Challenges Of Institutional Development In

Pakistan

Institution
Institutions are structures and mechanisms of social order and
cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals. Institutions
are identified with a social purpose and permanence, transcending
individual human lives and intentions, and with the making and
enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior.
The term, institution, is commonly applied to customs and behavior
patterns important to a society, as well as to particular formal
organizations of government and public service. As structures and
mechanisms of social order among humans, institutions are one of the
principal objects of study in the social sciences, including sociology,
political science and economics. Institutions are a central concern for
law, the formal regime for political rule-making and enforcement.

Institutional Development
Institutional development is the creation or reinforcement of the
capacity of an organization to generate, allocate and use human and
financial resources effectively to attain development objectives, public
or private. It Includes not only the building and strengthening of
Institutions, but also their retrenchment or, liquidation In the pursuit of
institutional, sectoral, or government-wide rationalization of
expenditure. Institutional Development Is typically aimed at Improving
and strengthening the following:

 Internal organizational structures.

 Management systems, Including monitoring and

evaluation.

 Financial management (Budgeting & Accounting,

Auditing, Procedures) and planning systems.

 Personnel management, staff development, and training.

 Inter-institutional relationships.

 Institutional structures of sub sectors or sectors; legal

framework.

1
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

 Government regulations and procedures.

Institutional Development (The Process)

Institutional change or development is to be considered as a process
that is incremental, in that small improvements are made to existing
policies, without challenging the existing development paradigms.
These changes are influenced by previous policy practice and
shaped by a wide range of stakeholders. It is hence increasingly
recognized that institutional change (and social transformation) has
to be seen in terms of larger and longer term transition processes.

Building and developing institutions is thus crucial in social

development efforts where issues of organization of dispersed
interests, improvement of bargaining positions of the socially and
economically excluded, mutual commitment and inclusiveness are
pursued. Institutional development is not a linear process, which can
be carefully designed with the use of a toolbox, but a long-term
multi-stakeholder process in which pull and push factors, power
relations and bargaining power influence the final outcomes and its
relevance for poverty alleviation or improved natural resource
management.

 Transparent, participatory, and efficient working of the

institutions ensure right priorities and appropriate
policies.

 Effective and efficient implementation results in high

growth, better income distribution, and alleviation of
poverty.

 Well-functioning institutions lead to higher investment

levels, better policies, increase the social capital stock
of a community and help in better management of
ethnic diversity and conflicts

2
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

 Analysis and Diagnosis of Overall Institutional Framework

 Analysis and Diagnosis of the Organization in the

Institutional Context

 Review & Design

 Implementation

 Monitors/Evaluate

3
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

Analysis and Diagnosis Of Overall Institutional

Framework

Assessment of Institutional Capabilities

A tool developed by the World Bank for "diagnosing institutional
capability for implementing and sustaining a policy”. The toolkit
provides a structured approach for asking questions, analyzing results,
and identifying critical institutional issues.

Impact Analysis
A structured workshop for representatives of all groups concerned with
the change process, held before the process begins. It helps to get all
stakeholders involved; to identify objectives and predicted areas of
impact; and to build stakeholder consensus and commitment. It can
also produce innovative suggestions for evaluation measures.

Sponsor Evaluation
This is a questionnaire, which looks at key aspects of the change
sponsor’s attitudes and readiness to change.

Change Forecasting
A tool, which is being developed within DFID to assist in the
development of Country Assistance Plans. The tool will assist in the
identification of interventions, which will promote change; in the
measurement of performance and in the assessment of particular
sectors where reform may take place.

Analysis and Diagnosis of the Organization in

the Institutional Context

Open Systems Model

The model recommended for a diagnosis of the strategic/institutional
environment, and organizational problems.

7-S
This describes 7 key interdependent organizational variables that need
to be taken into account in organizational design. It forces practitioners
to think not only about the "hardware" of an organization – its strategy

4
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

and structure - but also about the "software"- its management style,
systems and procedures, staff, skills and shared values (i.e. culture).
SWOT
SWOT analysis is a tool for assessing and communicating the current
position of an organization or a particular reform option in terms of its
internal Strengths and Weakness and the external Opportunities and
Threats it faces.

Organizational Elements Model

This demonstrates the relationship between inputs and results. It looks
for linkages between all the elements of the process, from inputs
through to outcomes; if the chain breaks at any point this indicates
there is no connection between the elements e.g. there may be inputs,
which are not contributing to the creation of outputs, and not
producing any return on investment.

Problem Tree Analysis

This helps to illustrate the linkages between a set of complex issues or
relationships by fitting them into a hierarchy of related factors. It is
used to link issues, which contribute to an institutional problem, and to
help to identify the underlying or root causes.

