Sugath Kulatunga

The edifice of a democratic government rests on three pillars the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. In Sri Lanka, there had been as many as 21 changes in the Constitution dealing with the powers of the executive and legislature. There were heated debates and profuse analyses on the issues involved in these themes. Similar but less frequent and less controversial reviews have been there on the Judiciary as well. The success or failure of a government pivots mainly on the executive. It is also the body that is directly engaged with the public. It is an axiom that the success of executive action depends on the proficiency and propensity of its Public Service (PS). It is unfortunate that in recent times there had been no attempt to examine in depth the system of our PS. This is in spite of the fact that the government spends 86 percent of the government budget on salaries and pension payments to maintain a massive public service (PS) which has burgeoned into around 1.5 million public servants at one public servant to 14 citizens or to 3.4 households.

The following is an impressionistic note on the present state of and possible remedies to our PS based on personal experience and several studies in the public domain. All governments are responsible for this unwarranted increase in numbers due to narrow political compulsions rather than actual needs. The attraction of the PS has been the security of tenure and the handsome lifelong pension. Public servants enjoy a five-day week 26 public holidays and many other perks. They are on the job only 235 days in the year during which they enjoy 42 days of leave.

The day-to-day operations of the PS are governed by the Financial Regulations and the Establishment Code. There have been a few cosmetic changes but no radical revisions to suit the demands of the contemporary concerns of national development and public interest.

The low productivity in the PS and even in the private sector is due partly to the excessive number of public holidays which have increased to assuage sectarian interests. The biggest increase came with the poya holidays. One doubts whether the religiosity of Buddhist public servants has increased due to this measure. On poya holidays other than Vesak and Poson the Saturday immediately following the Poya holiday should be made a working day to compensate for the loss of productivity on the Poya holiday. The better option is to allow casual leave to any person who is keen to make religious observations on a Poya day. It is noted that Vietnam a Theravada Buddhist country has only 8 public holidays and Singapore only 11 public holidays. In Sri Lanka, even during these lesser number of days of work rarely do public servants attend to their tasks full time. The attendance register is a joke. It is manipulated to accommodate latecomers. It should be replaced with time recording machines. In city offices, clock watching is a common practice towards closing times. Hardly any work is done during the last half an hour. Public servants should also be required to sign off when they leave office.

Lack of discipline is another blight affecting productivity in the PS. An enormous amount of time is spent in offices reading newspapers and chatting in the canteens. In offices like Banks and even in some public corporations tea is served at the seat. This is a tradition that should be adopted by government offices as well. Newspapers should be confined only to the reading rooms. Most public servants are more informed on political gossip than on their areas of work.

While public servants have to accept the blame for their lack of responsibility and dedication there are manifest conditions in which they work that influence their behavior. There is an overconcentration of administrative functions in Colombo City. The location of the Capital City and center of administration in Jayawardhanepura only a short distance from Colombo has not eased the problems of traffic congestion and environmental issues. This continuous concentration of public administration within the commercial and capital conurbations has made a strain on public servants traveling to office. Not many public servants can afford to live within the city and even in the adjoining municipalities. Most public servants would be spending 2 hours or more traveling to the office by public transport. Traveling back home would take the same time. They do not have the time to prepare and have their breakfast at home. This makes them use the canteen to have their breakfast during office hours. More than all that the hazard of traveling under intolerable conditions for a few hours to the office makes them tired and less alert.

A fundamental and long-term step to make PS more accessible to the public and make it more productive is to remove the domination of Colombo and Jayawardhanapura by dismantling the over-concentration of administrative activities from there.  Colombo should be developed only as a commercial city. Unfortunately, our effort in moving out the Administration out of Colombo was colored by the anxiety to perpetuate the name of a living national leader. The capital city was located in a new city named the Jayawardhane Pura, in a marsh, at a short distance from Colombo. This move has not reduced the inconvenience of the PS or the public and made the PS more effective.

