The bureaucratic Kafkaesque

With the dawn of 2022, no resolution of conflicts seems visible among the mighty bureaucratic groups go-getting for their own ‘rights’, only with people and their issues seen nowhere in the scenario.

The provincial service group and the federal administrative services are at loggerheads. This leads to poor service delivery. And other pillars of state are not different.

Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) and their hold on the provincial service (Punjab Police) is another similar story. They too are strangling like cobra and mongoose.

With the high court suspending a notification to enhance seats for the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) in the province, a new debate, rather debacle, has been started. A group of officers says that some of the provincial service office-bearers have become puppets to the federal service. One faction of the group blames the other, leveling such allegations and so on.

It is said that incumbent Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal refused to meet PMS President Naveed Shahzad Mirza saying that he would talk to ex-president Rai Manzoor Nasir.

Rai, who no doubt fought for the PMS cause, could not call on CS Afzal owing to the latter’s tight schedule. However, Rai met CS Afzal and termed the meeting successful.

“My meeting with CS sahib just ended. He has, very kindly, acceded to the request and has agreed to issue the minutes of PSB-1 held on 4-12-2021,” Rai stated.

The outgoing PMS president, Naveed Shahzad Mirza, when contacted, confirmed the development and called it victory of his agenda. “When provincial selection board meeting was held well before the court order to suspend the enhanced share for the PAS, how minutes of the meeting could be blocked?” Mirza stressed.

However, a faction of officers earlier criticised Rai’s meeting with the CS as he was not an elected representative. “Since Rai Nasir has left politics, he left out the cause as well,” said a senior officer requesting anonymity. He said that Nasir preferred to be posted as deputy commissioner in Gilgit-Baltistan and later secretary along with Chief Secretary Sikandar Sultan Raja, the chief election commissioner. Later, Rai also enjoyed DCship in Punjab.

Some officers also condemn the efforts of outgoing Naveed Shahzad Mirza. They say that Mirza was working under the garb of the DMG.

They also took ex-president Tariq Awan roughly, saying that he was creating hurdles for the association. “Two of his close aides have been posted as DCs in Punjab, while dozens of others are facing stagnancy as they were in the promotion zone,” an officer said.

“Why this stay order has been obtained at a critical juncture when almost 75 officers were being promoted with trickledown effect? Who will be responsible for irreparable loss to those who get retired meanwhile, without being promoted to the next grade owing to this ill-considered and poorly timed stay order? Hasn’t a non-reconciliatory attitude caused a split amongst fraternity?” the officer further stressed.

Secretariat Service officer Shahid Adil retired the other day, while Dr. Shoaib Warraich is reaching superannuation without getting promoted.

Mirza is also of the view that Awan’s parallel litigation may further damage the collective cause of the provincial service officers. PMS ex-president Tariq Awan said that he fought for his service and stressed that ultimately the CS would be a provincial service officer.

CS Afzal and Secretary Services Shehryar Sultan couldn’t be reached for comments.

Now, come to the real masters, the masses, the taxpayers. They are seen nowhere in the game of the mighty. During a decade-long reporting of the power corridors, this correspondent never ever saw a serious debate to resolve their issues. They would always remain busy getting one monetary benefit and then strategising to get the other one.

Executive allowances, utility bills, mobility facility, residential luxuries, during and post-service amenities and many more, both vivid and hidden, remain constant with no mechanism to ensure service delivery.

This all reflects a story of officers who have a political mindset. There are a good number of officers – both provincial and federal – who are honest, hardworking, and efficient, and believe in service delivery at every cost. They suffer and soon lose integrity as they don’t have political backing or lobbies to buttress them.

Pakistan perhaps is the only country in the world atlas where all actors know how to pronounce rights. Very few know how to perform duties. There are human rights commissions, workers’ rights associations, unions, forums, federations, lobbies, pressure groups and whatnot, that work non-stop to claim their interests. There is not a single forum that could, at least, raise a voice for human duties.

This is a sad state of affairs for a nation that faces severe challenges globally both politically and socially. This all shows Pakistan’s poor position in the comity of nations.

I have seen many bureaucrats who still harbour superiority with ill-conceited pride over all, especially the businessmen. “To get NOCs even the ‘property tycoon’ has to please even the section heads and address them as sir,” says a senior revenue officer.

Bureaucracy, as some critics say, gets its power through its ability to obstruct and thus feed its ego or pockets. Our system is designed to defeat and crush the very soul of the one who is competent and honest. Work shirkers, ‘short-cutters’ and mutterers succeed while honest, diligent and hardworking people loose.

‘Anwar’, an officer who is enjoying study leave in a Western country responded to my query, ‘Why the West is so developed?’

“Because we sell jobs to the reserved (quota) while they give to the deserved (merit),” he answered. “My family stresses me to stay there even after completing studies,” he disclosed. Why this brain drain is on the rise in this country, I realised then. Moreover, “We employ officials who hoax together to squander the masses’ money with little interest to resolve their issues,” the officer held.

It is the duty of political masters to settle these prolonged issues among the services. They should neither let ‘divide and rule’ work nor this Kafkaesque prevail. Without ending these duels between the service groups, no political regime can even see a dream, let alone competing countries globally.