policy paper on the right to efficient, effective, responsive and accountable governance

8/9/2019 Policy Paper on the Right to Efficient, Effective, Responsive and Accountable Governance

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District Multi-Stakeholders ForumOn

Constitutional Reform and Peaceful Coexistence

Policy Paper

on

The Right to Efficient, Effective,

Responsive and Accountable Governance



2

Policy Recommendations of the District Multi-Stakeholders Forum on

Constitutional Reform and Peaceful Coexistence

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization thatresponds to the worldwide quest for popular civic participation, open and competitive political systems,

and representative and accountable government. NDI and its local partners work to establish andstrengthen democratic institutions and practices by building political and civic organizations,safeguarding elections, and promoting citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

With staff members and volunteer political practitioners from more than 100 nations, NDI brings together

individuals and groups to share ideas, knowledge, experiences and expertise. Partners receive broadexposure to best practices in international democratic development that can be adapted to the needs of

their own countries. NDI’s multinational approach reinforces the message that while there is no single

democratic model, certain core principles are shared by all democracies.

In late 2008, NDI commenced a program to promote multi-sector dialogue to build capacity and

consensus on constitutional reform and peaceful coexistence. District Multi-Stakeholders Forums(DMSFs) were created in eight districts of the South, Central and Eastern Provinces with the participation

of political party leaders, representatives of professional associations and civil society organizations.

During the initial meetings in early 2009, participants identified specific constitutional and governance

issues that they believed should be addressed through policy, legislative and institutional reforms topromote, consolidate and sustain democracy and good governance. Comprehensive dialogues were

promoted on the following issues:

1. The right to Representation and Participation

2. The right to Rule of Law

3. The Right to Transparent Governance

4. The right to Effective, Efficient, Responsive and Accountable Governance

5. The right of Women to Equality, Representation and Participation

The recommendations formulated by the DMSF are intended to initiate dialogues throughconstructive engagement with policy-level stakeholders, political and civil leaders and others

responsible in promoting democratic governance in the country. The recommendations for policyreform on the Right to Efficient, Effective, Responsive and Accountable Governance are

presented herewith with the kind request of the members of the DMSF to H.E. PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa, Cabinet Ministers, Leader of the Opposition, leaders of all political parties,

Parliamentarians, Members of the Provincial Councils, Heads of relevant state institutions andthe general public to kindly come forward with commitment, enthusiasm and solidarity to

promote informed dialogue based on these recommendations in order to reach multi-party

consensus in the search for a shared future in which everyone will be accepted and respected asequals in an environment of good governance with development and peace and free of discriminations, fear, intimidation and violence.

The Members of the District Multi-Stakeholders Forum on Constitutional

Reform and Peaceful CoexistenceAugust 2010



District Multi-Stakeholders Forum for Constitution and Peaceful Coexistence

POLICY PAPER ON THE RIGHT TO EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE, RESPONSIVE

AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE

Introduction

In modern democratic governments the members of public administration are accountable to thecitizens of the country and obliged to serve them efficiently, effectively and economically.

In the administrative theory and practice developed with the advancement of popular democracy

it was accepted that the public administration must be carried out by the professional andpolitically neutral administrators. The principle of politically neutrality was advocated on the

ground that the position of the public official should be organized as a “Public Trust” and theimplementation of public policy required certain “technical” and “business” skills that should be

handled without political or any other divisive considerations. The notion of non-politicaladministrator later became popular acceptance recognizing it as a necessary pre-condition for the

success of democratic governance. The improvement of technical and business capacities in thepublic administration has been accepted even today as the most important criterion of measuring

success of democracy as it facilitates efficient and effective use of public resources and energiesto deliver quality service to the people.

The functions assigned to the administrative arm of the state are generally defined as delivering

public services, paying for social security and respecting the rule of law. The crucial functional

areas by the state administration in a modern state are:

1. Imposition of public regulations

2. Relationship between the law and the state3. Combining ecology and policy-making

4. Multi-level governance5. Public, private and NGO partnership

6. Policy implementation7. Serving the citizens

8. Protection of the human and fundamental rights of people

The above elements must synthesize into the major roles that are to be played by the publicadministration, namely:

1. Enforcement of power and authority of the state- it is the administrative organization that

has to impose the will of the state by implementing the laws passed by the state



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institutions using both cohesive and integrative powers, fostering the rule of lawprinciple.

2. Custodian of State Resources- as the custodian of state resources the key responsibility is

to defy the political and other societal pressures to misuse public resources3. Policy advising- the key responsibility is to help the society to enlarge the existing

conceptual map for the advancement of social, economic and technological development

of the country through advising the ministers on matters relating to policy reformation4. Executive Arm of the Government – the public administration system is the arm of the

government which implements laws passed by the legislators and executes the publicpolicies, programmes and plans as decided by the political executive thus the key

responsibility is not just making them clearer but also to identify detailed plans for theirimplementation

5. Resource management- the public administration system is responsible for handlinghuman and material resources belonging to the state efficiently, effectively and

economically, thus the key responsibility is to economise the use of resources focusing oncost benefits, value for money and lessening the burden on the tax-payer.

6. Service delivery of the government- it is the public administration system which deliverspublic services that have social objectives – the key responsibility is to serve the citizens

responding to their demands efficiently and diligently7. Mediator of public interests- the public administration system has to “go between” the

state and the private and NGO sectors and build partnership for delivering servicesrequired by the society

National Democratic Institute (NDI) conducted a series of multi-stakeholder forums in eight

districts of the country to discuss issues of good governance and policy reform in the country.

One of the issues highlighted by the forum members was effective, efficient and responsivegovernance- a public service that serves the people. In this regard, forum members defined anumber of issues and formulated the following recommendations.

Background

Sri Lanka boasts 225 members in the national parliament. On the other hand in the public

administration more than 800,000 employees are working for the government. The majority arestreet-level bureaucrats, meaning, public officers serving in the institutions that deliver public

goods and services to the people. Most of Sri Lanka’s public servants are serving in the Districtand Divisional Secretariats, Grama Niladhari Offices, Police Stations, Schools and Field offices

of the departments belonged to the central, provincial and local level governments.

In August 2000 the President appointed a Public Services Management Development Authority

to ascertain the problems surrounding the public service and to make recommendations for its

improvement. It was headed by a senior public officer with an equally senior officer as his



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deputy and a retinue of research officers. The chairman of the Authority had to regularly reportto the President of the progress made by the Authority. During 2001 the Authority conducted

surveys into the working of selected departments such as the Registrar General's Office, the

Office of the Registrar of Persons and a few Divisional Secretaries' Offices andrecommendations made to the Ministry of Public Administration for necessary action lack of accountability; the inadequacy of the knowledge of the subject the public officers are called upon

to handle; the absence of effective supervision; lack of adequate motivation; and, above all,political interference.

International Standards and the Commitment of Sri Lanka

The International Code of Conduct for Public Officials is an International Code of Conduct for

Public Officials promulgated by the United Nations through a General Assembly ResolutionNo:51/59 adopted on 12 December 1996) In its General Principles it states:

“A public office, as defined by national law, is a position of trust, implying a duty to act in

the public interest. Therefore, the ultimate loyalty of public officials shall be to the public

interests of their country as expressed through the democratic institutions of government.”

