ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has held the top bureaucracy responsible for bad governance and resultantly tarnishing the government’s image in the eyes of the public. According to a letter written by the Cabinet Division to the in-charge of the ministries and senior officials, the bureaucracy submitted the cases to the prime minister and the cabinet at the eleventh hour, in haste and with a sense of urgency, which forced the government to delay or defer decisions on critical issues.
“Decisions on critical issues are either deferred or delayed or taken in haste, affecting the government’s image on one hand and exposing public offices to professional hazards on the other,” the letter said. It said delayed or defective decisions made by the bureaucracy also affected good governance. “Enforcement and implementation of decisions is also weak. Decisions are taken and then not implemented,” the letter lamented.
The letter revealed that facts narrated in the summaries were sometime incoherent, incomplete and not well considered.
Summaries lacked a holistic and comprehensive background, impact analysis of proposals and clarity on points for decision, it said, adding that summaries, on many occasions, did not reflect consultations with the relevant ministries, i.e. Finance, Revenue, Law, as required under the Rules of Business 1973, the letter further said. Referring to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat annoyance over the ministries/divisions for delay in submitting cases to the prime minister/cabinet, the letter said they did not follow the laid down rules and procedure in this regard. The Cabinet Division has asked the bureaucracy to follow the procedure for submission of cases for effective decision-making in the cabinet meetings.
Gilani holds bureaucracy responsible for bad governance