In this context, there are two measures that need careful attention. First is to locate the main government Departments in the Districts where the relevant activities are dominant. For example, the Irrigation Dept and the Mahaweli Authority have no justification to be located in Colombo. They should be located in a District where irrigation is dominant, perhaps in Anuradhapura. Paddy Marketing Board could be moved to Polonnaruwa. More Departments could be moved to District centers. What is the logic behind the Department of Surveys, or the Malaria Control Division is located in the Colombo District? It should be noted that the Department of Agriculture, a major Department has been functioning effectively in Peradeniya since British times. Such a move would also meet the objectives of the decentralization of governance on the principle of subsidiarity.

The other strategy is to establish satellite secretariats in the periphery of Colombo City. There is already a working model in the Kaccheri system (now District Secretariats) where several Departmental units operate under the nominal supervision of the Government Agent. The large Departments and other Public Enterprises in the City could locate sub-units in such a common secretariat. With fiber optic communications and advanced technologies, most of the work could be done online. If physical monitoring is a must CCTV system could also be installed. Such offices could reduce paperwork and the time wasted on travel by office workers at least by 50%, and drastically reduce traffic congestion. The opportunity cost of time wasted by road users is not normally considered, but it is enormous.

Besides the improvements in the working conditions of the PS, there is the need to implement broader administrative reform to improve bureaucracy in order to deliver efficiently essential services to the people and attain national development goals. Unwarranted political interference is one of the evil forces strangling the PS. The intrusion on the independence of the PS started with the 1972 Constitution of SL where the public service was named the State Service denoting that the task of the PS is to serve the State and not the public. Of this, the ‘your obedient servant’ to the public disappeared.

In the following Articles of the 1972 Constitution powers of appointment, transfers, and disciplinary control of public servants were vested in the Cabinet of Ministers. The Public Service Commission was abolished and replaced with a State Service advisory Board and a State Services Disciplinary Board.

 Article 113. (1) Appointment of State Officers: Except where the Constitution otherwise provides, appointments to posts of Heads of Departments and to such other posts as may be prescribed by the Cabinet of Ministers shall be made by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Article 117. Dismissal and Disciplinary Control of State Officers: The Cabinet of Ministers shall exercise its powers of dismissal and disciplinary control of state officers only after receiving through the Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department to which a state officer is attached, a recommendation from the State Services Disciplinary Board.

Article 118. (1): The Cabinet of Ministers may in accordance with the assignment of subjects and functions by the Prime Minister and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the Cabinet of Ministers, delegate to a Minister its powers of dismissal and disciplinary control of state officers.

Article 111.1: State Services Advisory Board: There shall be a State Services Advisory Board to exercise, perform or discharge such powers, functions or duties as are required of the State Services Advisory Board under the Constitution.

With the radical open market policies of 1977, it was expected that the independence of the public service would be restored. But in the 1978 Constitution, the introduction of the following Articles tightened the hold of the Cabinet on the PS.

Article 55. (1) : Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of public officers is hereby vested in the Cabinet of Minis­ters, and all public officers shall hold office at pleasure.

(2) The Cabinet of Ministers shall not delegate its powers of appointment, transfer, dismissal, and disciplinary control in respect of Heads of Departments.

(3) The Cabinet of Ministers may from time to time delegate its powers of appointment, transfer, dismissal, and disciplinary control of other public officers to the Public Service Commission:

(4) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Cabinet of Ministers shall provide for and determine all matters relating to public officers, including the formulation of schemes of recruitment and codes of conduct for public officers, the principles to be followed in making promotions and transfers, and the procedure for the exercise and the delegation of the powers of appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of public officers.

Article 57. (1) : Whenever the Cabinet of Ministers so directs the Chairman of the Public Service Commission shall appoint a Committee of the Public Service Commission to exercise the powers of the Commission in respect of such categories of public officers as are specified in such direction.

