Introduction …
Pakistan’s achievements in
NATIONAL COMMISSION
FOR
GOVERNMENT REFORMS
July 2009
National Commission for Govt. Reforms
Prime Minister’s Secretariat
Islamabad – 44000
Phone: 92-51-9203932 / 051-9206329
Fax: 92-51- 9205377 / 051-9202419
Email: info@ncgr.gov.pk
Website: www.ncgr.gov.pk
economic
management and structural policies in recent
years have been widely acclaimed both
domestically and internationally. However,
the social sector performance lags far behind
the economic achievements due to weak
public service delivery capacity. There is
thus a dire need to improve efficiency and
effectiveness of the public sector and make
it result-oriented, client focused, responsive
and accountable. Taking cognizance of the
gravity of the situation, the Government of
Pakistan has set up a National Commission
for Government Reforms (NCGR).
Why another Commission for
Reforms
There are several compelling reasons for the
establishment of the NCGR and reforming
the public sector. Some of the most
important reasons include as follows: -
a. A large number of government owned
corporations and businesses have been
privatized reducing the administrative
burden on government.
b. A new tier - local government - has been
introduced that requires reallocation of
resources and strengthening of capacity.
c. The unbundling of the policy, regulatory c. improving existing institutional capacity
and operational responsibilities of the through identification and meeting of
Federal Ministries requires a shift of skill gaps in the context of functions
focus. assigned to organizations of government
at all levels;
d. The civil services in Pakistan suffer from
a variety of weaknesses including poor d. the redesigning of rules and core
training and morale and have to be business processes at all levels of
reorganized. government to achieve functional
efficiency, client orientation, cost
e. The opportunities provided by e-
reduction, transparency and a shift of
government have not yet been fully
focus from process compliance to output
realized to improve the access of
and outcomes;
common man.
e. inter-linkages between federal,
Terms of Reference (TOR)
provincial and local public services with
The TOR of the Commission states that it
a view to strengthening the federation
shall review and make a clear, precise and
through increased transaction efficiency
implementable set of recommendations in
and smoother conduct of business;
respect of:
f. public service design for all tiers of
a. the division of functions, responsibilities
government that would include:
and accountabilities among the federal,
provincial and local governments to (1) the structure of the public
avoid duplication, overlap and functional services at all levels in view of
redundancy; functional reassignments;

