Change at the top
THE PTI government, that is often asked to turn words into deeds, is out to fix the bureaucracy. It has given unprecedented powers to the Central Selection Board that promotes senior civil servants
In the changed equation, the CSB has 30 discretionary marks which can make or break a promotion. The Civil Servants Promotion (BPS-18 to BPS-21) Rules, 2019, set a minimum of 60 marks for promotion for BS-18, 65 for BS-19, 70 for BS-20 and 75 for BS-21.
Earlier, the CSB had just 15 marks to use at its discretion. The new formula has 40 marks reserved for the annual confidential reports and 30 for professional courses as against the previous ratio of 50 marks for ACRs, 35 for professional courses and 15 for the CSB.
As pointed out in this paper yesterday, “…under the recently notified rules, an officer despite getting 90pc marks in the heads of ACR and professional courses could not get a promotion without obtaining 70-80pc marks from the CSB”. The move will be seen in the context of the constant complaints the prime minister and his team make about an unresponsive bureaucracy.
The PTI government has, time and again, been frustrated by what it sees as a bureaucracy trained by and still beholden in some ways to its predecessor, the PML-N.
Bureaucratic reshuffles have come at a frequency that creates serious doubts about the stability of the government, which is now well into its second year in power.
The new criteria for promoting senior civil servants will definitely give the rulers that much more room to appoint officers of their choice to crucial posts. But at first glance, it is too one-dimensional a move to be taken as a defining moment in Pakistan’s history of the top bureaucracy.
For instance, it is all very well for a board to gauge the competence and integrity of an officer awaiting promotion, but how do the reformers plan to address the issue of political patronage and victimisation that so often dictates a bureaucrat’s career?
Also, since there is no system in place which would force the superseded officers to quit the service, how will the government deal with the long-standing problem of low morale among those not deemed fit for promotion?
Although not on the same scale as some previous efforts to take control of the bureaucracy, this change in rules for promotion will still be seen as a continuation of attempts made by rulers in the past.
Gen Ayub Khan allowed induction into the civil bureaucracy from the military, while Z.A. Bhutto unsuccessfully tried to reinvent the bureaucracy by introducing the infamous lateral service system.
Gen Ziaul Haq then opened the gates of uninterrupted induction into the civil bureaucracy. The effort at reform could fizzle out fast if it doesn’t resolve the problems arising out of inductions from outside and personal likes and dislikes.
Media curbs
IN a disturbing move, the federal cabinet has decided to impose curbs on the media coverage of convicts and absconders. In this regard, Prime Minister Imran Khan has tasked Law Minister Farogh Naseem to sit with the Pemra chairman and finalise the draft of a law to enact such curbs. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan told journalists “those convicts and absconders who looted public money are glorified in the media as they frequently come on TV and claim to be innocent and criticise the government and its policies”. It is clear that she is referring to the opposition leaders and more specifically to Nawaz Sharif, his children and possibly former finance minister Ishaq Dar.
Let it be said that the government is treading down the wrong path. There is now a clear pattern to its hostile attitude towards the media, and this is reflecting time and again in its actions. It was only recently that the government had floated the ill-advised idea of establishing media courts aimed at passing swift judgements against the media while bypassing the regular courts. This latest decision also amounts to gagging the media and undermining its prerogative to cover what it wants, when it wants and who it wants. If this were not troublesome enough, the law under consideration smacks of partisan politics as it is intended to squeeze political opponents. On the face of it, the reasoning behind this suggested law does not have much to do with the rights of the citizens, or benefits to them, but rather to target selected individuals in order to derive political benefit from such actions. This in itself is wrong, but what makes it doubly so is undermining the media while persecuting the opposition. Here’s what the PTI government is repeatedly failing to understand: it cannot browbeat a media that has faced such pressures for decades under all regimes including military ones. The PTI may be new to power but the media is not new to persecution. By taking such ill-thought-out decisions, the PTI government is only exposing its mal-intent and amateurish understanding of the role of media in a democratic society. The prime minister should heed some sane counsel before his government stumbles down a slippery slope. When personal vengeance becomes official policy, prepare for long-lasting damage to society. That is one kind of preparation that Pakistan should be spared.
Rao Anwar’s listing
RAO Anwar is a man whose reputation precedes him. The former police officer, known infamously as an ‘encounter specialist’, is accused of involvement in nearly 200 phoney encounters, in which around 400 people have reportedly died. The most high-profile case he is accused of being involved in is the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud — a young aspiring model hailing from the erstwhile tribal areas — and three other individuals in the outskirts of Karachi in January 2018. Naqeeb and the others were gunned down after they were falsely accused of being militants. Rao Anwar and several other former policemen are currently facing trial in the case. However on Tuesday, the ex-police officer earned another dubious badge of honour; Rao Anwar has been listed by the US treasury department as a ‘global violator of rights’ for reportedly being “responsible for staging numerous fake encounters”. If this listing is endorsed by the UN, Pakistan will need to seize Rao Anwar’s assets.
The listing can only be welcomed as the former policeman appears to be untouchable in this country. Linked to some of the most powerful players in Pakistan, he has been granted special treatment, given VIP protocol and has had his house declared a sub-jail, despite being accused in a high-profile murder case. Meanwhile, the trial in the Naqeeb case drags on, with witnesses reportedly facing intimidation. It is hoped that with the recent listing, the state is prodded into action to speed up the trial so that justice can be served. Sadly, Mohammed Khan, Naqeeb’s father, passed away earlier this month without seeing the killers of his son punished. Rogue cops such as Rao Anwar are far too common in Pakistan, with fake encounters being the ‘easy’ way out in a broken criminal justice system. Along with reform of the justice system, it is essential that those who perpetuate the culture of extrajudicial killings in this country are brought to justice to ensure that these dreadful tactics are abandoned by law enforcers, and the rule of law reigns supreme.