INTRODUCTION

The administrative system of Pakistan consist of four provinces, one federal capital territory,
and a group of federally-administered tribal areas. Below this top tier, there are four more tiers of
government including 27 divisions, more than a hundred districts (zillas), more than four
hundred sub-districts called tehsils, and several thousand union councils.
Pakistan's independence was won through a democratic and constitutional struggle. Although the
country's record with parliamentary democracy has been mixed, Pakistan, after lapses, has
returned to this form of government. The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
adopted in 1985 provides for a federal parliamentary system with a president as head of state and
a popularly elected prime minister as head of government.
Pakistan is a federation of four provinces, a capital territory and a group of federally
administered tribal areas. The government of Pakistan exercises de facto jurisdiction over the
western parts of the disputed Kashmir region, organized as two separate political entities; Azad
Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Prior to 2001, the sub-provincial tier of government was composed of 26 divisions with two
further tiers (districts and tehsils) administered directly from the provincial level. The divisions
were abolished in 2001 and a new three-tiered system of local government came into effect
comprising districts, tehsils and union councils with an elected body at each tier.
There are currently 113 districts in Pakistan-proper, each with several tehsils and union councils.
The tribal areas comprise seven tribal agencies and six small frontier regions detached from
neighboring districts whilst Azad Kashmir comprises ten and Gilgit-Baltistan seven districts
respectively.
The current land administration system in Pakistan aims at land revenue assessment and tax
collection for the fiscal purposes. This system is organized or structured on the traditional land
registers and cadastral maps in paper formats, and their maintenance is mainly dependent on the
hard works of the local land administrator so called “Patwari” at the grass-root level within his
jurisdiction. Although, the local administrator reports all changes on land rights and boundaries
of land parcels to the higher level of government authorities, the maintenance and quality of the
land registers and cadastral maps kept at national level are always questionable.
The experience shows that limited accessibility and reliability to these records have restricted the
operational and legal usefulness for securing land ownership as well as for carrying out the
reliable planning and development activities. This paper presents the critical reviews of the land
ownership structure, legal framework, organizational/administrative framework, and land
administration processes for the land record preparation and maintenance from the stakeholders’
point of view. Institutional and technical issues are discussed in terms of strength and weakness
of the current system situation in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan.

HISTORY
The administrative units as of 2010 derive from the administrative units inherited from British
India. From independence in 1947 to 1971, Pakistan comprised two wings that were separated by
1600 kilometres of Indian territory. The eastern wing comprised the single province of East
Bengal which included the Sylhet District from the former Indian province of Assam. The
western wing was formed from three full provinces (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (then NWFP), West
Punjab and Sind), one Chief Commissioner's Province (Baluchistan), thirteen princely states and
parts of Kashmir. In 1948, the area around Karachi was separated from Sind province to form the
Federal Capital Territory. In 1950 Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (then NWFP) province was expanded to
include the small states of Amb and Phulra and the name of West Punjab was changed to Punjab.
The four princely states of southwest Pakistan formed the Baluchistan States Union in 1952.
The former administrative units of Pakistan are states, provinces and territories which mainly
existed between 1947 and 1975 when the current provinces and territories were established. The
former units have no administrative function today but some remain as historical and cultural
legacies. In some cases, the current provinces and territories correspond to the former units - for
example the province of Punjab includes almost all the territory of the former province of West
Punjab.

POST INDEPENDENCE
The origins of most of the former administrative units lay in the set-up inherited from British
India. From 1947 to 1971, Pakistan comprised two wings that were 1600 kilometres apart
separated by India. The eastern wing comprised the single province of East Bengal which
included the Sylhet District from the former Indian province of Assam. The politically dominant
western wing was formed from three Governor's provinces (North-West Frontier Province
(NWFP), West Punjab and Sind), one Chief Commissioner's Province (Baluchistan), several
princely states and parts of Kashmir. In 1948, the area around Karachi was separated from Sind
province to form the Federal Capital Territory. In 1950 the North-West Frontier Province was
expanded to include the small states of Amb and Phulra and the name of West Punjab province
was changed to Punjab. The Baluchistan States Union was formed in 1952 by the four princely
states of southwest Pakistan. Thus, between 1947 and 1955, Pakistan comprised five provinces
and one territory:

In the western wing there were also thirteen princely states, one union of states and parts of
Kashmir:

 Baluchistan States Union (combining Kalat, Kharan, Las Bela and Makran - using flag of
Kalat)
 Gilgit Agency (part of Kashmir)

ONE-UNIT SYSTEM
Simmering tensions between the eastern and western wings of Pakistan led to the One Unit
policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali. The states and provinces of the
western wing were merged in 1955, to become divisions of the new province of West Pakistan
with the provincial capital at Lahore. At the same time, East Bengal became the new province of

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East Pakistan with the provincial capital at Dhaka. West Pakistan annexed the former Omani
enclave of Gwadar in 1958 as part of Kalat division. In 1960 the federal government was moved
from Karachi to Rawalpindi (provisional capital until Islamabad was completed), whilst the
federal legislature moved to Dhaka. The Federal Capital Territory was merged with West
Pakistan in 1961 to form the new division of Karachi. In 1963 the Trans-Karakoram Tract was
transferred by treaty from Gilgit Agency to China under the proviso that the settlement was
subject to the final solution of the Kashmir dispute. Thus from 1955 to 1970, Pakistan comprised
two provinces:

