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by Charman Dharmadasa

Politicisation is the main cause for the deterioration of the public service, as well-known, perhaps except to those who are responsible. Administrators of the Ceylon Civil Service in the past were able and willing to advice and assist the politicians. The secretary to a ministry held the highest post in the public service in the ministry and was held in high esteem.

He advised the minister on matters of administration and carried out the entire mechanism with efficiency. His task was to assist the minister implement national policy by developing plans and projects enlisting the support of professionals who held various responsibilities down the line. The final credit for a completed task went to the minister and everyone knew it was the efficiency of the Secretary behind. The secretaries were able to work under any minister irrespective of their political colours.

With the passage of time most of the ministry secretaries and the holders of top positions were compelled to become political animals. It was no longer necessary to have the subject knowledge or the administrative experience. Any person handling any subject, without any administrative experience could become a secretary or get any other top position, provided he was acceptable to the minister.

This does not mean that they were all incompetent administrators. The career public service administrators who carried out their duties diligently for one government were often considered party loyalists and discarded by the next government. It has become common practice to send these active men to the 'pool'. Financial benefits may have been the motivating factor for the workers in the lower strata to leave the country but for most of the professionals it was disappointment in the profession or a feeling of insecurity about future professional life.

Apart from the disappointment and disgust of the professionals and administrators the country is deprived of the services of experienced hard working professionals. The crying need right now is at least an attempt to reverse the position. Let the administrators do the administering and allow professionals to work independently in the implementation of national policy. This is simply the first step needed to make the public service efficient. Whether this is possible and whether we can expect the political will is another question.

ARs and FRs

Although some of the administrative procedures are barriers to progress, the administration and financial regulations are in general based on natural justice to ensure a fair, just and a transparent system. Take for example certain accounting practices of submitting bills for obtaining approvals. There is nothing that a person acting honestly needs fear. There is also provision all the time to rectify a bona fide mistake.

Seniority is another example. An inefficient person cannot be senior because there are provisions and procedures in the administrative regulations to develop and take remedial action. If a person is not efficient he will lose his seniority. Seniority therefore does not mean just the number of years of service. Merit and achievements are inevitably included. An experienced, efficient manager will develop subordinates and make them efficient, giving them tasks and deadlines with necessary advice and assistance to perform such tasks.

The present context encourages subordinates to look for short cuts for career advancement. Senior officers feel lost being unable to develop efficient young talent and unable to take any corrective measures. They will seek political assistance and finally the punishment descends on the administrator. The honest, hard-working juniors lose interest in gathering merit because they begin to realise that hard honest work is not the road to success.

The honest, capable and eager officers are frustrated at not having any opportunity to carry out programmes or projects, not having the opportunity to carry out their administrative functions or the opportunity to develop hard-working subordinates who really deserve assistance and support. The system has deteriorated to such an extent, the politically powered public servants can do anything and get away with it, despite all the ARs and FRs.

Ego boosters

Let us look at the problem from the politicians' angle. A government that comes to power is faced with the problem of allocating various positions to party supporters. Top administrative positions, corporations and boards become the easy targets. Neither subject specialisation nor managerial experience becomes an important issue. The situation becomes very pathetic with the political appointees who are unable to make use of the experts with no subject knowledge or management expertise or experience. They will need to maintain their positions and fall easy prey to a set of people who understand this weakness.

These are great opportunities for ego boosters waiting to make use of another's weakness for their own advantage. These opportunists who are in any department or corporation will give the kind of advice and say the things that boost the ego of top executives. They will tell them that the course of action they are planning is the best and that he should bring them to the attention of the public and the superiors. In the process, unknown to them credibility is eroded and the public image of the organisation and the person both suffer in addition to not having any tangible results.

They will not worry about what is administratively correct or nationally important. They will become the most trusted lieutenants of the top, getting entitled to promotions and other perks. Keeping them 'blindfolded' is part of the strategy while keeping away those who are likely to give correct guidance.

All these lead to 'lop-sided' systems where the politically appointed top post holders with limited knowledge getting confused and not able to sift right from wrong. The specialists and the experts may not be able to advice him either because he does not understand or because he has become inaccessible to them. The process of decline starts there. They will not be able to guide or manage the other officers below or produce results.

Hangers on over sixty years is another problem. There are instances in some institutions all the top executives are over 60. This is also the result of an inevitable problem faced by the politicians. They are unable to refuse when a long-standing party loyalist wants to stay on or talks on behalf of a person who is over 60.

As we all know the human faculties do not work in the 60s as they work in the 40s. But we cannot make a general rule. There are genuinely qualified and experienced specialists in good health whose services can be invaluable.How does one draw the line?

One method is to ensure that only specialists are given extensions over sixty in cases where there are no juniors in the same field. Another way is to ensure that there is not more than one person over sixty in the top positions of an organisation. Yet another good rule may be keeping over 60s completely out of the executive positions. If their services are essential they can provide them in a consultant capacity.

If the consultant's service is truly magnificent, no doubt the younger officers in executive positions will accept and seek their advice and services. Similarly the consultants who have no executive authority will not become a stumbling block to progress of the young able executives next in line.

In the long run it may be necessary for the organisations to train a person to take over a subject area once the present specialist reaches retiring age. The problem of over 60 is definitely a very important decision the Government has to take in order to cleanse and make the public service effective.

Those who criticise the public service should take into account these factors rather than castigate the public service as a whole. It is unfair and hurtful to the honest hard-working public servant, as well as to the honest, able and willing public servant who is deprived of the opportunity, to be labeled as inefficient. The donor agencies that are critical of the public service should pressurise the State more vigorously to liberate the State sector from political interference and adopt good practices.

May aspects of the public service are discussed but we do not hear many practical solutions. It is time the politicians take a hard look at the question while they are talk about pruning the service. In any event, we cannot scrap the public service wholesale. There are several instances where the public service has proved its efficiency. When there are several public and private sector organisations offering similar services, the public turns to the State organisations. The two State banks are the best examples.

This is the culture in Sri Lanka; having faith in State institutions. Culture is not built overnight but based on past experiences, based on pleasant experiences the people had with the respective organisations.

The most appropriate step the State can take is to initiate a pilot project with a sample of State organisations inclusive of departments and statutory bodies. Organisations or departments, which enjoyed high esteem of the public and a good image could be selected. A study of these will clearly show the validity of the arguments we have forwarded. Then they should completely free them from political bondage. These should be placed under subject specialists or management experts according to the requirement.

Decide on mutually agreed targets and timeframes and allow them to function free from interference.

Allow them to carry out the stated policy and give a hearing to any constructive criticism or suggestions for improvements. They will have to be supported financially and otherwise. Let one progressive minister try this experiment and if they do not come up to expectations, if they do not run efficiently, then we can condemn the public service.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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