Revisiting the PARC prescriptions

Background: A Public Administration Reform Commission (PARC) was constituted by the Awami League-led government back in January 1997 to recommend policies, programmes and activities for improving the level of efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and transparency in public organisations of Bangladesh. The then government displayed great pragmatism by setting up the Commission on the eve of the 21st century, when there was a global movement towards adoption of the concept of New Public Management (NPM), i.e. performance-based and result-oriented administration by upholding the rights of citizens for better and cheaper services. The Commission was headed by a distinguished retired civil servant and former DG of CIRDAP Dr. ATM Shamsul Haque as the chairman and included many luminaries in the field as members. The Commission submitted a comprehensive 3-volume report to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in June 2000, covering many areas like improvement of public service delivery, civil service reforms, reorganising institutions and rationalising manpower, restructuring and decentralising field administration, combating corruption, reducing wastage, promoting value for money, strengthening parliamentary oversight, facilitating private investment and devising a mechanism for implementing PARC recommendations.
It was a world-class report which synthesised many previous reports on public sector reorganisation and reforms since independence and incorporated the latest trends in public management all over the world including Bangladesh. The then government was committed to implementing these recommendations, but unfortunately that could not materialise as the subsequent government (2001-06) shelved those on political considerations. Thus ended a brave and bold attempt to overhaul and reform the country's age-old administrative system.
The present article focuses specifically on the assessment and recommendations of PARC on combating corruption in the public services of Bangladesh. The recommendations were divided into interim, short and long-term ones. The following is an abridged version of the situation analysis and prescriptions put forward by PARC on curbing corruption in the country.
The word 'corruption' extends over a vast area of human activities and can be of many types. Corruption in the public sector has been defined as the abuse of official power for serving personal interests. Misuse of official power for personal gain takes place when an official seeks, takes or forcibly elicits bribe or unfair benefits. Corruption is widespread in public life and public administration of the countries of South Asia including Bangladesh. It takes place at both political and bureaucratic levels - either separately or jointly. Outside the country, it can happen in international business transactions as well. Secret transactions of money for personal interests or gains have become routine in both public and private sectors. And these transactions take place in such a planned way that they are now known as 'speed money', 'grease money' or 'kickback'.
Corruption in the private sector: Corruption is not confined to the public sector alone. In fact, the private sector is also closely involved in corruption and these two sectors play a complementary role to each other. Whether institutional or individual, corruption in the public sector seldom happens without the involvement of the private sector. The citizens consider the public offices to be the sources of corruption; but the private sector is largely responsible for making the government offices corrupt while attempting to extract benefits for itself .
While interacting with the government or during commercial transactions, the private sector gets involved in corruption in many ways. For example, the privately-owned companies do not declare their real assets or real incomes to the tax authorities and resort to tax evasion by paying less tax. For avoiding payment of dividends to shareholders, they often do not show the real picture of their business profits and take recourse to unfair practices while issuing stocks.
There are allegations that the private corporate sector resorts to illegal means for advancing their business interests and rewards the relevant officials for the purpose. It is said that the private companies are pressurised to pay bribes for award of large contracts. The practice of over-invoicing and under-invoicing hampers revenue collection from import and export activities. Quantitative and qualitative fraudulence in domestic and international trade jeopardises the expansion of markets within and outside the country.
Like other organisations, political parties in Bangladesh also need funds for running their activities. Receipt of subscriptions or grants from vested quarters for the purpose has become a common practice and these quarters profit manifold when their party goes to power. If the fund collection process of the political parties is not transparent and if publication of details about their sources of fund as well as expenditure is not made compulsory, it is natural that the election process would be harmed and party nominations would become a matter of auction to the highest bidders. The administrative system also becomes a patron of corrupt people then. Although the declaration of actual election expenditure is mandatory, the rival candidates usually do not abide by that rule.
Causes of corruption: The major causes of corruption are generally considered to be socioeconomic backwardness, weak enforcement of law and inadequate punishment. Besides, excessive numbers of laws, rules and regulations as well as discretionary power of public officials also give rise to corruption. Monopolistic and discretionary powers help corruption spread its root permanently in all areas.
Other causes of corruption include lack of initiative for motivating government employees, inadequate salary and insufficient scope for career progression. There might be moral degeneration as well as preponderance of frustration among the public employees if merit and rule-based promotion is not followed. In that case, they might be forced to take recourse to lobbying and influence-peddling for advancing their careers.
When the employees observe that the higher officials and top functionaries are using their positions for advancing personal interests, then it becomes difficult for them to find motivation for remaining honest. Those who are staunchly against corruption remain silent in such circumstances due to a sense of insecurity.
Corruption may also take place when there is lack of openness and transparency in activities of the government like tender evaluation in government organisations, tax fixation and financial transactions. Ambiguities in rules and methods for carrying out activities or rendering services may also provide scope for corruption. The dishonest officials often take advantage of such ambiguities.