(see annex 1)

Effective, efficient and responsive governance is now recognized as a universal human right.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to take part in thegovernment of his/her country, directly or through freely chosen representatives and …equal

access to public service in his/her country” (Article 21). This has become a directive for the

states and community of states when they proclaimed themselves as the duty bearers of theuniversal human rights by signing of two major human rights treaties.

International instruments to which Sri Lanka is a signatory explicitly recognize that everyone hasthe right to an adequate standard of life, the right to food, shelter, health care, social security and

education. Although in many the private sector is playing an increasing role in providing forthese requirements the ultimate responsibility of guaranteeing the enjoyment of these rights is

always with the government. Hence, the citizens of a country expect the government and itsadministrators to be non-partisan, to uphold the right to participation and ensure that the interests

of all people are met.

The United Nations established a Public Administration Network Mission to promote the sharingof knowledge, experiences and best practices throughout the world in sound public policies,

effective public administration and efficient civil services. After evaluating the recent reforms inthe Commonwealth Countries one scholar has identified eight subjects that can lead to better

public service in the world, namely:



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(1). Restructuring of the public service(2). Reexamining the political/administrative interface

(3). Maintaining high ethical standards and an intolerance for corruption

(4). Reviewing the role and responsibilities of Public Service Commissions(5). Consideration of the value and impact of performance standards(6). Exploring the contribution of partnerships, not just with the private sector but beyond

(7). Maintaining high quality services and,(8). Proposal to develop an index of public sector competence

(A.S. bin Abdul Ahmad, Best Practices in Public Administration: Experiences from Commonwealth Countries in

Mazlin Ahmad (ed.), Public Service Management: Achieving Quality Service in the 21 st Century, National Institute

of Public Administration, Public Service Department, Malaysia, 1998, p.2 (pp.2-10) .

These reforms formulas have followed by many countries and brought some good practices from

which we can learn lesions in order to understand the public service reforms and best practices tobe adopted in the improvement of public service delivery system in Sri Lanka.

The Committee on Standards in Public Life is an independent public body which advises government onethical standards across the whole of public life in the UK. The Committee developed the now widely

accepted ‘Seven Principles of Public Life’ as a code of conduct for public officials. (Annex 2). These

principles, among other guidelines, reflect the changing expectations of societies of the standards towhich public officials should apply, not only in terms of adhering to government protocols, but in terms

of their attitudes, conduct and behavior.

Recommendation – 1: Independence of the Public Service:

The present constitution consists of several legal directives for the public administration. Mostimportant of them are the articles that elucidate the nature of state, the source of state power,

principles of state policy, fundamental rights, public finance, exercise of executive power and theconditions applying to the public officers. Many of these constitutional directives are related to

the process of centralization of political power that is associated with the state craft strategyfollowed by the makers of the constitutions of 1972 and 1978.

The Public Service of the Country is now virtually under the leadership of the President as the

appointment of all the leaders of the public administration such Secretary to the President, theCabinet, the Ministries and the Provincial Councils are vested with the President. The President

can also influence the appointment, promotion, transfer, disciplinary control and dismissal of Heads of Departments as these functions are vested with the Cabinet of Ministers. This situation

is unavoidable as the Executive Presidency is the focal point of the constitutional mechanismcreated by the constitution for the exercise of executive power of the people. The constitution

declares that the President of the Republic is the Head of State, Head of the Executive, Head of



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the Government and the Commander of Armed Forces. Further President is the sole authority inappointing all the Officers of State including the Heads of Armed and Police Forces and the

Judges of the Superior Courts. The constitution has offered him legal immunity for all legitimate

actions he has done as the Head of State and Government. As past experience tells us that thePresident who is elected by an island-wide electorate with an absolute majority can establishautocratic governance overriding the powers of the Legislature and the Judiciary.

In Sri Lanka the principle of political neutrality of public administration became an entrenched

element of the system of governance since the Donoughmore constitution which introduced theidea of having a Public Service Commission to safeguard the political neutrality of public

servants. The Constitution of 1948 once again established the Public Service Commissionentrusting with powers for the appointment, promotion, transfer, remuneration, disciplinary

control and dismissal of public servants. However, the independence of public administrationwas not to the liking of the political elite ascending to power since the 1950s. The need for a

strong centralized state was promoted by the politicians since the 1960s and finally theculmination of this became apparent in the two republican constitutions. Since the inauguration

of the constitution of 1972 the trend was to make public servants subservient to the politicalbosses in the executive government.

Public Service Commission

With the passage of 17th

amendment to the constitution the Public Service Commission (PSC)

was empowered to be in charge of the public service. The constitution has assigned the powers toappointment, promotion, transfer, disciplinary control and dismissal of public officers to the

Public Service Commission.

An independent Public Service Commission should be able to take on the responsibility for

appointments, performance appraisal and promotions, disciplinary procedures as well as fieldingcomplaints from the public. A fully functioning commission that works without external

influence could play a major role in increasing the professionalism and de-politicizing the publicservice. By making higher standards of performance in service delivery with accountability the

norm, a Commission could potentially greatly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of thepublic service.

The Public Service Commission of Kenya is a body created under chapter VIII of the

Constitution of Kenya. It is an independent state organ which does not fall under the Executive,

legislature of judiciary. Its independence in the exercise of its Constitutional powers is clearlyguaranteed under the Constitution thus:

“The Commission shall, in the exercise of its functions, under this constitution not be subjected

to the direction or control of any other person or authority”.



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The core functions of the Commission are:-

Recruitment for the public service and local authorities

Promotion and acting appointments of public officers

Disciplinary control in the public service and local authorities

Retirement and removal of public officers

Establishment of standards of ethical conduct of public officers

Issuance and administration of the Code of Conduct for public officers in accordancewith the provisions of the Public officer Ethics Act 2003 and

Civil Service examinations and occupational tests

Recommendations

1.1. Independent, impartial and de-politicized public service should be ensuredthrough laws and management procedures. Following are recommended for

future reforms:

1.1.a An independent Public Service Commission should be created with institutionaland financial autonomy and adequate human resource capacity to manage and

monitor the public service. Policies on recruitment of public servants, transfers,promotions and disciplinary actions should be decided by this independent

Commission. The Commission should be created through a Constitutionalprovision and should be accountable to the parliament.

Members of the Public Service Commission should reflect the ethnic and genderdiversity of the country and should be appointed through a multi-party mechanismconsisting of members of Parliament.

The public should have the ability utilize this Commission to redress their issuesand grievances regarding the public service.

1.1.b Un-ethnical interference of governing or opposition political parties in the affairs

of public service for their party advantages should not be allowed.

1.1.c. A strict code of conduct should be introduced to all public officials in order tomaintain efficiency, effectiveness, impartiality and discipline in the public

service.



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Professional Processes

Policy Recommendation – 2: Human Resource and Recruitment Policy:

The notion of effective an state depends on an effective public sector. Some of the impedimentsthat have hindered professional government have been:

(a). The public sector had difficulty in recruiting talented persons as it could not competewith the private sector or with NGOs

(b). The public sector faced severe skill shortage and not enough funds to train itsworkforce

(c). Public sector employees faced severe wage compression and this influenced talentedexecutives to leave the public service

One of the biggest factors in the over-inflated and wasteful public service in Sri Lanka is the lack

of job descriptions and a professional demarcation of responsibilities to avoid duplication andlack of clear, measurable tasks for officials. In any visit to most any government department an

observer can see that a large number of officers are idling while a few appear to be over-burdened with work. Clearly, many of the positions within the public service as it is are un-

needed and should be abolished. For this, the functions of government departments and accuratestaffing structures, line management, duties and measurable performance based targets should be

developed and adhered to.

