Until recently, the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh has been running with 231 office organisations under 36 ministries. Soon after the independence, the number of ministries was 21 in 1972, 13 in 1975, 33 in 1977 under a military dictator, 19 in 1982 also under a military dictator, 35 in 1995 under BNP-Jamaat-led coalition, 36 in 2000 under Awami League-JSD and JP coalition and strikingly 72 in 2001 led by BNP-Jamaat. Since independence, different governments formed 16 committees and commissions to reform bureaucracy and public services within the country. However, the situation did not change under the Awami League-led Grand Alliance since 2009 showing significant increase in the size of the government in terms of size of cabinet, expenditure and number of civil servants and departments. The successive governments tried to exceed earlier examples with no economic rationale.
An analysis of the 231 office organisations reveals that 48 are under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, 20 Law and Justice, 16 Health and Family Welfare, 11 Home Affairs, and 10 in Education. Ministries of Establishment, Defence, and Cabinet Division each have nine offices under their supervision with the Prime Minister being the in-charge of all of these 27 offices.
Ministries having seven offices under them are Communications, Information, Housing and Public Works, Shipping and Agriculture. Labour and Manpower and Commerce are two Ministries which supervise six offices each. The Prime Minister, being the in-charge of Power and Energy Ministry, has five offices under her. Ministries having four offices under them are LGRD, Industries, Fisheries and Livestock, Land and Environment and Forest. Five Ministries, such as, Disaster and Relief, Religious Affairs, Planning, Youth and Sports and Culture have three offices each under their supervision. There are only two offices working under the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and Women and Children Affairs. Eight Ministries running with one office under them are Foreign Affairs, Food, Textiles, Hill Tracts, Civil Aviation and Tourism, Science and Technology, Social Welfare, Water Resources, and the Prime Minister's Office. In addition, the Parliament Secretariat and Election Commission each have two offices. One office works under Bangladesh Public Service Commission.
EXPANDING SIZE OF BUREAUCRACY: Jasim (2014) reports that the number of ministries doubled in Bangladesh since independence from 21 in 1972 to 42 in 2014. The divisions under different ministries have expanded in two decades -- from 49 in 1994 to 59 now. Likewise, the number of autonomous bodies increased from 199 to 247 during this period of past 20 years. Departments and directorates of government have risen, in numbers, to 275 now, from 221 in 1994 and 181 in 1982. The overall number of 'civil' or 'public' servants and public sector employees has thus virtually trebled since independence, rising from 4,54,450 in 1971 to 7,79,000 in 1982, 9,46,749 in 1992, 1,000,983 in 2001, 119,557 in 2005, and 1,760,864 in 2014. The aggregate number of 'civil servants,' as of now, reflects an annual compounded rate of growth by about 3.0 per cent against an average population growth rate in the same period at about 2.25 per cent. Â
Figures, noted above, may, however, require some adjustments, on a more detailed scrutiny of statistics. The advantages of greater use of today's digital technology and modern management practices, styles and methods do also heighten the need to take such developments into consideration while making a meaningful exercise to this effect. The expansion of the government must not be stimulated by pure political considerations like increasing the number of ministries to accommodate more intra-party groups and to give new ministerial positions to keep some influential people happy, spreading government's wings unnecessarily to absorb the politically favoured ones in jobs in civil service or creating jobs for dispensation by political leaders without examining, on dispassionate grounds, the need for the same.
A number of analysts and observers have noted that the number of ministries in Bangladesh 'is already large', compared to the situation in many other countries like Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Japan, the UK and many more. "What counts most in this context is the quality of output, not more functioning of a ministry", one of them observed. When this writer drew his attention to the claim by some quarters that the cost of running the government in Bangladesh is not out of line with other countries in fiscal terms, he observed that this factor must not be taken 'as a source of any comfort' in the Bangladesh context where recurring expenditures on account of pay and allowances as well as retirement and pension benefits for serving and retired public officials increased by about 120 per cent in last two decades and a half alone.
We are managing a central bank with nearly 90 general managers as compared to the South Korean central bank which is running with six general managers in a very efficient manner. In Bangladesh, now nearly 500 bureaucrats do not have position in their cadre service; many are sitting at state-owned enterprises (SoEs) doing nothing. Contractual employment in the government and SoEs are de-motivating the eligible junior promotion-seekers.  Â
SHAPING BANGLADESH AS A SELF-RELIANT COUNTRY: A commission of experts needs to be set up for manpower planning and determining the size of the cabinet of the country.
Meritocracy should get priority both in politics and bureaucracy. All managers in politics and bureaucracy must meet the ICT (information and communications technology) literacy criteria.
To make the planning and budget documents effective, Bangladesh should formulate a long-term plan considering all variables by setting a national goal with a provision of revision every two years.
The government should begin budget calendar from the Bengali New Year. Budget should be considered an integral part of the Five-Year Plan which has not been practised in the last 44 years. The planning and budget process should comply with the requirements of constitutional provisions [7 (1); 7 (2)]. The Five-Year Plan and Annual Budget should emphasise higher allocation to the development expenditure (70 per cent) and less (30 per cent) to the revenue expenditure. In the revenue model, direct collection needs higher ratio (55 per cent) than indirect tax (45 per cent). Generation of black money within the economy tends to increase if indirect tax is not collected. Application of ICT is essential to achieve the desired level of revenue collection.
City corporation and municipality revenue management requires automation to meet the growing demand of urbanisation in the country. Investment in education, primary and secondary health care, electricity, road infrastructure, railway, seaport, riverways and information technology will bring in long-term benefit. Â
The 7th Five-Year Business Plan document should emphasise the highest and largest investment to build Bangladesh as a middle-income country by 2021.
Jamaluddin Ahmed, PhD, FCA is the General Secretary of Bangladesh Economic Association. In professional life, he is Chairman, Emerging Credit Rating Limited.
 jamal@emergingrating.com
Meritocracy should get priority in politics and bureaucracy
Jamaluddin Ahmed concluding his three-part article | Published: July 03, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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