INTERIOR Minister Mohsin Naqvi is increasingly emerging as a doer who is determined to deliver. His insistence on measurable improvements, institutional reform and performance-based working reflects an approach that is sorely needed in government. His latest directive to the heads of all subordinate institutions of the Ministry of Interior to prepare comprehensive two-year transformation plans is therefore a welcome step.
The objective should not merely be to produce plans and documents, but to translate them into visible improvements. Naqvi has rightly stressed that every organization under the Ministry must be transformed on modern lines, equipped with the necessary resources and made more efficient and public-friendly. He has also called for legal amendments and reforms wherever required. The importance of this exercise cannot be overstated. Every institution under the Interior Ministry has a critical role in the country’s security and public administration. Whether it is the police, FIA, passport and immigration authorities, NADRA or other bodies, their performance directly affects national security, law enforcement and the daily lives of citizens. Improving their capacity and efficiency is therefore essential to strengthening the overall security environment. The first priority should be ensuring merit-based induction across these institutions. The right people, selected transparently on merit and possessing the requisite skills and professional competence, are indispensable to meaningful reform. Equally important is the setting of clear, measurable targets with definite timelines. Transformation cannot be an open-ended exercise. Each institution should know what it is expected to achieve, by when and how its performance will be evaluated. Other ministries should follow suit. Government performance ultimately depends on the efficiency of its departments. If every ministry adopts clear targets, timelines, accountability mechanisms and a culture of results, the impact on public service delivery could be substantial.
