ISLAMABAD: The federal government has finalized a major restructuring of the civil service, proposing 11 new professional cadres, an overhaul of the Central Superior Services examination and senior-level promotions, and a system linking officials’ performance to financial rewards, officials announced Saturday.
The reforms, estimated to cost Rs 11 billion, aim to reshape recruitment, training, career progression, performance evaluation and the institutional structure of the federal bureaucracy. They were unveiled at a consultative session chaired by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal.
The session was attended by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, Federal Minister Aleem Khan, former PTI federal minister Asad Umar, senior policymakers, sector specialists and other stakeholders.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif constituted two committees on civil service reforms, which have held 18 meetings since September 2024 and reached consensus on 43 of 46 recommendations.
The proposed professional cadres include HR, Law, Engineering, Science and Technology, IT and Telecom, Energy, Climate, Agriculture and Forestry, Education, and Health groups.
Under the plan, the Establishment Division would become the Human Resource and Organisation Development Division, and federal decision-making would be reduced from five tiers to three.
A proposed National Executive Service would fill posts in BS-20 and above through open competition on five-year contracts with published performance targets. Serving officers, private-sector professionals and academics would compete on equal terms. The Police Service and Foreign Service would remain outside the NES.
The package also proposes piloting performance-linked pay in the federal secretariat and a retirement package consisting of a Rs5 million lump sum funded through monthly deductions, along with subsidized health insurance.
The policy draws on Pakistan Army human resource practices, including replacing the one-day viva voce with a multi-day competency-based assessment modeled on the Inter Services Selection Board. It emphasizes psychometric, emotional intelligence and leadership assessments at recruitment, placement on the principle of “the right person for the right job,” specialized training and multi-tier performance evaluation.
It also adopts the army’s structured promotion system, under which progression becomes increasingly selective at senior ranks and promotion decisions are made collectively by boards on prescribed criteria rather than individual discretion.
A key change is recruitment according to specialization, ending the existing arrangement under which officers can be assigned to fields they have never studied.
The CSS examination would not be abolished. Candidates would have the option of taking five compulsory papers — Essay, Précis and Composition, Islamiat, Pakistan Studies and Current Affairs — in Urdu, while functional proficiency in English would remain a screening requirement.
The preliminary test threshold would rise from 33% to 40%, with analytical reasoning added and negative marking removed.
The package proposes published assessment criteria, full digitization and reduction of the recruitment cycle to six months or less, along with affirmative measures to fill unfilled quota seats for Balochistan, Sindh, minorities and women.
The performance system would be recast, with every ministry entering into an annual performance agreement with the prime minister and individual targets flowing from it. Officials would be evaluated twice a year, and 5% of employee-related expenditure would be earmarked for performance-based honoraria.
The National Management Course would be shortened from 18 weeks to 10, and existing national and specialized training institutions would be merged into a National University of Public Administration.
No constitutional amendment would be required. Following approval, an implementation committee would oversee execution, report monthly to the prime minister and target full implementation within 120 days.
