Punching bags

THE best punching bags are made in Pakistan, not in some sports goods factory in Sialkot but in the Civil Services Academy, Lahore, and they are branded the ‘civil servants of Pakistan’.

They can be held responsible for anything that goes wrong under the sun and the best part is that they would never call a news conference to expose the truth because they are proscribed by the rules to do anything like this. Talking of rules, there are two rules of governance in this country. One: the politician is never responsible for anything that goes wrong, it is always the bureaucrat. Two: if the politician is responsible, consult rule no 1.

When the prime minister or his cabinet can gleefully give this blighted nation the ‘good news’ of reducing petroleum prices and portray it as their personal feat (when in actuality it is just a reflection of the falling oil prices in the global market), then why does the same prime minister or his ministers fail to take responsibility for the petrol shortage? Why is all the credit meant for politicians and all the blame for the bureaucracy?

The minister for petroleum expounds that while judging this scenario the media must differentiate between the political and administrative heads of his ministry. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi apparently became an expert on the psychology of this nation when he commented that Pakistanis are very aggressive buyers when there is a drop in prices, and that was the reason for the petrol crisis.

It means the only reason for no such shortage in India or Bangladesh is that this psyche is exclusive to Pakistanis. If this is the minister’s explanation for the causes of the problem, then definitely his solution would be doubling the prices to counter the so-called national psyche.

Needless to say the state of affairs in all matters regarding governance is the same, if not worse. Appointments take years, price control is nowhere to be seen, valuable human resource is squandered and nepotism celebrated. Such inadequacy is shown by the ministers that one feels like pulling one’s hair out, if there is any left after passing through many such phases of absolutely dismal governance in this country.

Ahsan Iqbal, minister for planning and development, recently said at a seminar that ‘group rivalry is the biggest hurdle in reforms for civil service. If the District Management Group tries to introduce reforms, the police service would start opposing it. And if the police service group wants to undertake reforms, then the judiciary will shoot down such a move. The group identities within the civil service have become more important to the civil servants than the larger national identity’.

I am tempted to ask is this an abject surrender? If the government would not take the initiative then who would? Are those civil servants more powerful then the government? With due respect to the honourable minister, it is the incompetence of the political heads that is impeding reforms. The politicians want to pick and choose and introduce reforms that suit those who have proven to be their obedient servants.

The PML-N leadership shows such lack of trust in its parliamentarians that Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, is a member of a multitude of parliamentary committees. Is it humanly impossible for a single man — even if he is Superman — to handle so much work? But who said that any work is being actually done by these committees?

At the end of the day the only victim is the poor civil servant. Can anyone explain what exactly is the purpose of the politicians’ existence when everything from the Model Town killings to the petrol shortage is the result of the orders of the bureaucrat?

Are politicians only elected to enjoy unprecedented protocol or travel in a fleet of official vehicles and harass the general public? A minister in Pakistan is responsible for nothing but at the same time eligible for everything.

Further, if such is the state of affairs then why does every laptop distributed by the Punjab chief minister have a stamp that reads ‘Shahbaz Sharif’s e-youth initiative’? If the bureaucrat is to be held responsible for everything then shouldn’t the stamp also read something like ‘Additional Secretary Mr X’s e-youth initiative’?

Lastly, when such governments are toppled by a dictator they complain: why us? But when the general public gives them the mandate to rule they never ask the same question. They simply take it as their birthright and hardly pay any attention to public well-being.

I am not sure how accurately the minister for petroleum has judged the national psyche when it comes to buying. But our psyche when it comes to voting is well-known to him as well as his leadership. The fault, it seems, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.

The writer is a former civil servant.

syedsaadatwrites@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2015