Politicisation is the problem
PRIME Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the civil servants to discharge their duties for the well-being of the people, keeping in mind that they are the servants of the people, not their masters. She said this while inaugurating a two-day silver jubilee function of Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre at Savar recently.
This call has dealt with an important issue involving the relations between the government officials and the people. But this does not depend only on the government officials themselves, but also on the people who rule the country.
Unless the political government that rules the country wants to establish pro-people governance, the government officials will not consider themselves as the servants of the people. Still, we welcome the prime minister's call to the government officials to dedicate themselves to the cause of the people and discharge their duties with a pro-people attitude because the bureaucracy needs to be put on the right track.
The BNP-led coalition government at the very fag end of its tenure gave mass promotions to civil servants entirely on political considerations, apparently for taking them on its side during the election.
According to a source in the establishment ministry, 2,380 officials were promoted in the different tiers of bureaucracy during the four-party alliance tenure. The bureaucracy has come under keen public scrutiny due to such promotions.
The AL-led government's latest move to identify government officials sympathetic to the rival political parties is a continuation of the vicious tradition, and has worrying consequences on the overall administration of the country. This has been a major cause of deterioration of the quality of governance, for which the nation is paying a bitter price.
Bangladesh inherited its bureaucratic system from the British rulers. The civil service in this sub-continent under the British regime was regulated as per the terms and conditions laid down in the India Act, 1935, which contained fair and beneficial provisions aiming to protect the interest of civil servants for performing their duties neutrally.
The bureaucracy in Bangladesh, unlike India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, has failed to maintain political neutrality, though it is reinforced by rules restricting its political activities. Section 30 of the Government Servants Conduct Rules of 1979 says: "No government servant shall bring, or attempt to bring political or other outside influence, directly or indirectly, to bear on the government or any government servant in support of any claim arising in connection with his employment."
Section 32 of the said rules adds: "Contravention of any of these rules shall be construed as misconduct within the meaning of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal ) Rules, 1985, and a government servant found guilty of such contravention shall render himself liable to disciplinary action under the aforesaid rules."
But Sections 30 and 32 are honoured more in the breach than in the observance. Not a single instance can be cited in which a civil servant was awarded punishment for breach of conduct in his involvement in political activities.
Bangladesh does not as yet have any civil service act or any other law regulating the civil service. The Government Servants Conduct Rules of 1979, the Government Servants (Special Provisions) Ordinance 1979, the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules 1985, and the Public Servants Dismissed on Conviction Ordinance 1985 contain the important rules regulating the civil service.
But these rules and ordinances do not provide protection to the civil servants from being repressed by the political party in power. This is also a reason for the bureaucrats becoming partisans. All efforts should be made to put the bureaucracy on the right track.
There is good reason for the nation to be worried about the increasing politicisation of the bureaucracy, as it is the most stable and vital component for good governance. The frequent mass promotions on political considerations have a demoralising effect across the tiers of the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy is bound to become spoiled if partisan loyalty rather than merit becomes the criterion for promotion.
Civil servants of all descriptions are the servants of the republic and not of the party in power. They are not expected to be loyal to the party in power, but are required to serve governments of different political ideologies without being partisan. The problem is the politicisation.
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