NEARLY 150 years ago, some visionary minds at the East India Company (EIC) offices in Bengal must have struggled with a tricky question. Having dismantled Mughal rule along with the mansabdari administrative system introduced by Mughal emperor Akbar, it must have been an arduous task to find a suitable replacement. And what they contrived by way of district administrative solution — the steel frame of the Raj — merits applause for its longevity and innovation.

Installing a strong governance edifice in each district by combining revenue collection and criminal justice administration, they created an office that withstood time and strife.  But (more than any state functionality) the office of deputy commissioner was the best possible (and creative) solution for the exigencies of those turbulent times for establishing the state’s writ in war-torn jurisdictions.

Nearly a century passed before Pakistan experienced a major shake-up in the historical institution of district administration as a result of the introduction of Local Govern­ment Ordinance, 2001. LGO 2001 was an instrument for devolving the majority of provincial functions to elected district governments.

However, it was more with a view to strengthen nascent local governments and send a strong message to hesitating babus that the then president Musharraf abolished the office of deputy commissioner. Contrary to later contentions that this was done in line with the principle of separating the executive from the judiciary, it was actually an administrative necessity for the regime. Following proceedings in the historic Sharaf Faridi vs State case in 1994, the executive magistracy’s boundaries were redrawn. Abolishing the executive magistracy in 2001 was hence an administrative decision to strengthen the local government system through strong messaging and optics.

Poor imagination has hampered local governance.

Following two tenures of elected local governments, the ushering in of Pakistan’s new democratic era saw the hasty packing up of LGO 2001 in early 2010. Without getting into the merits of the decision made by provincial governments, a fresh opportunity was provided to the political and administrative leaderships to start afresh with a new district administration set-up.

Policymakers since 2010 were far luckier than their peers during the EIC’s or the early Musharraf rule — the former had to contend with safeguarding a colonial legacy in the 1850s, the latter with the arrogant National Reconstruction Bureau in the early 2000s. Political and administrative policymakers of recent years could have evolved a masterpiece in district governance, being unencumbered by any baggage and being wiser after the LGO 2001 experiment. But what they produced — and continue to produce — is heart wrenching.

Sindh, Balochistan and KP have all crafted a district administration structure that, in appearance, resembles what prevailed before Musharraf, but minus the institutions of executive magistracy and police oversight. This is like playing Holi without colours — no genius is needed to understand or sympathise with this naiveté.

Police oversight and executive magistracy were the basic building blocks of the erstwhile deputy commissioner’s office. If for any reason this office cannot be recreated in its true spirit, why run after a vanished dream? What prevented the provinces’ saner minds from thinking creatively?

If the EIC could think ahead of its time and come up with an innovative solution, why can’t we? Today, there are dozens of successful public administration models throughout the world; MNCs with workforces of thousands are doing billions worth of business the world over. Was there nothing innovative in them for policymakers to extract to better serve Pakistan’s hapless citizens rather than subjecting them to a colourless and powerless replica of colonial district administration?

The barrenness of administrative ima­­­gi­­nation is once again on display following the latest tweaking of Punjab’s district administrative structures. Babus bent over backwards to recreate the historically powerful deputy commissioner’s office (once essential to criminal justice administration) through redundant notions of justices of peace or Section 144; policemen agitated against fresh attempts to weaken Police Order, 2002, forgetting how they themselves were averse to implementing the provisions related to public safety commissions or police complaint authorities; and provincial politicians were bent upon retaining one-stop shops at the district level to govern Punjab through remote-control techniques.

In terms of administrative advantages, Punjab is lucky in many ways. It enjoys comparative stability, leadership continuity, an abundance of financial resources and — lest we forget — the biggest chunk of qualified, willing and experienced civil servants across all streams of service cadres. Its people expect and deserve better — certainly better than justices of peace, Section 144 and a police-magistracy tussle. Punjab’s political and administrative leaderships have a historic, opportunity to take.

The writer is a former civil servant.

Published in Dawn January 1st, 2017