 East Pakistan
 West Pakistan

NEW PROVINCES
The One Unit policy was regarded as a rational administrative reform to reduce expenditure and
eliminate provincial prejudices. However the military coup of 1958 signalled troubled times for
the two-province system as the office of Chief Minister of West Pakistan was abolished by
President Ayub Khan to be replaced by Governor's rule. Eventually, in 1970, the province of
West Pakistan was dissolved by President Yahya Khan and four new provinces were created
along with some changes in Pakistani Kashmir. These provinces combined most of the former
provinces and states as follows:

New Province Constituent former administrative units

 Baluchistan Chief Commissioners Province
 Baluchistan Province  Baluchistan States Union
 Enclave of Gwadar

 Former North-West Frontier Province

 North-West Frontier Province
 States of Amb, Chitral, Dir and Swat

 Former West Punjab Province

 Punjab Province
 State of Bahawalpur

 Sindh Province  Former Sind Province

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  State of Khairpur
 Former Federal Capital Territory

 Centrally Administered Area  906 km² of former West Punjab Province

 Northern Areas  Gilgit Agency

CHANGES AFTER 1970

The province of East Pakistan became independent in December 1971 as the new country of
Bangladesh. The states of Hunza and Nagar were abolished and their territories merged into the
Gilgit-Baltistan in 1974. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas were formed from parts of the
North West Frontier Province districts of Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan in 1975.
The status of the Islamabad area was changed to a capital territory in 1981. The names of two
provinces were slightly modified in 1990 - Baluchistan became Balochistan and Sind became
Sindh.

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE

STRUCTURE OF ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS

President
The president, in keeping with the constitutional provision that the state religion is Islam, must
be a Muslim. Elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of members of the
Senate and National Assembly and members of the provincial assemblies, the president is
eligible for reelection. But no individual may hold the office for more than two consecutive
terms. The president may resign or be impeached and may be removed from office for incapacity
or gross misconduct by a twothirds vote of the members of the parliament. The president
generally acts on the advice of the prime minister but has important residual powers. One of the
most important--a legacy of Zia--is contained in the Eighth Amendment, which gives the
president the power to dissolve the National Assembly "in his discretion where, in his
opinion . . . a situation has arisen in which the Government of the Federation cannot be carried
on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and an appeal to the electorate is
necessary."

Parliament and Federal Government

The bicameral federal legislature is the Majlis-i-Shoora (Council of Advisers), consisting of the
Senate (upper house) and National Assembly (lower house). Members of the National Assembly
are elected by universal adult suffrage (over twenty-one years of age in Pakistan). Seats are
allocated to each of the four provinces, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and Islamabad
Capital Territory on the basis of population. National Assembly members serve for the

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parliamentary term, which is five years, unless they die or resign sooner, or unless the National
Assembly is dissolved. Although the vast majority of the members are Muslim, about 5 percent
of the seats are reserved for minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs. Elections for
minority seats are held on the basis of separate electorates at the same time as the polls for
Muslim seats during the general elections.
The prime minister is appointed by the president from among the members of the National
Assembly. The prime minister is assisted by the Federal Cabinet, a council of ministers whose
members are appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister. The Federal Cabinet
comprises the ministers, ministers of state, and advisers. As of early 1994, there were thirty-three
ministerial portfolios: commerce; communications; culture; defense; defense production;
education; environment; finance and economic affairs; food and agriculture; foreign affairs;
health; housing; information and broadcasting; interior; Kashmiri affairs and Northern Areas;
law and justice; local government; minority affairs; narcotics control; parliamentary affairs;
petroleum and natural resources production; planning and development; railroads; religious
affairs; science and technology; social welfare; special education; sports; state and frontier
regions; tourism; water and power; women's development; and youth affairs.
The Senate is a permanent legislative body with equal representation from each of the four
provinces, elected by the members of their respective provincial assemblies. There are
representatives from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and from Islamabad Capital
Territory. The chairman of the Senate, under the constitution, is next in line to act as president
should the office become vacant and until such time as a new president can be formally elected.
Both the Senate and the National Assembly can initiate and pass legislation except for finance
bills. Only the National Assembly can approve the federal budget and all finance bills. In the
case of other bills, the president may prevent passage unless the legislature in joint sitting
overrules the president by a majority of members of both houses present and voting.
Other offices and bodies having important roles in the federal structure include the attorney
general, the auditor general, the Federal Land Commission, the Federal Public Service
Commission, the Central Election Commission, and the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman).

Provincial Governments
Pakistan's four provinces enjoy considerable autonomy. Each province has a governor, a Council
of Ministers headed by a chief minister appointed by the governor, and a provincial assembly.
Members of the provincial assemblies are elected by universal adult suffrage. Provincial
assemblies also have reserved seats for minorities. Although there is a well-defined division of
responsibilities between federal and provincial governments, there are some functions on which
both can make laws and establish departments for their execution. Most of the services in areas
such as health, education, agriculture, and roads, for example, are provided by the provincial
governments. Although the federal government can also legislate in these areas, it only makes
national policy and handles international aspects of those services.

