LAHORE, Aug 22: The plan of establishing a district government service appears to have been put on the back burner in Punjab as authorities here and in other provinces as well consider it to be the last nail in the coffin of administrative structure “already destroyed by the local government system.”

“We are minutely discussing pros and cons of the proposed service with all stakeholders but nothing is final as yet. It is taking time because a majority of them consider the new service devastating for the administrative setup in the country as well as for the government servants,” a senior government official informed Dawn on Tuesday.

All provincial governments were required to create the district service by December 31, 2005, under the Local Government Amendment Ordinance 2005. But neither of them could meet the deadline, seeking, instead, time to assess its viability.

The Punjab government had declared the establishment of the service impossible on the ground that the district governments could not take the financial and administrative burden of the new setup.

On the contrary, many a district nazim and the National Reconstruction Bureau have been demanding establishment of the service saying this would provide the districts with permanent administrative machinery best suited to them.

According to some officials, the assessment made so far in Punjab indicated that the service would create more problems than facilities for the administrative machinery in the provinces.

They say one of the main objections to the plan is that the district governments do not have the capacity to raise an independent service. They are not self-sufficient with regard to their administration and finances and they are being run under the guidance of provincial government and with the funds provided by it, they add. Since a majority of them are not generating resources even for their day-to-day expenses, they will not be able to recruit and maintain their own staff, they argue.

They say the establishment of the service will mean creation of a parallel Service and General Administration Department for every district which will be too costly.

According to another argument, the officials working at the same place tend to develop personal liking and disliking and seek political patronage for prolonging their stay. They quote example of local councils’ employees who serve at the same place all their life and many of them become a liability for the people as well as the government for they can neither be transferred to any other place nor be dismissed from service.

Similarly, they say, the employees of Wasa and development authorities tend to exploit the administration and manage to escape action in case of corruption or work shirking.

Moreover, they say, the officials not finding working conditions congenial or facing unwanted situations will have to either leave the job or to succumb to the whims of their bosses, who, in many cases, want them to commit irregularities.

The idea of the service is being totally opposed by the public servants recruited by the federal or provincial governments. Almost all of them (consulted during the assessment) declined to get absorbed in the service. None of them want to spend his or her whole service tenure in a district where there will be no variety of experience or promotion prospects.

For them, serving in a single district throughout their career will rust their abilities which universally enhance through mobility and variety of experience. Horizontal as well as vertical movement is essential for development of administrative skills which will not be available under the new setup.

They say the establishment of the service will also create issue of seniority and promotion, resulting in time-consuming litigation.

“No-one will be ready to join smaller districts forever because of lack of facilities there. The DMG and PSP officers tend to remain in Lahore despite getting promotions to BS-21 and 22 because they can get better living here for themselves and their families,” an official said.