LAHORE: Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal declared on Thursday that Pakistan’s existing civil service is “unable to cope with the issues of the modern era,” announcing plans to introduce a “smart civil service model” that will reward performance and leverage technology to transform governance.

He was addressing the inaugural session of the three-day international conference on “Local Realities and Regional Futures: Transforming Public Administration and Management in South Asia.”

The event was organised by the Punjab University (PU) Institute of Administrative Sciences (IAS), in collaboration with the South Asian Network for Public Administration (SANPA) at the Riazuddin Auditorium.

Other experts said that the people’s power was rising worldwide, with a new generation challenging traditional models of democracy and demanding accountability.

“Governance in today’s world is both complex and decisive,” Mr Iqbal said, adding: “The era of generalist skills is over; Pakistan now needs a civil service that rewards performance, embraces innovation, and considers public service its core duty.”

He said that under the new model, recruitment and training would be linked to professional expertise, while promotions would depend on performance, leadership qualities, and learning capacity. “Digital technology would play a central role in ensuring transparency and efficiency,” he added, shifting governance from rule compliance to result-delivery.

Mr Iqbal also urged PU to establish ‘public policy labs’ where students and policymakers could collaborate on real-world problems and proposed a ‘South Asian Governance Innovation Network’ for regional cooperation.

Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Special Assistant, Prof Dr Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, emphasised that solutions must be rooted in local realities.

He critiqued the current system, observing that “the race for lucrative positions has distorted the governance model.”

He stressed that improving the tax-to-GDP ratio was essential to avoid reliance on the IMF.

PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Ali Shah questioned why the administrative setup was not changed after independence in 1947. “Public servants were not truly serving the public,” he said, suggesting that Pakistan might need to “restart” the entire system, following Bangladesh’s example.

He stressed that governance models from developed nations cannot be adopted without localisation, as the current system “empowers the powerful and weakens the poor.”

The conference was also attended by Bangladeshi High Commissioner Iqbal Hussain Khan, IAS Director Prof Dr Kashif Rathore, SANPA representative Prof Dr Ikhlaq Haq, Prof Dr Yamina Salman, besides a large number of students.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2025