunate citizens of Pakistan are denied basic unadulterated items of use like milk and clean drinking water. Social sector has deteriorated instead of improving and Pakistan has become notorious for housing fake companies, human smuggling, etc.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2018

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