PAKISTAN is once again preparing to reform its civil service. The latest initiative is ambitious: the federal government has proposed 11 specialised professional cadres, changes to the Central Superior Services (CSS) examination, reforms in senior-level appointments and promotions, greater emphasis on merit and performance, digitalisation, revised training and performance-linked financial incentives. The proposed National Executive Service would also open positions at BS-20 and above to serving civil servants, academics and private-sector professionals through competitive processes.

The government’s latest consultation, led by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, follows a reform process initiated in 2024. According to the Planning Ministry, the reform framework has been developed through extensive consultations and is intended to create a specialised, merit-based, accountable and technology-enabled public administration. These are important objectives. Pakistan undoubtedly needs a more professional, specialised, accountable and performance-oriented public administration. But one fundamental question deserves far greater attention:

Can Pakistan reform its civil service without reforming the system of governance within which the civil service operates? Pakistan’s history suggests that the answer is far from straightforward. A history of repeated reform

Since independence, Pakistan has repeatedly attempted to restructure its administrative machinery. The inherited colonial administrative system was modified through the creation of the All-Pakistan Services in the 1950s. The Ayub Khan era brought........

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