Review and Design

Risk Management Matrix

• This identifies risks and their likely impact, and strategies for
responding to different degrees of risk.

Benchmarking
A comparison of processes in a different context as a basis for the
design of a series of interventions.

Business Process Reengineering

This involves the fundamental review and redesign of an organization’s
business processes. It aims to move from traditional division of labor
towards the creation of integrated cross-functional work processes. The
underpinning philosophy is that such integrated work units are more
flexible and can respond more readily to customer and service
demands.

5
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

Implementation

Change Management
This provides a note of the five key elements to take into account in
change management and a checklist of activities to carry out for a
major change programme.

Force Field Analysis

A technique for analyzing the forces that help or obstruct change. It
can be useful, as part of drawing up a strategic change plan, in
examining how feasible a strategic objective is, and in identifying areas
of focus for any associated action plan.

Burke Litwin Model

The "Burke-Litwin model" is a model of organizational change and
performance. It provides a link between an assessment of the wider
institutional context and the nature and process of change within an
organization.

Stakeholder Management
How to identify the individuals or groups who will either be affected by
the changes or have the ability to impact on the change process; and
developing a strategy to manage these stakeholders.

Monitor/Evaluate
EFQM Excellence Model
A framework for assessing the aspects of performance which make an
organization successful.

6
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

Institutional development in Pakistan

 The institutions that existed have degenerated.

 The institutions have been abused by the elite

 Mal-functioning of institutions denies the participation of

poor in the decision-making process

 The rising poverty in turn has led to further decay in the

institutions and poor are caught in the vicious circle

 The country needs a credible and proper institutional

framework, which is transparent and predictable.

Case Study On Institutional Development In

Pakistan
The case is based primarily on an institutional development pilot
project focusing on "Farmer-Managed Irrigated Agriculture", which is
being implemented by the International Irrigation Management
Institute (IIMI) at three different locations in the Left Bank Outfall Drain
(LBOD) districts in the Sindh Province of Pakistan. This action research
is funded as part of the LBOD Stage-I Project by the World Bank and
the Swiss Development Cooperation.

The social organization pilot project in the Sindh is one of three such
major pilot efforts by IIMI in Pakistan. The first pilot site to be started in
this study program was the Hakra 4-R Distributary in the Fordwah
Eastern Sadiqia (FES) irrigation and drainage system in south-eastern
Punjab.

Activities at this pilot site are part of the institutional development

component of an on-going IIMI research project, "Managing Irrigation
for Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture in Pakistan", funded by the
Royal Netherlands Government. IIMI is also engaged in a similar
activity in collaboration with the Water Resources Research Institute
(WRRI) of Pakistan's National Agriculture Research Centre, at two small
dams, located near the Fateh Jang town in
northern Punjab. This activity is financially supported by the
Department for International Development (DFID) of UK.

7
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

The case study is also based on a synthesis of policy formulation

processes in Pakistan initiated by the efforts of the World Bank and
other donors. These efforts are meant to make the country's present
institutional framework more responsive towards users' involvement in
natural resources management. Attempts at establishing an enabling
policy and institutional environment for
participatory water resources management are discussed and the
existing issues and constraints related to change are briefly analyzed.

The Initial Situation

Institutions are to match the unique combination of variables in a given
system (Ostrom, 1992).
The combination of contextual variables in Pakistan would include the
following main characteristics:

• Skewed land ownership pattern

• Increasing number of small landholdings
• Majority of water users are illiterate, poor and small landowners
• Lack of information sharing
• Centralized irrigation bureaucracies
• Lack of accountability of officials
• Political interference
• Disregard towards operational rules
• Inadequate maintenance
• Inequitable water distribution
• Stagnant crop yields

The major focus of IIMI's approach in mobilizing social organization

efforts was on the local social context. Initial investigations during
baseline surveys indicated that the community in the Sindh pilot sites
was characterized by a skewed land distribution and fairly deep rooted
mistrust in the strangers. The combined effect of these two factors
meant that a few influential farmers would assert in most community
decisions and a field team's ability to reach the people would be
restricted. The small farmers and the large number of tenants also
tended to be reluctant in providing information or in communicating
with the outsiders. The exclusivity of the landownertenant relationships
in terms of social interactions within the community had created a
strong mistrust among these people regarding any interactions coming
from visitors to the area.

