Revamping the administration
OF late, the prime minister has talked about our bureaucracy's master like attitude towards the citizens. In fact, bureaucratic resistance to change is an age-old phenomenon in Bangladesh. As such, changes such as Citizen's Charter and reinventing government principles have not yet been able to make inroads into the mindset of our administrators.
In view of the prevailing ambience of our officialdom, the principal components of Citizen Charter and, subsequently of "Service First" -- such as standards, information and openness, choice and consultation, courtesy and helpfulness, putting things right and value for money -- are more than relevant in a bureaucracy riddled with wastage of public funds and unresponsiveness towards the citizenry.
For example, standards would provide the bureaucrats with a yardstick to measure their products and services. Information and openness would play a significant role in freeing the administration from the clutches of so-called confidentiality. Consequently, the people's right to information is bound to be bolstered. Choice and consultation would definitely open up a new horizon of cooperation between the service-providers (civil service) and the service-users (citizens or clients).
Courtesy and helpfulness would pave the way for a refurbished image of a bureaucracy suffering from an image crisis due to its tendency of being callous and cruel to the common people. Such a tendency is reflected in our bureaucrats' disposition to regard themselves as masters while taking common people to be their servants.
Redressing grievances and putting things right when they go wrong would no doubt strengthen the voice of the consumers and help improve the quality of services in practical terms. If there is an effective mechanism for handling grievances there will also be earnestness among the bureaucrats for adherence to the service standards.
Value for money means cost-effectiveness, the value that has permeated all the recent reform initiatives throughout the globe. Bangladesh is a resource-constraint country, but willful wastage of public funds is a regular phenomenon.
Corruption has defaced the image of the country, though the general people are invariably on the receiving end of the corruption by crooked politicians and bureaucrats. Ensuring value for money would also provide satisfaction to the citizens.
Meanwhile, the basic philosophy of Reinventing Government -- mission-driven, results-oriented and entrepreneurial administration -- can change the facade of our bureaucracy. Catalytic leadership and flexibility on the part of bureaucrats would bring forth more efficiency in performing state functions. Excellence and customer satisfaction would bring about dynamism in the administration.
Principles such as incentives, employee empowerment and delegation of authority would dilute the deep-rooted hierarchical hegemony in our administration. Thus, innovation would be encouraged and quality of services and products would be enhanced. Besides, inculcating a sense of responsibility in conjunction with strengthening accountability mechanisms would provide real impetus to the bureaucracy demoralised by undue political interference.
Administrative reform is enjoying heyday around the world these days. Either new theories or techniques are being evolved or old ones are being refurbished to provide solutions to some stubborn administrative ills. Private sector techniques are, thus, penetrating the public domain with a promise of magical improvement. Making the administration more cost-effective and responsive is, however, the major driving force.
Governments in developed states are showing greater concern and keenness to provide better services to the public. In 2008, the caretaker government in Bangladesh advised government agencies to introduce Citizen's Charter to bring more dynamism and responsiveness in the administration.
The applicability of the stated techniques in Bangladesh does not pose so much of a problem. The Public Administration Reforms Commission (PARC) recommended introduction of Citizen's Charter in Bangladesh in 2000. Though Bangladesh should have gone for such reforms a long while ago, its introduction was indeed a very wholesome sign, the continuation and success of which is, I think, crucial for stepping into the pathway of good governance.
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