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I know it's Ansar Abbasi but this time it's no sensational reporting.
Tarin leaves with a sound advice to prime minister
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: Just before leaving the government last week, former finance minister Shaukat Tarin submitted to the prime minister a National Governance Plan that seeks from Yousuf Raza Gilani to take some bold initiatives and undergo radical changes to improve governance and check corruption.
An immediate cut in the size of the federal secretariat by reducing the number of federal ministries down to 30; giving protection of tenure to key bureaucrats and heads of government organizations; introducing of motorway policing model throughout the country; replacement of Patwaris by revenue assistants to be appointment by the public service commissions; rationalisation (reduction) in the size of the Prime Ministers secretariat; working out a new code of working relationship between a minister and a secretary; pay to government servants on the basis of performance; revision of Government Lands Act 1912 for better and transparent allocation and utilization of state land; filling of strategic positions through open competition; computerization of land revenue record, court cases, police record, property tax etc are the highlights of this National Governance Plan prepared by a cabinet constitution Committee headed by the outgoing finance minister and include several federal secretaries and others as members.
A copy of the report made available to The News seeks that the minimum tenure of service for secretaries of the cabinet, finance, interior, establishment, provincial chief secretaries and heads of police departments, and any other such position may be fixed to three years and adhered too as well. In case of all other federal secretaries the term of the tenure be protected for two years. Similar protection of tenure is recommended for provincial home secretaries, heads of police and other similar positions at the provincial level. Prior to the completion of the tenure, a federal secretary or key bureaucrats in the provinces may only be replaced in their performance and conduct is evaluated to be unsatisfactory by a designated forum/committee.
The report proposes the restructuring of the establishment division into a professional human resource department of the government of Pakistan having special emphasis on the career management and training of the government servants.
The report also recommends that pay for performance may be introduced with five performance criteria i.e. excellent, very good, good, average and below average. Bonus and rewards for excellent performers along with a punitive framework with regards to promotions may be devised. A time frame may also be specified for promotion of civil servants from one grade to the next besides devising a holistic framework for promotion.
For the rationalization of the size of the government, the report recommends cut in the number of federal ministries between 30 and 40, besides reviewing the concurrent and federal legislative lists. It is also recommended that rationalization of size and perks and benefits of Prime Ministers secretariat staff and project allowances may be undertaken with a view to remove distortion.
The Prime Ministers secretariat is today far more bloated than what it used to be a few decades back. The report seeks the strengthening and streamlining of the cabinet division to enable it to play a main coordinating role in the federal secretariat.
It would be useful to create a code of working relationship of the minister and the secretary, the report said, adding that there is also a need for developing an overarching framework starting from the placement of a secretary to evaluation and posting.
It is also recommended that annual confidential report (ACR) may be replaced with a redesigned open ended performance evaluation report (PER) in which goal and targets are set at the beginning of the tenure along with key performance indicators which are tailored to reflect the scope of work and range of responsibilities relevant to each job.
Mid-year evaluation should become part of the process as well. The role of the federal public service commission is also recommended to be expanded by empowering the FPSC to institutionalize the lateral and professional hiring and curtail discretion. It is also recommended that Patwaris may be replaced by revenue assistant in BS-11 and above and recruited through provincial public service commission. Colonization of Government Lands Act 1912 may be revised for better and transparent allocation and utilization of state land. Digitization of land record is also recommended to be streamlined and completed within three years.
Rules of business is also recommended to be amendment to empower federal secretaries, provincial heads of departments and district coordination officers to take decisions without multiple references, clearances and back and forth movement of files. Motorway policing model may be used as a reference model for creating an effecting policing system in all provinces.
The report admitted that perception of corruption in the country is highest in the areas where the interface between the public and government is relatively higher. It is thus recommended that use of technology may be enhanced in such institutions like police, judiciary and land revenue administration to reduce the incidence of corruption.
The report suggested priority areas for e-government as land revenue record mutations and land services, urban immovable property record registration and services, court case load management, police station record and FIR registration, health care services, school enrolment domicile certificate, birth/death certificates, building permits and approvals, property taxes, postal services, distribution of Zakat and computerization of social security.
The report also recommended revised role of the Auditor General of Pakistan to develop it into a constitutional institutions for oversight and should report to the Public Accounts Committee. The AGP, it is said, should be strengthened to carry out performance, management, process, program and financial audit, this giving it wider powers for audit. Proposing constitutional protection for the AGP, the report seeks financial autonomy and authority for federal secretaries.
Secretaries are also recommended to be authorized to recruit person on contract up to BS-20 and equivalent for posts already sanctioned in consultation with the in-charge minister. The model for oversight of the working of secretary of the federal division/provincial department would be oversight by the minister, establishment, finance, law, planning and cabinet divisions to determine the validity of the decisions taken and their consonance with the rules, regulations, directives and instructions in force.
The report also seeks restructuring of the key public sector institutions by appointing professional CEOs/head of organisations, whose appointment should be ratified by the parliament. They should then be ring fenced to act independently on the financial and profession matters. Government, it is proposed, should carry out restructuring of all public sector enterprises to improve service delivery, enhance transparency and avoid fiscal burden on the exchequer.
Restructuring of federal board of revenue (FBR) has also been proposed in the report, which said that the FBR may be reformed with the aim of increasing tax/GDP ratio, widening tax base, simplifying tax laws, creating a transparent and easy to understand tax structure and fostering a culture of voluntary tax compliance through strategies to deter, detect and address non-compliance.
The report also sought strengthening of regulatory authorities by having reconstituted autonomous board with appropriate private sector participation, and an effective CEO, authorized to develop their own code of conduct and a strong management system. However, an annual undertaking from the board members should be sought to ensure that there is no conflict of interest besides developing a code of conduct for the boards.
