Attracting best talents into government service

Politicians determine policy for running the country while government servants give concrete shape and implement the policies. Putting theory into practice or materialising a desire is not an easy task. It requires intelligent, hard, dedicated work and must be carried out by people having the best caliber and the highest degree of honesty and integrity.
If correct decisions are not taken in running day to day civil administration, country's law and order, security, development activities etc will suffer. This will cause other economic and social problems also and there will be chaos all around. Similarly, shaping foreign policy, dealing with foreign diplomats, negotiating financial, business and other deals with them require matching capacity and acumen. Otherwise, country's interest will not be protected. At the same time failure to deliver justice to common people, protecting the weak from the wrath of the strong will cause anarchy in the society. People will lose faith in the judicial system and the idea of 'Might is Right' will overtake natural justice. Therefore, attraction followed by selection of the best talents of the country for government jobs is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of a policy. Now, the question comes - how this can be done?
Presently, important posts in the government service are filled by recruitment of fresh university graduates by the Public Service Commission through nationwide competitive examinations. They serve as members of different cadres of Bangladesh Civil Service. During British and Pakistan periods, the best students of renowned universities competed and after qualifying joined different cadres in the civil service according to merit and personal choice.  There are many examples of students who with first class in Honors and Masters preferred to sit for competitive examination and joined government service. But after creation of Bangladesh, a significant change in their attitude is visible - the best university graduates instead of joining the government civil service prefer jobs offered by multi-national and private companies. Better pay is one of the main reasons for this shift of preference. Those joining multi-national and private companies can earn nearly double the amount earned by their counterparts with similar merit working in the government services. This trend must be reversed. Frankly speaking, honest government servants find it very difficult to maintain a proper balance between the standard of living and the salary earned and at the same time maintain honesty. This affects the quality of work and service delivered. This scenario needs to be changed.
The recent raise of salary of government servants is a silver lining in the cloud. After declaration of the new pay scales, salaries of government servants have almost doubled.  Their grievances have been addressed to a great extent and gap in pay between government servants and those serving outside have also been narrowed, if not removed completely.
This will definitely have a positive effect in the mindset of bright young university graduates encouraging them to join government service in a greater number. The nation will be served better as they climb up the ladder of responsibility in course of their career. One can also expect improved services rendered by the present mid-level and senior government officials. Besides, honest government officials will be able to meet financial challenges better without compromising honesty.
However, mere increase in pay will not be sufficient to attract the best university graduates into government service and get better service from them. They should be properly nurtured also. The culture of showing partisan attitude towards government servants on the basis of their political affiliation is a self-defeating one. This phenomenon has developed after independence of Bangladesh and has proliferated over the years due to narrow vision of political parties in power from time to time. It must be discarded immediately to create an atmosphere congenial for delivering services by government servants without fear of victimisation or deprivation.
Lastly, more money will be spent from public exchequer for the benefit of government servants now. So, they should also reciprocate. It has put added responsibility on their shoulders -- an obligation to deliver better and serve the people as real public servants. If they fail to rise to the occasion, it will be unfortunate.
The writer is retired Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (Senior), Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh.
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