Bureaucratic Derogatory and Administrative Hierarchy
Appraisal with reference to Sub-Continent
Dr. Mughees Ahmed
Abstract
The study of the bureaucracy as administrative hierarchy
designed by British in the political context is the main object of
this paper. This chain of command has impersonal behavior with
respect to public. It increased powers, by lack of initiative and
flexibility by unresponsiveness to human needs and public
opinion. Corruption in bureaucracy is increased by tendency to
defer decisions to superior and to impede with red-taps. This
paper is an attempt to analyze the overall effects of corruption in
bureaucracy on the output of political process in the sub-
continent. Another main focus of this paper is to analyze the
power of non-political elements in politics. Therefore, for the
purpose of analysis, we have adapted the historical, analytical
and comparative approaches. It is hoped that the outcome of this
analysis can provide a solid foundation to extend the spectrum of
this research on this issue.
Historical Background
It is a common knowledge that the term ‘bureaucracy’ means the administrative
staff which executes commands and serves as a bridge between the rulers and
ruled. It is a distinctive form of organization found not just in government but in
all spheres of modern society. It is noteworthy that in the United States, many
top positions go to presidential appointees rather than to permanent civil
servants. Let people not say that the government officials who have done so
little are in surplus to our requirements.
So far as bureaucratic corruption is concerned, it is referred to be the corruption
engaged in by state employees. In effect this describes a very significant part of
overall corruption, as the executive arm of the state is most directly involved in
service delivery and economic and social regulation.
Bureaucratic Derogatory and Administrative Hierarchy Appraisal with reference to Sub-Continent
Bureaucracy is almost alone in implementing and enforcing laws and
regulations. In so doing, they may have quite a bit of discretion. Most modern
legislation is general and can be effectively enforced only if administrative
officials work out its detail and implementation. Policy implementation and
enforcement usually depend on bureaucrats with which they put it into practice.
Bureaucracies are involved in political communication and political elites,
whether executives or legislators. In this perspective, many of their decisions
are based upon the information they obtain through public administrative
process. Similarly, various interest groups, political parties, business elites, and
the general public depend upon such information.‘As far as a political government is concerned, a lot depends on the relationship of different respective players and the establishment. The longevity of a political
rule depends on the individual ruler’s relationship with the establishment and
his/her own behavior. An unwise politician engages in massive looting and
plunders without considering the high political cost of his behavior. Thus, the
government is gone even before it can stabilize.’
From 1947 to 1957, i.e., during the first decades of Pakistan history,
bureaucracy was dedicated and worked hard for the development and progress
of this country. They proved themselves as change agent in this era. They held
the nation together and ensured its survival. Slowly, but surly Pakistan was
progressing as young democratic nation. Bureaucracy also played very
important role in framing the constitution of 1956 of Pakistan. Bureaucracy as
an organization structured hierarchically, in which lower-level officials are
charged with administering regulation codifies in rules that specify impersonal,
objective guidelines for making decisions. In the modern world, many large
organizations, especially business firms and the executives of developed states
are organized along bureaucratic lines.
The main task of administration in British India devolved upon the members of
the Indian Civil Service, which set standards of efficiency and incorruptibility
which have seldom been equaled in any other civil service. Even today former
ICS officers are considered the backbone of the administration system in both
India and Pakistan. Being one of the oldest civil services in the Sub-continent,
the ICS name into being as early as the eighteenth century. After 1853,
Journal of Political Studies
appointments were made by the British government in place of the East India
Company on the basis of open competition. As late as 1892, the (ICS)
numbered only 992 officers, and only 21 of these were Indians. But after 1900,
increasing numbers of Indians were taken into the service, through rigid
examination, and on the eve of independence a major part of the service was
Indian. Machiavelli’s skill in using information for practical purposes was
institutionalized and accepted as common sense by officials and bureaucrats
within two centuries. In the India-Pakistan context, the bureaucrat a relic of the
colonial administration, form a powerful institution that comprises
administrators, sleuths, police, customs (powerful people who raise our hopes
and dash them at will). Remarkable changes cannot be noted in the last
century. Modern bureaucracies use state power to extract and accumulated
wealth for themselves.
Bureaucracy in Pakistan
Bureaucracy is an active pressure group in Pakistan. The earliest policy
decisions were taken by bureaucrats, who like other bureaucrats in the world,
thought that the politicians were unruly. The state-security policies, the civil
servants adopted brought them close to the army. This was the beginning of the
most powerful pressure group in Pakistan, known vaguely as ‘the
establishment’. The nation-building process initiated after 1947 favored the
military-bureaucratic combine. Pakistan was meant to be a state that would
oppose the fundamental principle of the Indian state. Born out of communal
conflict, Pakistan represented a negation of India’s secular nationalism. If one
succeeded, it would mean the failure of the other. The first war with India began
in 1947; consequently, danger presented to the state of Pakistan strengthened
the military lobby. Bureaucracy seems to be civil administration in Europe and
America. However, with few exceptions, the bureaucrats in Pakistan have
operated in the manner in which they were brought up under the colonial
regime. Bureaucracy in Pakistan is the successor to ICS which was organized to
maintain law and order. It was not a welfare administration.