Another measure that has been suggested to improve the public service is to link officers'

prospects in the service to their performance in the various posts they held in the service. A

flawless performance evaluation system has to be evolved by the proposed Public Service

Commission. Recommendations from politicians should have no weight at all either forpromotions or transfers. Instances of misconduct should be dealt with swiftly and effectively byinitiating prompt disciplinary proceedings. Politicians should be debarred from interfering in

disciplinary proceedings.

Promoting a professional, merit-based and neutral civil service through the adoption of

performance management based systems that promote objective criteria in hiring and promotion;equal opportunity for women and minority groups; and reform of wage and incentive structures

that are also hinged on performance appraisals that include feedback from the public on thequality of services provided.

The establishment of merit based recruitment, training, placement and remuneration policies areimportant in producing efficient administrative system. Since the second half of the 19

thcentury

political interference was identified as a danger to the merit based personnel administration

system. Hence politicization of bureaucracy has long been recognized as an anathema toresponsive governance. If the merit system is abused by political or societal vested interests the



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ultimate outcome would be the decline in quality of service delivery. If the public service iscorrupt; lethargic; inefficient; or biased when they deliver services no one could say that rule of

law is respected in the governing process.

Sri Lanka is burdened with one of the largest public services in Asia. The last attempt reformcame after the Report of the Administrative Reform Committee headed by Mr. Shelton

Wanasinghe recommended a 'lean public service with a fat salary.' The miscalculated, infamousPublic Administration Circular in 1990 resulted in a large number of capable and competent

public officers retiring from the public sector. It was mostly the experienced and the morecapable who left hoping to join the private sector. This led to a further deterioration of the public

service. A more effective reform to rid the service of redundant staff would include a properlydevised voluntary retirement scheme would be implemented followed by a better wage structure

and the provision of necessary resources to motivate those remaining in service to performbetter.

Training

Strengthening transparency and accountability within the civil service can be achieved throughthe development of specific anti-corruption legislation and codes of conduct; and through

independent mechanisms for oversight, monitoring and enforcement, such as the Ombudsmanand Office of the Auditor General and training of civil servants about best practices for

effectively delivering public services to the people, and especially to women and the poor.

Training of officers in human rights, non-discrimination, international and domestic laws relatingto human rights and the duties of the state as well as functions specific to their duties is essential

to bring about enhanced professionalism in the service. As such, in-house training should beinstitutionalized and key areas rolled out including information technology, management skills,

customer service, financial accounting, human relations, team building, impact assessments andother topics.

Creating an institution such as a National School of Public Policy with a standardized curriculum

and resources could include mandatory training for all new recruits as well as standard packagesfor ongoing training throughout the career of the public official.

Diversity and Proficiency within the Public Service

Equity refers, in the public administration, to fairness in terms of social groupings that aresuffering from inherent social and economic inequalities. As such the task of publicadministration is not just delivering public goods and services in a fair and reasonable manner

but also to address separately the needs of the weakest sections in the society such as poor,marginalized communities, people with disabilities, elders, children and women.



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Promoting diversity in the public service is important for two reasons- it will foster a greater

sense that the public service is inclusive and ‘for all’, and it will enhance the quality of services

that a diverse staff can provide- for example increasing minority and minority linguisticrepresentation would reduce the sense of disconnection between minority communities and theirpublic service. Lack of language capacity and capacity to deal with people who live with a

disability deepens the disenfranchisement of people whose rights and needs the State has anobligation to provide for that is the same as their obligation to people who can easily access

services. Recruitment and training and promotion policies must be reformulated to prioritize theservice’s capacity to cater to citizens who have traditionally been excluded.

The Official Languages Policy and subsequent directives states that public officials must have

dual language capacity, naming 29 bi-lingual DS Divisions wherein the public institutions arerequired to provide services catering to both Tamil and Sinhala speaking communities.

Proficiency in the second language is a mandatory criteria for promotions. Non-implementationof existing laws relating to the official languages in the public service continue to impede

equitable access to rights and services in the country. Measures to ensure that the Policy isimplemented in service providing institutions must be institutionalized and enforced.

Accountability Culture

Accountability means that those who hold office in government act responsibly, render account

of and are answerable for their acts of commission or omission. Accountability withoutenforcement is meaningless. The absence of modern management accountability techniques in

the public service in Sri Lanka stems in large part to the weak controls resulting from inadequate

separation of duties and functions. The absence of strong internal controls and clearly definedcriteria form line management create a lacuna in accountability. While external bodies such asthe Human Rights Commission, Ombudsman, Bribery Commission and Official Languages

Commission all exist in theory to increase accountability, these institutions depend solely onreports from the public and often have little impact within the administrative service- mainly due

to lack of political will to make findings enforceable. Strong regulation of officers to make themaccountable through strong protocols including regular performance appraisal and surprise

checks are all integral factors that should be included in attempts to bring about real reform.

Recommendations

2.1. Proper human resource policies should be created for all levels of public service.



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2.2. Proper job descriptions and recruitment criteria should be drafted by the PublicService Commission to all levels of public servants and monitored the

implementation of these policies.

2.3. Recruitment of public servants should be done free of party political influence andother corrupt practices. Recruitment of public servants should reflect ethnic,

gender and regional diversity.

2.4. Fluency in Sinhala and Tamil languages should be made compulsory for futurerecruitment of public servants of all levels.

2.5. Politically motivated appointments of public servants should be prevented in the

future. If any political appointments are to be made to the public service, personswith suitable qualification and experience relevant to the posts should be ensured.

Very strict criteria should be prepared and observed for all political appointments.

Policy Recommendation – 3: Efficiency, Effectiveness and non-discriminatory PublicService

In the science of administration, whether public or private, the basic ‘good’ is efficiency. Thefundamental objective of administration is ‘least expenditure of manpower and materials’.

Efficiency in the Public Sector mostly refers to the minimization of costs. Efficiency andeffectiveness combine to ensure that outcomes in quantitative and qualitative terms. While

efficiency is essential to achieve outcomes, the question of how meaningful the outcomes are can

shape how effective the work of an institution actually is. In order to ensure that efficiency isbeneficial it is necessary to add a dimension of effectiveness.

Streamlining

Lack of clear objectives, absence of clearly defined job descriptions for a streamlined service,lack of accountability to targets, lack of internal controls and enforceability and a break down in

effective communication between government institutions, leading to duplication of work andexpenditure have all impacted on the efficiency and effectiveness of the public service. The

duplication of government institutions in the center and at the provinces consequent to the 13thAmendment to the Constitution, must be avoided and there is an urgent need to rationalize and

close down many such institutions. What the 13 th Amendment sought to do was to devolve andnot to duplicate. The proliferation of ministers has also led to a series of negative outcomes suchas splintering of sectoral responsibilities and development concerns, not to mention the huge

drain on resources.



