Reform of the Public Services in Pakistan

Pakistan, after fifty-nine years of existence, is at a historical crossroads. The country faces an acute crisis of governance. Problems with the administrative set-up include poor planning, waste, mismanagement, inefficiency and the absence of a work ethic. Malfunction was the norm not the exception in the bureaucratic structure of the country. Excessive discretionary powers, overlapping of jurisdictions and the absence of clear-cut demarcations of authority and administrative control had weakened government performance. The gap between policy-making and policy-execution was wide partially due to weaknesses in the bureaucracy and the generally low quality of state personnel. Independent observers agree that the overall performance of the GOP was poor or lacklustre at best. The crisis of governance in Pakistan mainly stems from a deficient federal set-up and over centralisation of power in the national government. The World Bank, among others, believes that Pakistan had suffered due to rampant corruption and weak government that had created serious economic imbalances.