Reckless politicisation: Some reflections

Politicisation has turned out to be a very popular and indispensable weapon for the governments in Bangladesh. What is of particular note is that it is being reflected and flourished in newer dimensions. Not only in Bangladesh -- as Rehman Sobhan observes -- in whole of South Asia, politicization abuses the recruitment process and encourages sort of political opportunism among the bureaucrats thereby protecting incompetence and corruption while undermining efficacy, integrity and, of course, quality.

Having seen previous observations, what has been happening in the administrative arena of Bangladesh as regards recruitment and promotion is just mind-boggling. No real purpose seems to be in place. There may be a momentary gratification but this reckless politicisation -- I dare say won't serve anybody's purpose. The techniques that are being employed in inducting men of choice in the key positions are turning the recruits' moral standpoint shaky. They will always have the guilt-feeling. The perceived feeling of worthlessness may also creep in them. As they will be haunted by this spectre, diffidence is to be reflected in their performance in all the jobs they are assigned to. Not that all of them are devoid of quality but the cursed mechanisms -- for example, alleged leakage of question papers as well as alleged appointments on recommendations of party wings -- are apt enough to strip off whatever confidence they possessed.

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This is, however, not to mean that politicised recruitment and promotion didn't take place during the tenure of previous regimes. Whenever and however it took place must have brought miseries and created problems to adversely affect the administrative discipline and functioning. It is, in fact, a regular phenomenon in Bangladesh. The degree is, however, the matter at issue. Anyway, the vacuum and bankruptcy that are being created and inflicted upon the administration by the indiscriminate politicisation might well become burdensome even for the ones that mastermind and relish in these evil practices.

To be candid, no governments in Bangladesh have been sincere enough to provide for motivational incentives to the government employees, rather resorted to favouritism and patronage to strengthen either their political stranglehold or merely to pile up money out of unholy links with the senior civil servants. Successive governments' treatment of recruitment and promotion policies and practices make it quite clear that they are more interested in aggrandising their narrow interest and that in this affair they are showing real panache as the criterion of 'political consideration'. This is increasingly gaining strength with every new political leadership in state power.

The bureaucrats are, however, not idle partners in this game of politics. A segment -- not all -- of them have also devised and assimilated various guiles to exploit the political leaders. Nowadays, they are more than quick to express allegiance to the newly installed party in state power. They don't stop here rather take every opportunity to poison the political bosses against the bureaucrats they want to make suffer out of sheer spite and jealousy.

Many of them are by now very adept in eulogising new government and equally cunning in vilifying the government that has just gone out of power. This sort of 'sycophancy' is definitely effacing the vestiges of 'good sense' in the administration thereby destroying the total peace in the service. On reflection and on balance, it won't be an exaggeration to comment that erosion of morality among politicians and civil servants is now unabated and morale of the service is severely brutalised.

The myopic state machinery working under the umbrella of democracy and legitimised by 'public support' seem to have forgotten about the fact that it has been elected and sent to power by the people. What is of enormous pain is that it seems to be pretending or rather enjoying to be acting as 'isolated', at least its handling of the crucial sectors of the country imply that. Time is running out. It is well overdue to come back to senses and comprehend that it is to work for each and every individual of the land. Partisan thinking and, of course, steps are suicidal and turn 'ridiculous' the very legitimacy it enjoys.

In our country, it is a distinct culture of the 'incumbent' government to declare all the activities of the previous government 'destructive' for the country and at the same time build upon and consolidate the previous government's mistakes and bad policies. One finds it baffling to imagine what is in store for the nation if things continue the way it is, especially as regards reckless politicisation.

Kazi S. M. Khasrul Alam Quddusi is Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, University of Chittagong.