Judiciary
The judiciary includes the Supreme Court, provincial high courts, and other lesser courts
exercising civil and criminal jurisdiction. The chief justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by
the president; the other Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president after consultation

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with the chief justice. The chief justice and judges of the Supreme Court may remain in office
until age sixty-five. The Supreme Court has original, appellate, and advisory jurisdiction. Judges
of the provincial high courts are appointed by the president after consultation with the chief
justice of the Supreme Court, as well as the governor of the province and the chief justice of the
high court to which the appointment is being made. High courts have original and appellate
jurisdiction.
There is also a Federal Shariat Court consisting of eight Muslim judges, including a chief justice
appointed by the president. Three of the judges are ulama, that is, Islamic Scholars, and are well
versed in Islamic law. The Federal Shariat Court has original and appellate jurisdiction. This
court decides whether any law is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam. When a law is deemed
repugnant to Islam, the president, in the case of a federal law, or the governor, in the case of a
provincial law, is charged with taking steps to bring the law into conformity with the injunctions
of Islam. The court also hears appeals from decisions of criminal courts under laws relating to
the enforcement of hudood laws that is, laws pertaining to such offenses as intoxication, theft,
and unlawful sexual intercourse.
In addition, there are special courts and tribunals to deal with specific kinds of cases, such as
drug courts, commercial courts, labor courts, traffic courts, an insurance appellate tribunal, an
income tax appellate tribunal, and special courts for bank offenses. There are also special courts
to try terrorists. Appeals from special courts go to high courts except for labor and traffic courts,
which have their own forums for appeal. Appeals from the tribunals go to the Supreme Court.
A further feature of the judicial system is the office of Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman), which is
provided for in the constitution. The office of Mohtasib was established in many early Muslim
states to ensure that no wrongs were done to citizens. Appointed by the president, the Mohtasib
holds office for four years; the term cannot be extended or renewed. The Mohtasib's purpose is to
institutionalize a system for enforcing administrative accountability, through investigating and
rectifying any injustice done to a person through maladministration by a federal agency or a
federal government official. The Mohtasib is empowered to award compensation to those who
have suffered loss or damage as a result of maladministration. Excluded from jurisdiction,
however, are personal grievances or service matters of a public servant as well as matters relating
to foreign affairs, national defense, and the armed services. This institution is designed to bridge
the gap between administrator and citizen, to improve administrative processes and procedures,
and to help curb misuse of discretionary powers.
Pakistan's administrative units are as follows:

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 Population
Area (km²)[2]
No. Administrative unit Capital Population[2] density
(inh. per km²)
1 Balochistan (province) Quetta 6,565,885 347,190 18.9
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
2 Peshawar 17,743,645 74,521 238.1
(province)
3 Punjab (province) Lahore 73,621,290 205,345 358.5
4 Sindh (province) Karachi 30,439,893 140,914 216
5 Capital Territory Islamabad 805,235 906 888.8
6 Tribal Areas Peshawar 3,176,331 27,220 116.7
7 Azad Kashmir Muzaffarabad 2,973,000[3] 13,297[3] 223.6
1,800,000
8 Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit 72,496 24.8
(estimate)
Pakistan Islamabad 132,352,279 881,889 166.3
The provinces are divided into 105 districts called (zillahs). Zillahs are further subdivided into
sub-districts called tehsils. Tehsils are used in all provinces except in Sindh province where the
term taluka. Tehsils may contain villages or municipalities. Pakistan has over five thousand local
governments. Since 2001, these have been led by democratically elected local councils, each
headed by a Nazim. Women have been allotted a minimum of 33% seats in these councils; there
is no upper limit to the number of women in these councils. Some districts, incorporating large
metropolitan areas, are called City District. A City District may contain subdivisions called
Towns and Union Councils.
The diagram below outlines the six tiers of government in Pakistan proper, together with an
example; Lora is one of 16 union councils in Havelian tehsil, which in turn is one of two tehsils
of Abbottabad district. This district is part of Hazara division which is a constituent of
KhyberPakhtunkhwa province, which is one of the four provinces of Pakistan:

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   Federal Government

              

   Province e.g. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

              

   Division e.g. Hazara

              

   District e.g. Abbottabad

              

   Tehsil e.g. Havelian

              

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   Union council e.g. Lora
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 GOVERNANCE REFORMS IN PAKISTAN
GOVERNANCE, INSTITUTIONS AND
DEVELOPMENT
The link between good governance and economic and social development has been well
established in the last few decades. Although it is hard to have a precise definition of governance
there is a wide consensus that good governance must lead to broad-based inclusive economic
growth and social development. It must enable the state, the civil society and the private sector to
enhance the well being of a large segment of the population. If this definition is accepted then
economic growth in Pakistan is likely to become unsustainable if a widespread perception
persists that the majority of the population has not been gaining from recent growth. This
perception, whether right or wrong, erodes political support for continuation of present economic
policies and reforms.

