Indeed, the bureaucracy is regarded as “sine qua non” for successful functioning of any government. Regrettably, there is a veritable degeneration of the bureaucracy in Sindh. Efficiency and competence are indispensable to the effective functioning, the bureaucracy in my province lacks both qualities – the technical competence and management efficiency. Technical competence is the capacity to think and conceptualide a successful management process, while management efficiency refers to the ability to understand, apply, and turn concepts and ideas into reality.
Recently, I had an opportunity to listen to a bunch of bureaucrats and technocrat who were representing my home province, Sindh, in an important meeting in the federal capital, Islamabad. Their lack of knowledge about provincial affairs and their indifferent and apathy towards the destitute and the poor people of the province was utterly disappointing. The foreigners from different NGOs were more concerned about the welfare of the people in province but they were busy with their mobile phones. Personal interests supersede the sense of province and public interest. That is why; the funds which are arranged and facilitated by the Economic Affairs Division from different international agencies, institutions and organisations such as the World Bank, IMF and UNDP, among others, originally meant to initiate various socio-economic projects in Sindh and Balochistan province, go hundred percent into the lapse.
The lethargic, lousy, laggard bureaucracy in Sindh does not bother to plead the case and cause of the province properly. Neither they do the spadework for any project nor do they submit the prerequisite papers with the concerned officer of the EAD so that the funds may be brought into the province and the ambitious and potential projects maybe launched for the welfare of the people of the province. It is a common feature that Sindh and Balochistan suffer because of their bureaucracy. Otherwise, abject poverty and mass unemployment might have been alleviated from both these provinces.
On the contrary, the bureaucracy and technocracy hailing from the Punjab and the KP vociferously plead the case of their respective provinces and they always manage to get all the funds and they utilise those funds thoroughly and judiciously. It is a common complaint that the desk officers/sections officers from the EAD always send their official letters to the concerned provincial departments in Sindh province but they never ever get any timely response from them. For this act, the bureaucracy in Sindh deserves the President’s Pride of Performance for their collective performance in the deprived and denied province. Patently, sans individual responsibility and accountability, bureaucracy becomes a brutal instrument of social repression and regression as has been happening in Sindh over the past two decades and that sordid state of affairs still continue. Indeed, Sindh requires efficient and effective bureaucracy to advance its development.
Is there anyone to take notice of dismal performance of the bureaucracy which impairs economic efficiency, dampens local initiatives and enterprise, and intensifies other social problems such as poverty, crime, unemployment and ethnic and tribal conflicts in the province?
