Any attempt to ensure good governance in the country would amount to a wild goose chase if political interference in the posting and transfer of officers of district administration wasn’t stopped.
In the good old days only those administrative officers were considered fit for posting as deputy commissioner who had successfully completed a three years stint as Assistant Commissioner in a sub- division. No longer is the case now. District magistrates, commissoners, SPs even IG Police these days are being posted on political consideration. One has to be a blue-eyed boy of the political boss if he wants a stint as DC. The so-called elected representatives of the people like MNAs, MPAs Senators etcetc get their yes men posted on key administrative assignments in their political constituencies and then use them to get things done through them, mostlyillegal. They also manage to ensure that their vested monetary interests are also protected through district administration.
Maintenance of law and order and enforcement of municipal laws is the prime responsibility of district administration headed by DC and if a competent officer who is a non-political animal selected purely on merit and not on political expediency heads a district, he is well placed to act independently strictly in accordance with law.
It was during Bhutto’ s regime that the rot started to set in the civil bureaucracy. The PPP founder removed the umbrella of constitutional guarantee of service enjoyed by the civil servants under the so-called civil service reforms announced by him thus making the civil servants as personal servant of the ruling political bosses. While doing so the PPP chairman completely ignored the directive of the Founder of the Nation that the civil servants are servants of the state and not of the sitting government which is transitory in nature.