Report on

Identified ethical dilemma in public sector organization after policy reforms

“Building Branch”
Metropolitan Corporation Lahore

H. M. Nouman Riaz. (32)

Course: Comparative Public Administration
Instructor: Dr. Amir Saeed
Class of MPA (Eve) Section-B (2017-2019), Institute of Administrative Sciences, PU.
Dated: 18 April, 2019
Introduction:
" One who hasn’t seen Lahore, goes the ancient Punjabi saying, hasn’t been born!"

Lahore isn't only about blocks and mortar however it is an alive, throbbing city, rich with its own
kind of vivid celebrations, customs profoundly impacted by the unstoppable liberal and friendly
soul of the Lahories.

In general, the architectural plan of a society is supposed to completely approved by its local
level governmental bodies which first formulate policies and make laws and then enforce these
laws and policies in order to maintain the publicly admitted standardized ambience of society.

The essential goal of this exploration is to distinguish any moral or immoral situation which is
ceaselessly ascending in open segment association after strategy reforms. However, choice of
Building Branch, Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL) as an office for investigating the one
among hundreds ethical dilemmas in public sector, has another aspect with respect to one most
vital reason among others which is distorting the conventional and recorded architectural
structure of this historically well-managed city. So as to recognize that dilemma in any open area
association, I have chosen to put a look on randomized and irritating societal structure explicitly
identified with development of private and commercial buildings.

The present report is followed by the course related content regarding “ethical dilemmas” in
public sectors rising due to mismatched value orientation which is currently being practiced in
public offices. As, ethical dilemma, represents a gray area encompassing dichotomy of choices
where one should follow the right way according to prescribed and harmonized local values but
the right values and concerned are ignored just to access the personal, void, monetary and
unethical interests.

Functions of Municipal Corporation under Punjab Local Government Act 2013:

“The Metropolitan Corporation and a Municipal Corporation shall each be a body corporate
having perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to acquire and hold property and
enter into any contract and may sue and be sued in its name.

The Metropolitan Corporation and a Municipal Corporation shall:

1) Approve spatial plans, master plans, zoning, land use plans, including classification and
reclassification of land, environment control, urban design, urban renewal and ecological
balances;
2) Implement rules and bye-laws governing land use, housing, markets, zoning, environment,
roads, traffic, tax, infrastructure and public utilities;
3) Approve proposals for public transport and mass transit systems, construction of express
ways, fly-overs, bridges, roads, under passes, and inter-town streets;
4) Approve development schemes for beautification of urban areas;
5) Exercise control over land-use, land-subdivision, land development and zoning by public and
private sectors for any purpose, including for agriculture, industry, commerce markets,
shopping and other employment centers, residential, recreation, parks, entertainment,
passenger and transport freight and transit stations.”

There are so many functions which are mentioned in the act but deliberately missed in the report
in order to remain concise and closer to the present issue which would provide insights of
uprising dilemma in said regards.

The building branch of metropolitan corporation, Lahore is specifically instituted to maintain the
societal order and architectural adjustments in residential, commercial and industrial areas of
Lahore and all the areas in Lahore which have municipal titles are under the jurisdictions of
building branch. The field employees of institution have told about the zonal arrangements which
are made through 9 different zones in Lahore. The zonal offices of building branch are
established to minimize the coordination burden between citizens and central office.

Difference of Public and Private Sector

Public sector opts to provide basic services to the citizens of a state and to ensure the peaceful
equilibrium in society by maintaining law and order. It is not possible to perform constitutional
governance by approaching the business like strategies and activities in public sector just to
accumulate and generate the maximum revenue and it will always cost the unrest and
disequilibrium for law and order in a society.

