Secretaries committee tells why bureaucracy does not work

ISLAMABAD: A day before Prime Minister Imran Khan complained that bureaucracy was not signing files creating problems for the government, the Secretaries Committee — the top body of the civil servants — met in Islamabad and expressed its concern over how the NAB continues to haunt and harass the country’s civil service.

Informed sources said the committee, which met on Wednesday this week, noted with concern that despite the NAB chairman’s recent assurance that the secretaries and additional secretaries would not be issued notices by the Bureau, the practice continues unabated.

According to a federal secretary, the secretaries wanted to take up this matter with the PM’s adviser Dr Ishrat Hussain, who was also invited to attend the meeting, but it could not happen as Mr Hussain had to leave early. Later the secretaries decided to reflect their concern Vis a Vis NAB in the official minutes of the meeting.

Sources said the prime minister needs to understand that the bureaucracy will not sign files when it has fears that for any decision and without any evidence of corruption they could be summoned, probed and arrested by the NAB.

According to a source, a civil servant loses confidence when in front of the entire bureaucracy the NAB does not even hesitate to summon Prime Minister Imran Khan’s two key bureaucratic aides — Principal Secretary Azam Khan and Secretary Establishment Dr Ejaz Munir — despite their good reputation and clean record.

Not only that, it is said, the NAB is after yet another reputed top bureaucrat and FBR Chairman Jehanzeb Khan, who has even been praised by the PM.

It is said that another upright Federal Secretary Tariq Pasha, who is presently serving as secretary Kashmir affairs, is also facing the NAB probe.

There are several other serving and retired secretaries and other senior bureaucrats who are facing the NAB’s harassment and it is said that the situation in the provinces particular in Sindh is worse for civil bureaucracy.

During the recent years, the arrest of officers like Fawad Hasan Fawad and Ahad Cheema had really disappointed the civil bureaucracy but the recent suicide of Brig (R) Asad Munir, ex-member CDA, has served a serious blow to the confidence of civil service.

“In these situations how could the bureaucracy work in a normal fashion?” a senior officer asked. He said the NAB lacked the basic understanding of bureaucratic working and thus mostly frame flawed cases.

Owing to these situations, the Secretaries Committee is repeatedly focusing on this issue of NAB’s harassment. However, no corrective measure has been taken as yet.

A few months back, the chairman NAB attended a meeting of the Secretaries Committee and assured the top civil servants that in future the bureau would not summon federal secretaries and additional secretaries for routine inquiries and investigations.

He had also assured them that instead of summoning the federal secretaries and additional secretaries, the Bureau’s official would visit them for answers of questions concerning any matter under the NAB’s probe.

According to media reports, the NAB chairman had also told the secretaries that he would personally vet the questionnaire to be sent to the senior-most members of the bureaucracy, who had complained that generally the questions asked by NAB are presumption-based instead of having been backed by some evidence about the alleged corruption.