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Public Opinion

In a survey led by Professor Navaratne Bandara of public offices in the country, the findings

showed that the widespread perception was that treatment of the public was inequitable andinefficient (see full report annex 3). Though people found it very difficult to get their mattersattended to, they also did not feel that they could do anything about it. Some have pointed out

that if the government introduces impartial complaint machinery and redress mechanism thepublic would have a better prospect of getting their work done.

It has been argued that to act in an effective and responsive manner in a complex and

multicultural society, government services should represent the microcosm of the totalpopulation. Issues faced in Sri Lanka include discrimination and exclusion based on

Ethnicity

Language

Religion

Ethnic Origin/Indigenous

Political Party affiliations

Physical abilities

Public administration as the executive arm of the government has a greater responsibility inguaranteeing the citizenship rights. As the citizenship rights perspective identified the state as

the “Duty-Bearer” the state obligations to these rights become the moral and legalresponsibilities of the agents of state, namely, the public officers. Most of the functions related

to the rule of law as identified in the previous section such as procedural accountability, legality,complaint and redress and Inquiry and responsibility are to be complied with the claims of

citizens to share public offices through decision making, decision implementation and access tothe services delivered by these public offices.

Where inability to access services of a government institution based on any of the above factors

takes place, the State is effectively failing in its obligation to uphold the rights of its citizens, asoutlined within all of the International declarations and human rights instruments. Sri Lanka,

being a signatory to all of the major human rights instruments is also obliged to fulfill itsobligations to all of its citizens.

According to a survey of public institutions carried out in 2007 by the Social Indicators, minoritylinguistic communities find it virtually impossible to transact with government offices in areas

where the other language is the primary language of administration. Tamil people in mainlySinhala staffed offices cannot communicate with staff or fill out forms in Sinhala. The same

problem applied to Sinhalese people in predominantly Tamil areas. This is despite therequirement that all public servants in Sri Lanka should have dual language capacity, that forms



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should be provided in three languages (English, Sinhala and Tamil). Similarly, people withdisabilities are not adequately catered to by government offices- physical access to government

buildings and assistance geared to the needs of people with disabilities (blind, deaf and

differently abled individuals) is integral to ensure full access to all people. Discriminatoryattitudes of public officials, religious and cultural norms and biases based on political affiliationsof officers are all factors that need to be addressed to ensure that services the state is obliged to

provide can be accessed freely and equitably by all. This hinges in large part on training andawareness raising of public servants, as well as diversifying the composition of the public

service.

Complaint and Redress

Article 3 of the Constitution declares that “In the Republic of Sri Lanka sovereignty is in thePeople and is inalienable. Sovereignty includes the powers of government, fundamental rights

and the franchise.” Article 126 of the constitution declares that “…the Supreme Court shall havesole and exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any question relating to the infringement or

imminent infringement by executive or administrative action of any fundamental right orlanguage right declared and recognized by chapter III and chapter IV.” Therefore the member of

any governmental organization, especially the members of public service could be tried at thehighest court of the country. The people have a legal entitlement to file complaints, express their

grievances and seek redress and compensation against the administrative decisions violating theirrights.

Citizens must be capable of filing a complaint, expressing their grievances and seeking redress or

compensation with regard to public decisions; thus the decisions of public administration to be

subjected to the investigations and inquiries by the public bodies represented by the people; theestablishment of public complaint and redress procedures become an important element to beincluded with the work process of public administration; as such institutional mechanisms such

as OMBUDSMAN, National Human Rights Commission, Judiciary and administrative tribunalsbecome essential requirements of the administrative system. An effectively functioning Public

Service Commission could be a central focus for the lodging and addressing of complaints andissues from the public. This system would be linked to disciplinary, promotion and dismissal

policies that would also fall under the ambit of the Commission.

Recall of Officials

The agents taking administrative decisions and providing public services must be capable of being examined and held responsible for their actions or non actions; thus the actions of

members of the public administration must be regulated by rules and regulations in order tomake their decisions transparent. Mechanisms to recall public officials who are not performing

their duties effectively are an important accountability measure. In countries such as Switzerland



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and the United States, citizens have the right to recall elected officials via petition. Similarly,mechanisms to recall officials through a clearly defined process that can be executed by an

independent and impartial authority would enhance direct accountability. Additionally, by

having clearly defined modalities for recall, there would be less room for arbitrary and politicallymotivated dismissals of officials.

Salaries

In the Appropriation Bill (the Government Budget) presented to the Parliament for 2009 thegovernment has allocated Rs.66,402 million for the salaries of the employees in the General

Public Service (if we add the enrolments of employees in the Foreign Service this total goes upto Rs.155,381 million). However, the general feeling in the society is that the country’s

administrative systems is unproductive, inefficient and not up to the standards hence a burden forthe tax payer.

A major study conducted by the International Monetary Fund found clear-cut relation between

public sector salaries and the level of corruption in a country. The study estimated that wages inthe government relative to the salaries in the manufacturing sector needed to be increased by 2.8-

7.4 to eliminate corruption in the public sector. However money is not the only contributoryfactor in the creation of a corrupt public service. The adherence to the rule of law by the public

service has been identified as one of the factors that contribute to the public sector corruption. Itis well known fact that in the countries where the rule of law is not well established the public

service is not undertaking their job according the law.

Singapore is one of the countries which increased salaries of officials to control corruption. The

Singapore government successfully eliminated the wage disparity between public and privatesectors. Under Margret Thatcher United Kingdom experienced similar reforms when theExecutive Agencies were established to deliver services to the public. The personnel in these

agencies were offered through service contracts increased monetary benefits including largebonuses under depending on performance. In 1999 South Korea introduced a public service

reform programme called “Open Competitive Position System” designed to recruit outstandingtalent from both the public and private sectors. Presently nearly 20% of the positions in the civil

service in every ministry are positions open to this competitive scheme.

As part of the reform of the public service, voluntary retirement schemes, pension reform and treatment of

government and private employees on equal footing are on the offing – this reform must be given priority

to ensure that talented, diverse and commitment staff are recruited and retained. Ongoing training andcapacity building must also be given priority both to improve the quality of the services offered to the

public and to ensure retention of the best and brightest to the public service.



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Citizens Charters

The lack of clarity of mission, goals and strategy of government organizations leads to massive

inefficiency. This can be improved through training of officers and defining goals and jobdescriptions. Ultimately, however, both public officials and the public should have a clearunderstanding of their goals and functions.

The most publicized recent reform process is called New Public Management (NPM). These

reforms started in Britain and the United States in the 1980s and later moved to other countries.NPM has come with a wide range of reforms from which the public service may choose to

reduce bureaucracy. The main elements of NPM are geared towards restructuring the publicsector in order to introduce competition, better financial management and performance

evaluation based service delivery system.

One of the social outcomes of the NPM process was to introduction of Citizen Charters. Theterm ‘Citizen’ in the Citizen’s Charter implies the clients or customers whose interests and

values are addressed by the Citizen’s Charter and, therefore, includes not only the citizens butalso all the stakeholders. The Citizen’s Charter is a bond of honor between the public service

and citizens and safeguards the right of citizens to enjoy quality and high-standard services. Atthe same time, it helps make public servants feel satisfaction for the services they provide to the

public. The Citizen’s Charter is not legally enforceable. However, it is a tool for facilitating thedelivery of services to citizens with specified standards. The main objective of Citizen's Charter

is to improve the quality of its public services. On the basis of the Citizen’s Charter, publicservices are obliged:

to inform the public in detail on the kind of services they provide to define and publicize standards of services

to be easily accessible and friendly to the citizen and to provide adequate information

to explain the options afforded and give correct advice to the public

to be courteous and forthcoming in providing services and to rectify mistakes

The Citizen’s Charter is not a document which contains only theoretical and general principlesand aims. On the contrary, it contains specific provisions and sets out specific obligations for the

public services, e.g. the period of time within which the department has the obligation to reply,the type of information to be given etc. A Citizens' Charter represents the commitment of the

organization towards standard, quality and time frame of service delivery, grievance redress

mechanism, transparency and accountability.