Article 59: The Cabinet of Ministers shall have the power to alter, vary or rescind –

• any appointment, order of transfer or dismissal, or any other order relating to a disciplinary matter made, on appeal or otherwise, by the Public Service Commission or a Committee thereof;

Article 52. (1) of the Constitution provides for the appointment of each Ministry a Secretary who shall be appointed by the President.

(2) The Secretary to the Ministry shall, subject to the direction and control of his Minister, exercise supervision over the departments of Government or other institutions in the charge of his Minister.

It is under the powers of control given to the Minister that political interference is justified. Even in public corporations, a Minister can give general or special directions and most cases only in writing. Even in politically sensitive large institutions like the CTB and Mahavali Authority and minor agencies like SLECIC are not under the control of the Minister.

Transport Board Act says that the Board shall be subject to, and act in accordance with, such general or special directions as the Minister may from the time-to-time issue in relation to any matter that appears to him to affect the national interest or efficient administration of the Board. In the Mahavali Authority, the Minister may, after consultation with the Authority, give to the Authority in writing general or special directions. In SLECIC the Board is subject to such general or special directions as the Minister may issue from time to time. But in Departments under a Ministry, the Secretary has to act under the control of the Minister. This is in spite of the Secretary being the Chief Accounting Officer responsible to the Parliament. Although the channel from the Minister to a Department is through the Secretary, Ministers find it expedient to avoid the Secretary and deal directly with subordinate officials.

Ministers are under constant pressure from their constituents to provide them with employment. It is in this field that Ministers intervene blatantly. In the past Ministers resorted to a device to ensure the selection of their candidates at interviews. Every interview board had to have a Minister’s/ Ministry representative whose job was to ensure the choice of Minister is selected. The final ruse was that all appointments and promotions had to have the approval of the Minister. In Public Corporations in which the intervention of the minister is supposed to be through directions the fact that the Board is appointed by the Minister, there is collusion between the Minister and the Board on appointments. It is no wonder that Public Corporations are heavily overstaffed and the quality of the PS with political an excess of political appointed has declined. It may be necessary to make the Secretary the Chief Personnel Officer and hold him responsible for all appointments and promotions. In the past public servants has faith in the Public Service Commission on recruitment. It was in the name of the Public Service Commission that the letter of appointment was made. There were no ceremonies and Ministers to hand over the letters. They came in the registered post. The independence in selection was confined to that done directly by the Commission. But the bulk of selections was done by authorities under delegation by the Commission. In the past, there were allegations of these agencies came under external influence. One serious allegation was the involvement of a religious faction named catholic action. A good example was in the selection of a departmental interview board, for 19 staff-level posts where there were 7 Christians and only 7 Buddhists. Looks like equal treatment but in the proportion of religions with 70 percent Buddhists and 9 percent Christians it was suspect. The rumor was that the Catholic Action had a hand. Of course, the 7 Christian officers were outstanding.

The common accusation against the bureaucracy is that it is strangled with red tape. An OECD study revealed that even in OECD countries ‘one of the most common complaints raised by businesses and citizens was the amount and complexity of government formalities and paperwork. Enterprises and citizens spend much time and devote significant resources to activities such as filling out forms, applying for permits and licenses, reporting business information, notifying changes etc. In many cases, practices have become extremely complex, or irrelevant and cumbersome, generating unnecessary regulatory burdens – so-called red tape”. The costs imposed on the economy as a whole are significant. When excessive in number and complexity, administrative regulations can impede innovation, create unnecessary barriers to trade, investment, and economic efficiency, and even threaten the legitimacy of institutions’  This tale of woes is more relevant to PS of Sri Lanka.

Many governments have taken measures to reduce red tape and paperwork and provide a hassle-free service to the public. It encourages governments to cut red tape and provide a speedy and seamless service. One-stop shops can reduce substantial time and cost to a client and also provide a common platform to several agencies for an integrated service.