Tarin leaves with a sound advice to prime minister
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: Just before leaving the government last week, former finance minister Shaukat Tarin submitted to the prime minister a National Governance Plan that seeks from Yousuf Raza Gilani to take some bold initiatives and undergo radical changes to improve governance and check corruption.
An immediate cut in the size of the federal secretariat by reducing the number of federal ministries down to 30; giving protection of tenure to key bureaucrats and heads of government organizations; introducing of motorway policing model throughout the country; replacement of Patwaris by revenue assistants to be appointment by the public service commissions; rationalisation (reduction) in the size of the Prime Ministers secretariat; working out a new code of working relationship between a minister and a secretary; pay to government servants on the basis of performance; revision of Government Lands Act 1912 for better and transparent allocation and utilization of state land; filling of strategic positions through open competition; computerization of land revenue record, court cases, police record, property tax etc are the highlights of this National Governance Plan prepared by a cabinet constitution Committee headed by the outgoing finance minister and include several federal secretaries and others as members.
A copy of the report made available to The News seeks that the minimum tenure of service for secretaries of the cabinet, finance, interior, establishment, provincial chief secretaries and heads of police departments, and any other such position may be fixed to three years and adhered too as well. In case of all other federal secretaries the term of the tenure be protected for two years. Similar protection of tenure is recommended for provincial home secretaries, heads of police and other similar positions at the provincial level. Prior to the completion of the tenure, a federal secretary or key bureaucrats in the provinces may only be replaced in their performance and conduct is evaluated to be unsatisfactory by a designated forum/committee.
The report proposes the restructuring of the establishment division into a professional human resource department of the government of Pakistan having special emphasis on the career management and training of the government servants.
The report also recommends that pay for performance may be introduced with five performance criteria i.e. excellent, very good, good, average and below average. Bonus and rewards for excellent performers along with a punitive framework with regards to promotions may be devised. A time frame may also be specified for promotion of civil servants from one grade to the next besides devising a holistic framework for promotion.
For the rationalization of the size of the government, the report recommends cut in the number of federal ministries between 30 and 40, besides reviewing the concurrent and federal legislative lists. It is also recommended that rationalization of size and perks and benefits of Prime Ministers secretariat staff and project allowances may be undertaken with a view to remove distortion.
The Prime Ministers secretariat is today far more bloated than what it used to be a few decades back. The report seeks the strengthening and streamlining of the cabinet division to enable it to play a main coordinating role in the federal secretariat.
It would be useful to create a code of working relationship of the minister and the secretary, the report said, adding that there is also a need for developing an overarching framework starting from the placement of a secretary to evaluation and posting.
It is also recommended that annual confidential report (ACR) may be replaced with a redesigned open ended performance evaluation report (PER) in which goal and targets are set at the beginning of the tenure along with key performance indicators which are tailored to reflect the scope of work and range of responsibilities relevant to each job.
Mid-year evaluation should become part of the process as well. The role of the federal public service commission is also recommended to be expanded by empowering the FPSC to institutionalize the lateral and professional hiring and curtail discretion. It is also recommended that Patwaris may be replaced by revenue assistant in BS-11 and above and recruited through provincial public service commission. Colonization of Government Lands Act 1912 may be revised for better and transparent allocation and utilization of state land. Digitization of land record is also recommended to be streamlined and completed within three years.
Rules of business is also recommended to be amendment to empower federal secretaries, provincial heads of departments and district coordination officers to take decisions without multiple references, clearances and back and forth movement of files. Motorway policing model may be used as a reference model for creating an effecting policing system in all provinces.
The report admitted that perception of corruption in the country is highest in the areas where the interface between the public and government is relatively higher. It is thus recommended that use of technology may be enhanced in such institutions like police, judiciary and land revenue administration to reduce the incidence of corruption.
The report suggested priority areas for e-government as land revenue record mutations and land services, urban immovable property record registration and services, court case load management, police station record and FIR registration, health care services, school enrolment domicile certificate, birth/death certificates, building permits and approvals, property taxes, postal services, distribution of Zakat and computerization of social security.
The report also recommended revised role of the Auditor General of Pakistan to develop it into a constitutional institutions for oversight and should report to the Public Accounts Committee. The AGP, it is said, should be strengthened to carry out performance, management, process, program and financial audit, this giving it wider powers for audit. Proposing constitutional protection for the AGP, the report seeks financial autonomy and authority for federal secretaries.
Secretaries are also recommended to be authorized to recruit person on contract up to BS-20 and equivalent for posts already sanctioned in consultation with the in-charge minister. The model for oversight of the working of secretary of the federal division/provincial department would be oversight by the minister, establishment, finance, law, planning and cabinet divisions to determine the validity of the decisions taken and their consonance with the rules, regulations, directives and instructions in force.
The report also seeks restructuring of the key public sector institutions by appointing professional CEOs/head of organisations, whose appointment should be ratified by the parliament. They should then be ring fenced to act independently on the financial and profession matters. Government, it is proposed, should carry out restructuring of all public sector enterprises to improve service delivery, enhance transparency and avoid fiscal burden on the exchequer.
Restructuring of federal board of revenue (FBR) has also been proposed in the report, which said that the FBR may be reformed with the aim of increasing tax/GDP ratio, widening tax base, simplifying tax laws, creating a transparent and easy to understand tax structure and fostering a culture of voluntary tax compliance through strategies to deter, detect and address non-compliance.
The report also sought strengthening of regulatory authorities by having reconstituted autonomous board with appropriate private sector participation, and an effective CEO, authorized to develop their own code of conduct and a strong management system. However, an annual undertaking from the board members should be sought to ensure that there is no conflict of interest besides developing a code of conduct for the boards.