E-GovernmentA recent UN study noted that 89% of world governments are using the internet to provideinformation and/or services. The states using the internet have been categorized into three



17

groups. The first group included with the governments using internet sites to offer politicalinformation about the leadership of the country. The second group is using the internet to attract

non-citizens to invest in the country. The third group is called interactive. They offer citizens

services through internet by allowing them to download forms and request information from thegovernment. The third categories of countries are the states that had adopted IT to reduce costsand increase the quality of services offered to citizens. Singapore is the pioneer in establishing

E-Citizen Portal as a single gateway to government service. The Canadian government is worldleader in interactive government and has increased the citizen’s input and access to official

decision making using E-Government.

Recommendations

3.1 Enhanced salary, housing or housing loans, cost of living allowances andretirement benefits should be ensured for all public servants.

3.2 Information on services and procedures of all public institutions should be

displayed visibly for public to create awareness on the functioning of all publicinstitutions.

3.3 Non-discriminatory delivery of services of all public institutions based on

ethnicity, language, gender, social status, political affiliation or disability shouldbe enforced through laws and empowering public.

3.4 Dual language capacity (Sinhala and Tamil) should be ensured in all public

institutions throughout the country in-line with the Official Languages Policy.

3.5 All public institutions should prepare their institutional charters spelling out theservice provided and the time frame to complete various requests from the public

and the redress mechanism to address the grievances of the public.

3.6 Professional Training Institutes to train public official of all levels should beestablished and it should be made mandatory to be trained from these institutes

before being appointed to state offices.

3.7 Expanded opportunities should be made available through universities to producegraduates in Public Administration

3.8 The use of information and communication technology should be increased; at

least where appropriate and where there are high demands.



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3.9 A system of performance monitoring should be introduced to all public serviceand efficient and effective performances should be recognized and rewarded

annually.

3.10 A system to recall the errant public officials should be introduced.

Conclusion

The key obligations of the public administration are to implement public policy and to provide

services to the public, to which they are entitled. To do this effectively and efficiently, thegovernment service must be streamlined, accountable and well-trained. They must also work

with integrity and transparency. Enforceable standards must be articulated, as a first step toreform. Beyond this, enforcing mechanisms and political will be crucial.



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Annex 1

International Code of Conduct for Public Officials

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. A public office, as defined by national law, is a position of trust, implying a duty to act in

the public interest. Therefore, the ultimate loyalty of public officials shall be to the publicinterests of their country as expressed through the democratic institutions of government.

2. Public officials shall ensure that they perform their duties and functions efficiently,

effectively and with integrity, in accordance with laws or administrative policies. They shall atall times seek to ensure that public resources for which they are responsible are administered in

the most effective and efficient manner.

3. Public officials shall be attentive, fair and impartial in theperformance of their functions and, in particular, in their relations with the public. They shall at

no time afford any undue preferential treatment to any group or individual or improperlydiscriminate against any group or individual, or otherwise abuse the power and authority vested

in them.

II. CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND DISQUALIFICATION

4. Public officials shall not use their official authority for the improper advancement of their

own or their family's personal or financial interest. They shall not engage in any transaction,acquire any position or function or have any financial, commercial or other comparable interest

that is incompatible with their office, functions and duties or the discharge thereof.

5. Public officials, to the extent required by their position, shall, in accordance with laws oradministrative policies, declare business, commercial and financial interests or activities

undertaken for financial gain that may raise a possible conflict of interest. In situations of possible or perceived conflict of interest between the duties and private interests of public

officials, they shall comply with the measures established to reduce or eliminate such conflict of interest.

6. Public officials shall at no time improperly use public moneys, property, services orinformation that is acquired in the performance of, or as a result of, their official duties for

activities not related to their official work.



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7. Public officials shall comply with measures established by law or by administrative policiesin order that after leaving their official positions they will not take improper advantage of their

previous office.

III. DISCLOSURE OF ASSETS

8. Public officials shall, in accord with their position and as permitted or required by law andadministrative policies, comply with requirements to declare or to disclose personal assets and

liabilities, as well as, if possible, those of their spouses and/or dependants.

IV. ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS OR OTHER FAVOURS

9. Public officials shall not solicit or receive directly or indirectly any gift or other favour thatmay influence the exercise of their functions, the performance of their duties or their judgement.

V. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

10. Matters of a confidential nature in the possession of public officials shall be kept

confidential unless national legislation, the performance of duty or the needs of justice strictlyrequire otherwise. Such restrictions shall also apply after separation from service.

VI. POLITICAL ACTIVITY

11. The political or other activity of public officials outside the scope of their office shall, in

accordance with laws and administrative policies, not be such as to impair public confidence in

the impartial performance of their functions and duties.



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Annex 2

THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC LIFE

Selflessness

Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so inorder to gain financial or other benefits for themselves, their family or their friends.

Integrity

Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to

outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their

official duties.

Objectivity

In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or

recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should makechoices on merit.

Accountability

Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must

submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.

Openness

Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions thatthey take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the

wider public interest clearly demands.

Honesty

Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties

and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.

Leadership

Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.



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Annex 3

CITIZENS’ RIGHT TO EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE AND RESPONSIVE GOVERNANCE

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ROLE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN MODERN STATE

AND AN OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN SRI LANKA

By Prof. A.M. Navaratna Bandara*

1 – INTRODUCTION - GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

1.1 PreludeGovernance has been defined in the social science literature as the process through which the

government conveys its laws and policy decisions to the society. According to theseinterpretations governance occurs at least in three broad ways: through networks involving

public and private sectors partnership; through the use of market; and through the publicadministration. The present report, concerns the public administration which plays a crucial role

in the process of governance.

Wide spectrums of activities are taken place within the public administration when translatingthe laws and policies made by the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government into

action. The public administration of a country is the business-end of government through whichthe costs and benefits are measured for the efficient and effective use of public resources in

implementing the public policies and laws. It is the delivery point from which the people receive

public goods and services produced by these policies and laws.

In modern democratic governments the members of public administration are accountable to the

citizens of the country and obliged to serve them efficiently, effectively and economically withentrepreneurial skills. “This is derived from the intellectual foundation that is based on the

concept of ‘public’ which represents the citizens. For its material or financial existence thepublic administration depends on citizens as taxpayers” (M. Shamsul Haque, Relationship

between citizenship and Public Administration: Reconfiguration”, International Review of Administrative Sciences, SAGE Publication, 1999, Vol. 65(3)309-325, p.325). The practical

obligation of the public administration is the realization of the needs and expectations of citizens.“Hence the essence of public administration lies in the principles of citizenship. In democratic

societies, it is the unique relationship of public administration with citizens that maintains its

This study was conducted for the National Democratic Institute to facilitate informed policy dialogue on the Rightto Efficient, Effective, Responsive and Accountable Governance

* Professor of Political Science, University of Predeniya



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public identity, reinforces its legitimacy, sets its ethical standards, determines its roles and dutiesand distinguishes it from business management in the private sector” (Ibid.).