Why does this perception persist? The main reason is that the overall governance structure
through which economics policies are intermediated and translated into economic and social
benefits for the vast majority has become corroded and dysfunctional. The governance structure
of any country consists of Judiciary, Executive and Legislature. If the access to the institutions
of governance for common citizens is difficult, time consuming and costly the benefits from
growth get distributed unevenly as only those who enjoy preferential access to these institutions
are the gainers. How far is this true can be gauged by reference to the current state of
Governance prevailing in the region but particularly applicable in Pakistan? The 1999 and 2005
reports on Human Development in South Asia aptly summarize the situation in the following two
extracts:

“South Asia presents a fascinating combination of many contradictions. It has

governments that are high on governing and low on serving; it has parliaments
that are elected by the poor but aid the rich; and society that asserts the rights of
some but perpetuates exclusion for others. Despite a marked improvement in the
lives of a few, there are many in South Asia who have been forgotten by formal
institutions of governance. These are the poor, the downtrodden and the most
vulnerable of the society, suffering from acute deprivation on account of their
income, caste, creed, gender or religion. Their fortunes have not moved with
those of the privileged few and this in itself is a deprivation of a depressing
nature”.
(Human Development South Asia Report, 1999)
“Governance constitutes for {ordinary people} a duly struggle for survival and
dignity. Ordinary people are too often humiliated at the hands of public

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 institutions. For them, lack of good governance means police brutality,
corruption in accessing basic public services, ghost schools, teachers
absenteeism, missing medicines, high cost of and low access to justice,
criminalization of politics and lack of social justice. These are just few
manifestations of the crisis of governance”.
(Human Development in South Asia report, 2005)
In face of this overwhelming evidence of failure of institutions of governance empirical work
across countries suggests that economic performance is greatly determined by the quality of
institutions. Differences in the quality of institutions help explain the gap in economic
performance between rich and poor nations. In addition to the findings linking institutions with
aggregate growth there is some association between the distribution of income and institutional
quality with very unequal distribution of income being associated with a lower quality of
institutional development.

How have institutional reforms been successfully carried out elsewhere? One of the key factors
is that civil servants of high professional caliber and integrity are attracted, retained and
motivated and allowed the authority and powers to act in the larger interests of the public at
large. This can be accomplished by introducing a merit-based recruitment system, continuous
training and skill upgradation, equality of opportunity in career progression, adequate
compensation, proper performance evaluation, financial accountability and rule-based
compliance.

Another important factor is the responsiveness to the public demands. The World Bank (1997) in
its report asserts that governments are more effective when they listen to businesses and citizens
and work in partnership with them in deciding and implementing policy. Where governments
lack mechanisms to listen, they are not responsive to people’s interests. Decentralization can
bring in representation of local business and citizens’ interests.

Is there any evidence about a particular form of government that has been relatively successful in
implementing these reforms? In Pakistan as elsewhere it has been demonstrated that the nature of
the government- military, democratically elected, nominated, selected – has not mattered much.
There is no systematic correlation found between the reforms of the underlying institutions and a
particular form of government. The challenge of reforming these institutions is formidable as the
vested interests wishing to perpetuate the status quo are politically powerful and the coalition and
alliances between the political leadership and the beneficiaries of the existing system are so

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strong that they cannot be easily ruptured. The elected governments with an eye on the short
term electoral cycles are not in a position to incur the pains from these reforms upfront while the
gains accrue later on to a different political party. The authoritarian governments are not
effective as they do not enjoy legitimacy for sustaining reforms. Changing institutions is a slow
and difficult process requiring, in addition to significant political will, fundamental but tough
measures to reduce the opportunity and incentives for powerful groups to capture economic
rents.

The imperatives of globalization in the 21st Century have added further impetus for governance
reforms. The pathway for countries as how they can successfully compete with other countries
and surge ahead is clearly laid out. The successful countries can bring about an improvement in
the well being of their population through markets, trade, investment and exchange. But the state
has to play an equally important role in nurturing and creating markets that foster competition
and provide information about opportunities to all participants, acting against collusion and
monopolistic practices, building capabilities and skills of people to engage in productive
activities, setting the rules of the game in a transparent manner and adjudicating and resolving
the disputes in a fair and equitable manner. To perform these functions the capacity,
competencies and responsiveness of the institutions of state have to be upgraded along with the
rules, enforcement mechanisms, organizational structures and incentives.

According to Acemoglu and Johnson, (2003) good institutions ensure two desirable outcomes -
that there is a relatively equal access to economic opportunity ( a level playing field) and that
those who provide labor or capital are appropriately rewarded and their property rights are
protected.

The above analysis and the future needs do clearly point out that institutions play a critical role
in economic performance and distributional consequences. The question arises: How can these
institutions been made effective and functional in the context of the Pakistan so that majority of
the population opportunity can engage in fruitful market activity and improve their well being
through their own efforts and through the interventions of the state? Before the agenda for
reforms in Pakistan is spelled out it is essential that the historical evolution of governance is
traced out to understand the context in which this agenda is to be implemented.

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HISTORY OF GOVERNANCE IN PAKISTAN
Pakistan inherited a well functioning structure of judiciary, civil service and military but a
relatively weak legislative oversight at the time of its independence. Over time the domination
of civil service and military in the affairs of the state disrupted the evolution of the democratic
political process and further weakened the legislative organ of the state. The judicial arm, with
few exceptions, plodded along sanctifying the dominant role of the military and the civil service.

