Expeditious implementation of ADP projects
Thursday, 9 August 2007
THE administrative mechanism whose job it is to translate the directives of the highest authorities of the government follows, as it were, a set of rules that remains constant regardless of who is in charge at any particular point of time. It is a legacy that has endured throughout the various political regimes that came and went in this part of the world since time out of mind. The legacy, which even a school-going child knows, is called the bureaucracy. The reason why things begin to move at a snail's pace once an executive order enters the labyrinthine world of bureaucracy is well known. However, so far, no breakthroughs could be made to rid the bureaucracy of its legendary sloth. The slowness in the implementation of the government projects is not an issue isolated from the overall syndrome as noted in the foregoing. Even in the past, government leaders did often express their indignation over this intractable problem ailing the administration. Such leaders of the immediate past governments would not also mince words when it came to reprimanding the administrative functionaries for their tardiness in implementing ADP projects.
The chief adviser of the incumbent caretaker government, too, in his characteristic suave and soft manner has told the review meeting of the annual work and procurement plan for the education ministry that project chiefs, whose performance in implementing the ADP projects would not be up to the mark, will be reprimanded. However, the chief adviser had also a provision of special award under the ministry concerned for the project directors who would be able to complete their ADP projects within the stipulated time. Understandably, the occasion for rewarding or reprimanding the executives of the ADP projects has arisen because the incumbent government has little time to lose to complete all the tasks in hand before the election is held next year. Therefore, the pace of implementation of the development projects needs to be fast so that there is no hangover at the end of the project period within the fiscal year concerned.
With a view to expediting the pace of implementation of ADP projects scheduled for completion in the fiscal (2007-08), the chief adviser has asked the education ministry, which is the largest recipient of ADP allocation this fiscal, to finish the project formalities within next December. The review work, as initiated by the chief adviser, has not, however, been limited only to education projects. The government has identified seven big ministries that enjoy bulk allocations to undergo similar review and analysis for their annual work and procure plans within the month of August. It is worthwhile to mention here that the size of the current ADP allocation is Tk 265 billion. And the largest recipients of this ADP include the ministries of education, power, primary and mass education, agriculture, health and family planning and local government and rural development. So, to expedite the pace of project implementation, the caretaker chief had earlier directed the ministries and divisions to prepare their respective plans for the projects, scheduled for completion in June next year. To inject further dynamism in the work, instruction has also been given to the secretaries to prepare bar charts that would show the status of the respective projects regarding their pace of implementation for joint review on a monthly basis. Such arrangement has been made for the key sectors including power and energy.
The measures taken by the chief adviser are commendable ones and would no doubt go a long way towards implementation of the projects, especially those enjoying biggest ADP allocation, in time. While appreciating the above, it would also not be out of place to point out here that the bureaucratic vehicle on which the successive government leaders have to ride has become outmoded. It needs overhauling.
The chief adviser of the incumbent caretaker government, too, in his characteristic suave and soft manner has told the review meeting of the annual work and procurement plan for the education ministry that project chiefs, whose performance in implementing the ADP projects would not be up to the mark, will be reprimanded. However, the chief adviser had also a provision of special award under the ministry concerned for the project directors who would be able to complete their ADP projects within the stipulated time. Understandably, the occasion for rewarding or reprimanding the executives of the ADP projects has arisen because the incumbent government has little time to lose to complete all the tasks in hand before the election is held next year. Therefore, the pace of implementation of the development projects needs to be fast so that there is no hangover at the end of the project period within the fiscal year concerned.
With a view to expediting the pace of implementation of ADP projects scheduled for completion in the fiscal (2007-08), the chief adviser has asked the education ministry, which is the largest recipient of ADP allocation this fiscal, to finish the project formalities within next December. The review work, as initiated by the chief adviser, has not, however, been limited only to education projects. The government has identified seven big ministries that enjoy bulk allocations to undergo similar review and analysis for their annual work and procure plans within the month of August. It is worthwhile to mention here that the size of the current ADP allocation is Tk 265 billion. And the largest recipients of this ADP include the ministries of education, power, primary and mass education, agriculture, health and family planning and local government and rural development. So, to expedite the pace of project implementation, the caretaker chief had earlier directed the ministries and divisions to prepare their respective plans for the projects, scheduled for completion in June next year. To inject further dynamism in the work, instruction has also been given to the secretaries to prepare bar charts that would show the status of the respective projects regarding their pace of implementation for joint review on a monthly basis. Such arrangement has been made for the key sectors including power and energy.
The measures taken by the chief adviser are commendable ones and would no doubt go a long way towards implementation of the projects, especially those enjoying biggest ADP allocation, in time. While appreciating the above, it would also not be out of place to point out here that the bureaucratic vehicle on which the successive government leaders have to ride has become outmoded. It needs overhauling.