Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken a positive step to modernize our civil service structure; no doubt civil service structure must be public service oriented. However, a similar committee was formed under the chair of Dr. Ishrat Hussain in the past to prepare recommendations for the improvement of civil service structure, but proposals of that committee could not be implemented. I think that relevant civil servants, public, political institutions must be included in this committee so that reforms may come up to the expectations of the people from the civil servants. Civil servants should be trained to serve the masses in a professional manner because as ambassador during my service, I used to receive complaints from Pakistani overseas against our departments such as police and others regarding noncooperation. We must hire only those civil servants who understand our local issues.

According to Radio Pakistan, former diplomat Amb. A M Shahid has expressed his support for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s initiative to reform the civil service structure. He highlighted the importance of making the civil service structure public service oriented. Shahid noted that a previous committee, chaired by Dr. Ishrat Hussain, was tasked with improving the civil service structure, but its proposals were not implemented.

Shahid emphasized the necessity of including relevant civil servants, the public, and political institutions in the current committee to ensure the reforms meet public expectations. He advocated for professional training of civil servants to better serve the public, citing complaints he received during his tenure as ambassador from overseas Pakistanis regarding noncooperation from departments like the police. Shahid also stressed hiring civil servants who have an understanding of local issues to enhance service delivery.