8
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

The social context was also identified with a "canal irrigation culture",
which had been fashioned by the long association with a legal
framework of three main enactments: the Canal and Drainage Act of
1873, the Sindh Irrigation Act of 1879 and the Punjab Minor Canals Act
of 1905. The operation, maintenance and water allocation rules in
canal irrigation are all administered under these laws. The "canal
irrigation culture" pervades the rural life in canal command areas.
The major source of employment is irrigated agriculture, the people's
knowledge and skills are closely linked with it, and they speak an
"irrigation language". Most of their disputes and litigation efforts are
also related to irrigation. Their habitats are generally identified in
terms of hydraulic boundaries.

The Change Process

The pilot projects were based on two major objectives. First, there was
a need to test the viability of social organization for irrigated
agriculture in Pakistan, which is perceived to be having a strongly
hierarchical society and a well established irrigation culture. Second, it
was felt necessary to test the viability of organized water users
managing parts of the large canal irrigation systems so that more
efficient and equitable allocation and use of water could be achieved in
the given context.

To achieve these objectives, the following were the main of project

activities:

1. Gain an understanding of the existing ground situation in the

selected pilot.
Distributaries/dams by way of collecting baseline data on physical,
socio-economic and institutional aspects;

2. Use this knowledge to interact with the water users in the pilot
distributary/dam command area with a view to discussing with them
the possible management strategies for improved productivity and
sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the area;

3. Mobilize the necessary institutional support for assisting the water

users in selected pilot distributaries/dams and catalyzing their interest
to establish appropriate water users organizations;

4. Facilitate interactions between water users and operating agencies;

9
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

5. Assist in setting in motion a series of institutional development

activities to support these newly established water users organizations
to undertake responsibility for maintenance and operation of
secondary and tertiary levels of the canal irrigation system and small
dams for improved water distribution.
Given the need to accomplish this essential set of activities in a
difficult social context, IIMI decided to adopt a slow and progressive or
step-wise approach in social organization interactions, using a small
field team of social organizers at each pilot site and a number of local
volunteers to supplement it.

Small Field Teams: Usually, the pilot projects are over-burdened with
highly qualified and trained staff. Often, they have been found to be
unable to reach the community deeply enough for better mutual
understanding of project objectives and conditions. Also, such an
approach with large staff and highly qualified staff being deployed in
pilot projects has made the project findings less replicable. The field
approach of IIMI involved the placing of social organizers in the
community to interact with and slowly catalyze the farmers to identify
their own problems, solutions, leaders, organization, financing,
budgeting, and management. For each pilot command area, a Field
Team of 3 to 5 members was deployed initially, consisting of one Team
Leader, all being of either sociology or agricultural science background.

Community Based Volunteers: A distinctive feature of the

methodology adopted in this action research program was the use of
"social organization volunteers" (SOVs). The SOVs essentially served as
a link between the small field team and the community, and in effect
formed part of a social organization team. The SOVs were selected
using five-point criteria (knowledge about the community, willingness
to communicate with others, non-controversial personality, having a
value base favoring social work, and absorptive capacity to be trained
as a social organizer). The selected persons were given a special
training and were deployed to work along with the field team
members.

Phased Approach to Social Organization: A community, which is

fairly suspicious about outsiders and outside interventions, needed to
be approached cautiously. However noble the pilot project's intentions
were, the slightest suspicion by the community could form a social
barrier to interventions, particularly when they were aimed at

10
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

organizing people. This cautious approach was to gain entry into the
community slowly through well-designed steps in interactions, each
step meant to progressively establish mutual trust between the
farmers and the field team members. In the gradual step-wise
approach chosen by the project, the process of organization of water
users was designed to be in four phases:
1) Support mobilization;
2) Initial organization;
3) Organization consolidation; and
4) Organizational action.

The first two phases of this iterative process took relatively more time.
The experiences prompted some changes to be incorporated into this
process for each pilot site, depending on its special physical and
community characteristics.
The support mobilization phase was a "get set" stage during which the
field teams were mobilized and trained, initial collaborative
arrangements were discussed with operating agencies, selection of the
pilot sites was finalized, members for a Field Implementation
Coordination Committee (FICC) were identified, and initial baseline
information was collected. Being a learning exercise, the training for
the field staff was mostly derived from the experiences of social
organization field research conducted already in the Hakra 6-R
Distributary.
This training included farmer interviews, use of key informants, process
documentation, and some exposure to other social organization
projects in the country.
In the next initial organization phase, some progressively advancing
steps in interacting with the community were taken. Unlike many top-
down government projects, in this pilot project, a consciously
developed participatory approach was adopted. This approach itself
made the field team's task so much more difficult than the usual
practice of "handed down" instructions, and the challenge was that
each step taken collectively with the people had to be based on the
popular agreement on the previous step's results. Gradually, the
majority of the water users were convinced that the pilot projects were
for their own benefit, which they had to achieve with work hard.

