On Monday, August 11, 2025, Mr. Afzal Khial delivered a workshop on “Efficiency & Discipline” for the participants of 44^th Mid-Career Management Course at National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) Lahore. Mr. Afzal Khial is a former civil servant. The workshop was divided into two parts. In the first part, the Guest Speaker presented his thoughts on the topic, whereas the second part was meant for practice.

Mr. Afzal Khial began the workshop by explaining the scope of the workshop, which included: (i) Efficiency & Discipline (E&D) Rules, 1973 and 2020 (ii) Drafting of Order of Inquiry, Grounds of Proceedings, Show Cause Notice, Inquiry Report and Documents Related to Disciplinary Proceedings; (iii) Identification of snags and lapses which result in quashing of a case due to technical omission and commission; (iv) and Role of Authority and Inquiry Officer. The guest speaker highlighted the differences between E&D Rules 1973 and 2020, noting that while the 1973 rules consisted of 11 rules, the 2020 rules had 21. He also explained various factors due to which E&D proceedings fail before the judicial scrutiny. The key issues that he discussed included: failure to properly draft the complaints, failure to conduct preliminary fact-finding, issuance of direct show cause notice without inquiry, capacity issues of inquiry officers etc. Then he explained various kinds of and stages in an E&D enquiry.

After Mr. Afzal Khial finished his talk, he divided the class into four groups. Each group was given a separate assignment. Each group worked on the assignment and prepared a power point presentation, which it presented before the entire class towards the end of the workshop. The Guest Speaker gave her feedback on participants’ work.