ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a high-level committee led by Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal to draft recommendations aimed at reforming Pakistan’s civil service system. The committee will focus on aligning the bureaucracy with modern-day needs and improving its overall structure.
The committee will present a set of comprehensive proposals within a month, following consultations with all stakeholders.
According to the Prime Minister’s directions, the recommendations must cover recruitment based on merit, performance-based KPIs, improvements to the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) system, and possible alternatives. They should also include a strategy for enhancing the capacity of civil servants through modern technology and updated systems.
PM Shehbaz stressed that the reforms should lay the foundation for a sustainable and continuously evolving system that ensures better governance and public service delivery. He said improving civil services to assist and simplify the lives of citizens remains a top priority for the government.
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The directives were issued during a review meeting chaired by the Prime Minister in Islamabad. The meeting was attended by federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Awais Leghari, Ahad Cheema, Ali Pervaiz Malik, PM’s Advisor Rana Sanaullah, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, Special Assistants Haroon Akhtar, Tariq Bajwa, Dr Jehanzeb Khan (Secretary of the Apex Committee – SIFC), and other senior officials.
Officials briefed the meeting on ongoing consultations regarding civil service recruitment, training, performance evaluations, salary structures, and promotion systems. A comparative overview of civil service reforms in other regional countries was also presented.
The committee was directed to finalize its proposals after detailed input from relevant institutions and submit them within one month.
