ISLAMABAD:
In a major shake-up, the government seeks dynamic private sector talent to revamp key ministries, inviting experts to lead federal secretaries’ posts in economic affairs, finance, and energy, signalling a significant shift beyond traditional bureaucracy.
The government has issued advertisement over the weekend to hire seven “dynamic” private sector individuals for the posts of federal secretaries. However, the advertisement did not name the divisions, the qualification criteria and job descriptions.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also constituted a ministerial committee, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, to finalise new nominees for appointment of Grade-22 bureaucrats as executive directors to the World Bank in Washington and the Asian Development Bank in Manila.
The government has invited applications from “dynamic and experienced professionals for the role of Principal Accounting Officers (PAOs), Technical Advisers, Head of Organizations in key economic areas”, states the advert. A two weeks’ deadline is given for submission of the applications.
The advertisement, posted at the Establishment Division website, did not name the divisions, qualification criteria and the job descriptions. However, it suggested that the government is set to hire seven federal secretaries from the private sector to run the economy-related ministries.
These are Finance Division, Petroleum Division, Power Division, Planning Division, Industries and Production Division, National Food Security Division and Vocational Education and Training. These divisions are currently headed by officers from the all-powerful Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS).
Currently, Imdad Ullah Bosal is the finance secretary, Momin Agha, petroleum secretary, Fakhre Alam Irfan, power secretary, Awais Manzur Sumra, planning secretary, Saif Anjum, Industries secretary and Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry is serving as the national food security secretary.
When contacted, Economic Affairs and Establishment Minister Ahad Khan Cheema said that no specific positions had been finalised yet, adding that the government wanted to build a pool of specialists for key positions, especially in economic ministries.
Pakistan’s economic ministries are mostly run by the officers from the PAS and there has been criticism that many of them do not have the requisite experience to understand the complexity of the economic matters.
To address this weak governance issues that were presumably blocking foreign investment, the military and civilian leadership set up the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). The SIFC was also now being converted into a division, like any other division.
There is also a view that a private sector individual with no experience of the public sector cannot effectively lead these ministries. The nature of work is such that sometimes the secretaries must lobby with the prime minister to get the decisions done, particularly in cases where the relevant ministers are not very effective.
Another challenge that the bureaucrats face is that their ministers sometimes lack understanding or the courage to take the right decisions. The federal secretaries are often seen filling the federal ministers’ shoes. Sometimes, the bureaucrats also do not get support from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The government recently reshuffled the education secretary despite his phenomenal work in the field of public sector education.
“A bad workman quarrels with his tools,” said Fawad Hasan Fawad, former secretary to the prime minister and former privatisation minister, while commenting on the advertisement to hire federal secretaries. “This will not work,” he added.
“Public sector finance is a different horse, which can’t be run by those who don’t understand the constraints of public sector and the overriding responsibility of managing cash flows of a permanently deficit economy running on dole outs and begging bowls,” Fawad commented.
A year ago, the government had hired the information technology secretary from the private sector. The government has not yet released any performance report about the working of the IT sector to determine whether the experience remained successful or not.
The government plans to sign the “performance-based contracts” with the selected individuals for two years. The advertisement stated that the selected individual’s grade and compensation will be determined in accordance with the government rules and aligned with market-competitive rates, including applicable allowances and privileges for the position.
Candidates must have a minimum of 20 years of relevant post-qualification experience and the maximum age limit is 60 years at the time of appointment, which may be relaxed in exceptional cases as per orders of the competent authority, according to the Establishment Division.
The Establishment Division website shows that the government has invited applications to hire a PAO for the financial sector. The candidate must have experience “in public finance, economic policy, fiscal management, or related sectors and “proven experience in managing large budgets, tax policy, debt management, and familiarity financial sector regulation”.
The candidate must have proven ability to lead budget preparation, tax reform initiatives, and public expenditure management reforms. The experience requirement clearly indicates that the government wants to hire the finance secretary.
Likewise, for the petroleum sector, the candidate must have experience in the petroleum, energy, mining, or public administration sector and proven familiarity with upstream and or downstream petroleum operations, regulatory frameworks, mining sector oversight, or energy sector policy formulation.
For the power sector, the candidate must have experience in the power sector, energy management, or public administration and proven experience in overseeing power generation, transmission, distribution, and regulatory frameworks.
For the planning and development sector, the candidate must have experience in development planning, public sector reform, infrastructure coordination, economic policy, or large-scale project management.
For industry, a minimum of 20 years of experience in industrial development, public administration, manufacturing sector management, investment promotion, or economic planning and for food security, experience in agriculture policy, food security, rural development, or public administration is sought by the government.
Selection for Washington
The prime minister also constituted a ministerial committee to consider the suitable and eligible officers of BS-22 for nomination against the positions of the executive director at the World Bank and the executive director at the ADB, according to a notification.
These positions became vacant after Pakistan’s executive director to the World Bank Dr Tauqir Shah was made Adviser to the prime minister, while the tenure of the incumbent executive director at the ADB Noor Ahmad expired last week. Ahmad has been asked to continue till the filing of his position.
Some retired bureaucrats were also in the run, which have now been excluded from the selection process. Among the top contenders are Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal, Economic Affairs Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz and Interior Secretary Khurram Agha, said the sources.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar will chair the ministerial committee, which includes Economic Affairs and Establishment Minister Ahad Cheema, Climate Change Minister Dr Musaddiq Malik and Minister of State for Finance Bilal Kayani.
The committee will consider suitable and eligible officers of BS-22, having relevant work experience and skill set. The suitable and eligible officers will have a skill set of policy analysis and decision making, leadership, collaboration, knowledge of operations of multilateral financial institutions, excellent communication and diplomacy skills, and social networking ability.
The committee will send its nomination of suitable officers for both positions to the prime minister for his consideration and approval, according to the notification.
