Fault Lines in the Administrative Culture of Pakistan

  

Fault Lines in the Administrative Culture of Pakistan

Pakistan inherited its administrative culture from colonial India during its independence. Such a culture has been followed in the country since 1947, and little change has been made till today. The administrative culture that has been derived by Pakistan from British India has certain key fault lines, including undue political interference, bureaucratic red tape, a spoiled system of recruitment under the guise of merit, a lack of autonomy and capacity, and a lack of accountability and transparency. These fault lines result in compromising the rule of law, systematic bureaucratic corruption, injustice or delayed justice, and violations of individual liberty. The need of the moment is to reform the administrative culture by taking certain measures, including de-politicizing the bureaucracy, strengthening accountability mechanisms, and ensuring a merit system of recruitment.

Administrative culture can be defined, in the words of James L. Perry, a renowned scholar in public administration, as "the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes members of one organization from another. It includes the shared beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors that influence the functioning and performance of the administrative system." By this definition, one can easily get the idea that administrative culture is the collective programming of the mind based on shared beliefs, values, and attitudes that influence the whole administrative system of a country. This article discusses the fault lines in such values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that influence the administrative system of Pakistan.

One of the key fault lines in the administrative culture of Pakistan is the undue political interference in the administrative system. It includes taking undue favor, asking for corruption, maintaining a spoiled system of recruitment, unreasonable transfers, illegal promotions, and demotions, using bureaucrats for unethical political gain, giving oral orders instead of written orders, and pressuring bureaucrats to do illegal acts. In Pakistan, these practices are followed systematically, and thus they have become part of its administrative culture. The political culture of Pakistan is directly related to its administrative culture. Flaws in its political culture directly impact the administrative culture, and therefore, the ills in the administrative culture of Pakistan are the effect of its political culture. So undue political interference in the administrative system of the country prevents its development and maintains a colonial legacy till today.

Another major fault line in the administrative culture of Pakistan is bureaucratic red tape. The bureaucratic red tape represents a state where people face an expensive and lengthy legal process for the enforcement and execution of their basic fundamental rights. The Pakistani administrative system is highly criticized for its red tape due to its expensive, delayed, and unreasonable legal procedures. Red tape results in corruption, bribery, political interference, and inefficiency. Such evils as red tape have been systematically embedded in the administrative culture of the country. People avoid lengthy, delayed, and unreasonable legal procedures for the execution of their rights, and thus they prefer to bribe administrators for a speedy and just way to enforce their basic rights. So much systematic red tape in the administrative culture of the country has highly polluted the whole system in such a way that it has now become the culture of the country.

A spoiled system of recruitment under the guise of a merit system is another evil in the administrative culture of Pakistan. Although the law of the land does not allow a spoiled system of recruitment, the practice has been widely used. Politicians commonly promise the voters that they will give them jobs if they elect them in the election, and the people also expect lawmakers to give them jobs that they cannot avail of otherwise. In this way, a systematic practice of illegal recruitment in the administrative sector of the country has become part of its administrative culture, and thereby, people have lost hope in the merit system of the country. Political appointments under the pretext of merit for political advantage are therefore one of the fundamental flaws of Pakistan's administrative culture.

In line with the above fault lines, a lack of administrative autonomy and capacity is another flaw in the administrative culture of Pakistan. A rigid framework of bureaucratic rules results in limited decision-making authority, lengthy procedures, and bureaucratic red tape. In such a type of culture, obedience to rules and law becomes the end of the administrator; however, obedience to law is a means to achieve the end, which is the rule of law, justice, public prosperity, and the pursuit of happiness. In Pakistani administrative culture, the end of administrators is to obey orders and work within a fixed framework of rules and regulations; however, the end should and must be the proper delivery of goods and services to the public with high efficiency, equity, and transparency.

 

Lack of accountability and transparency in the country are the parents of all evil in the administrative culture of Pakistan. In Pakistan, there is little concept of accountability and transparency. In other words, accountability is an alien value to the administrative culture of the country. Although the law of the land encourages accountability and transparency in different legal codes, there is no pragmatic way of achieving accountability and transparency in the country. Lack of accountability and transparency is the mother of all evils because accountability is the only fear that can prevent administrators from engaging in illegal and unethical acts, but in the absence of accountability and transparency, administrators are free to do whatever they want. Lack of accountability and transparency has polluted the whole system, but it has become part of the culture, and therefore, it is hard to find someone who can fight for accountability in the country.

 

 These flaws in the administrative culture have far-reaching consequences for the country, including, but not limited to, undermining the rule of law, systematic corruption, and unfairness. The rule of law index for 2022 puts Pakistan 130th out of 140 states. It ranks 40th out of 180 states in the corruption perception index. In terms of justice, Pakistan was ranked 124 out of 139 jurisdictions in civil justice and 108 out of 139 nations in criminal justice in 2022. These are some of the eye-opening data that reveal the face of the country's administrative structure.

Administrative changes are urgently needed in the country to shift the current administrative culture in a favorable direction. There is a need to depoliticize the bureaucracy, establish accountability systems, eliminate red tape, and adopt a meritocracy in the country. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for public awareness of their basic rights as well as effective education.

In conclusion, Pakistan's administrative culture is the offspring of British Indian administrative culture, which is built on a colonial legacy. Such a culture is riddled with flaws, such as excessive political meddling, bureaucratic red tape, a skewed merit-based recruiting system, a lack of autonomy and capability, and a lack of accountability and transparency. In this society, such attitudes and behaviors have undermined the rule of law and jeopardized individual liberty. To break free from the colonial past, it is critical to transform the whole administrative culture via sound and pragmatic reforms.

Kamran Khan Advocate

kamranlucky210@gmail.com