Major issues: Reshuffling bureaucracy aims to divert people's attention: survey

Lack of vision and direction are among the main reasons for Punjab government's inability to deliver to the people and it is now engaged in a reshuffle of the bureaucracy to divert people's attention from major issues.
This was the consensus in an anecdotal survey of retired bureaucrats and politicians carried out by Business Recorder.
The Punjab provincial government on Monday made Inspector General Punjab Amjad Javed Saleemi as officer on special duty (OSD) and directed him to report to the establishment division. He was replaced with Captain Arif Nawaz Khan(retd).
On the weekend, after consultation with the prime minister, Fazeel Asghar, Additional Secretary Home, was changed and repatriated to the federal government because of what insiders said his performance which could not impress the PTI leadership. He was replaced by Secretary Irrigation Syed Ali Murtaza Shah.
The Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Dr Raheal Ahmad Siddiqui was posted as Secretary Finance in place of Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh who was sent to the federal government.
Secretary (Coordination) to Chief Minister Dr Muhammad Shoaib Akbar was asked to look after the post of the Principal Secretary till the appointment of a regular incumbent.
Former Lahore Commissioner Abdullah Khan Sumbal was posted as Secretary Services in place of Ahmad Raza Sarwar who was sent to the federal government. Secretary Transport Babar Shafi was transferred and directed to report to the S&GAD for further orders. He was replaced by Secretary Agriculture Dr Wasif Khurshid.
Secretary Food Shoukat Ali was transferred and posted as Secretary Agriculture vice Dr Wasif Khurshid. Shoukat Ali was replaced by OSD Nasim Sadiq, a provincial service BS-21 officer. Secretary Excise and Taxation Sher Alam Mahsud was changed and sent to the federal government.
Shahbaz Gill is reportedly taking executive decisions after consultations with Islamabad and the reshuffled officials would support him in running the affairs of the Punjab government, several PTI members of Punjab Assembly said on condition of anonymity.
Former Inspector General (IG) Police Zulfiqar Cheema, who also headed different government departments in the federal and Punjab governments, said that reshuffling of bureaucracy is the prerogative of the government, but postings of civil servants will not serve any useful purpose.
He accused the government of not providing any policy guidelines to the civil service which "makes it difficult for the bureaucracy to perform as they look towards the executive for policy guidelines," he added.
He further stated that the government is trying to give an impression that the bureaucracy is not cooperating with them, but there is no truth in it. "If you have no clue how to streamline the functioning of the bureaucracy, you can not blame them for not cooperating," he added.
Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Ibadullah Khan said that Punjab, at present, is being governed by 'five de facto chief ministers;' Usman Buzdar has no authority, which makes things difficult for the bureaucracy to run the day to day affairs of the largest province.
When asked to elaborate, he said that Shah Mehmood Qureshi is quite openly setting the stage for himself, while Khusro Baktiar has his own interests in Southern Punjab. He also accused Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar of meddling in matters of the province besides accusing Naeemul Haq, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs and some federal ministers from Punjab.
"If you don't have a strong chief minister like Shahbaz Sharif, then politicians often shift the blame of their incompetence on bureaucrats. How come all civil servants turned out to be members of Shahbaz Sharif's 'fan club'," he questioned.
"If you are a control 'freak' and give directives to civil servants that are violative of the rules of business then you leave no option with the bureaucrats but to stall your directives, especially given the rising number of cases against bureaucrats by National Accountability Bureau," he lamented.
Senior leader of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Naveed Chaudhry said that some bureaucrats may not be cooperating with the Buzdar administration, but when you claim the majority are not cooperating then you have to admit your own overall administrative incompetence.
"It's up to the government how it utilizes the services of the civil servants, and there is no second opinion that PTI has yet to go a long way in setting its priorities as at present it has no idea how to run the government," he added.
A senior PTI leader who wished not to be named, acknowledged that the party should have appointed a person with the 'know-how' of administration and governance as chief minister Punjab.
"Thank God I was not picked as chief minister, as my name was also being considered for the coveted slot of heading the largest province," said the PTI leader who is one of the ideological PTI workers.
To a question, he said that the Prime Minister should pay special attention to Punjab before it is too late as the province needs a proactive leader who should have the guts to say 'no' to the bigwigs interfering in matters of the province and close to the prime minister.