The institutions inherited from the British rule, were quite relevant for the requirements of the
rulers of those times. Following independence, those requirements expanded in scope and
content while the level of expectations from the public and their elected representatives was
heightened. But these inherited institutions failed to adapt themselves to meet the new
challenges of development and social changes and respond to the heightened expectations and
aspirations of a free people. The “business as usual” mode of functioning, the approach and
attitudes of the incumbents holding top and middle level positions in the bureaucracy and
manning these institutions did not endear them to the political leaders or to the general public.
Several Commissions and Committees were formed in the first twenty five years after
independence for reform of the administrative structure and civil services. Some changes were
introduced during Ayub Khan’s regime in the 1960s to improve the efficiency of the Secretariats
but the tendencies for centralized controls and personalized decision making got worse in this
period. The reluctance to grant provincial autonomy to East Pakistan – the most populous
province of the country - so remote physically from the hub of decision making i.e. Islamabad
led to serious political backlash and eventual break up of the country into two independent
nations.

Pakistan continued to suffer from what has been termed as “Confused federalism” in which
weak local and provincial bodies are unable to match the ability of the Central Government to
mobilize resources and provide services. Whether it is health or education or highways or
agriculture the Federal Government has much larger programmes under implementation than
the Provincial or local governments. Although the money is spent in the provinces or districts

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the inability to identify, design, approve and implement these projects caused resentment
among the provincial governments.

In 1973, a populist government headed by Mr. Z.A. Bhutto took the first step to break the steel
frame of the Civil Services by taking away the constitutional guarantee of the security of the
job. He also demolished the exclusive and privileged role of the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP)
within the overall structure of the public service.

The next twenty five years witnessed a significant decline in the quality of new recruits to the
Civil Services as the implicit trade off between the job security and low compensation ceased to
operate and the expanding private sector including multinational corporations offered more
attractive career opportunities. The erosion of real wages in public sector over time also led to
low morale, demonization, inefficiency and resort to corrupt practices among the civil servants
at all levels. The abuse of discretionary powers, the bureaucratic obstruction and the delaying
tactics adopted by the government functionaries are all part of the maneuvering to extract
rents for supplementing their pay. In real terms the compensation paid to higher civil servants
is only one half of the 1994 package. The low wages mean that the civil service no longer
attracts the most talented young men and women. Some of the incumbents of the Civil
Services, in their instinct of self preservation, fell prey to the machinations of the political
regimes in power and many of them got identified with one political party or the other. They
also benefited from the culture of patronage practised by the politicians. During the 1990s the
replacement of one political party by the other in the corridors of power was followed by
changes in top bureaucracy. This growing tendency of informal political affiliation for
tenaciously holding on to key jobs was also responsible for the end of an impartial, neutral and
competent civil service responsive to the needs of the common man. Loyalty to the Ministers,
the Chief Ministers and Prime Minister took ascendancy over the accountability to the general
public. The frequent takeovers by the military regimes and the consequential screening of
hundreds of civil servants led to subservience of the civil service to the military rulers, erosion
of the authority of the traditional institutions of governance and loss of initiative by the higher
bureaucracy.

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The 2001 devolution plan put another major blow to the Civil Service of Pakistan as the posts of
Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners (DC) and Assistant Commissioners (AC) were abolished
and the reins of District Administration were transferred to the elected Nazims. To ordinary
citizens, the government was most tangibly embodied in these civil servants. It was the DC and
AC that they approached on a daily basis. The substitution of the civil servant by an elected
head of the administration is quite a new phenomenon and will take some time to sink in.
While this transition takes place the checks and balances implicit in the previous administrative
set up have become redundant. The police as a coercive force has therefore assumed greater
clout. The opportunities of collusion between the Nazim and the police have multiplied and in
many instances alienated the common citizens and diluted the impartiality of the
administration at grass roots levels. The sanctity of private property rights has been threatened
in several cases when the Nazims have given orders to make unauthorized changes in the land
records in the rural areas in collusion with the government functionaries to benefit themselves
and their cronies. The District Administration is yet to grow as autonomous institution in face of
a hostile environment of centralizing administration, and inequitable resource distribution.

REFORM AGENDA FOR PAKISTAN

The governance reform agenda for the future should therefore be designed to aim at
restructuring government and revitalizing institutions to deliver the core functions of the state
i.e provision of basic services – education, health, water sanitation and security – to common
citizens in an effective and efficient manner and to promote inclusive markets through which all
citizens have equal opportunities to participate in the economy. The restructuring should lower
transaction costs and provide access without frictions by curtailing arbitrary exercise of
discretionary powers, reducing over-taxation, minimizing corruption, cronyism and collusion
and ensuring public order and security of life and property.

To achieve sustained economic growth a competitive private sector has to be nurtured and
relied upon. Therefore a major area of reforms in Pakistan is to create space for the growth of
new entrants in the private sector by removing the constraints created by the state in their
entry and smooth operations. Despite the pursuit of policies of liberalization, deregulation,

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delicencing and disinvestment during the last fifteen years the overbearing burden of
government interventions in business life cycle looms large. The difficulties faced by new
businesses in acquiring, titling, pricing, transferring and possessing of land, in obtaining no
objection certificates from various agencies, in getting water and gas connections, sewerage
facilities, reliable electricity supply, access roads, in securing finances for green field projects or
new enterprises using emerging technologies are still horrendous and nerve wrecking. The
powers of petty inspectors from various departments/ agencies are so vast that they can either
make or break a business. The growing trend towards “informalization” of the economy
particularly by small and medium enterprises is a testimony to the still dominant nature of the
government. Over 96 percent of the establishments reported in the Economic census 2005 fall
in this category. The attitude of middle and lower functionaries of the government in the
provinces and districts towards private business remains ambivalent. Either the functionaries
harass the business to extract pecuniary and non pecuniary benefits for themselves or they are
simply distrustful, hostile or hesitant towards private entrepreneurs. The multiple agencies
involved, too many clearances needed and avoidable delays at every level raise the transaction
costs for new entrants. Unless the ease of entry and exit is facilitated the competitive forces
will remain at bay and the collusive and monopolistic practices of the large businesses will
continue to hurt the consumers and common citizens.

