For better administrators

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has called on failed administrators of State owned estates to hand back their responsibilities if they cannot deliver. At a progress review meeting on the Southern Province Development the President has asked the relevant authorities to relieve inefficient administrators from their posts and replace them with more efficient personnel.

Poor administrators are synonymous with failed ventures and the President is well aware of this. He is also aware that the State sector has more than its fare share of these deadwood. Thus his directive could be a warning that heads could roll. This reading of the riot act by the highest in the land to inefficient and lethargic administrators it is hoped would have the desired effect to keep all shirkers on their toes. For it needs a Presidential decree of this nature to galvanize our administrators from their slumber. Not just the administrators, the entire administrative set up needs an overhaul if it is to be pulled out its moribund state. Our Administrative set up has to be restructured to meet the present day demands and challenges.

It goes without saying that most of the ills that have befallen our State sector institutions are due to poor administration. This is because those at the helm do not act with a sense of belonging but merely as paid executives. It would not be out of place here to mention that most of those holding key posts in Government departments are square pegs in round holes who are singularly unfit to undertake the tasks entrusted to them.

The result; gross mismanagement and inefficiency leading to the collapse of the institutions under them. We saw this happen under all past Governments where State institutions were packed with favourites which in the end brought them to their doom. This was no better illustrated than with regard to the plight that befell the old CTB when baila singers were installed in administrative posts.

This state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue at a time when the President has set his sights on converting post war Sri Lanka into the next wonder of Asia. He will no doubt need men of high performance, integrity and capacity to accomplish this task. The President no doubt will want to hand pick his men for this task and should throw the dragnet far and wide in seeking out people of merit and ability.

President Rajapaksa no doubt is aware of the need for high efficiency personnel to achieve his development goals. Hence the timely warning to those lagging behind to pull up their socks and put their collective shoulders to the wheel. He has also indicated by innuendo that failures have no place in his scheme of things. He knows he cannot afford to show indulgence to those occupying top seats in the State sector however much closer they are politically to him, due to the new journey he has charted out for the country that needs efficient administrators to see its successful end.

Not just top administrators, he cannot afford to have anyone who will not pull their weight and become liabilities given the enormous task at hand. Today it is common knowledge that the Government Departments and corporations are bursting at the seams with political deadwood gobbling up the resources of these institutions which is why they are mostly in the red. It is time that this fat is trimmed so that these loss making ventures could be turned around to profitability.

Hopefully the President’s edict will open the doors for a new culture of efficiency in the public service that will bring it on par with the exacting standards of the private sector. Time was when our administrative service was among the best in South Asia. That was a time when only merit and merit alone was the criteria for recruitment. As a result the country’s administration functioned like a well oiled machine. Besides our Administrative service became so prestigious its officers and personnel even commanded the high dowries in the marriage market. Alas today no prestige is attached to our Administrative service which has become a dumping ground for political supporters with no productive output.

Therefore a shake up is needed and it is appropriate that no less a personage than the President himself has fired the first salvo that hopefully will carry the right message to our below par administrators who enjoy all privileges and perks but without results to show for it.