1/ Last week @Shafqat_Mahmood held a press conference on civil service reforms.

This thread explains 6 reforms announced:

1 Promotion rules
2 Retirement Rules
3 Efficiency & discipline rules
4 Rotation policy
5 Changes in cadre & composition rules
6 New MP Scale policy

2/ These are not new reforms. @Shafqat_Mahmood just announced them as package

Here is when they were approved

1 Promotion rules: Dec 2019
2 Retirement Rules: Apr 2020
3 E&D rules: Dec 2020
4 Rotation policy: Aug 2020
5 Cadre & composition rules: Oct 2020
6. MP Policy: June 2020

3/ These civil service reforms have addressed operational challenges and provided legal cover to avoid undue litigation, but they in no way manifest any fundamental shift in how the civil service works in this country.

4/ Civil Service Promotion (BPS-18 to BPS-21) Rules 2019: Promotion board’s assessment will be more relevant

Performance reports/trainings still play important role

Everyone gets decent PER/ACR, so no impact

Training scores in a very narrow band and much training not relevant

5/ Civil Servants (Directory Retirement from Service) Rules 2020: Enable early retirement after 20 years of service, weeding out dead wood

It may jolt complacent bureaucrats but will materially affect only a handful of individuals & that too after govt paid them for 20 years

6/ Rotation policy: Bureaucrats do not spend their careers in a single province and are instead rotated across provinces - May address shortage of officers in Balochistan and GB

But the bureaucrats will be moved for only for a very short term and without much visible impact

7/ Cadre & composition rules will reduce PAS seats & give more seats to other services; enable mid-level induction in PAS from provinces (game changer)

But seat reduction is symbolic. Allocated seats still more than total PAS officers -> ample room for everyone -> complacency

8/ NewMP scale policy: Provides framework to recruit people on special scales, through advertisements or headhunting, without legal complications

Only procedural improvement to avoid court cases

9/ Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules 2020: aim to reduce delays in disciplinary inquiries.

But real question is will it create an effective internal accountability system for civil servants?

10/ Most important issues remain unaddressed:

-Political interference
-Fear of NAB
-Opaque/low compensation
-Skills deficit leading to crises like Broadsheet/Reko Diq
-No pyramid structure creating perverse incentives for not performing
-Vast pool of BPS 1-16 employees /END