The second area is the absence of accountability for results. There is both too much and too
little accountability of those involved in public affairs in Pakistan. On one hand, the plethora of
laws and institutions such as Anti Corruption Bureaus, National Accountability Bureau, Auditor
General’s reports, Public Accounts Committees of the legislature, parliamentary oversight,
judicial activism and the Ombudsman system have created an atmosphere of fear, inertia and
lack of decision making among the civil servants. On the other hand, instances of rampant
corruption, malpractices, nepotism and favoritism and waste and inefficiency have become a
common folklore in the administrative culture of the country. Too much emphasis on the
ritualistic compliance with procedures, rules and form has taken the place of substantive
concerns with the results and outcomes for welfare and justice.

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Introducing transparency through simplification of rules and regulations, codification and
updating and wide dissemination through e-governance tools such as a dynamic website,
information Kiosks, on-line access to the government functionaries can help in enforcing
internal accountability standards while at the same time making it convenient for the citizens to
carry out hassle free transactions. Strong pressure from organized civil society advocacy groups
on specific sectors or activities from the media, the political parties, private sector and think
tanks can also compel the government departments and Ministries to become more
accountable for the results.

The third area of reforms has to do with the size, structure, scope of the Federal, Provincial and
Local Governments; the skills, incentives and competencies of the civil servants. The entire
value chain of human resource policy from recruitment to compensation needs to the reviewed
and redesigned. Similarly the division of functions and responsibilities between the different
tiers of the government has to be clarified and delineated. The elongated hierarchy within the
Ministry/ Division has to be trimmed down and the relationship between the Ministry and the
executive departments, autonomous bodies has to be redefined.

Governance agenda outlined above should not be considered as a technocratic exercise as it is

essentially a political exercise that takes into account the existing power relationships in which
the polity is rooted. The balancing of diverse interests of the various stakeholders involves
many politically tough choices which cannot be made by the technocrats. The sustainability of
reforms requires broad consultation, consensus building and communication to articulate the
long term vision. People should see beyond the immediate horizon and buy into the future
changes. Concerns, criticism and skepticism should be addressed. The scope, phasing, timing,
implementation strategies, mitigation measures for the losers from the reforms should be
widely discussed and debated. If things do not proceed the way they were conceptualized,
corrective actions should be taken in the light of the feedback received. Citizens’ charters,
citizens’ surveys and report cards, citizens’ panels and focus groups should be used as
instruments for receiving regular feedback about the impact of reforms on society and its
different segments.

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Care should also be taken to ensure that the governance reforms are not perceived to be driven
by external donors. The resistance against these reforms by internal constituencies is invariably
quite fierce to begin with but any semblance that they are being carried out under external
pressure will lead to their premature demise. The argument that externally motivated reforms
ignore the context and constraints and are therefore unsuitable gets currency and stiffens the
resistance. However, there is no harm in looking at the successful experiences of other
countries, gain insights or learn lesson from these experiences and apply them in the specific
circumstances of Pakistan with suitable modifications.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR REFORMS

The Government established the National Commission for Government Reforms (NCGR) in April
2006 and mandated it to prepare proposals for governance reforms in Pakistan. The
Commission decided that the following broad principles will underpin reforms in each area of
responsibility:

Civil Services
i) open, transparent merit – based recruitment to all levels and grades of public
services with Regional Representation as laid down in the constitution.

ii) Performance – based promotions and career progression for all public sector
employees with compulsory training at post induction, mid-career and senior
management levels.

iii) Equality of opportunities for career advancement to all employees without

preferences or reservations for any particular class.

iv) Replacement of the concept of Superior Services by equality among all cadres
and non-cadres of public servants.

v) Grant of a Living wage and compensation package including decent retirement

benefits to all civil servants.

vi) Strict observance of security of tenure of office for a specified period of time.

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 vii) Separate cadre of regular Civil Services at the Federal, Provincial and District
levels co-existing with contractual appointments.

viii) Creation of an All Pakistan National Executive Service (NES) for senior
management positions drawn through a competitive process from the Federal,
Provincial and District level Civil Servants and outside professionals.

ix) Introduction of three specialized cadres under the NES for Economic
Management, Social Sector Management and General Management.

Structure of Federal, Provincial and District Governments

a) Devolution of powers, responsibilities and resources from the Federal to the
Provincial Governments.

b) Establishing inter-governmental structures with adequate authority and powers to

formulate and monitor policy formulation.

c) Clear separation of policy making, regulatory and operational responsibilities of the

Ministries/ Provincial departments.

d) Making each Ministry/ Provincial department fully empowered, adequately

resourced to take decisions and accountable for results.

e) Streamline, rationalize and transform the attached departments/ autonomous

bodies/ subordinate offices/ field offices etc. into fully functional arms of the
Ministries for performing operational and executive functions.

f) Reduce the number of layers in the hierarchy of each Ministry/ Provincial

department.

g) Cabinet Secretary to perform the main coordinating role among the Federal
Secretaries on the lines of the Chief Secretary in the Provinces.

h) Revival and strengthening of the Secretaries Committee at the Federal/ Provincial

Governments to become the main vehicle for inter-ministerial coordination and
dispute resolution among various ministries.

