THIS is with reference to the report ‘55 PAS officers complete specialised training programme’ (April 11). The training comprised key areas like governance, district administration and human rights, etc. Having an experience of more than three decades in the health department, I believe that such a training would have had little impact on most officers, and, therefore, was a wastage of resources.

Once they join service, these officers — and I have come across quite a few of them during my service — show a negative mindset and decide issues arbitrarily on personal whim and fancy. They try to mislead different institutions, like judiciary or complaint cells. Hundreds of decisions of public functionaries/bureaucrats have been set aside by courts/tribunals, but nobody dared to take action against such bureaucrats for forcing the litigants to approach courts to get their rights and due relief.

My observations are not applicable to all, as there are good officers as well who are upright. It is high time the government took action against all officers with sadistic tendencies and who do not resolve the problems of their employees, creating an environment that merely encourages corruption and malpractice even further.

Dr Farooq Bashir Butt
Lahore

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2026