Five Dialogic Steps: The step-wise process in the Initial Organization

phase was of progressively enhanced interactions in a series of
meetings with the water users, which culminated in forming water
users federations in the pilot areas. Building on the steps already

11
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

taken, the process advances towards the group behaving on mutual

trust, sharing information, consulting for consensus, developing
options and implementing an appropriate organization design. Since
the interactions were initially between the catalysts and the water
users, the stages of this iterative process of social organization was
named "Five Dialogic Steps".

First Dialogue: A series of "familiarization meetings" to get to know

the area and the people in general, and to introduce the purpose of
field team's visit to whomsoever met in the command areas, the idea
of the pilot project and its proposed activities.

Second Dialogue: A series of "rapport-building meetings" to meet

with the identified SOVs and other water users in small groups. The
main purpose was to explain the objectives, status and programs of
IIMI and build up fellowship with the SOVs and their colleagues.

Third Dialogue: A series of "consultation meetings" to consult the

water users for developing tentative plans for establishing water users
organizations. These consultation or planning meetings formed a
crucial step in the social organization process to ensure that the water
users knew the project objectives clearly, and to follow up on earlier
rapport building meetings for clarifying any misunderstandings among
the people regarding the program.

Fourth Dialogue: A series of "selection meetings" for the purpose of

discussing the process for selecting or electing organizational leaders
at the primary (watercourse) level.

Fifth Dialogue: "Federation meetings" to initiate the identification of

office bearers for the pilot Water Users Federations. During these
interactions, the water users were encouraged to select the
watercourse nominees, who would form the general body of the
federation in each pilot area, and then proceed towards selecting the
WUF office bearers.

The Outcome
The pilot project was successful in establishing widely accepted water
users federations, which, in a short duration of time, were able to
mobilize resources and collective interest to attend to maintenance
requirements of the distributary canal pilot sites. In terms of the
potential for operation and maintenance management, the results

12
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

shown by these WUFs so far are very favorable. Given some time for
consolidation, and continued institutional support, the pilot projects are
most likely to become socially and economically viable management
organizations and to provide widely replicable encouraging results. This
development will greatly contribute to reducing the strain on ailing
government agencies, improving the equitable distribution of water
resources, and enhancing the productivity of both water and land
resources.

The Lessons Learned

The biggest advantage in having the community-based volunteers was
felt when they took upon themselves to explain the objectives of the
project and the background of IIMI, at a very critical stage of the
project. A few months after the field work was started, IIMI's
interventions related to farmers' participation in O&M management
were seen by some people, particularly those who had some vested
interest in retaining the status quo, as part of a hidden agenda
sponsored globally by aid agencies and countries associated with
them. IIMI was projected by these people as an alien agency working
for achieving conspiratory objectives detrimental to Pakistan. At this
stage, no amount of discourses by IIMI staff could save the situation,
and only the SOVs' voluntary actions managed to dispel such doubts
and misconceptions. The community preferred to rely on assurances
and explanations of their own opinion leaders than on the professional
discourses by IIMI staff.
Although action research pilot projects try to introduce change in a
limited way, without the support of broad-based policy, they are
usually unable to achieve wider acceptance of change.
However, the pilot projects can surface the issues related to desired
change for the benefit of future policy guidance. Preliminary results
from these pilot project experiences raise the following main issues:

 There is a strong link between physical characteristics of

irrigation and drainage systems and the institutional
requirements for their operation and maintenance;
 The character of a community impacts on its capacity for
sustainable social organization;
 Farmers' participation in operation and maintenance
management depends on their ability to clearly see the potential
for individual gains arising from participation; and
 A strong institutional support including an enabling legal
framework is essential for sustainable farmers' participation in

