Good governance at spotlight

The government has embarked on the policy of liberalisation, privatisation, and regulation. The common theme that interjects this triangle is good governance. Good governance is not only responsible to provide enabling environment to government for realising its policy objectives in partnership with the private and corporate sectors but also provides anchor to sustain these efforts.
The governance encompasses a holistic view for managing the public affairs as well as addressing the issues of accountability, transparency, participation, openness, rule of law and predictability. As the economic activity grows due to sound economic policies of the government, good governance 'trickles down' this growth affect to masses, in particular the poor and vulnerable segments of the society.
With this enabling environment, opportunities will be created for civil society to grow, resulting in acceleration of social mobilisation process for carrying out economic, social, and political development activities in participatory manner. Thus governance is seen as a key ingredient for sustainable development and alleviation of poverty.
The entire development activities in the governance sector have been carried out during 2005-06 (first year of Medium Term Development Framework 2005-10) with utilisation of Rs 9.14 billion against an allocation of Rs 10.24 billion (ie 89%). The government's efforts could be gauged from the fact that back in 2003-04, an amount of only Rs 2.93 billion was allocated for undertaking development initiatives in the sector, whereas the same increased to Rs 10.24 billion (ie 250% increase) for 2005-06.
This momentum has been maintained by allocating Rs 11.95 billion for 2006-07, which would provide an increase of 308% over allocations of 2003-04. The major development initiatives undertaken in the governance sector revolve around organisational restructuring, knowledge management and professional development, and quality enhancement in delivery of public services. Details of allocation and expenditure of some major projects/ programmes are given in the proceeding paragraphs.
In the past, Justice sector remained one of the neglected sectors therefore; the present government attached high priority to this area in order to realise policy objectives ie liberalisation, privatisation, and regulation. Despite the best efforts of many dedicated judges for improving delivery of justice, lack of attention to this area over the period led to decline in quality of service.
A plethora of problems existed in this area, which included chronic delays in disposal of cases, massive shortage of judges and courthouses, grossly inadequate facilities, and dismally paid judges. In spite of an uphill task to address all these issues at one time which required long-term solutions, the government decided to go in a big way for the first time not only in the history of Pakistan but also of the World to address these issues for improving delivery of justice to the public. A programme named Access to Justice Programme (AJP) has been launched through the Ministry of Law, Justice & Human Rights with foreign assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) amounting to US $350.0 million.
The programme aims to implement legislative, judicial policy and administrative reforms in the country to strengthen the system of administration of justice. This program is an integral part of governance reforms. Most of the reforms are in the process of implementation and it is too early to assess its impact at this stage. The individual development schemes relating to infrastructure development, capacity building of sub-ordinate judiciary, facilitation of citizens' access to courts, and formulation of judicial policy at national level, are also in various stages of implementation.
In the legal area, 27 policy actions have been undertaken for amending the respective laws. Some hick ups remained during its implementation in the past mostly due to frequent turnover of its project directors, which has been overcome now and it is expected that implementation will pick up its pace. An amount of Rs 4.1 billion has been proposed for 2006-07 for addressing the issues in justice sector.
Another area of concern for the government remained provision of quality services to the people. For achieving this goal, the government has launched a number of initiatives for improving capacity and increasing efficiency in civil service. One such initiative relates to setting up of a National School of Public Policy (NSPP). For the purpose, Pakistan Administrative Staff College, four National Institutes of Public Administration (NIPAs), and the Civil Services Academy have been integrated. The future 'Road-map for NSPP' is being designed and mostly renovation/ up-gradation work at NIPAs, Pakistan Administrative Staff College, and Academy for Rural Development, Peshawar, is in progress.
Hopefully, with the regular functioning of NSPP and completion of up-gradation work in NIPAs, the overall training atmosphere in these institutes will substantially improve. Capacity building of civil servants is another area of concern in which the government is endeavouring to improve the quality of public servants for improving their efficiency and effectiveness.
It is being addressed through the components of 'Public Sector Capacity Building Project' launched at cost of Rs 3538.00 million with assistance from the World Bank. Under this initiative, a number of 250 officers have been detailed for foreign and local trainings however, the Establishment Division needs to assess the impact of this programme during the middle of its implementation. An allocation of Rs 812.00 million exists for 2006-07 to continue programme activities under this component.
Restructuring was another reform area for the government to improve governance in the country. The office of the Auditor General of Pakistan has launched phase-II of the 'Project for Improvement of Financial Reporting and Auditing (PIFRA)' at a cost of Rs 5533.50 million including Rs 4998.00 million as IDA assistance. Its implementation is expected to improve public sector accounting and financial systems.
This will also enhance public sector accountability, improve internal controls to minimise errors/ irregularities in payments and receipts, and establish effective accounting and reporting systems. So far 17 Financial Accounting & Budgeting System (FABS) out of 81 District Account Office (DAO) sites, one FABS out of 4 departmentalised Account Offices, and 33 System Application Programme (SAP) competency centers out of 60, have been established. Process for conducting an evaluation study for its phase-I is in its final stages. An amount of Rs 1386.6 million has been allocated under PIFRA for 2006-07.
Under restructuring and capacity building, another initiative of the government includes implementation of Tax Administration Reforms, costing Rs 9500.62 million by the Central Board of Revenue (CBR). It envisages restructuring of CBR along functional lines for establishing a well-trained and motivated workforce to develop and manage a modern, efficient revenue administration.
Its physical progress includes award of contracts to suppliers for equipment at various sites, appointment of Integrated Tax Management System (ITMS) staff for PMU, and finalisation of draft contract agreement for selection of consultancy firm to design procurement support and supervision work at various sites of model custom collectorates called Tax Facilitation Centres. An amount of Rs 1329.0 million has been made during 2006-07 to continue its development activities.
Another area of concern for the government remained poor law and order in the country. This area has attained wider importance due to international terrorist threats. For improvement of law and order, the Ministry of Interior had launched two important projects for Balochistan. One is the raising of Balochistan Constabulary costing Rs 4138.00 million to restructure and strengthen the existing 4000-person Balochistan Reserve Police and adding 6000 new persons in the force. So far 850 Constables have been recruited.
The second project relates to Conversion of 'B' Areas into 'A' Areas" costing Rs 5515.407 million. 13 out of 28 districts have since been converted into 'A' areas. Rs 2000.00 million (Rs 1000.00 million each) have been allocated in 2006-07 for undertaking development activities under the two initiatives. Poor communication facilities to police was another area which would be addressed in 2006-07 by implementing a pilot project for setting up nation-wide trunk radio system for police costing Rs 1951.7 million in Islamabad/Rawalpindi and provincial headquarters. Later on, its success will be replicated to other areas of the country. An allocation of Rs 500.00 million exists for 2006-07 to undertake this initiative.