The work of public administration is experienced by the thousands of people who make dailyvisits to the administrative organizations of the state. Most of them are visiting these places toreceive the public goods and public services for which they have paid through taxation. Apart

from that the citizens who participate in market activities and non-profit ventures also experiencethe actions of public administrations as they have to follow the rules imposed by these

administrators. Actually the actions and non-actions by these people in the public organizationsare crucial for making things happen in government. The political leadership through the

legislature and executive institutions “…may pass all the laws they wish but unless those lawsare administered effectively by the public administrators little or nothing will actually happen”

(B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre, Introduction: The Role of Public Administration in Governing inB. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre (eds.) Hand Book of Public Administration, SAGE, Los Angeles,

p.01).

There is “…a massive amount of administrative activities involved in facilitating laws” (Ibid)and policies made by politicians into action and in delivering public programmes to citizens by

the public administration. As such some have identified public administration as the executivearm of government. The traditional approaches to public administration argued that the public

administration as the executive arm of the government had to involve with all the tasks related tothe implementation of law and public policy. These traditional approaches to public

administration also highlighted the importance of setting of standards to the work of publicservants in order to provide equal treatment to the citizens as well as to reduce space for

maladministration. This so called “forward mapping” approach has produced more procedures

and controls on the work of street-level administrators who are responsible for translating lawsand policies into actions. The outcome of these approaches is anchoring the publicadministration with formal organization called bureaucracy which gives first place to the

centralized decision making and top-down process of governance. As such these traditionalapproaches have been criticized as rigid, inflexible, ineffective and unresponsive to the needs of

citizens. In recent years more society and citizen centered perspectives have been introducedand we are now discerning beyond the traditional law and policy implementation perspectives.

In the 1970s an advocacy movement calling itself “New Public Administration (NPA) emerged

emphasizing the need of giving more freedom to the street level administrators to take decisionsto meet the demands of poor and minorities who were not accommodate in the decisions taken at

the power centers. The movement blamed the existing system for giving pre-eminence to thewell-being of the organization and not to the well-being of the people at the receiving-end of the

system.



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Since 1980s we have been experiencing another reform movement which emphasizes on themanagement of resources, performance appraisals, responsive governance and citizen

participation. This movement was called New Public Management (NPM). It has been proposed

to restore the legitimacy and effectiveness of government. Central to the NPM is an emphasis onperformance and greater responsiveness to citizens and their needs. Hence citizenship has a pre-eminent place in the present day administrative governance.

According to T.H. Marshal, one of the pioneers in studying the changing perspectives of

citizenship in the modern era “…citizenship as a status bestowed on those who are full membersof community” envisages “equal status for all the citizens with respect to the rights and duties”

(Quoted in Ruth Lister, Citizenship: Towards a feminist synthesis, Feminist Review, No.57,Autumn, 1997, pp.28-48, p.27). The modern citizenship envisages participation in the

government decision-making for every citizen of the country and the right to equitable access tothe services offered in government. The public administration system and its members employed

by the state, utilizing huge chunk of the tax money collected from the citizens have aresponsibility to provide quality service to the latter.

Jane Erik-Lane, one of the authorities in the modern “state management” has named the modern

state as a “workfare state’ ((Jan-Erik Lane, State Management, Routledge, London, 2009,pp.118-121) because of the present day state’s involvement in vast amount of public work in

order to fulfill the “social objectives”. The ultimate outcome of this broadening of state activitiesis compelling the delivery centres handled by the public administrators to accommodate focuses

such as citizens’ rights, good governance, human rights and human security in their work practices.

In Sri Lanka the political debate has been around the constitutional reforms since late 1980s.There is a tendency among the public as well as the opinion makers to equate politics withdramatic events such as elections and conflicts between different political groupings. One of the

lacunas in these debates is the role played by the public administration in the process of governing. The only exception was the 17

thamendment to the constitution passed in 2001 in

which an attempt had been made to rescue public administration from political interference.However, the drive towards the passing of this piece of legislation was not taken with a pro-

citizenship perspective.

At present we have 225 members in the national parliament. If all the members of otherrepresentative institutions in the country added to this number the total does not exceed even

2000. On the other hand in the public administration more than 800,000 employees are workingfor the government. Majority of them are street-level bureaucrats, meaning, public officers

serving in the institutions that deliver public goods and services to the people. These street levelpeople are serving in the District and Divisional Secretariats, Grama Niladhari Offices, Police



26

Stations, Schools and Field offices of the departments belonged to the central, provincial andlocal level governments.

In the Appropriation Bill (the Government Budget) presented to the Parliament for 2009 thegovernment has allocated Rs.66,402 million for the salaries of the employees in the GeneralPublic Service (if we add the enrolments of employees in the Foreign Service this total goes up

to Rs.155,381 million). However, the general feeling in the society is that the country’sadministrative systems is unproductive, inefficient and not up to the standards hence a burden for

the tax payer. These complaints or perceptions of the public are sometimes based on theopinions of others or their own affective orientations which they have developed in their life time

in relation to their personal experience. Some of these weaknesses are systemic and thus relatedto the formal structures necessitated by the principles governing the modern system of

government. Some are emanating from the cultural context we all are associated with.

Therefore it is our view that the general public as the citizens of this country must be educated onthe main currents attached to the administrative process of the country as well as the historical

and international experiences related to public sector management to have an objectiveassessment of these perceptions.

1.2 THE ARRANGENMENT OF THE REPORTThis report is written to facilitate a public dialogue on the rights perspectives as identified in theprevious section. The report offers information and discussions useful to the general public to

understand:(a). the nature and scope of the public administration in the modern state, the best practices

developed in other countries for the delivery of public services and global standards adopted by

the international institutions for the public administrative system of the modern state focusing oncitizens’ rights(b). the system of public administration in Sri Lanka focusing on the historical settings (inclusive

of both colonial and post-colonial experiences), the constitutional, administrative and politicalframework in which the system has to operate, the issues relating to the establishment of

citizenship based governance system in Sri Lanka, and(c). the formal and informal processes of the administrative delivery system in Sri Lanka

focusing on the field study conducted by the authors of this report as well as the related studiesdone by others recently.

The report is divided into three sections. The section one presents an overview of the role of

public administration in the modern state and the recent reforms implemented in other countrieswhich provide best practices of delivering public services as well as the international standards

related to the public administrative systems. The section two presents an overview of the publicadministrative system in Sri Lanka, and the constitutional provisions related to the public

administrative delivery system in Sri Lanka. The section three contains two chapters. First



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chapter is based on the information gathered from the field survey conducted during July-August2009. It focuses on the peoples’ perception based on their affective-orientation towards the

public administration and the formal as well as informal processes attached to the delivery

system. The last chapter surveys definitions of the thematic focuses of the report, namely,efficiency, effectiveness, equity and responsiveness. It will lead a discussion on the rightsperspective attached to these value outcomes.

