Assignment # 2

Public Administration & Society in Pakistan

Topic: Utopian Characteristics of Public Administration in Pakistan

Following By Reasons of Preference

Submitted to:

Miss Ayesha Hanif

Submitted by:

Bushra Riaz

Roll # 26

MHRM (Morning)

Semester 1st

Section-A

Session: 2009-2011

DATED: 12th November, 2009

Institute of Administrative Sciences

University of the Punjab

Public administration can be broadly described as the development,
implementation and study of branches of government policy. The pursuit of the
public good by enhancing civil society, ensuring a well-run, fair, and effective
public service are some of the goals of the field.
Simply put, public administration is the management/administration of the public
affairs in an effective and efficient manner. It deals with the executive branch of
the state & concerns with policy formulation & policy execution.

Ideal Characteristics of Public Administration in Pakistan

&
Reasons of Preference

1. Citizen-State Relationships: The relationship that prevails between the citizens

& state should be of trust, harmony, & up to some extent the citizens should be
given the right to collaborate with the government in decision-making process
rather they should be given the opportunity to give suggestions as they are the one
who are affected by the decisions of the government.
Reason: In Pakistan, public is unaware of the govt. policies & they are at times
severely affected by the decisions. Now-a-days the public has also lost confidence
on the govt. which has given rise to the state of conflict. There is a need for
improving the citizen & state relationships.

2. Accountability of Senior Officials: All the officials of the government should

be answerable to not only the one who has given him the authority but also to the
public, the people who are affected by the decisions of the concerned official.
Reason: If the officials are only accountable to the politicians, there would be a
chance for corruption, nepotism, etc, as the case in Pakistan. But, if they are
accountable to multiple participants, many discrepancies can be eliminated by dint
of it.

3. Impartiality: Public officials should work as a detached, politically neutral,

impartial implementer of laws & protector of public interests. Merit should be the
sole criteria for getting the work done (recruitment, promotion, etc.), cronyism,
nepotism, etc, should be uprooted from the system. All promotions should be given
according to the efficiency of the work.
Reason: Especially in Pakistan the public officials get biased & work on the
principle of favoritism, they favor their near & dears and impede the process of
development. By working impartially, fairness would be ensured. Efficiency based
promotions will provoke the employees to work efficiently & in an effective
manner, thereby, accelerating the development process.
4. Hands-on Approach: This approach says that the officials should physically
participate in the carrying out of the duties assigned to them. They should go to the
grass-root level, their responsibility is to facilitate the public & provide services to
them at their threshold.
Reason: As in Pakistan, the officials considers their duty is just to frame the
policies & rules and don’t bother about the implementation, this approach should
be given due care.

5. Delegation: It says that the decision-making authority is given to subordinates

for fewer aspects but ultimately the officials are answerable to higher authorities
(bottom-up approach). MBO (Management by objective) more or less depicts the
same philosophy that the subordinates should be involved in the formulation of
rules & decision-making process and these all formulations should also be
communicated to the lower staff as well. It emphasizes on the team-work.
Reason: The devolution concept which is institutionalized in Pakistan has
disastrous affects on the country as a whole because in devolution the sub-
ordinates are not accountable to the higher authorities, which has given room to the
corruption. Partial decentralization can be fruitful for the country so delegation
should be instated where officials will be accountable for their deeds.

6. Market Mechanism: The govt. should adopt the principles of private sector up
to some extent as this would increase the efficiency & effectiveness. These policies
would be competition (competition between different sectors & also of one sector
with the other); marketization (market i.e., private sector should contribute more
in the country); autonomization (autonomy should be given to the public sector);
disaggregation (to simplify the processes of management, dividing big
organization into smaller parts) & deregulation (freeing an industry, an
organization, etc from control especially by govt.) all of which are anti-
bureaucratic strategies.
Reason: In current era, bureaucracy is the part & parcel of the Pakistani culture
which stresses on strictly spelled out rules & regulations which are rigid in nature
& can’t be changed easily, etc. This aspect gives rise to mere sticking to the rules
and not on the practicality which is the crux of failure of Pakistan’s administration.
The market strategies should be incorporated in the structure keeping in view the
needs of the public as it is a developing country & people expect a lot from the
govt. These policies should not be adopted wholly as it is a developing country,
market mechanism should work under the rules & regulation and check of govt.
7. Total Quality Management (TQM): This word has been derived from the
Japanese word kaizen which means continuous improvement. This is a strategy
which says that there should be slow & steady but continuous improvement based
on the needs of the citizens and focuses primarily on the quality. There is a well-
known saying “Think Globally, Act locally”. This says that policies should be
framed keeping in view the situation & circumstances of the country.
Reason: Usually in Pakistan, foreign strategies are adopted without taking into
account the needs & requirements of the country, which has hampered the
development process significantly. For instance, Pakistan follows the agricultural
techniques being implemented in west which are not consistent with the
environment, soil & weather conditions of Pakistan. Resultantly, the yield per acre
is far below that of other countries.

8. Transparency: Public policies should be clear & open to all of the masses.
Public should have the access to check the working of the govt. & all rules and
regulations should be known to the public. Policies should be apparent & also pro-
publico.
Reason: Here in Pakistan, public is not given the opportunity to check govt.
policies. Since public is going to be affected or influenced by the policies, they
should be aware of all policies, rules, etc.

9. POSDCoRB View: Luther Gulick summarized the duties of administrators with

an acronym; POSDCoRB, which stands for planning, organizing, staffing,
directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting. Ideally, these should be the traits
of the managers.
Reason: By the application of this principle desired results of maximizing the
output, state of harmony, coherence & efficacy, etc, would be achieved.

10. SMART GOALS: SMART refers to a goal which is specific, measurable,

attainable, realistic & time-bound. Before considering a goal or target, the govt.
should ensure whether it complies with this principle or not.
Reason: If the goals are SMART there would be greater chances of getting them
accomplished. In Pakistan, most of the times goals are set without taking into
account these perspectives, which ultimately leads to fiasco.

11. Use of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT’s): ICT’s require

the use of latest technologies & it is now-a-days a necessary condition to promote
govt. It affects the govt. in the perspectives including machine automation, higher
levels of collaboration and relations between: govt. & consumer; employer &
employee; govt. & citizens; and govt. & business through electronic service
delivery, digital democracy & e-business.
Reason: It will help Pakistan in creating environment of trust as it builds-up
relationships among the different stakeholders of the country & also in bringing
efficiency as it focuses on automation of the procedures, etc. And in HRM, even
the basic applications of ICT’s bring major challenges, especially in poor
countries. So the use of ICT’s in public sector can be beneficial for Pakistan.

12. Independent Civil Society: Civil Society, which works for the benefit of the
society as a whole & they a-political people which work on the principle of
altruism. They should work independently without getting biased. Another
function of the civil society is, they help people to show their retaliation in an
organized way i.e, Voice.
Reason: Government should give the civil society its due role because they are the
one who remove the gap between govt. & society & thus leads to a balanced
society.

13. Rule Of law: There are two aspects of Rule of law:

(a) No one is above the law; everyone is equal in the eye of law.
(b) Everyone is innocent till proven guilty.
Reason: By enforcing the law in the country, there would be situation of complete
order, justice, fairness & country will become “A Utopian State”.

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