Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Session 16 - Help Needed - In need of an efficient bureaucracy.

This week’s reading on Bureaucracy left me with a bad taste. One of the sub headings in the reading was labeled as the “Functions of bureaucracies,” and what is alarming and concerning is that in our country, one does not see even one of the functions getting fulfilled efficaciously. Every nation knows the positive ripple effects of a strong bureaucracy, and the state of our bureaucracy is nothing but sad.

There are numerous functions that a bureaucracy fulfills, but in the reading, the four main ones labeled are carrying out administration, offering policy advice, articulating and aggregating interests and maintaining political stability. Policy making and effective administration are the aspects that have been under severe criticism since many years in our country. Not only is the country lacking in efficient running, barely any efficacious policies are made regarding any aspect of development. Interests of groups of individuals are mocked upon and when it comes to maintaining political stability, the situation is nothing but deploring. Pakistan tries to run on the principle of democracy and what is amusing is that democratic governments have failed to complete their tenures  almost every time.


Some would probably comment on my post, telling me to stay optimistic about my own country, I’d just like to make it clear; I am a firm believer of criticism for betterment. The CSS exam itself which selects the civil servants in our country, recruits 7.5% people based on merit and education while the other 92.5% percent is selected on the basis of the “quota system.” The quota system is nothing but a farce method of maintaining that there is a equal representation of minorities across the country. This quota system is full of corruption and people getting in even if they don’t deserve it at all. Thus even though we have learned that bureaucracy is what keeps a government running and it is that structure that maintains efficient running, we really need a stringent accountability method to ensure our bureaucracy tries to get out of the numerous flaws and traps which is holding it back. 

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