b. the appropriate size of government (2) recruitment, training, placement,

organizations at each tier of government promotion and career planning
including attached departments, for the public services;
autonomous bodies, public sector (3) the development of human
corporations and other entities in the capital through training and
light of the responsibilities and functions higher education.
assigned to each;
 (4) Indicators for qualitative and
quantitative measurement
performance for diverse
professions and services;
(5) Compensation packages and
performance based incentives;
(6) Measures to fill capacity gaps in
the interim;
g. legislative requirement to implement
the plan;
h. resource requirement to implement
the plan;
i. a strategy to manage the proposed
changes & transformation; and
j. a monitoring mechanism to monitor
the implementation of the approved
recommendations.
Composition of the Commission
The NCGR has the following composition: -
Chairman
Chaudhary Abdul Ghafoor
Members
Mr.Khan Ahmad Goraya
Mr. Muhammas Hasan Bhutto
Mr. Sikandar Jamali
Mr. Iftikhar Ahmed Khan
Dr. Nelson Azeem
Dr. Parveen Qadir Agha
Mr. Afzal Ali Shigri
Ex-Officio Members
of Secretary Cabinet Division,
Secretary Establishment Division
Secretary Finance Division
Secretary
Mirza Shams-ul-Hasan PSP
D.G NCGR
Sub-Committees of the Commission
In order to address bottlenecks in the service
delivery and to provide relief to the common
people, the NCGR in its meeting decided to
set Two Sub-Committees on the following
important subjects: -
a. Civil Service Reforms
b. Coordination between Federal &
Provincial Governments
The primary strategy of the NCGR is to
work closely with all the stakeholders within
and outside the Government at the Federal,
Provincial and District level and develop
strong ownership of the reforms. The NCGR
does not want to reinvent the wheel but
would capitalize upon different reform
initiatives being carried out at various levels
of government all across the country. The
objective is to supplement, augment and
channel the efforts of these stakeholders
instead of substituting them.
 Representation as laid down in the
constitution.
Composition of the Sub-
Committees b. Performance – based promotions and
The Composition of the Sub-Committee of career progression for all public sector
the NCGR is given below: - employees with compulsory training at
post induction, mid-career and senior
Civil Service Reforms
management levels.
a. Mr. Muhammad Hasan Bhutto, Convener
c. Equality of opportunities for career
a. Mr. Khan Ahmed Goraya, Member
b. Mr. M. Ismail Qureshi, Member advancement to all employees without
Secretary Establishment, preferences or reservations for any
c. Mr. Sana Ullah, , Secretary particular class.
Director (A&A) NCGR
d. Replacement of the concept of Superior
Services by equality among all cadres
Coordination between Federal &
Provincial Governments and non-cadres of public servants.
d. Mr.Khan Ahmed Goraya, Convener e. Grant of a living wage and compensation
e. Mr. Muhammad Hasan Bhutto, Member package including decent retirement
f. Mr. Iftikhar Ahmed Khan, Member benefits to all civil servants.
g. Mr. Zafar Mehmood, Member
f. Strict observance of security of tenure of
Secretary Cabinet
h. Mr. Zafar Yab Ahmad, Secretary office for a specified period of time.
Director (Reforms) NCGR g. Separate cadre of regular Civil Services
at All Pakistan, Federal, Provincial and
District levels co-existing with
Areas of Reforms
contractual appointments.
Keeping in view its TOR, the NCGR has h. Creation of an All Pakistan National
identified the following key areas of Executive Service (NEC) for senior
reform:- management positions drawn through a
Civil Service Reforms competitive process from the Federal,
Provincial and District level Civil
a. open, transparent merit – based
Servants and outside professionals.
recruitment to all levels and grades of
i. Introduction of four specialized cadres
public services with Regional
under the NES for Economic
 Management, Social Sector Management
and General Management.
Government Structure
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
Ministries/Provincial departments.
d. Making each Ministry/Provincial
department fully empowered, adequately
resourced to take decisions
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.
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
the of the citizens.
j. Police, Revenue, Education, Water
Supply, Health are the departments
which are highly relevant for the day-to-
and day lives of the Ordinary Citizens of this
country. The internal governance and
structures of these departments and
checks and balances on the discretionary
powers of the officials have to be
introduced.
Business Process Reengineering
a. 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 f. E-Government should be gradually
places. introduced in a phased manner.
b. Service standards with timelines for each Technological solutions, hardware and
type of service rendered at the District, software applications are easy part of the
Thana and Union level should be process but the most difficult aspect is
developed, widely disseminated and the ………. Training and a change in the
posted at public places in each culture, attitude and practices. E-
department. Government should be driven by
c. Rules of Business at the Federal, business needs rather than crafted as an
Provincial and District Governments elegant technical solution.
should be revised to make them simple,
NCGR Website
comprehensible empowering the
The website of NCGR is accessible at
Secretaries/ Heads of Departments/
www.ncgr.gov.pk.
District Coordination Officers to take
decisions without multiple references, Contact NCGR and its Members
clearances and back and forth movement Chaudhary Abdul Ghafoor 051-9203932
of files. Post-audit of the decisions taken Fax: 051-9205377

should be used to ensure accountability Mr. Khan Ahmad Goraya, 0333-5194949

Member
rather than prior clearances. 0300-3044150
Mr. Muhammad Hasan
021-5835339
d. Delegation of financial, administrative, Bhutto, Member
0343-5425009
procurement, human resource Mr. Sikandar Jamali, Member
081-2838961
management powers should be revisited 0300-6125401
Dr. Nelson Azeem, Member
and adequate powers commensurate with 0300-5219688
Dr. Parveen Qadir Agha,
051-9204070
the authority should be delegated at each Member
0300-8502226
tier of the hierarchy. Mr. Afzal Ali Shigri, Member
051-2870852-3
e. Estacode, Financial Rules, Accounting Secretary, Cabinet Division, 051-9213562
and Audit Rules, Fundamental Rules and Ex-officio Member Fax: 051-9201357
Secretary, Establishment 051-9212118
all other rules in force should be Division, Ex-officio Member Fax: 051-9207016
reviewed systematically and revised to Secretary, Finance Division, 051-9202373
bring them in line with modern Ex-Officio Member Fax: 051-9201857
Mirza Shams-ul-Hasan PSP 051-9206329
management practices.
Secretary/ D.G NCGR Fax: 051-902419
Mr. Sana Ullah 051-9202879
Director (A&A) NCGR
Mr. Zafar Yab Ahmad, 051-9207981
Director (Reforms) NCGR