SECTION –1

2 – ROLE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN MODERN STATE

2.1 INTRODUCTIONAdministration is “an activity concerned with getting things done” (Luther Gullick, see M.P.

Sharma, Public Administration in Theory and Practice, Kitab Mahal, Allahabad, p.37). It isbasically an act of management that involves with planning, organizing, staffing, directing,

coordinating, recording and budgeting activities of an institution. The state institutions whichundertake these managerial activities are placed under the leadership of political executive and

they are called public administrators.

However, the most important function assigned to the administrators in the modern governmentis “systematic and detailed implementation of public law and public policy as decided by a

competent authority” (Leonard White, Quoted in Ibid., p.36). Since the public policy making istargeted at the public problems which are beyond the efforts of individual in society the public

administrators as the implementers of public policy must fulfill the objectives of these policies

by delivering the expected goods and services to the people equally, ensuring equitabledistribution among them. In the administrative theory and practice developed with theadvancement of popular democracy it was accepted that the public administration must be

carried out by the professional and politically neutral administrators. The principle of politicallyneutrality was advocated on the ground that the position of the public official should be

organized as a “Public Trust” and the implementation of public policy required certain“technical” and “business” skills that should be handled without political or any other divisive

considerations. The notion of non-political administrator later became popular acceptancerecognizing it as a necessary pre-condition for the success of democratic governance. The

improvement of technical and business capacities in the public administration has been acceptedeven today as the most important criterion of measuring success of democracy as it facilitates

efficient and effective use of public resources and energies to deliver quality service to thepeople.

2.2 NATURE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONAlthough the above managerial activities are common to the public, private and non-profitsectors the things to be administered by the administrative organizations of the state are different



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from those of private or non-profit organizations. The task of public administration could bebetter understood if we compare the nature of public and private sectors.

The administrative organizations belonged to the state have to operate within a politicalenvironment while the organizations belonged to private sector operating with the market.Consequently there are marked differences between the functions of the public administration

and the business administration. The administrative organizations belonging to the private sectorare functioning with competitive partners and basically deal with the economics. On the other

hand the administrative organizations of the State are monopolistic and basically deal withpolitics. These differences may be attributed to the fundamentals affixed to the State which is a

political entity and a territorially based organization that exercises the supreme authority over theindividuals and the organizations within its territory by monopolizing the use of violence. It

sometimes goes beyond the democratic norms and takes actions which may be imperative for themaintenance of its authority in the political society. These basic political characteristics of

nation state have not diminished in the current era though we have developed democratic normsand global constrains to contain the repressive roles played by the state. As such in the era of

globalization of democratic norms one of the most crucial issues related to the publicadministration is how we organize the administrative system to serve public goods and promote

public interest while serving the state to impose its authority over the population.

2.3 The crucial issue areas of public sector managementJane-Erik Lane, one of the authorities on modern public management, in his most recent analysis

of public sector management and administration argues that the modern state has become a“workfare state” and the functions assigned to its administrative arm are delivering of public

services, paying for social security and respecting the rule of law(2009, p.i). He identifies the

following aspects in order to locate the crucial functional areas to be attended to by thecontemporary state administration (descriptions and the last two points are added):

1. Imposition of public regulations - the crucial issue is how to offer efficient service to the

people while maintaining this regulatory environment;2. Relationship between the law and the state – the crucial issue is how to impose law of the

land in the best interests of the people;3. Combining ecology and policy-making – the crucial issue is how to keep a balance

between the natural resources and the development objectives (however, the crucial issuein the developing world is how to safeguard the integrity of administrative system from

the forces that are inherent to the most dynamic aspects of the ecology that are socialforces which influence the system to deviate from standard practices in favour of their

vested interests);4. Multi-level governance – the crucial issue is allocation of power and resources among the

different levels of government and how to distribute the public goods and servicesresulting from that allocation through the public administration reaching the remote and

marginalized corners of society;



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5. Public, private and NGO partnership – the crucial issue is how to persuade the privateand NGO sectors to support the government organizations in providing services which

cannot be totally handed over to the private sector or to the NGOs;

6. Policy implementation – the crucial issue is how policy making would accommodate thedifferent interests represented in the different layers in the policy net-works in society;

7. Serving the citizens – the crucial issue is how to fulfill the role of government in

protecting and fulfilling citizen’s rights categorized into civil, political, social, economicand cultural;

8. Protection of the human and fundamental rights of people – this is the key measuringinstrument to be used in assessing each of the issue areas named above.

2.4 MAJOR ROLES TO BE PLAYED BY THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONThe above issues could be understood in relation to the different roles to be played by the publicadministrative system of a country. These roles are associated with the following:

1. Enforcement of power and authority of the State – it is the administrativeorganization that has to impose the will of the state by implementing the laws passed

by the state institutions using both cohesive and integrative powers, fostering the ruleof law principle.

2. Custodian of State Resources – as the Custodian of State Resources the keyresponsibility is to defy the political and other societal pressures to misuse public

resources.3. Policy Advising – the key responsibility is to help the society to enlarge the existing

conceptual map for the advancement of social, economic and technologicaldevelopment of the country through advising the ministers on matters relating to

policy formulation.

4. Executive Arm of the government – the public administration system is the arm of thegovernment which implement laws passed by the legislators and execute the publicpolicies, programmes and plans as decided by the political executive thus the key

responsibility is not just making them more clearer but also to identify detailedimplementation with the technical perfection attached to the delivery of their outputs.

5. Resources management – the public administration system is responsible for handlinghuman and material resources belong to the State efficiently, effectively and

economically thus the key responsibility is to economize the use of resourcesfocusing on cost-benefits, value of money and finally the lessening of the burden of

tax-payers.6. Service Delivery of the government – it is the public administration system which

deliver public services that have social objectives thereby cannot be administered bythe private sector and difficult to handled even by the organized efforts of civil

society thus the key responsibility is to serve the citizens responding to their demandsefficiently and diligently.



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7. Mediator of public interests – the public administration system has to “go between”the state and the private and NGO sectors and build partnership for delivering

services required by the society.

When examine the key responsibilities attached to these different roles it is not difficult tounderstand the complexities surrounded with the public administrative system of a country and

also the several Principals to be served by the public administrative system. If we apply themodern Principal-Agent approach the members of public administration system have four

Principals to serve, namely, the State, the government, the society and the individual citizen.However the most crucial question today is how does public administration get these different

jobs done for these different Principals while providing a better service to the citizen who is the

most important principal actor? In this regard we have two main perspectives to look at the

public administration in modern government. They are the rule of law principle and the modernconception of citizenship.

2.5 RULE OF LAW AND THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONThe issues of public policy and citizenship cannot be solved on the assumption that agovernment exist only to serve public goods or promote public interest. Although in the modern

era the government has been functioning as an institution of policy making in order to organizethe efficient use of energies available for the society it cannot avoid the most primordial function

of the government, that is to protect and enforce the sovereignty of state. However, at presentthis function is closely link to the rule of law principle as the people have been recognized as the

source of power of the state.

Rule of law is an essential element in modern government. Constitutional democracy cannot

function properly without it. Even the regimes which are not following democratic governancemaintain some sort of rule of law framework. There are certain rules of law requirements thathave to be followed by the public administration. These requirements restrain the activities of

public administration to certain extent to certain extent thereby making the formal structure orbureaucracy an essential requirement for its actions.

