Editorial
Recipe to reform bureaucracy!
Sans sincere political will and intent can a change come?
IT is with interest that we receive the news of the government's initiative to legislate to stave off political partisanship in civil administration besides cutting its cost. So far as the cost-saving part goes, it is long overdue but how the government legislates effectively against corruption is to be seen to be believed.
What leaves us particularly wondering is what magic wand the government can apply, or Midas touch, if you will, to depoliticise the administration that remains thoroughly politicised in a cumulative fashion! Thanks to successor government's engineered politicisation to undo the previous government's wholesale politicised handiwork to suit their respective partisan ends, the entire bureaucracy is left in a deficient and demoralised state. Cracks have developed in the chain of command. Despite existence of official manuals, full of time-honoured norms to resist partisan interference, even the bureaucracy has lost its will to do so. On top of it, they did become demonstrative part of political showmanship.
Unless both the AL and BNP muster sincere political will to let the bureaucracy be impartial, neutral and professional, no elected government worth its salt can implement its policies and pledges as embodied in its electoral manifesto. Of course, the civil bureaucrats will be subject to the command of the political government of the day that is consistent with public good and welfare. Never for once should they act as if the government is the party and the party is the government in the service of the Republic. Like the elected government and elected opposition their sole obligation is to serve the people for which they have had specialised training and experience.
It is good thinking on the part of the high powered committee constituted to draft a civil service act that there will be reform of the confidential report writing and recording methods. ACRs being pivotal to promotion in civil service, their fairness and integrity, will have to be maintained at all costs. Often these provide an avenue for partisan favouritisn within the administration because of the confidentiality of the process of ACR preparation. From now on, performance reports on persons being evaluated can be accessed by them. We demand that these be communicated to them as a rule. Furthermore, the person reported on should be allowed to record his or her own comments.
In the end, so long as the administration remains overcentralised, nothing can come of it. Thus, it has to be decentralised with delegation of authority down the line. This will have the advantage of quickening the decision-making processes through breaking down the multi-layered bureaucracy.
The RTI can be of help to ensure accountability across the board, if the offices of the government have designated cells to furnish information on the status of public enquiries including that of law and order, service delivery and progress of development projects.
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