A few countries have introduced legislation and monitoring agencies to reduce the burden of paperwork. U.S. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), for analysing and clearing individual government information collection requirements is one such example. The PRA is intended to minimise the amount of paperwork the public is required to complete for federal agencies. Norway also has a sophisticated regime for measuring and monitoring administrative burdens on enterprises. The Register of Reporting Obligations for Enterprises maintains a constantly updated overview of businesses’ reporting obligations.

Several countries have set time limits for response to public requests which can lead to reduced costs for businesses and citizens and can also make administrations more accountable and responsive. Sri Lanka too had a rule that any request from the public should be replied to within a certain time. It is no more in practice. Public servants are no more ‘obedient servants of the public. They have become minions of the State.

The fault is not only in the procedures but also with the personnel. PS is accused of not being proactive. Public servants are steeped in rules, conventions, and precedents which most times have no contemporary validity. The offhand and presumptuous behavior was noticed even in supervisory authorities towards lower agencies. It was the practice of the then Treasury to respond to serious requests from departments with a curt note saying, ‘treasury does not approve your request” There was rarely an indication of the reason for rejection. Most times bureaucracy finds it more convenient to reject than approve.

In a fast-changing world, the challenges before a PS become more complex and demanding. In this context, capacity development in the PS needs concerted attention. This has to be addressed at both at the individual level and the institutional level. At the individual level, the skills and knowledge of the public servant need sustained upgrading to meet the changing tasks before them. A skill they cannot neglect today is IT. It is disappointing to note that most departments do not even maintain an updated website. E-government could cut costs and time and make the PS more efficient. Public servants also have to make a solid change in their attitude to the service from a rigid bureaucratic to a citizen-friendly approach.

Individual development will be of little use unless public institutions also keep pace with the new challenges. This is more difficult and requires dynamic leadership and political support.  A good example of such leadership was evident in the change of vision and mission of the former Academy of Administration to that of the Institute of Development Administration.  

Sri Lanka PS consists of several independent merit-based career services like the Administrative Service, Engineering Service, Scientific Service, and Clerical Service. They are closed services other than in the Administrative Service were on merit and through competitive examinations, promotions are made from the Clerical Service.

Traditionally Secretaries of Ministries were selected from the Civil / Administrative Service. But there is now a trend of bringing outsiders to these posts and also for scheduled posts. There is a justification to infuse special talent into the career service in special situations, but it should not be at the expense of continuity and neutrality in the PS. Most important of all, an established non-partisan PS is vital to democracy as it makes it possible to have a peaceful and orderly political succession, and thus genuine pluralism. In this context, the PS of Sri Lanka has contributed actively to the conduct of elections in the country where their dedication and integrity when they act under conditions devoid of politics have been amply and repeatedly demonstrated.

A marked deficiency in our merit-based system is the dependence on the written examination for promotions. Examinations are the logical method for entry into a merit-based system. But promotions should be on performance evaluation. It should be a reward for good performance. Every officer, especially in the staff ranks should make a self-evaluation at the end of each year which should be commented on by the supervisory officers. These reports should be the basis of decisions on promotion. Many promotional agendas are still based on academic examinations which suit shirkers and not workers. It has been the experience that most members of interview boards try to show their knowledge by asking the candidates exotic questions and are not interested in the candidates’ past performance. Better leaders in the PS are persons with emotional intelligence and not those who are only equipped with acquired academic knowledge. The only way to identify them is by examining their past performance.

In general services like the SLAS where officers are shifted frequently from post to post they do not get the opportunity to develop expertise in a subject area. Every officer should be made to serve in several fields especially in the periphery during the first ten years of their service. After which they should be streamed into specialized areas of administration where they become experts in the subject and are able not only deal with routine administration but advise political authorities on policy. This is critical in higher posts like Secretaries of Ministries and Heads of Departments. It is sad to see Secretaries of Ministries rotated from post to post where they do not gather no moss” and have to depend on subject clerks and junior officials on policy issues. Members of general services at the higher levels should become repositories of information in their area of expertise. Such a practice will reduce the present predicament of amateurs as Ministers dependent on generalists as Secretaries and Heads of Departments.