In the same way, public seeks utility and service delivery from public institutions. The
designated functions of public institutions are primarily based on prosperity, wellbeing, and
development of public. According to emerging concept of public administration, Social
Constructionism, the public should play a participatory role in public administration. If the
formulation of laws, policies and by laws, is being carried out without participation and consent
of public then these policies would never conform with real time needs, wants and expectations
of public. However, private sector is at least independent from such sort of stakes. In private
sector, there is only one point agenda which will be set while making a policy and that is profit
maximization.

Policy Reforms through enactment of By-Laws

The building branch of metropolitan corporation Lahore has been and still an independent body
for ensuring the reasonable societal structure and architectural regulation. Through different by-
laws it has been enforced in department that it should streamline its laws in accordance with
Lahore development authority (LDA). LDA is another authority which is responsible for new
planned developments in Lahore but MCL has witnessed and managed the traditional and
conventional structure of Lahore strictly according to old lahorities customs, traditions and living
preferences. While the LDA has formulated it’s laws for newly developing housing societies
where those laws and regulations can easily be practiced.

Business like Plans in practice

Building branch of MCL Lahore was operating to ensure the enforcement of by laws regarding
property owing capacity of state citizens, regularizing residential and commercial construction
projects by government, organizations or individuals, ensuring the equal rights of all citizens in
regards of buying, constructing, improving, renovating and commercializing the land in Lahore.

Citizens were bound to get Site plans (Maps) approved from competent authority in order to
make distinctions clear and limitations practiced. The defined fee for approval of site plans was
very low in accordance with multiple criteria and it has never been an uphill task to get a plan
approved if the construction project was not violating the given laws because the process was
very simple and the fee was very low just as processing fee.

Eventually, the local government decided to generate revenue from this basic public
management practice because definitely the citizens, who are processing the large amount of
investments in constructing buildings, are also able to pay the higher fees in order to get their
spatial and architectural plans approved. The increase in fee has also introduced complexities in
procedure and held citizens to ignore by laws and they have started to violate the said rules and
procedures.

Ethical Dilemma

It is necessary to pursue the critical analysis of the origins and validity claims of these
administrative ethics, which is a matter of meta-ethics discussed in the book. The current issue
depicts the emergence of administrative ethics being ruined by both public and government on an
account of multiple reasons that can be elaborated in details after conducting research on said
regard.

Numerous authoritative obligations with which the open executive is charged are, in a general
sense, moral in context. But where there is the concern of practical understanding of written rules
and regulations, the current organizational phenomena is completely in support of robotic
employees which run out of their own values and ethics. The concept of value neutral staff
actually promotes the machine bureaucracy which is designed now to perform just like coded
robots and which is not supposed to interfere the organizational rules, principles and policies. In
open organization, in any case, there is an expanding inclination to accept that the "truth" of the
regulatory setting renders moral and good contemplations outdated, even outrageous. Time
management, political meditations, multifaceted nature, provocation from bosses, requests from
customers and the general population, and examination by the media are clarifications referred to
legitimize conduct that is just catalyst or as Herbert Simon portrays it "satisficing."

But the fact is always there, humans have their own self-interests, values, concerns, ethics and
norms in all regards. The same is observed here, even the department has formalized the
procedure for plans approval and the prescribed rules were very clear but ultimately general
public and employees of building branch have amalgamated the interaction at informal level and
started to dodge the prime concern of policy shift which was actually revenue maximization.

Methodology

I have decided to take one time interview of three officers from building branch of Metropolitan
Corporation Lahore, named as A, B, C. They are currently serving as Superintendent Building
Branch , MCL, Building Surveyor, and Officer In-charge section, respectively.
The indirect interview questions were developed to find out the related departmental concern
with the matter and the answers of which are basis of my inferences in the said regard.

