GOOD Governance Thrugh systems approach

The main problems being faced by Pakistan are bad governance and corruption. Many decades have passed; many assemblies, leaders, dictators have come and gone. But never has anyone made even a half hearted attempt to devise systems or structures which may improve governance and minimise corruption. The result is obvious; there is a downward slide of governance and rise in corruption. In a society like Pakistan, where ethical and moral standards are weak, it is extremely difficult to conduct business of the state and private life with honesty and integrity for common citizens. Corruption always trickles down from the top to bottom and in our case this principle holds quite true. While various stakeholders are quick at finger pointing but nobody has given any pragmatic solution. It is very easy to criticise, use foul language, pin-point problems and corruption.
But at this stage we need solutions. In a society like Pakistan, the only way to improve governance and to reduce corruption is through a systems approach. In most of the civilized world legislature is continuously making laws in order to improve governance and minimise corruption. Recent legislation in India for corruption control is the latest example. In Pakistan, if we improve systems and our legislative assemblies make pragmatic laws with in-built implementation and monitoring mechanism, I am sure that the situation will improve considerably. The real issue is to limit collusion and embellish transparency which is only possible by building institutions, devising systems, public policies and laws keeping in view our typical culture and social setup. We should amend constitution, make new laws, improve and amend existing laws wherever required. An effective system will form the basis of good governance to provide justice and basic facilities to 175 million poor people of Pakistan.
Merit: All recruitment should be made purely on merit within the specified quota as per our constitution. For this purpose, legislation is a must to make both federal and provincial public service commissions independent, including financial autonomy. Members of the public service commission to be selected by the national or provincial assemblies or a sub-committee of the aforementioned assemblies. The leader of the opposition should also be involved in this process. There should be a time limit of four weeks to fill vacant positions. As per law, the composition of the federal and provincial public service commission should be as follows:
n One management expert from leading business institutions
n A retired judge of the supreme or high court
n One member from the corporate sector
n One member from the public sector
n One member from the civil service
All federal and provincial recruitments from grade 1-22 should be made through the respective public service commission’s including recruitments in police, local bodies, state enterprises government, semi-government and autonomous bodies.

Law and order: Law and order will never improve unless we have a proper police force and a prosecution agency independent of political pressure. All recruitments should be made through the independent public service commission. We should not hesitate to engage foreign experts to impart this training. Posting of police officials should be for a minimum period of 3 years unless there is some genuine cause for change before this mandatory period. Any transfer before the stipulated period of three years must be done through a committee. The number of registered First Information Reports should not reflect adversely on the performance of the station house office.
Independent Institutions: Pakistan must have the following independent institutions
n Supreme Court
n Election Commission
n Public Service Commission
n State Bank
n Auditor General office
n Accountability Bureau
We must amend the constitution to ensure independence of the above institutions with financial autonomy and fix a minimum term of 5 years for its members.

Education: The constitution should guarantee the establishment of primary, middle and high schools keeping in view the size of the population. Minimum 8 per cent -10 per cent of the GDP must be spent on education at least for a decade instead of the current 1.8 per cent.

Women empowerment:
n 75 per cent of the employment in the education and medical sectors should be provided to females.
n Females should be posted in their area of permanent residence.
n Separate bus service for working women and female students should be provided at union council level.

Basic facilities: The constitution must ensure the following basic facilities to all citizens of Pakistan.
n High Schools, playgrounds, medical centers, community centers, libraries, public toilets, clean drinking water and sewerage system should be provided at over 6000 union councils level of Pakistan.
n Provision of public transport for every city having one and a half million population.

Government borrowings/budget deficit: Parliament should put restrictions and fix a limit of borrowings on the federal government otherwise this note-printing practice will continue to fuel the sky-rocketing inflation. Similarly the limit of budget deficit should also be fixed.
n Railway facilities to be doubled instead of curtailment to provide cheap and safe transportation.

Income tax: The parliament must make a law where all sorts of income should be taxed without exception and the percentage of indirect taxation to be reduced. The onus must be on the individual owning assets and incurring huge expenses to prove his/her source of earnings. Tax to GDP rate is 9 per cent which has to be doubled. This will help the state to play a central and active role in creating an environment for economic growth.

Limit on federal and provincial expenses: Now we are talking of new provinces. Before we carve out new provinces there must be a constitutional limit on federal and provincial government spending. Some reasonable limit will have to be determined for non development and administrative expenses. In Baluchistan assembly almost 100 per cent members are ministers which tantamount to making a mockery of democracy. There must be a constitutional limit where not more than 6 to 7 per cent strength of the assembly could be made ministers subject to a minimum of 8.

Law of limitation: No law, process or action should be left open-ended. There should be a limitation clause in all affairs of the state, institutions, organizations etc. Decisions of the court should be made within a specific time keeping in view the nature of the case. For example if we submit a building plan to the development authority for approval, it must be returned within 7-10 working days. If not returned within the specified period, it should be deemed as approved. If there is any objection, the same procedure should be repeated. The limitation clause will enhance efficiency and prevent corruption.

Service rules: Service rules of government, semi government, autonomous bodies and state enterprises employees should be simplified and brought closer to the labour laws of Pakistan.

Computerisation of records: All records to be computerised on priority in general, specially land revenue records. Simplification and rationalisation of system is also needed desperately. Look at the pathetic condition of our national savings center where average waiting period is 150 minutes. Why can’t we deposit profit in the bank account and sell saving schemes also through national bank of Pakistan.

Attendance system: To ensure discipline in Pakistan we must introduce biometric attendance system with dual safety of thumb impression and picture to mark the attendance of 100 per cent government, semi government, autonomous and state enterprise employees. This will ensure punctuality and avoid proxy. Attendance system to be monitored by elected persons on a divisional basis. Teaching personnel should also be brought within the biometric attendance system.

Self employment: Professionally qualified persons should be extended a loan facility of minimum Rs10 million at nominal rate of interest and 51 per cent of this loan facility should be reserved for women. Effective governance is what makes the difference between a successful state and a struggling state like Pakistan. Improving the quality of governance and devising pragmatic systems are incumbent if we want to bring change. But this is not going to happen automatically, people will have to come on streets and force their chosen representatives to undertake legislative work on public policies.