PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has silently scrapped an initiative introduced three years ago to strengthen monitoring function on service delivery in the province and ensure measures to mitigate public grievances.

A lack of interest on part of the relevant bureaucrats has been cited as a reason for the development, which has yet to be notified.

Under the programme launched in 2013 after the PTI formed government in the province, administrative secretaries were assigned separate districts, which they’re bound to visit twice a month, an official in the know told Dawn.

The official said after one or two visits, the secretaries stopped going to their respective districts despite repeated reminders issued by the administration department.

The documents secured by Dawn show that the programme formally began in Sept 2013.

On Sept 9, 2013, the then principal staff officer (PSO) to the chief secretary, Syeda Tanzeela Sabahat, issued an office order to all administrative secretaries stating with a view to address genuine concerns of the public, the competent authority has been pleased to order immediate strengthening of the monitoring function in the province so that the public authorities remain vigilant and accountable in performing their public duties and functions and the government may live up to public expectations.

Administrative secys uninterested in visiting assigned districts

It added that to that end, administrative secretaries were assigned one particular district each and all secretaries in addition to their designated responsibilities or statuary/routine functions would be mandated to make at least two surprise visits in a month to the district assigned to them.

The order said the secretaries would monitor and evaluate service delivery infrastructure, mechanism and process, personnel attendance, consumer/recipient’s satisfactions level and gauging/identifying reform and development initiatives, if any, in respect of all public institutions/offices in the assigned districts.

It noted that the visiting secretaries would submit comprehensive fortnightly inspection reports in respect of their assigned district to the concerned administrative secretaries for appropriate action.

“The action taken by the department will then be intimated to the chief secretary’s office,” it said, adding that secretaries will monitor the required action by the departments through fortnightly visits and endeavours to bring about a visible improvement in service delivery of their assigned districts.

The order said the monitoring and inspection measures would be in addition to other routine or third party monitoring and evaluation mechanisms already in place and all field formations and line authorities relevant to the department would be bound to facilitate the monitoring and inspection visit in question.

It added that the district administration would aid and assist the designated secretaries during surprise visits and field checks besides providing necessary security and logistics to them whenever asked.

The administration secretary was made focal person for all matters relating to the visits and follow-up on behalf of the chief secretary. Schedule-I attached to the order assigned 25 districts of the province to 25 administrative secretaries.

Dera Ismail Khan district was assigned to the housing secretary, Tank to labour’s, Bannu to mines’, Lakki Marwat to public health engineering’s, Torghar to population welfare’s, Kohat to excise and taxation’s, Kohistan to food’s, Lower Dir to inter provincial coordination’s, Charsadda to health’s, Haripur to science and technology’s, Mardan to home and tribal affairs’ and Malakand to industries’ secretary.

Also, Karak district was assigned to Zakat and Usher secretary, Hangu to Auqaf and Haj’s, Peshawar to higher education’s, Abbottabad to elementary and secondary education’s, Swabi to local government’s, Swat to transport’s, Shangla to sports and tourism’s, Buner to relief, rehabilitation and settlement’s, Upper Dir to irrigation’s, Mansehra to environment’s, Chitral to energy and power’s and Battagram to agriculture secretary.

On Sept 27, 2013, the administration secretary wrote a letter to all administrative secretaries asking them to start surprise visits to their respective districts.

Another letter issued on Nov 18, 2013, noted that some secretaries even didn’t carry out the first visit to their assigned district, let alone the second one, while a January 7, 2014, letter said the chief secretary in a meeting of secretaries committee noted that the frequency of visits was not in line with idea and sprit of the scheme and that the perusal of records showed that only first visits to the districts were conducted when fourth was due.

A letter issued on March 19, 2014, noted the chief secretary’s displeasure as most secretaries didn’t carry out the second, third and fourth visits after the lapse of such a long time and the same letter was sent to 19 secretaries again on June 24, 2014.

On March 24, 2015, the administration department forwarded a questionnaire to all secretaries for visits of the secretaries to their assigned districts.

The questionnaire was prepared by the reform coordination cell of the chief secretary’s office.

When contacted, administration secretary Hassan Mehmood Yousafzai said the decision to discontinue the district monitoring scheme was made in a meeting of the secretaries committee of late.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2016