Editorial
Govt austerity measures welcome
The issue is making the whole administration cost-effective and efficient
THE decision to cut back on avoidable government expenditure is a timely one. But what is important is to see that the measures are put into effect on a sustained basis. It may not be out of place to mention that we have been witness to similar articulations in the past from governments assuming the reins of power but down the road the instructions were seen to lose much of its force and in the end to frizzle out. However, we would like to believe that, given the current global economic downturn whose effects we have already begun feeling, the government means business.
We would hope that the government will follow through with its plans, and oversight will be exercised at all levels of administration to ensure that the directives are followed in letter and spirit.
There are certain cogent issues that we would like to emphasise. The circular on austerity that is being issued is a short-term measure, sounding like palliative given the deeper anomalies besetting the system that require enduring answers.
There is the need to make the government offices cost-effective, and fully motivated and geared to delivering public service. Government jobs are not sinecures, nor are the offices meant to be decoration pieces. It is an irony that while we are overstaffed, with some department and agencies having bloated manpower, the administration, and consequently the state, has to suffer from the below par performance of these agencies.
We suggest that the government immediately start rationalising its manpower through a detailed HR planning and work study. In this regard we recall several studies by the World Bank on this subject, that should be reexamined at this stage. We feel that the problems of duplication of work and overlapping of functions between agencies as well as officials must be urgently addressed. We neither need an oversized administration nor an undersized one, what we need is a right-sized one. After all, getting the best out of government departments and employees is what good governance is all about.
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