Mustafizur Rahman
The military-controlled interim government is going to end its two-year tenure with most of the initiatives it undertook initially to reform civil bureaucracy fading away gradually.
After assuming office in January 2007, the government of Fakhruddin Ahmed embarked on an ambitious plan to infuse ‘dynamism, accountability and transparency into the administration’, but towards the end it ordered strong monitoring which marked a shift from the reform initiatives.
‘No effective steps have been taken to reform the administration. The government initially pressed for making the bureaucracy dynamic and accountable and ensuring smooth service delivery for the public, which remains a far cry’, a senior bureaucrat told New Age at the secretariat on Sunday.
Citizens’ charter was introduced by some authorities following directives from the chief adviser, but in reality it was not maintained anywhere, he said.
Neither the promotion process nor the performance evaluation system has been modified to bring about qualitative changes as promised by the present government at the very beginning, said another official who worked at the establishment ministry.
According to recent findings of a three-member committee of the cabinet division, most ministries and divisions tend to avoid the administrative and financial responsibilities delegated to them, causing delay in the bureaucratic functioning and thereby affecting service to the public.
In October, the inquiry body led by additional secretary to the cabinet division Md Zahid Hossain submitted its report with an eight-point recommendation for infusing dynamism and accountability in the administration after conducting random survey in 11 ministries during the emergency rule.
About 75 per cent of the stockpile of files could be cleared readily if the relevant officials exercised the authority given to them by rules, according to the report.
Files continue to pile up on the secretariat desks as senior bureaucrats often tend to evade their discretion and sit on documents, the report reveals.
The files travel from the bottom to the top level in most cases, although most of them could be disposed of by deputy secretaries or the joint secretaries, the committee observes, pointing out that the Rules of Business and the Secretariat Instructions are not being followed in disposal of files.
Although the report recommended formation of a national body under an adviser/minister to monitor overall functioning of the bureaucracy and introduction of some mechanism in each ministry to oversee their respective administrative functions, nothing effective was done to this effect.
The chief adviser rather ordered the secretaries to monitor administrative functions to ensure that the Secretariat Instructions were being followed in disposal of files. According to the Secretariat Instruction, a deputy secretary is delegated to dispose of any file not related to any important policy matters while the section chief is allowed to dispose of files concerning matters having clear precedents or standing orders.
Formed in July 2007, the chief adviser-led cabinet committee on administrative reforms and good governance was supposed to give directions for career planning and improving performance of public servants. Nothing was done so far to this effect, according to officials concerned.
Proposals were prepared several times for introducing performance-based postings and also personal appraisal system in place of the outdated ‘annual confidential report’ to evaluate the officials’ performance.
At the farewell meeting with the secretaries on December 14, Fakhruddin advised them to give utmost importance to service to the people as the top bureaucrats reportedly admitted their failure to bring about dynamism in the functioning of bureaucracy as expected by the government.
The first such meeting was held at the secretariat on January 23, 2007 where Fakhruddin Ahmed warned the officials that punitive actions would be taken against those who would be found responsible for the administration’s failure.
The establishment ministry prepared a summary for extending the service age for public servants by three-five years to be placed at the meeting of the council of advisers on Sunday, but the proposal was left pending for the last cabinet meeting of the interim government.
The bureaucrats are now venting their resentment and frustration as the ‘non-party’ interim government’s plan is also ending up in rhetoric as in the past.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