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 i) District level officers interacting with the general public in day-to-day affairs should
enjoy adequate powers, authority, status and privileges to be able to resolve the
problems and redress the grievances of the citizens.

j) Police, Revenue, Education, Water Supply, and Health are the departments which
are highly relevant for the day-to-day lives of the Ordinary Citizen of this country.
The internal governance structures of these departments, public grievance redressal
systems against these departments and checks and balances on the discretionary
powers of the officials have to be introduced.

Business process re-engineering

i) All laws, rules, regulations, circulars, guidelines issued by any Government
ministry/ department/ agency should be available in its most up dated version to
the general public free of cost in a user-friendly manner on web page and in
electronic and print forms at public places.

ii) Service standards with timelines for each type of service rendered at the District,
Thana and Union level should be developed, widely disseminated and posted at
public places in each department.

iii) Rules of business at the Federal, Provincial and District Governments should be
revised to make them simple, comprehensible empowering the Secretaries/
Heads of Departments/ District Coordination Officers to take decisions without
multiple references, clearances and back and forth movement of files. Post-audit
of the decisions taken should be used to ensure accountability rather than prior
clearances.

iv) Delegation of financial, administrative, procurement, human resource

management powers should be revisited and adequate powers commensurate
with the authority should be delegated at each tier of the hierarchy.

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 v) Estacode, Financial Rules, Accounting and Audit Rules, Fundamental Rules and all
other rules in force should be reviewed systematically and revised to bring them
in line with modern management practices.

vi) E-Government should be gradually introduced in a phased manner.

Technological solutions, hardware and software applications are easy part of the
process but the most difficult aspect is the training and a change in the culture,
attitude and practices. E-Government should be driven by business needs rather
than crafted as an elegant technical solution.

PROPOSED APPROACH
There are several ways to approach the task assigned to the National Commission for
Government Reforms (NCGR). One option is to spend several years in preparing a
comprehensive blueprint and plan for bringing about the desired changes covering all aspects
of the structure, processes and human resource policies of government. This option has the
disadvantage that by the time the report is ready ground realities might have changed. Political
support for reforms under this approach is most likely to wane as high costs are incurred
upfront in pushing through complex, unpopular and difficult decisions but the benefits of the
reforms do not become visible in the lifecycle of the political regime in power. The advantage of
this option is that all deficiencies and weaknesses are addressed simultaneously in a
comprehensive manner.

The second option is to prepare a long term vision and direction in which reforms should aim
and move but combine this with an opportunistic approach whereby easy to implement
changes are taken up first and the more difficult reforms are taken up later. The disadvantage
of this option is that the changes introduced may be imperceptible and the time taken for the
whole process to complete may be too long. But the advantage is that incremental changes
that create a win-win situation for all the stakeholders including politicians have a much better
chance of getting accepted and implemented. The Commission has adopted the second option
as the modus-operandi for its working.

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The preference for this option which is less elegant and imperfect lies in a dispassionate reading
of the past history of reforms in this country. A large number of erudite Commissions and
Committees have spent virtually thousands of man years in seeking out views and opinions
from a diverse set of opinion makers and public at large, prepared elaborate diagnostic studies
and presented very sensible set of recommendations. But except for some tinkering here and
there most of the recommendations were not implemented because of lack of political will and
courage.

The sequencing, phasing and timing of the various reforms and their implementation will be
guided by the speed at which consensus is built among the stakeholders and the decisions are
made by the top policy makers but it is important to lay down the overall direction in which
these reforms will move

While the comprehensive reforms will be implemented incrementally a second track will also
be followed in which some quick win reforms will be implemented from time to time as an
opportunity presents itself. For this purpose, the Commission will follow a more flexible route.
For example, it has decided to focus on four major areas where the interaction between the
ordinary citizen and administrative machinery of the government is most intense. These four
areas are:

1. Police and enforcement of laws.

2. Land Revenue Administration
3. Education
4. Health
The Commission has formed four sub-committees to review and examine the efforts being
made by the government, private sector and civil society in each of these areas and come up
with solutions that will make the existing system more efficient and responsive to the needs of
the public in the immediate or short run. The Commission has also formed another Sub-
Committee to recommend revision in the Rules of Business for removing impediments in the
functioning of the government departments/ ministries/ agencies and empowering the heads
of the departments to deliver results.

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The preliminary recommendations of the sub-committees were presented to focus groups of
stakeholders drawn from diverse segments of society – Secretaries Committee, political leaders,
businessmen, NGOs, academic refined civil servants etc. – for soliciting their feedback and
views. After incorporating the feedback the sub-committees finalized their recommendations
which were then discussed by the Commission and then presented for consideration and
decisions by the Steering Committee. The High powered Steering Committee is co-chaired by
the President and Prime Minister and consists of the four Chief Ministers. The Committee has
decided to provide a legal cover to the Commission so that the recommendations approved by
the Steering Committee are implemented by the Federal and Provincial Governments without
further reviews.