13
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

operation and maintenance management. Recent donor

initiatives for organizational restructuring and for related
legislation contributed positively to the realization of pilot project
objectives. However, the bureaucratic apathy in applying the
new legal measures delayed this process.
 An integrated approach to cover system-wide management
problems would be a more productive institutional solution to the
current situation. A package of institutional reforms, of which
creating farmer organizations is only a component, is more likely
to succeed in the longer term. Pakistan has embarked on such a
comprehensive reforms package.
 Rural societies are profoundly complex; farmers are of different
distinct social groups with different sets of goals and objectives,
and different alliances. The formal rules designed to govern their
conduct in an orderly manner give way to flexible informal rules.
Forces of tradition, such as feudalism, caste and biraderies have
a greater influence over people's lives than the written codes of
law. These deep rooted informal behavioral patterns need to be
identified and used in designing institutional change for
appropriate grassroots involvement in natural resource
management.
 Popular participation is believed to be a strategy to increase the
probability of establishing infrastructure people want, in ways
people can and will manage them (Mienzen-Dick et al, 1995).
This approach implies a new role for the water users. They are
expected to have a major attitudinal change from being mere
"beneficiaries" of government assistance to sharing responsibility
for managing infrastructure. More importantly, the water users
have to change to a new situation in which they think and act as
groups rather than individuals. The success of this approach
requires a redefinition of the roles of the other actors as well.
Redefinition of roles while focusing on users' participation implies
that the government's operating agencies and their staff will
have to empower the water users for undertaking new
management responsibilities; the regulatory and enforcement
agencies and their staff will have to recognize these changed
roles of various actors; the agriculture extension agencies and
their staff will have to support the organized water user groups;
and the big landlords and other rural-based influential will have
to acknowledge a new power base emerging in the water users'
organizations.
 Most of the different (but inter-linked) institutions are related to
different stakeholders of irrigated agriculture. The economic,

14
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

social and political viability of a package of institutional reforms

would depend on its ability to satisfy the overall interest of these
multiple stakeholders.

Challenges of Institutional Development In

Pakistan
These challenges of Institutional Development in Pakistan to be
implemented.

•A system of checks and balances, together with citizen monitoring by

elected representatives is necessary to ensure against the abuse of
authority.
•The devolution provides an opportunity to bring local accountability to
government and achieve efficiencies in the way services are delivered
to the poor.
•Devolution assigns service delivery to the local bodies and they are
accountable to the community.
•Devolution is expected to improve service delivery as local
governments can better assess spending priorities and utilize their
resources in a cost-effective manner.
•However, the risks need to be recognized. Given that a poorly
implemented local government reform could harm rather than improve
the delivery of services, it is important that it succeeds.

Access to Justice
•Judicial systems need to balance the need to provide swift and
affordable justice to the people.
•The basic problems of judicial administration relate to governance and
administration; case management and delay reduction; automation
and court information systems; human resources; and infrastructure.
•The success of judicial reforms depends on
•Increasing the accountability of judges; providing for incentives to
perform effectively, simplifying procedures, and targeting resource
increases.

15
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

•The channels for such accountability can be the free media and civil
society organizations, or accountability can be built into the judicial
system itself.
•Transparency or the provision of information that makes it easy to
monitor judicial performance
•Simplifying legal procedures tends to increase judicial efficiency
•Judicial independence needs to be coupled with a system of social
accountability.

Police Reforms
•The local control and institutionalized accountability at the grass
roots, while ensuring functional autonomy of Police
•An independent Police Complaints Authority would also be helpful in
expediting investigations into allegations of excesses and neglect by
Police.
•More effective recourse to redress grievances and more open access
to justice in their own communities, an important element for
empowerment, dignity, and rights

Civil Services
•Perception that government is to provide jobs in public sector;
•Poor salary structure;
•Protecting status quo;
•Resistance to sharing the information;
•Centralization of decision-making;
•Lack of discipline;
•Lack of professionalism and performance orientation;
•Corruption;
•Archaic operating procedures and regulatory mechanism;
•Public aversion to public servants.
The main elements of the Government’s civil service reform strategy
include:
•A flatter structure of civil service;
•Merit based recruitment and promotion criteria;
•Performance based compensation;
•Incentives to improve innovation (i.e. encourage prudent risk taking);
and
•To increase the demand for professional skills (i.e. for training and
education).

16
 Challenges Of Institutional Development In
Pakistan

Financial Governance
•Because of the misuse of discretionary power at various tiers of the
government, and unfair considerations, there has been rampant
corruption. The government has established the National
Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate and prosecute cases.
Besides punishing the corrupt, preventive measures such as instituting
a system that collects information and raise the possibilities that
corruption is detected would also be required.

Freedom of Information
•Access to information would go a long way towards transparency in
the use of public funds, certainty, and predictability in the economic
policies. Freedom of Information Act can go a long way in this direction.
•Credibility of the statistical authorities

The statistical authority should be autonomous which could release the

data without any clearance from any Ministry. There is a need for a
long-term plan to strengthen the statistical system including training
and motivation of the staff and strengthening infrastructure.

Conclusion

Challenges that we are facing in the Institutional Development in

Pakistan can be minimize by implementing:

Transparent, participatory, and efficient working of the institutions

ensure right priorities and appropriate policies.
Effective and efficient implementation results in high growth, better
income distribution, and alleviation of poverty.
Well-functioning institutions lead to higher investment levels, better
policies, increase the social capital stock of a community and help in
better management of ethnic diversity and conflicts.

17