| Point Counterpoint Let merit count in the Bangladesh Civil Service Ripan Kumar Biswas
GOVERNMENT jobs belong to the country's people, not politicians, and shall be filled only with regard to public service," said Theodore Roosevelt, first US Civil Service Commissioner (1889-1895) and the 26th president of the United States ((1901-1909).
To recruit the people the country needs, the department or the respective authority must expand its outreach to all parts of the country so that it gets a highly skilled workforce which can represent the country's diversity, and can advance national interests. To do so, recruitment should be fair.
Recruitment is about getting the best person for the job. In most of the countries, it is usually dealt with by the Public Service Commission (PSC), whose remit is enshrined in the Constitution. Recruitment should be fair, which means that the PSC should be genuinely independent.
It can be harder to ensure fairness in a decentralised system, which is why many developing countries resist devolving recruitment to line agencies. Recruitment should also use skilful methods, e.g. develop selection criteria, introduce occupational testing at assessment centres, standardise interview structures and training for interviewers. It offers suggestions for governments wishing to strengthen appointments based on merit.
The Commission is charged with maintaining the purposes of civil service systems, merit selection, tenure and an independent Civil Service Commission. Independent civil service commission only defences against politics.
The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) is a quasi-judicial body established under the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and works under the provisions of the Articles 137 to 141 of the Constitution of Bangladesh, and certain other rules and regulations made by the government.
Although it has gone through various amendments since 1981, including elimination of political patronage, encouragement of efficiency and introduction of staff training, the Bangladesh Civil Service Recruitment Rules, 1981, laid down the procedure for recruitment to various services of the republic. The requirement to consult the Public Service Commission is a constitutional one as envisaged in Clause (2) of Article 140 of the Constitution.
The implementation of government policies and projects is the duty of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS); a corps of trained administrators who form the nation's most influential group of civilians.
Although, according to the constitutional obligations, the Commission is only responsible to the Parliament of Bangladesh for its actions, and the recommendations and the decisions of the Commission can only be reviewed or replaced by the president of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the civil service remains divided, politicised and corrupted.
Political sympathy and partisan activity are now required as conditions for appointment. Fitness for office is given far less consideration, thus, the quality of public service is seriously affected in Bangladesh.
Nobody finds the factors that contribute to the success or failure of public sector programs important. Why should ensuring merit in public appointments be an important element of public service sector? What can civil service specialists contribute to the debate about corruption and patronage?
The partisan recruitment of BSC examinees according to the interest of political parties or other beneficiary groups, leakage of question papers frequently over the years, and taking of bribe by members, officials or staff of the Commission are among the most raised allegations against the Commission, and have contributed to a massive erosion of trust and credibility of this constitutional body.
In addition, irregularities in BSC examination, allocation of seats in groups with bribe, ensuring of success in the preliminary test with bribe, copying and solving questions outside the exam hall, replacing of examination scripts or documents, corruption in viva voce, giving of high marks to the target candidates, calling of candidates to Commission after viva voce, changing of marks, and leakage of BSC results are some obstacles in getting genuine administrators to serve the country.
One reason for holding general elections under neutral caretaker governments is that some civil servants back one of the political parties in the hope of being awarded lucrative postings and other benefits.
Many observers believe that tackling corruption in the civil service will reduce the corruption everywhere, as the civil service sector is the real wheel of country's administration.
The present government is aware that the primary way by which corruption can be tackled in the long term is to target the development of a merit-based, suitably rewarded civil service. The PSC has been reconstituted by appointment of a new chairman and other members, and has planned to develop a strategic perspective for improving the quality of the civil service, beginning with recruitment and promotion policies and practices.
It has already cancelled the viva voce results of the controversial 27th BCS examinations after reviewing newspaper reports and various allegations about the examination in order to restore confidence in the public mind and establish transparency in the recruiting process for public jobs, and immediately rescheduled the viva for all successful candidates of the written examinations.
After a time lag of two and a half years since the circular for the last BCS exam was issued on June 28, 2005, that for the 28th BCS exam, has just been published on January 23.
Although the latest circular disappointed everyone, and should be reviewed, as it said that only graduates aged 30 years or below as of January 1, 2008 can apply for the 28th BCS examinations, there is great public expectation of getting really meritorious civil servants as they are core functionaries of the government.
2008 will be a remarkable transition phase for the nation if the PSC can finish all the recruitment processes of the 28th BCS examination during the tenure of this non-political government.
Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York. | |