1. What is your name?

2. What is your job title and please tell some key responsibilities related to your job.
3. What are the main responsibilities of building branch, MCL?
4. Which areas, premises or territories come under the jurisdictions of MCL?
5. What is the current procedure for general public to get their building maps approved from
the authority?
6. What is the fee structure for approving site plans of buildings?
7. From which year this fee structure is effective?
8. In department, who is solely responsible for unlawful constructions in residential and
commercial areas? Who’s responsibility is to visit the field / sites?
9. Do you think that it is the fees for getting approval for constructing buildings which has
initiated the unlawful construction?
10. Can reduction in fees for getting approval of site plans help the prescribed standard to be
practiced?
11. How much revenue has been or being generated for a specific time period regarding
approval fee for site plans?
12. Does public sector institutes should plan to generate revenue from public?
13. Does your department have other sources to generate revenue?
14. If fee for approving site plans reduces, would it help to terminate the possibilities of
bribery and corruption in department?

Analysis

Without any unnecessary formal preface, I would directly list down the major unintended
consequences which have been inferred on basis of departmental input in said regard. After
interviewing the employees, I have observed the multiple aspects of unintended consequences of
policy shift, some of them are clearly communicated while some of them are untold at all
because the field employees are directly involved in abrogating the prescribed rules and
procedure. Mr. A. has completely disregarded the instructions of secretary local government that
Building Branch should streamline its rules and procedures with those of LDA. Mr. A. said that
there should always be locally admissible solutions for the problems of locals. The LDA laws are
suitable for newly developing housing societies where there are separation of commercial and
residential buildings is already being practiced while in Lahore, specifically walled city and rural
territories, it is not possible to completely separate the residential and commercial areas. Still we
can declare those areas without changing the current living style of general public. He stressed
that procedural reforms have confused the situation. People when get their files prepare for
approval, it always circulates within the department because of newly enforced by-laws which
are not easy to be enforced. That’s why mostly general public get blackmailed by field staff and
they prefer to give bribery to building inspector rather getting into more complex situation.

Mr. B. has told about the fee structure of site plan approval procedure. The current fee structure
is based on square feet. Rs. 4 / Sqft for Residential, Rs. 5 / Sqft for Industrial and Rs. 10 / Sqft
for commercial adventures. These rates are effective from 2010. The procedure of getting
approval of spatial plan is encompassing two offices. The Zonal offices and the central office
where there final approvals shall be made.

Mr. C has provided the facts that from 1 January, 2017 to 30 June, 2018, total 4549 residential
building plans were submitted. 3272 of which were approved, 22 were rejected and 1251 are still
pending. While 491 commercial building plans were received. 157 of which were approved, 26
were rejected and 303 are still pending. While in real sense, there are thousands other residential
and commercial buildings of which no buildings are received neither in the zonal offices nor in
central offices just because of corruption of enforcement and building inspectors.

According to Mr. A, there is no sense of collaboration or coherence among all three institutions
Building Branch, MCL, LDA and housing and physical planning. All these institutions keeps up
the leg pulling of each other. So many proposals for granting more utility to citizens who are
constructing buildings for residential purposes are proposed just to make sure the willingness of
state’s citizens in developing the city according to standardized notions but higher authorities
never seem interested in it.

Conclusion
The unintended consequences occur whenever the planning lacks in identifying the original
stakes of a decision or the geographical, cultural, territorial, ethical constraints of a society. In
above scenario, the local government also got involved in such steps by:

1. Formulation and regulation of such laws which are not supported by field staff, office
staff and immediate respondents like general public.
2. Business like practices got more weight than public service delivery.

The unintended consequences in this regard occurred as.

1. Spoiled architectural structure of Lahore, while citizens haven’t got their plans approved
and constructed unlawful buildings.
2. Unfair dwellings caused unrest for the society.
3. Because of construction of more stories in one building caused civil engineering failure
of those buildings resulting in several emergency incidents and human loss.
4. Increased bribery in field staff and enforcement inspectors which can easily blackmail the
house and building honors.

Public sector should always find a way out there to maximize the level of service delivery to
general pubic rather just formulating revenue oriented rules and policies. General public always
tend to support governmental orders and polices if they are not being suppressed.