LAHORE, Oct 24: Relieved to hear about resignation of Lt-Gen Tanvir Hussain Naqvi (retired), the bureaucracy in Punjab is now anticipating dissolution of the National Reconstruction Bureau or at least marginalization of its role.

Talking to Dawn here on Wednesday, many bureaucrats, who had been fearing arbitrary imposition of the new civil structure designed by Gen Naqvi’s NRB, saw his resignation as a windfall.

They had fought tooth and nail to get the introduction of NRB-manufactured service structure postponed before the elections on October 10, hoping to drag the issue to the new parliament for what they said a lenient and rational handling of the issue.

They were dreading the proposed structure even after getting the president postpone a vital meeting in this regard, which was to be held in Islamabad possibly on October 4. President Gen Pervez Musharraf was presented the case with dexterity, reportedly by Chief Secretary Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa, during his stay at the Governor’s House early this month.

A senior officer indicated chances of dissolution of the NRB in view of the induction of a new parliament whose job it had been performing for the past three years. “Handling the affairs of state is a prerogative of the parliament. Therefore, continuation of the NRB seems illogical,” he said.

He said if the body was not dissolved its role would definitely be reduced to that of a thinktank. It would definitely not enjoy the present status of the anvil of so many things that the nation never desired, the officer said on condition of anonymity.

Many senior officers, mainly of the DMG , who talked on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, felt happy and hoped a reasonable handling of the issue of a new service structure in the future setup.

They said the NRB had introduced its local government system despite so many objections from different quarters and even from major stakeholders like the people, the implementing machinery and the politicians.

They said time only proved that the local government system had flaws that could not be removed even after passage of over one year, asking the justification of doing away with the vital offices of divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and the executive magistracy.

The officers feared a serious clash of interests between members of the new assemblies and the district governments. “The assembly members would have nothing at their disposal to appease their voters. They would be at the mercy of district Nazimeen even for development works in their constituencies,” they said.

The officer said the NRB learned no lesson from its local government plan and again went ahead with its police law despite reservations of all the key players particularly the provinces. The body had simply overruled the objections raised by the Punjab, he added.

Now, they said, the Punjab had asked the NRB not to make haste in introducing the new service structure, which related directly to the functioning of state. However, they said, reports suggested that the system would be imposed come what may.

“The change (induction of a parliament) is a relief. One can hope a more rational handling of issues like the service structure,” they said.