LAHORE, Nov 16: A perfidious nexus among lower revenue staff, police and the corrupt among politicians is rendering futile the Punjab government’s efforts to improve service delivery in the province.

And the PML-N government’s practice of changing senior officials for even the slightest mistake or due to any other reason, supposedly political, has shaken the confidence of even those selected on merit.

“Nearly 90 per cent administrative secretaries, DCOs and DPOs have been selected on merit. They are told to call a spade a spade but they are very careful in doing so because they feel unprotected, and are not sure of the next move of the government,” a senior official told Dawn.

Many other senior officials also believe the sudden transfer of a food secretary and DPOs of Bhakkar and Okara has shaken the confidence of civil bureaucracy.

But, their mistrust of the backing by their bosses during any controversy had further increased after the transfer of Local Government secretary Khawaja Naeem, who was deemed as a PML-N confidant.

The officer was removed after being accused of inefficiency by those who themselves had got him posted.

Many an official did not expect any improvement in the service delivery through divisional commissioners, declaring their restoration was ceremonial and merely a boost to the District Management Group.

They are of the view that the government could not deliver unless it breaks the nexus of lower revenue and police officials and corrupt politicians. Around 80 per cent revenue DDOs and DOs working in the field, besides most of SHOs and DSPs, were “protected species,” they hold.

“On the other hand, over 90 per cent DPOs and DCOs were good officers. But, they were now reluctant to expose the nexus of corrupt subordinates and criminals as they feel they were not protected by their bosses.

And this was seriously affecting service delivery which the government earnestly wanted to improve to build its image,” an official said.

The official claimed that the divisional commissioners would not be able to improve the service delivery because till today they did not have any such powers.

The major authority being bestowed upon the commissioners was the board of revenue member’s power to hear appeals against the decisions of the revenue EDOs.

Now, the officials feared, the actual appeals would be heard by additional commissioners because of the likely preoccupation of divisional commissioners with their major work of developing liaison between districts and the provincial governments.

Even under, now defunct, district magistrates or deputy commissioners these were the additional deputy commissioners (ADCGs) who would hear revenue cases. The deputy commissioners used to remain entangled in other affairs.

Now, the officials said, the work of protecting the property rights of people was being transferred from senior officials (BoR members) to lower revenue staff (additional commissioners), most of them not having the guts to proceed against big guns and in the habit of taking dictations and just blindly following what their colleagues decided.

So far as police were concerned, the officials said, ordinary people could approach only up to DSPs, while the senior officials preferred to sit in heavily-guarded offices under the pretext of security threat.

“The heavily-guarded offices of Lahore CPO, DIG (investigation) and other senior police officials are enough to intimidate the common man requiring protection against criminals or lower corrupt police. And the IG’s office and the CCPO’s behind it are called ‘Pentagon’ because of the unusual security arrangements there,” an official said.