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Administrative Reforms
Some Attempts

By Uttam Maharjan

IT IS the duty of a government to render services to its people by ensuring that target groups, in particular, always receive the services, that the quality of the services is satisfactory and optimal use is made of the resources at its disposal. All these are possible only when the administrative machinery is sound, well-knit and well-managed.

Background

The history of administrative reforms in Nepal may be traced back to 2004 B.S. when Padma Shumshere Rana sought the help of the Indian government in reforming the administration. In 2008 B.S. some senior Indian experts came up with various suggestions on administrative reforms in the country. In 2009 B.S. the Buch Commission did much work in this direction.

However, the Administrative Reform Commission set up in 2013 B.S. under the chairmanship of the then Prime Minister Tanka Prasad Acharya is considered a real attempt at administrative reforms.

Thereafter, such commissions were constituted in 2025, 2032 and 2048 B.S. under the chairmanship of the then Home Minister Bedananda Jha, Dr Bhesh Bahadur Thapa and the then Premier Girija Prasad Koirala respectively. The Koirala Commission completed its work and submitted its report to the government towards the end of the same year.

The commission came up at a time when the country had just passed 2 years under a multiparty democracy after shaking off the shackles of 30 years of the partyless Panchayati regime and the Panchayati administrative mechanism had proved unpropitious for the new dispensation.

As per the recommendations of the commission, the Civil Service Act - 2049 B.S. and Civil Service Regulations, 2050 B.S. were formulated in the country. In a similar vein, the Administrative Reform task Force was created in 2055 B.S. to implement the suggestions and recommendations made by the Koirala Commission on HMG’s jurisdiction, services to the people, administrative configuration, civil service reforms, decentralisation, public enterprises, corruption control, monitoring units and so on.

The present government Headed by Girija Prasad Koirala was formed with a three-pronged commitment: peace and security, corruption control and good governance. As a gesture
to good governance through administrative reforms, the government reduced the number of ministries from 26 to 21 as per the Division of Work Regulations, 2057.

The government has already implemented most of the recommendations made by the Koirala Commission and the remaining ones will be gradually implemented in due course. For this, the Administrative Reform Coordination and Follow-up Commission has already been formed to press on with the administrative reforms.

For good governance and sound administration, bureaucracy should be well-managed. For this, the size of a bureaucracy should be as per the requirements. An overstaffed or understaffed bureaucracy is not desirable from the standpoint of good administration.

Keeping this in mind, the government has decided to retrench a 103,000-strong bureaucracy by 25 per cent to 77,000 by retiring civil servants who have served for 20 years or who have reached 50 years of age with a lump-sum payment, by dismissing temporary and contract employees and by slashing unnecessary posts.

This may be taken as part of the government programme of boosting efficiency and productivity. In fact, a jumbo bureaucracy entails a slew of resources and may also engender lethargy and inefficiency on the part of civil servants.

Government offices are found to be used as a recruiting ground for the unemployed through nepotism, favouritism and the spoils system. This would, for sure, cast a shadow on the administrative machinery.

In actual fact, nepotism and favouritism, together with politicisation, an irksome bureaucracy, red tape and corruption, tend to cripple the administrative machinery. To make the administration compatible with the norms of democracy, bureaucracy ought to be reformed in such a way as to translate into action the rule of law.

The government has initiated various policies and programmes for the well-being of its people. Such programmes should be set as per the changing times. So administrative reforms should be set in motion from time to time so as to suit such programmes to the changing times.

A change or shake-up in the government should not unduly influence such programmes. Or else, the administration may be badly affected to the extent of being counter-productive. So, partisan influences should not be allowed to sway the administration. What should be borne in mind is that governments may change at any time, but government policies and programmes should be changed only after extensive review and deliberations.

The administration should be invariably accountable to its people. But to the consternation of the general public, administrative accountability is found to be on the decline. There are administrative procrastination and irregularities here, there and everywhere. That is why, the people are growing diffident about the functioning of the administration. To restore public confidence, the administration should be in active as well as result and people-oriented.

For an efficient administration to persist and flourish, the image of the civil service should be untainted, corruption should be contained administrators should develop anti-political-interference attitudes and, what is more, both administrators and politicians should be committed to the administration.

Commitment

The government has committed itself to administrative reforms by designing an action and result-oriented administration armed with a conductive working environment, a carrot-and-stick policy, institutional flexibility and a pro-people policy. In the context of nine years that have elapsed since the establishment of the 2048 Administrative Reform Commission, the recommendations of the commission should be strictly implemented so that the people may not face administrative hassles and delays and they may repose unswerving faith on the government.

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