THE public administration ministry is called the nucleus of the secretariat. The people working in public administration have, however, always created a kind of power circle. In most cases, because of their direct connection with the ministers of the ruling quarters and even the prime minister, they start using administrative power for personal gains. It is alleged that the administration officials were active at the field level in the previous election as well and the Election Commission was forced to comment on this in the 12th national elections in January.
We have seen how adverse negative effects of politics and partisanship can be on administrative structures. In particular, the Awami League government helped the public administration officials to strengthen their power by ensuring additional facilities for them. As a result, public administration has been affected by personal interests and corruption in comparison with public services provided. After the change in government August, the process of reshuffle in the administration has not yet been completed.
In the meantime, some controversies have arisen among officials at different levels regarding promotion and posting. Questions have also come up in the public psyche about the various decisions taken by the administration and the changes in the decisions taken. Allegations have it that a huge number of financial transactions have taken place in the change of deputy commissioners. Media reports say that cases have been filed against 65 people of public administration, including the senior secretary of public administration, the deputy commissioner.
Meanwhile, the government has set up a three-member committee headed by the posts, telecommunication and information technology adviser, law adviser and home affairs adviser to investigate allegations of bribery against senior public administration secretary in the appointment of deputy commissioners. The administration has stalled the reshuffle process. After the interim government had assumed office after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, there were major changes in public administration.
The officials appointed by the previous government, however, still remain in the administration. The interim government will not be able to remove everyone. Because, it will not be realistic. However, the stagnant state of public administration must be overcome. In this case, perhaps, the government did not have a specific plan or enough homework. We still do not have a clear idea about activities of the committee that has been formed for public administration reform. With proper planning and homework, better initiatives could have been taken to do away with the stagnation in public administration.
The news presented by the newspapers on the stagnation of public administration, corruption, transfers and promotion is shocking. Even in the language of newspapers, they seem to be quite confident about the authenticity of the sources. If there is no transparency and accountability in the public administration, it is bound to happen. Public administration officials have lost their administrative personality because of political influence on public administration.
When a person like an administrative officer or a bureaucrat is engaged in public services, the nation benefits; various innovations are seen at the policy making level. However, when there is instability within the public administration ministry and when the pyramid structure is overturned, the administration cannot continue with its smooth operation. As a result, the civil service activities of the public administration are disrupted, which has a negative impact on the economy, socio-economic system, security and employment in the long run.
When Ali Imam Mazumder was appointed special assistant to Muhammad Yunus, expectations were raised for the sake of consistency as it was expected to pave the way for transparency, accountability and bureaucratic professionalism in the chain of command in public administration. Ali Imam Majumdar is known as a seasoned bureaucrat. So, he is aware of the details of the administration and of the opportunities and obstacles at the field level. However, even after he had assumed office, the public administration is giving rise to questions.
Conscious ones claim that the 鈥榌deep state鈥� in public administration or a part of the former government has created various obstacles and is trying to take advantage of the opportunity and increasing instability. But with such an excuse, the government cannot get through. The main spirit of the people鈥檚 uprising that we witnessed in July was to reform the state by removing all sorts of corruption, irregularities and disparities.
It is up to the government to build a professional platform. In this case, the interim government has made some mistakes in initial stages. Because, after assuming responsibility, some steps could have been taken quickly to ensure transparency and continuity of activities in public administration. If the appointment of secretaries in public administration had been done faster, some work would have progressed. Moreover, many have been promoted immediately after taking charge. Some specific reasons were shown for various postings and some contractual appointments. However, contractual appointments should have been minimal.
We see that there is hope for new horizons as the interim government took over in the unstable times. However, the government鈥檚 lack of absolute control over public administration is a major weakness that may worsen in future. In July and August, so many young people rose up in protests and so many fresh lives were lost. However, most of the decisions of the public administration are related to the rehabilitation of people who were discriminated against in the past 15 years or a decade. This is not an urgency now.
For those who sacrificed in this movement, the administrative decision should take precedence. Many political parties are now also talking in a way that they spearheaded the student protests. Such a trend is also not good and fair. Because, for the sacrifice of many people, we have been able to move towards reforming the country again. But, then again, the issue of due respect, compensation and rehabilitation of those who were victims must be taken as a priority.
It is necessary to take swift action to fill vacant posts in public administration, bring back the pyramid structure, hold speedy investigation of allegations of irregularities and corruption in administration. In order to stay in power, the Awami League look away people鈥檚 voting rights and even killed people鈥檚 interest in voting.
The Awami League is, no doubt, a big political party and contributed a lot to the country as well. Given the current reality, the Awami League made numerous mistakes which had made the bureaucracy a part of crony capitalism. And, the then public administration basically helped it in this. It is, therefore, necessary to take public administration out of the political circle. This circle must be broken first to eliminate inequality in public administration. Only then can the desired goal be achieved.
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Dr Kazi SM Khasrul Alam Quddusi is a professor of public administration in the University of Chittagong.