Letter to the Editor 11-12-2014 Primacy of Public Administration Dear Editor, The Parliament which in Seychelles is the National Assembly representing the voice of the people enunciates the broad State objectives. The Cabinet which is the political executive formulates policies to attain these objectives; and it is the duty of the civil service to implement these policies. The national objectives are thus fulfilled through the machinery of government which is a complex but well-knit organisation guided by rules and regulations to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Government functions embrace a wide spectrum of themes which permeate the life of a people. Whether it is the government of a small island nation Seychelles or the colossal government machinery of India or China with more than a billion populations, the areas of administration are almost identical. Each has to deal with an extensive range of multifarious activities affecting the lives of the people. A gigantic multinational organisation like the Barclays Bank of UK having a total asset of 2432 million dollars as per a Survey by Forbes in 2000 concerns itself with only banking and financial matters. As a striking contrast , the government of Seychelles with the 2015 budgetary estimate of Rs.5900 million corresponding to US dollar 452 million i.e. less than one fifth of Barclays, administers more than 40 areas of activities ranging from such vital subjects like Health, Education, Defence and Foreign Affairs to the less important subjects like Ports, Fishing and Marine Parks. This demonstrates the pre-eminence of government organization over the private sector irrespective of its size or financial outlay. As each organ in the human body has a distinct role to play, each ministry or department in a government has to perform a specific and no less significant function in furtherance of the ultimate State objectives. Yet some ministries like Defence or Foreign Affairs have assumed a strategic importance whereas ministries of Health and Education accounting for about one fifth of the total budgetary estimate for the year 2015 are treated with greater attention in view of their direct bearing on the welfare of the people. Public sector organisation whether it is a ministry, a department, a parastatal agency, board, council or authority has to be contained in a sound administrative framework for smooth, unimpeded and expeditious execution of the policies determined by the political executive. But mere framework is like a skeleton that has to be infused with life by civil service personnel and operative rules and regulations of management. The function of building a solid administrative framework, creating and maintaining an efficient and disciplined workforce of meritorious, politically neutral and socially responsive public service personnel , evolving a sound human resources development policy and continuously reviewing and reforming the organisational structure and the existing methods and procedures, is assigned to the Department of Public Administration which has been directly put under the Vice- President in recognition of its importance. It has an Information Technology Section which provides the most efficient IT support services to all the ministries, departments and parastatal agencies. This unit of the Department is competent enough to collect numerous data followed by processing thereof through analytical method eliminating the redundant, the obsolete and the irrelevant and preserving only the essential for use in decision making by the departments. A scientifically tested modern management information system richly contributes to the control mechanism of the organisation and its effectiveness in achieving the pre-determined socio-economic goal. The Public Sector Support Division of the Department is designed to “aid, advise and monitor” the implementation of policies by the various organizations of the government. This authority of the Department of Public Administration may not be construed as interference in the independent functioning of other governmental organizations or the semi-autonomous entities. It is rather an expert advice rendered when sought and an objective guideline for effective and expeditious execution of the State policies. The Special Projects Unit on the other hand conducts research and analysis of practices and procedures followed by the various organisations of the government and thereafter develops and produces tools, systems, mechanism and even manuals codifying the new rules and procedures for more effective management of administration. This is a highly specialised job entrusted to the Unit to apply modern management techniques like Operations Research (OR) and Management Audit to governmental administration. Operations Research method may achieve not complete but optimal solution to complex decision making problems. The OR man uses rational, systematic and science-based techniques to inform and improve decisions of all kinds. The Operations Research in the field of administration is not a bland statistical formulation; it emphasizes on human-technology interaction thus recognising the importance of human factor in administration, be it the policy framers or the policy implementers or the ultimate receivers of policy benefits. It is not a vain pedantic exercise but a practical application of modern management science to public administration. Operations Research is a corollary of what is known as the Management Audit which, as distinguished from financial audit, is an assessment of policy, its implementation and the relevance and suitability of methods to achieve the policy objectives with the available resources. It is the evaluation of the management as a whole and not an appraisal of an individual or a component. All these come under the purview of Administrative Reform which ought to be a continuing and permanent feature in any progressive administrative system especially in a developing State. The foregoing discussion would show that the Department of Administration occupies a predominant position in the administrative hierarchy responsible for efficient and effective governance. To some, the functions of the Department as enumerated above might appear to be more theoretical than real, more pedantic than practical and more obtrusive than supportive. But a discerning study of the role that the Department plays would reveal that in the context of a modern State’s changed vision and objectives and its earnestness to achieve a holistic welfare society, the traditional approach to decision making and the archaic rules and procedures of administration, often dilatory and obsolete, are in urgent need of comprehensive substitution by modern scientific management systems and techniques. Because of their preoccupation with ever increasing volume of work the various Departments have very little time, expertise or resources to identify areas of weaknesses or intra-departmental conflicts and to develop new models and systems conducive to effective policy implementation. The Department of Administration, therefore, steps in to dilute such conflicts through gainful coordination, to solve complex problems by applying objective scientific techniques and to facilitate smooth functioning of the departments by constant evaluation and consequent reforms. It is a curious paradox that in spite of the primacy of the Department of Public Administration some civil servants frown upon the Department as “parched” compared to the “succulent” ministries like Health, Education or Land Use and Housing or the apparently Hi-Fi and glamorous ministries like Defence, Foreign Affairs or Tourism. They even lament their posting to the Department of Public Administration, which they consider as insipid and insignificant, as a punishment. There are others, more enthusiastic and adventurous, who complain that unlike Ministries of Health or Education, the Department of Public Administration does not create any tangible results for the society and, as such, is a wasteful organization of no consequence. It is unfortunately a myopic view held by those who merely see the exterior body without recognizing the soul or the life-force within. The Department of Public Administration is the epitome of administrative discipline and management excellence. And our President Hon’ble James Michel who 37 years back was the proud Minister of Public Administration knows it well and it is, therefore, reasonably hoped that he may in all probability reverse the 20% cut as provided in the budget estimate for the year 2015 i.e. as against SCR 21.1million for the current year the estimate for 2015 is only SCR16.9 million. Harihar Panda Au Cap, Seychelles
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 08:11:51 +0000