Reforming Public Sector - Editorial

History seems to be repeating itself. Fresh from a regime change consequent to the November 16 Presidential election, we are being reminded of the initial days following the last regime change which was deceptively called “yahapalanaya” or good governance. As was the case during the first few months subsequent to the 2015 Presidential election, we now hear about arrests of members of the previous regime, incredibly serious allegations against them amidst a plethora of new plans by the newly appointed ministers to resolve the issues in their ministries.  

Like former President Maithripala Sirisena during his initial days in office, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is pursuing commendable austerity and simplicity measures and calling on his ministers and the public officials to follow suit. Despite a serious vision or a comprehensive plan for the development of the country’s economy being yet to be announced by the President or the new government, some of the points he stressed at the Registrar of Motor Vehicles (RMV) office at Werahera recently and during his policy statement in Parliament on last Friday would have far-reaching changes in society, if implemented consciously by the relevant authorities.  

President Rajapaksa reminding us of many recent repulsive scenes in Parliament told the very House during his policy statement “The Parliament we had then was exemplary. The discourse that took place in it was of great importance. The debates were replete with logic and rich arguments. School children and adults were eager to come to Parliament to listen to those debates. Members of Parliament always behaved in a way that upheld the dignity of the Parliament and the office they held. The people then had great respect for the Parliament. They respected people’s representatives. Unfortunately, latterly, that respect gradually waned.”  

The President must be appreciated for selecting the RMV to find out the efficiency of the public institutions. It is disgraceful on the part of the officials of the RMV for being in a position to get the advice from the Head of the State on a simple issue like reducing overcrowding of clients in the department. The President simply said “take their documents and give them a time to come back and collect them after processing.” Within two days after the President’s visit, the RMV audaciously proved that it is still a place where bribe is rampant with several people being arrested while taking bribe from the clients.   

RMV is not the only public institution where corruption, disorder and lethargy are rampant. These are some of the qualities that have become the norm of many officials and employees of the public sector, despite there being a few highly decent and disciplined men in those offices. During the last Presidential election even President Gotabaya Rajapaksa lamented over one of his supporters who had come all the way from a foreign country having been sent from pillar to post by public officials. Corruption including bribe and lethargy has declined for some extent in public institutions with the computerization of them and introduction of on-line systems, but many unscrupulous employees manage to find ways to hoodwink gullible clientele.   

Cleansing and bringing efficiency into the public sector would not be as easy as we expect, as it is an attitudinal issue. For instance, no other institution seems to have got the President’s message given to the RMV officials at least in respect of overcrowding of clients. Even in the RMV, the overcrowding issue might have been resolved but not other problems. That means you have to press each button at every time for the whole system to run.   

Many officials and ordinary employees in the public sector seem to be fond of displaying their powers to the ordinary people and like them to beg before them, resulting in the people always looking for the help of those outsiders who have some sort of connection to the institutions they are to visit. Many people leave the public institutions praying for the privatization of them due to their ghastly experience. Hence, the government must introduce mechanisms that would cleanse the system rather than addressing individual issues at individual institutions.