Situationer: Uncertainty, political leanings plague bureaucracy
The Punjab bureaucracy is under a cloud of uncertainty as most senior officers are apprehensive about their fates owing to the rapid changes in political governments, and have thus put decision-making on the backburner, eventually leaving the public to suffer. A spate of transfers and postings is expected in the province following another change in the government, and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi positioning the “willing workers” in the bureaucracy to run the province’s affairs as per his vision after assuming the office of Punjab chief minister. These transfers and postings cost the government exchequer heavily. While there are bureaucrats who play smart and align themselves with every new political administration, there are some who have been exposed through their past record or decisions and actions made during the previous government’s short stint in power. A new breed of officers also emerged in the past few years, who were accused of getting ‘lucrative postings’ by bribing th...