The Commission will also act as a facilitator and conduit for the reforms formulated by the
Federal Ministries/ Provincial Governments and tables them, after its own analysis for the
decisions by the Steering Committee.

To conclude, those who agree that there is a need for these reforms have serious reservations
about their implementation. They contend that these reforms cannot be implemented in real
sense unless the bureaucratic actions are insulated from political interference. According to this
school of thought the problem of maladministration and poor governance stems from this
interference. It must be recognized that in democratic forms of governance, elected leaders will
have to respond to their political constituents and the associated vested interests. The
accountability for results rest largely on these politicians and not on the civil servants. If the
interference of the politicians is aimed at serving the narrow parochial interests of few
individuals or groups rather than the broader collective interests of their constituencies they
may end up paying a heavy price at the time of the next elections. Their opponents, the
opposition parties and the media scrutiny will keep a watch on their actions and expose them
before their constituents. With the passage of time and successive purges at the elections the
impulse to interfere in the affairs of the civil servants for personal and parochial factors will be
contained and replaced by the urge to pay greater attention to the collective interests of their
constituents. No system is perfect and some elected leaders as well as civil servants will

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continue to misuse their powers and authority but extent of such misuse will be reduced with
greater accountability.

CONCLUSION
The Government of Pakistan has taken a major and bold step towards decentralization
and restructuring of institutions with the establishment of district governments under the
new local government system put in place in 2001. The newly inducted system no doubt
provides sufficient institutional arrangements for organizing the community at the local
level. The number of elected women, workers, peasants and monitory candidates in all
union councils during the five rounds of local government elections held under the Local
Government Ordinance (1979) indicate that the system provides opportunities for
participation and empowerment of traditionally marginal segments of society.

The task was of course gigantic in nature, including certain operational problems
regarding reorganization of development departments, reallocation of their functions,
and technical and financial powers besides recognition of the newly inducted Local
Government. Issues related to fiscal transfers, common to such national-level initiatives,
are also emerging, for which appropriate and prompt remedial measures are being
undertaken. These include channeling of development funds from the federal
government to the district government through provincial government imposition of
taxes and allocation of funds to the elected representatives of the local government,
especially to female councilors.

The exercise of decentralization and institutional restructuring is no doubt based on

continued serious and genuine demands by the public and forward-looking segments of
the society. It is being implemented with full sincerity and with consideration of all
related issues simultaneously. It would, however, be premature to pass judgment on the
efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the reforms being implemented to ensure
good governance. This could only be done after gauging the performance of the district
government institutions in relation to some common characteristics of good governance.

These include:
(i) Transparency of the decision-making process.
(ii) Accountability of decision makers by the stakeholders.
(iii) Efficiency of governance institutions.
(iv) Responsiveness to the people needs.
(v) Governance institutions role as facilitator and enabler rather than
controller.
(vi) Performance of functions according to established laws and rules.

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The newly inducted Local Government System seems to be facing problems relating to
its recognition vis-à-vis the Provincial and Federal Governments. The Government is
conscious of the prevailing situation and is taking serious remedial measures to redress
the issues cropping up and removing misunderstanding and misconception of the local
government system at the district as well as at the provincial levels.

REFERENCES

BOOK & JOURNALS

 Burns, Tony and Dalrymple, Kate. (2006) "Land Administration Reform: Indicators of
Success and Future Challenges"Land Equity International Pty Ltd. Wollongong
Australia.
 Enemark, S. and van der Molen, P. (2008) "Capacity assessment in land administration",
publication;41, International Federation of Surveyors (FIG). Frederiksberg
 Gauhar, S. (2004) "Mapping Pakistan - Taking a Leaf Out of Sher Shah's Book" Blue
Chip. Islamabad
 Khalid, A. K. (2002) "Guaranteeing Title to Land". DAWN News Paper, Islamabad
 Lyons, Ken and Satish, Chandra. (2001) "Undertaking land administration projects:
sustainability, affordability, operational efficiency and good practice guidelines "New
Millennium Print. Canberra, Australia.
 Mumtaz, K. and Nosherwani, M. M. (2006) "Women’s Access and Rights to Land and
Property in Pakistan"Shirkat Gah - Women's Resource Centre. Karachi.
 Qazi, M. U. (2006) "Computerization of Land Records in Pakistan"LEAD International.
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 Qazi, Mohammad Usman. (2005) "Social Assessment of Land Record Management
Information System Programme". Background PaperThe World Bank Pakistan Country
office. Islamabad, Pakistan.
 Raza, Fawad, Almas, Muhammad and Ahmed, Kamran. (2005) "Land Records
Information Management System". 25th Annual ESRI International User Conference. San
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 UN-ECE. (1996) "Land administration guidelines : with special reference to countries in
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 UN-ECE. (2005) "Land Administration in the UNECE Region: Development trends and
main Principles "United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. New York and
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 Williamson, Ian P. and Fourie, Clarissa. (1998) "Using the Case Study Methodology for
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 World Bank. (2001) "Land policy and administration: lessons learned and new
challenges for the bank’s development agenda"World Bank. Washington, DC.
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WEB
 Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics. http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/.
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