Vanishing professionalism in KP bureaucracy

Amazing indeed is the trend among the top bureaucrats in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province to resist all attempts made from various quarters to bring about some refinement, sophistication and, more than anything else, the much-needed professionalism in their careers. The trend came to light the other day when 90 percent of the top officers in BPS 19 and 20, including two commissioners, three provincial secretaries and an equal number of DIGs, requested the chief secretary of the KP government in writing to drop their names from the list of otherwise privileged officers nominated by the federal government for a highly enriching and ennobling training in national management course at the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) in Lahore commencing on August 9. The result is that only a few of the nominated officers, including the commissioner of DI Khan, are willing to proceed with the training course thus causing an understandably embarrassing situation for the KP government.

The reluctant officers have tried to excuse themselves under the pretext of being ill, pre-occupied with the ongoing projects or having domestic compulsions. On condition of anonymity, some of them pretended that due to excessive heat and the approaching month of Ramazan they wanted to miss out on the refresher course. Some of them complained that the attitude of the organisers in Lahore was not very encouraging and at times the adverse remarks put on their progress reports later caused complications. The insiders, however, believe that the reluctant officers are not willing to forego the perks and privileges reportedly attached to their present lucrative postings, which may or may not be re-granted to them on becoming an OSD at the end of the training. We honestly feel that the refusal of the otherwise responsible officers has the makings of a scandal and if they are allowed to have their will, the KP government will perhaps be verifying in some ways the recent survey of Transparency International which, for good or bad reasons, dubbed it as the most corrupt of the four federating units.

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