CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS:Implementation of the Reforms, Categories of the Civil Service

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Introduction To Public AdministrationMGT111

LESSON 10

CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS

At the end of lecture the students will be able to understand:

1. The need for reforms in civil service

2. Understand the structure of civil service and the need for training in civil service

Reforms of the Civil Service

Soon after the independence, the government decided to review the system of administration and

some foreign experts were invited to study and make recommendation in this connection. The famous

among those expert reports were the two Reports on administrative reforms. These were:

1. Egger Report 1953

2. Gladieux Report

In 1953 Rowland Egger of USA made following observations about the civil service of Pakistan:

1. It is oriented towards academic notion of intelligence and ability. It is obsessed with interests of

those already in service.

2. Recruitment standards are out-dated and recruitment techniques are far removed from currently

accepted good practices.

3. The selection system is self-perpetuating and tends to repeat its own type, as though civil service

drew most of its inspiration from looking in the mirror.

4. Members of civil service are supposed to be like a box of interchangeable part in assembly line.

Rowland Egger recommended the following to improve civil service working:

Unification of the entire group of employees into Civil Service of Pakistan with internal grouping

for administrative purpose e.g. Administration, Foreign Service, Accounts etc.

b. Standardized pay scales based on comprehensive job analysis

c. The generalists should not dominate other services.

d. There is need to have specialization in the civil service.

In 1955 Mr. Bernard Gladieux also from USA was engaged by government as consultant on Public

Administration. He was strongly critical of the superiority of the generalists over the specialists. He said that

technical and professional civil servants also possessed administrative skills and should be encouraged to

hold higher positions.

In 1955 the First Five Year Plan of the Government of Pakistan also took note of dominance of

the generalists cadre of civil service over other cadres.

It was recommended in the plan that non-technical Central Superior Services should be converted

into branches of this combined civil services all having identical pay scales, prospects of promotion and

leave. These should be treated as if they were the branches of a single central service.

Pay and Service Commission (1962)

In 1962 the Pay and Service Commission also criticized the reservation of the senior posts for the

CSP especially at the centre. This report recommended that the entire public service should be build up in

seven tiers of groups. These are as following:

Group F

4 Grades

Unskilled workers

Group E

4 Grades

Semi-skilled workers

Group D

5 Grades

Skilled workers and rank and file staff

Group C

5 Grades

Lower inspectional and middle supervisory staff

Group B

4 Grades

Basic officer class

Introduction To Public AdministrationMGT111

Group A

4 Grades

Managerial class, District level upto

Divisional level

4 Grades

Top directly and higher

PAS (Pakistan

administrative post.

Administrative Service)

Working Group (1969)

A Working Group which comprised of CSP as well as non-CSP officers was appointed by the

Government to study the structure of the civil service. The Working Group gave the following

recommendations:

All branches of civil service should have same status, though they should retain their individuality

For ex-cadre positions, same criteria should be used as for the cadre services

There should be no difference of pay scales of the provincial and central civil servants.

Administrative Reforms Committee (1972)

This committee was appointed to study all aspects of the civil service and made the following

recommendations based on careful observations:

All services and cadres should be merged into a unified graded structure with equality of

opportunity for all who enter service at any stage based on the required professional and specialized

competence necessary for job.

All "classes" among government servants would be abolished and replaced by a unified graded

structure: a peon at the bottom and Secretary at the top.

The correct grading of each post will be determined by job evaluation.

There should be provision for entry into government service of talented individuals from private

sector in such fields as banking, insurance etc.

Implementation of the Reforms

In the light of directives the measures taken for implementation the reforms included:

The head of Ministry was Secretary who was in Grade 22, the Additional Secretary was in 21. There

were lower grades for junior executive.

There were about 600 grades or scale of pay of the government which were reduced to 22 grades.

These were applicable to all government organizations and professions.

Grade 1 was the lowest and Grade 23 was highest grade. Grade 23 was the post of Secretary

General and there were only 2-3 positions in government.

Technical posts were integrated into unified system.

In order to emphasis professionalism in field of administration the following "Occupational

Groups" were formed:

1. District Management Group

2. Police Group

3. Income Tax Group

4. Customs and Excise Group

5. Accounts Group

6. Information Group

7. Postal Group

8. Commerce Group

9. Foreign Affairs Group

10. Office Management Group

11. Military Land and Cantonment Group

12. Railways Group

13. Secretariat Group

14. Tribal Areas Group

15. Economists and Planners Group

In addition age limit for competitive examination held was raised from 28 to 30 years:

Introduction To Public AdministrationMGT111

Promotion was made purely on the basis of merit and performance.

The concept of "lateral entry" was introduced.

Common training was given to all the officers in Academy for administrative training, at Lahore.

Rules and regulations were framed for the implementation of these reforms.

The Civil Service Today

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973 gives the:

"Executive Authority of federation which is exercised by the Government in the name of

President. The PM is the Chief Executive of the Federation and the Federal Cabinet exercises its authority

to him". According to the 4th schedule, there is Federal and concurrent list of areas/responsibility of

Federal Government. The concurrent list gives responsibilities of both the government (Federal &

Provincial).

Categories of the Civil Service

The services and posts under the government of Pakistan whether under Federal or Provincial can

be classified in the following 3 categories:

Generalist Services: recruitment is based on the basis of general education of candidate

Semi-Technical Specialized Services: recruitment is based on advanced academic attainment in

University without formal education or tracing in professional institution.

Purely Technical Services: recruitment on technical qualification like doctor, engineers.

Civil Service Recruitment in Pakistan

The criteria of recruitment to civil service are:

� Based on pure merit.

� All posts must be advertised before selection.

� Assessment is based on selection boards, selection committees etc.

� Due representation to every province is given.

Appointing Authority

The appointing authority for various grades is also follows:

� Grade 20 and Above

President

� Grade 17 to 19

Establishment

� Grade 3 to 16

Ministry

� Grade 1 and 2

Head Office

Main Recruiting Agencies

The main recruiting agencies are: prepared

� Federal Public Service Commission at the federal level

� Provincial Public Service Commission at the provincial level

� Departmental Selection/Promotion Committees

Training

Training of civil servants is divided into the following.

Pre-Service Training: This training is given before entry to service.

In-Service Training: This training is given during the service.

Pre-service Training: It is imparted to the candidates duly selected by the FPSC before they are

posted to their duties in the respective occupational groups.

In-Service Training: It is imparted to the currently serving civil Servants of the government.

Introduction To Public AdministrationMGT111

The Major Training Institutions are:-

� National Institute of Public Administration

� Pakistan Academy for Rural Development

� Pakistan Administrative Staff College

Concepts

Reforms:

improvement in the civil service structure according to the

changing social, political and economic needs.

Cadre post:

post or position that belongs to one of the occupational group.

Ex-cadre post:

post that does not belong to the occupational groups but is a

managerial post.

Generalist:

non-technical position. A person who is a generalist can be

posted any where, in government on positions that do not require

special technical expertise.

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