Use and abuse of bureaucracy

There are too many annual holidays, apart from hartals, strikes, trade union in-fights, trade union elections and associated campaigns. Viewed in light of what has been in practice, effective and actual work hour in office is lamentably low in Bangladesh. Another lamentable scenario is that money has been lavishly spent on telephones, motor car, expensive screens and a lot of other paraphernalia in offices and residences of executive and legislative high-ups. The entire situation on the above counts has no relativity with the constraints of the money factor. Bangladesh as one of the top resource-poor countries expends money lavishly in order to make a show to others. The grabbing of cars of departments by political and civil service bureaucrats is really a scam.

One may notice the over-all lack of punctuality in the rank and file of the citizens as a whole, irrespective of their identity as officials (public or private) or in any other areas of life where punctuality is most needed. Amongst other things, this lack of a sense of punctuality is obviously transparent. In recent years, we talked a lot about transparency in administration in broad terms, without caring to ponder that everything in a government cannot ensure openness. As we know, transparency is comprehensive and sincere openness built up on the free flow of information to determine responsibility for failure, incompetence etc. It is argued by a lot of protagonists of transparency that national leaders and government officials at all levels must encourage independent inspection agencies to audit and control their finances. In their view, in absence of such inspection, the society cannot be considered as clean and economic benefits cannot reach the common people. The transparency theme is undoubtedly the core of good governance but it cannot be achieved by laying open office secrets and records for inspection as visualised.

Modern administration literature has laid great emphasis on accountability which, by and large, aims to inform the public about reasons why government action is taken, and to explain how it must be done so that the public can understand government actions, and ponder over them. It is believed that corrupt practices thrive in secrecy; and so, open and accountable government is essential to check it. It is also believed that government must be open to the scrutiny and question of the people or their representatives in parliament. The legislature is expected to ensure that the executive organ and its tentacles satisfactorily implement programme of action duly adopted by parliament.

The world over, government operates through secretariat to deal with multifarious responsibilities. The secretary to the government in any particular ministry is the key person to help his political head with utmost efficiency, knowledge, experience, sincerity, skill and honesty. For good governance in a ministry, a good secretary, all his colleagues down below and a capable, good minister are essential factors in a government headed by a good, honest and capable leader. Doubtlessly, an ideal secretary is called the brain-trust of a minister who in many instances is likely to be amateur in the art of administration and management. Other high ranking officers in a ministry, indeed, constitute the bastion to symbolise the over-all good governance of the ministry. The non-political agents of administration make up the civil services which included all cadre, non-cadre and subordinate ranks who perform specialised as well as routine works in a ministry, regardless of political changes, remaining meticulously outside the domain of politics. This is the general pattern in an ideal, developed democracy.

Civil servants are certainly required to keep the wheel of the governmental machinery going and act as agents for fulfilment of the policy of the political party in office. They are the repository of principles and practices of administrative management which endures while government comes and goes. Their rigid neutrality in the party political issues is the first code of their official conduct and they are to serve with equal fidelity whatever may be the complexion of the government. All civil servants, indeed, owe a temporary allegiance to the party in power and its programmes, no matter what their bias or personal conviction. "The first thing," observed Viscount Attlee, "a Minister finds on entering office is that he can depend absolutely on the loyalty of his staff, and on leaving office, he will seldom be able to say what the private political views are even of those with whom he has worked most closely."

The ministry in a democracy must answer for its administration to the public and the legislature. This is accountability which must be rational. In matters of drawing up policy formulation for cabinet or a legislative bill, the preparatory work is in great part the result of influence exerted by the secretary and his relevant colleagues. It may be remembered that most modern statutes are, in fact, skeleton legislations, because of shortage of time of the legislators to devote to so many bills, and the complexities of the subjects, or inadequacy of knowledge of complexities etc. Legislators, therefore, legislate in general terms only, empowering in the statute the ministry concerned to work out the detailed regulations necessary to give full effect to the statute. The rules and regulations so made in the ministry have the force of law. In the application of such rules and regulations to specific cases the executive often assumes quasi-judicial role. In the administration of public service, innumerable kinds of judicial and quasi-judicial functions arise particularly in matters which affect the individual welfare of large sectors of the community. In a modern democratic government, legislatures delegate a certain broad rule-making authority to the administration and authority is conferred upon the administration to adjudicate controversies. This pattern of delegated legislation and adjudication calls for a very high quality of personnel, political as well as civil service, in the administration.

A civil servant in exercise of his democratic right to vote, may even cast his vote against the party which rules at the relevant time. He is called upon to implement the policy of the party and very clearly he is duty-bound to do so, as he is not a ruler by himself but a public servant.

Abdul Khaleque is a former IG of Police.