Infusing better work ethos in public service
Friday, 31 August 2007
THE completion of the formalities by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to fix a separate pay scale for the central bank officials marks a positive development. The finance adviser early this month at an advisory committee meeting recommended such a provision for the central bank officials. It is expected that the follow-up decision by the Advisory Council that would okay the proposal will address a sore point with the central bank officials who have now a status similar to that of the different nationalised commercial banks. The case for having a separate pay structure for the staff of the central bank, which is an autonomous body, is not simply a matter of having a special status for them. In fact, even India and Pakistan have separate pay scales for their central bank staffs. It would not be out of place to mention here that the governments of these countries have an identical history of their structural evolution including their administrative, financial and judicial institutions.
However, having a separate pay scale for a particular statutory body should not be an end in itself unless that also ensures a better working condition for the institution concerned. And, better working condition, among other things, implies that the employees of that working place are also better paid. Unfortunately, there is no denying the fact that lack of good working condition is pervasive in most public sector offices in Bangladesh. As a consequence, the prevailing work culture in the offices of the public sector organisations is often a sore point with people who have to visit those on various kinds of business. The complaints are well known and many. The common among them is sloth. People, who have to go to the nationalised commercial banks (NCBs), are very critical of the poor standard of service there in comparison with that of the private banks. The picture is more or less the same in most other offices whether in the financial or other kinds of institutions. Comparisons become easier in cases where the same kinds of service delivery organisations are functioning both under the public and the private sectors. The reason why such a big difference exists between the work cultures in a public sector and a private sector office is obvious -- the difference in their pay structures. The fatter the pay packet, the happier the staff and the more she or he will be willing to put his best in the service to be discharged in question.
The authorities while fixing up separate pay structures for certain government, semi-government and autonomous bodies would do well to look into the existing scales of their employees in the context of the inflationary situation in the past few years. A closer look at them will also reveal that job satisfaction is a term that does not fully apply to their case. It is a very serious issue in need of immediate addressing. Erosion of the value of money due to inflationary pressure, rising standard of living and anomaly in the pay structures among the private and public sector bodies etc., are factors that have important bearing on the morale of the employees of these organisations. The morale factor is also an important consideration for success in the various reform measures undertaken by the incumbent government. It must be admitted that the existing pay structure in the government offices is anomalous as well as anachronistic in view of the current anti-graft drive. A change in this situation is overdue.
However, having a separate pay scale for a particular statutory body should not be an end in itself unless that also ensures a better working condition for the institution concerned. And, better working condition, among other things, implies that the employees of that working place are also better paid. Unfortunately, there is no denying the fact that lack of good working condition is pervasive in most public sector offices in Bangladesh. As a consequence, the prevailing work culture in the offices of the public sector organisations is often a sore point with people who have to visit those on various kinds of business. The complaints are well known and many. The common among them is sloth. People, who have to go to the nationalised commercial banks (NCBs), are very critical of the poor standard of service there in comparison with that of the private banks. The picture is more or less the same in most other offices whether in the financial or other kinds of institutions. Comparisons become easier in cases where the same kinds of service delivery organisations are functioning both under the public and the private sectors. The reason why such a big difference exists between the work cultures in a public sector and a private sector office is obvious -- the difference in their pay structures. The fatter the pay packet, the happier the staff and the more she or he will be willing to put his best in the service to be discharged in question.
The authorities while fixing up separate pay structures for certain government, semi-government and autonomous bodies would do well to look into the existing scales of their employees in the context of the inflationary situation in the past few years. A closer look at them will also reveal that job satisfaction is a term that does not fully apply to their case. It is a very serious issue in need of immediate addressing. Erosion of the value of money due to inflationary pressure, rising standard of living and anomaly in the pay structures among the private and public sector bodies etc., are factors that have important bearing on the morale of the employees of these organisations. The morale factor is also an important consideration for success in the various reform measures undertaken by the incumbent government. It must be admitted that the existing pay structure in the government offices is anomalous as well as anachronistic in view of the current anti-graft drive. A change in this situation is overdue.