Traditionally, public administration is identified with a system conducted with specialized bureaucracies on the Weberian model differentiated politics from administration. In such a structure politicians deal with policy and the bureaucracy executes the policy. But in the real world of governance, this distinction tends to fade partly due to the failure of the bureaucracy to adapt to the new demands of PS and more due to the interventionist trait of the politician.

In the early 1980s, the disappointment with the Weberian model of PS, the emergence of open market policies, and the rise of the private sector made a few Western countries to explore a New Public Management program (NPM). The main thrust of this effort was to diminish the role of the state and adopt private-sector management systems. NPM is characterized by client focus, decentralization, and the separation of policy-making from implementation. It also stresses public-private partnerships.

An OECD study points out that People want the state and its public administration to act as a social and economic promoter, capable of ensuring equitable distribution of opportunities, sustainable management of resources and equitable access to opportunities (political, economic, social and cultural).  An established public administration has been, arguably, far more vital to economic development in historical fact than either free elections or parliaments. NPM measures success in terms of performance and efficiency. PS of Sri Lanka could immensely benefit from the lessons of experience of the NPM.

In Sri Lanka, the Right to Information Act was enacted to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public authorities and combat corruption and promote accountability and good governance. Article 8 of the act requires every Minister to publish a biannual report each year on

• the powers, duties, and functions of officers and employees and the respective procedures followed by them in their decision-making process;
• the norms set for the discharge of their functions, performance of their duties, and exercise of their powers;
• (iii)  rules, regulations, instructions, manuals, and any other categories of records, which are used by its officers and employees in the discharge of their functions, the performance of their duties, and the exercise of their powers.

The compilation of such a report would have been useful to the public as well as the organization itself. It is doubtful whether Ministers are following this legal requirement.

In many developed countries, electronic governance or e-governance is employed with the use of information technology (IT) for delivering services to the government as well as internal transactions. IT allows paperless time communication where distance is no hindrance. It cuts red tape and reduces corruption. With fiber optic connections and the use of IT administration could be decentralized removing for example the urban domination and the ills of city focus. Most staff can be allowed to work from home. IT also eliminates restrictions on data storage capacity. IT could facilitate knowledge sharing and training of personnel. A prerequisite for the successful operation of e-governance is the presence of IT-competent personnel and willingness to adopt IT. This is still absent in many government agencies. Although writing done through electronic means is legally accepted e,g RTI ACT 24.(6) many government agencies insist on written letters or facsimile fax” copies. Many government agencies do not maintain up-to-date websites. The majority of government officials are not proficient in the use of computers.

The advantages of using IT are demonstrated in the success of Estonia’s use of modern information and communication technologies in the public sector and governance which has placed the country at the forefront of states that are aiming to modernize their public sector and provide transparent governance. Numerous online
public services are available to Estonian citizens and residents including digital identification, digital signatures, electronic tax filing, online medical prescriptions, and, ultimately, internet voting. Driven by convenience, most of the services offer efficiency in terms of money and time saved by the users as well as public officials. For example, selling a car in Estonia can be done remotely in less than 15 minutes, filing an online tax declaration takes an average person no more than five minutes, and participating in elections by Internet voting takes 90 seconds on average.” https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/165711456838073531-0050022016/original/WDR16BPEstonianeGovec

Sri Lanka Public Service is much maligned due to in most cases where their initiative and dynamism are throttled with antiquated rules and poor leadership and more severely by political interference. In the absence of such constraints and where objectives are clear and the rule of law is supreme, the SL PS has performed exemplarily. Their performance in conducting democratic elections many times efficiently and impartially, under difficult conditions has been exceptional.

Sugath Kulatunga