Defects in Pakistan’s bureaucracy
Defects in Pakistan’s bureaucracy can be noted because excessive political
powers are concentrated in the hands of bureaucracy to the deprivation of non-
bureaucratic segments of the society. Bureaucracy is infested with corruption
and inefficiency due to its imperial style. It suffered from exploitation of
administrative discretion. There is lack of cooperation and coordination of team
spirit in public servants, as there is jealously between different categories of
civil service. It undermined the autonomy of educational institutions, local
government and professional organizations. These are only the few major
reasons due to which the prevailing bureaucratic procedure cause unbearable
delay in implementing the national plans and policies which lead to open the
door for corruption and inefficiency at every level. It denies equal opportunity to
all employees for their promotion on higher positions in public services, for
which they deserve because of their competence. It is not accountable to
public. It failed to use voluntary contribution of non-officials in the
administration. It relied excessively on monetary incentives.
The anti-corruption policies adopted by the Government of Pakistan are also
valuable. Some of these policies have been supported by the World Bank,
include targeting perceptions and beliefs, for instance through organizing
workshops and seminars, institutional reforms, such as support for
decentralization and devolution. It also includes organizational reforms
introduced by different governments such as privatization and civil service
reforms, policy reforms, including those aimed at reducing the scope of
government intervention in the economy. Developing countries generally have
much higher corruption than the developed countries which is because of the
reason that the state typically occupies a strategic position in processes of early
capitalism. The key to Bhutto’s bureaucratic reform was the abolition of the
all-powerful CSP, the tightly knit core of the bureaucracy which had in effect
ruled the country throughout history. It has also been argued that bureaucratic
Structure and size of the federal bureaucracy
The structure and size of the federal bureaucracy has been the subject of the
Committee on Restructuring and Rightsizing the Bureaucracy. Internal
bureaucratic accountability has been addressed by amending the Federal
Public Services Commission Ordinance, the Civil Service Act and the passing
of a Removal from Services Ordinance directly targeted at corrupt bureaucrats.
There have also been improvements in external monitoring through the setting
up of an ombudsman and through the actions of the National Accountability
Bureau. Pay and compensation issues have been addressed as part of the
government’s ongoing Pay and Compensation Reform. The Government of
Pakistan has also attempted to address some of the issues of accountability
within the political structure. The basic pay and allowances are low relative to
the private sector and also in terms of international comparisons.
Review and Reflection
The main concern of this paper has been the elaboration of corruption of
bureaucracy in India and Pakistan. Bureaucracy uses delaying tactics to justify
its corruption and plays pivotal role in rule and regulation making. Bureaucrats
are not only playing the role of mere adviser to the ministers in policy
formulation but also have combined the roles of advisers, policy formulators
and policy-implementer in both countries. It is nature of bureaucracy to
exercise their preferences for their own group interest in the form of unity. In
Pakistan and India, proud to be a bureaucrat or Babu and belongs to elevated
caste and to look down upon civil, subordinate and humble birth is a challenge
to an actual spirit of working relationship and their role in political system.
Political parties are high jacked by bureaucrats. The mode of negative and
aggressive thinking is the main cause to create a gap between officials and
mass. Such situations become common if the original problems persevere and
no dramatic transformation takes place. In such circumstances people continue
to feel the sense of insecurity of their rights. It is widely recognized that
developing country’s bureaucrats have too much ‘discretion’ which allows them
to engage in corruption or deliver poor performance without the threat of
effective checks. As opposed to bureaucracy, the political executives or
ministers should be selected from the men of dynamic personalities; who may
Bureaucratic Derogatory and Administrative Hierarchy Appraisal with reference to Sub-Continent
not play as tool in hands of top civil executive or bureaucracy. There should be
decentralization of authority and power in all the departments and divisions of
the government. A sound system of education should be developed at grass
level so that the citizens may advance intellectually and the bureaucratic
system may be kept away from the higher class. All promotions must be made
purely on merit. An impartial and unbiased press and media can serve as cheek
and balance on bureaucracy. The government should establish a research
academy on Management and Administration. Bureaucrat should be intimately
acquainted with the administrative work. Major changes also need to be made
in the prevailing outdated system, particularly in the rules and regulations
relating to bureaucracy. They must be realized that they have been given
authority and powers for the service of the people and the welfare of the
masses and not for their selfish motives and self-interests. The political
influence over bureaucracy must be eradicated. They may not be made tool in
the hands of political parties especially this trend exists in Pakistan. The
principle of accountable-management should be introduced in the
administrative structure and devolution and decentralization of powers can be
helpful in this regard. There is also need to reform the training style of
bureaucracy in sub-continent.The red-tapism should be discouraged which is in fact a major tool of corruption among the bureaucracy. It affects negatively the efficiency of the work because
it is outdated procedure and also has an effect on the merit in various cases. It
has generally been observed that mostly the rules and regulations are relaxed
in the favor of friends and relatives. Unfortunately, the aloofness behavior of
bureaucracy separated it from the masses. The current training style makes
them proud and converts them to superior class. A responsible legislature can
serve as an effective guardian of virtue through oversight exercised by standing
committees or by special inquiries. The lack of actual spirit of austerity is
leading to corruption in bureaucracy. The several practical institutional
measures can be taken to limit corruption. Naturally, remuneration must be
adequate to sustain the reasonable life standard and at the same time it must
serve as an incentive to attract competent people to government service. But
hike in remuneration and pay alone is not the answer to reduce the corruption.
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