Consequences of corruption: Many weak decisions are taken due to corruption, which give rise to wastage in public expenditure. It adversely affects investments in development programmes and foreign investments as well as slows economic growth. Macroeconomic stability may be hampered due to losses in revenue collection and excess expenditures owing to corruption. Socio-economic inequality may exacerbate and social problems may increase due to corruption. The debt burden of nations becomes excessive because of white elephant projects undertaken through bribery. The people have to pay high prices for goods or services due to addition of bribes to the production or transaction processes.
Existing arrangements for curbing corruption: Side by side with administrative corruption, political corruption also exists in the country. The existing conduct rules for public officials are outdated and weak and often fail to provide directions to government servants for discharging their official responsibilities with honesty and integrity. The Bureau of Anti-Corruption (now Anti-Corruption Commission) also needs to be streamlined and strengthened further.
According to the discipline rules, corruption is a punishable offence. Misappropriation and embezzlement of official funds is punishable under the services and treasury rules. Misappropriation of funds and public assets could have been effectively curbed through proper auditing by the office of Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), but this office is unfortunately weak as tasks are carried out through lowly paid and inefficient employees. Besides, auditing is done 3 to 6 years after actual transactions, and by then this accountability tool loses its relevance.
Causes of failure in curbing corruption: Different institutions, rules, procedures and codes of conduct dealing with corruption have been in vogue in Bangladesh since the pre-independence era. These have also undergone some changes over time. But one of the principal causes of corruption in the country continues to be lack of accountability. Another major cause is dearth of transparency. Deterioration of discipline in offices and courts, lack of commitment towards public services and degeneration of ethical and moral values have led to cumulative inefficiency and pervasive corruption.
In many developed countries like the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, the office of Ombudsman serves as an effective control mechanism. Article 77(1) of Bangladesh Constitution provides for establishment of the office of an Ombudsman, whose powers and jurisdiction are to be specified by the parliament through passage of law. These include the power to investigate any action or work carried out by a government official or any statutory body. Establishment of the office of Ombudsman for investigating complaints lodged by the citizens is now very urgent. This office holds enormous promise for improving public service delivery as well as for curbing corruption.
PARC prescriptions for curbing corruption: Administrative reforms are required for curbing corruption. There is a general consensus that apart from punishing the transgressor, a procedure should be put in place which curbs and discourages unfair practices. Corruption should be nipped in its very bud, because interconnected issues between the public and private sectors often give rise to misdeeds and corruption. Mere laws are not enough to eradicate corruption or irregularities. This can be achieved only by bringing about desired behavioural changes among the relevant individuals working in both public and private sectors.
Preventive arrangements for curbing corruption should be integrated in the public administration structure. Supportive measures for the purpose may include enhancing the effectiveness of supervision and internal control, declaration of assets by government servants each year, mechanism for verification of assets by the general masses (as in Sri Lanka) and institutionalisation of rules prohibiting receipt of gifts and undue facilities by public officials and elected representatives.
The following interim, short and medium-terms measures can be helpful in preventing and curbing corruption:
a)    Promoting interactive relationships with the civil society; instituting a mechanism for lodging complaints against objectionable conduct of government employees; ensuring swift response on the subject and establishing the right of people to get swift remedies.
b)    Emphasising transparent decisions based on integrity and accountability.
c)    Promoting a procedure for unified or undivided responsibility and a culture of acknowledging failures.
d)    Providing unfettered access to information to the citizens and the news media.
e)    Establishing a mechanism for citizens' audit of all service delivery organisations. The tasks performed by all officials should be audited and they should be judged against predetermined performance targets during these audits.
f)    Citizens should have options for getting public services from alternative spots and sources as this may cut down monopoly power of bureaucracy. Similarly, discretionary powers of officials should be reduced to the minimum and principles governing discretion should be stated clearly.
g)    Anti-corruption laws should be consolidated with incorporation of new provisions for punishing both the corrupt as well as those who instigate or aid corruption. The redress mechanism for grievances should be made time-bound, specific and open.
Long-term recommendations by PARC: (i) A modern code of conduct for civil servants should be put into operation in place of the outdated Government Servants (Conduct) Rules; a similar code should also be framed for the elected officials.
(ii)    The business community should be persuaded to adopt a code of conduct with provisions for denial of certain facilities in case of breach of the code.
(iii) Law may be framed by the government for regulating contributions to and raising subscriptions for political parties.
(iv) An Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) should be set up with full powers for instituting inquiries against all officers and citizens of the country irrespective of their ranks and positions.
(v)    A Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) should be set up to deal with police corruption and misuse of power.
(vi) The government should provide all needed information to citizens electronically in order to deliver services efficiently and transparently.
(vii) The government should deregulate its non-core activities/functions and abolish or simplify archaic laws, rules, forms and functions in order to curtail unnecessary harassment of citizens.
Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed is a former editor of 'Bangladesh Quarterly'. Email: [email protected]