Following are some important requirements that are to be adhered by the public administration

for the imposition of rule of law (adopted from Jane-Erik Lane, p.05):(a). Procedural accountability: meaning that the administrative decisions must be taken in

accordance with established and known procedures; thus public administration cannot work thorough informal organizations; it needs a formal structure and any deviation must be within the

accountability procedures within the formal structure; thus the tendency to reduce the servicedelivery process to rule following exercise is unavoidable

(b). Legality: meaning that the administrative decisions must follow the law of the country that

either permits or oblige the state administration to act; thus the most important aspect is law of



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the country; hence Constitution and Acts of Parliament have a role to play in organizing theservices offered to the people; any lacuna in the law might give more freedom to the

administrators to use their discretion which is a requirement for the public servants to do their

job perfectly; then the benevolence administrators are essential to offer efficient public serviceto the people

(c). Complaint and redress: administrative decisions must be capable of filing a complaint,expressing their grievances and seeking redress or compensation; thus the decisions of public

administration to be subjected to the investigations and inquiries by the public bodies representedby the people; the establishment of public complaint and redress procedures become most

important element to be included with the work process of public administration; as suchinstitutional mechanisms such as OMBUDSMAN, National Human Rights Commission,

Judiciary and administrative tribunals become essential requirements of the administrativesystem

(d). Inquiry and responsibility: the agents taking administrative decisions and providing publicservices must be capable of being examined and held responsible for their actions or non actions;

thus the actions of members of the public administration must be regulated by rules andregulations in order to make their decisions transparent.

2.6 CITIZENSHIP AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONThe philosopher Aristotle in the 4th century BC stated in his ‘Politics' that “a citizen is not a

citizen because he lives in a certain place, for resident aliens and slaves share in the place”(Aristotle, Politics c340 BCC, Book III, Internet Ancient History Source Book). Rather, he went

on to say, the special characteristic of a citizen is that he “shares in the administration of justice,

and in [public] offices (Ibid.).” Aristotle's definition leads to the conclusion that a citizenshipstatus is fully realized when the citizens become an active participants of decision making in thepublic service and also the recipients of social rewards deriving from that participation.

The difference between Aristotle’s “Athenian citizenship” and the modern citizenship is that the

modern citizenship is a universal legal entitlement of all legitimate residents of the State. Atleast in theory, it transcends class and other social differentiation patterns. It offers national

identity common to all the legitimate residents of the state territory on the basis of the commoncitizenship. In addition it is embedded with certain political, economic, civil, social and cultural

rights. This redefinition of citizenship was not spontaneous. It occurred due to the spread of freemarket, industrialization, modernity, information technology, global values of good governance

and human rights. The social movements that followed the ideological streams of liberalism andsocialism and the emergence of an international system promoting human rights also contributed

to this redefinition of citizenship.



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As such the modern citizenship is closely associated with rights of citizens. Citizenship rightsinitially identified with political, civil and social rights. “Political rights include the right to vote

and secret ballot, right to hold positions in government etc. Civil rights include freedom of

speech, religion and assembly. Basically civil rights are meant to protect the citizens’ civil lifefrom the state power; political rights provide the citizens degree of control over the State; andsocial rights are the entitlements of citizens to be protected by the government. Social rights by

definition are group rights and envisage minimum standards of health and welfare, includinghealth and unemployment insurance, public pensions and social services for individual citizens”

(see Bart van Steenbergen, The Condition of Citizenship, SAGE Publication Ltd., London,pp.02-03). Since the social rights help to build a social life of citizens the state has to play a

proactive role.

In the second part of the 20th

century economic rights were added to the citizen’s rightsdiscourse. They have created two different ways to enjoy the citizens’ rights. Since the

delivering of economic rights is associated with the market the citizen has to become aneconomic man in order to secure his or her economic rights. On the other hand citizen has to

become a political man to deal with the state’s obligation of civil, political and economic rights.Although the economic man attempts to maximize his/her interest in the market the political man

cannot maximize his/her private interest as the state is responsible for the maximization of publicinterests. Thus the State has to play different roles in the two spheres.

The political and civil rights are negative rights, meaning, they seek from the state not to obstruct

the enjoyment of these rights but respect and protect them. Contrary to that the social andeconomic rights are positive rights, meaning, they seek from the state to play a proactive role.

The social rights are claims of citizens from the state. In order to guarantee the economic rights

the state must facilitate the market to do the job and build partnerships with the Private and thenon-profit sectors. On the other hand State should empower the citizen to deal with the marketforces and intervene in market failures.

The above examination on redefinition of citizenship in the modern era points to the fact that the

public administration as the executive arm of the government has a greater responsibility inguaranteeing the citizenship rights. As the citizenship rights perspective identified the state as

the “Duty-Bearer” the state obligations to these rights become the moral and legalresponsibilities of the agents of state, namely, the public officers. Most of the functions related

to the rule of law as identified in the previous section such as procedural accountability, legality,complaint and redress and Inquiry and responsibility are to be complied with the claims of

citizens to share public offices through decision making, decision implementation and access tothe services delivered by these public offices.

The transformation in the meaning of citizenship has influenced the governing institutions to

wedge it into the social fabric of the state. Consequently the citizenship became not just a



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bundle of rights but a process by which citizens actually participate in governance. Theparticipation is essential for the citizens as the access to these rights are closely related to the

bargaining capacities of citizens. In this regard the formal arrangements in the governing

process for citizens to participate in the decision-making, decision-implementation and receivinggoods and services play a crucial role. The formal arrangements are included in theconstitutional provisions, administrative regulatory arrangements and the capacities provided for

the administrative organization.

Finally the public administration as the linkage point between the state and the citizens itsmembers cannot just rely on the formal system to do their job. They must assist the people to

achieve full citizenship by becoming an active partner in government as concerned and informedcitizens. This cannot be done unless they are ready to protect the peoples’ right to efficient,

effective and equitable governance. It is a proven fact that the street-level administrators havecertain discretion to re-interpret and reinvent the policies when they attend to the day to day

activities. Hence the culture of administrators, i.e. their attitudes, mindsets and commitment canalso play a role in shaping the way they implement the policies of government and delivery of

services to the citizens.

The general acceptance in the recent discourses on the role of public administration is that whenfacilitating the citizens’ participation in the affairs of government the public administration must

accommodate such values as integrity, transparency and accountability in delivering services tothe people (Elia Armstrong, Integrity, Transparency and Accountability in Public

Administration: Recent Trends, Regional and International Development and Emerging Issues,United Nations, 2005, p.01). Here “integrity refers to honesty, trustworthiness in the discharge

of official duties. They work against corruption and the abuse of office; transparency refers to

free access by the citizens to timely and reliable information on decisions taken and servicesavailable in the administrative institution and the performance in the public sector; accountabilityrefers to the obligations on the part of public officials to report on the usage of public resources

and answerability for failing to meet stated performance objectives” (Ibid.).

The forgoing discussion has identified the crucial areas to be considered by the discussion on therights issues related to the public administration. In the next chapter we will be examining the

international standards and best practices in other countries with a particular focus on NewPublic Management methods adopted.

3 - BEST DELIVERY PRACTICES IN OTHER COUNTRUES

3.1 INTRODUCTIONIn the recent years many countries around the globe have attempted at reforms to improve the

service delivery and management performance in the public sector. These reforms aimed at theestablishment of administrative service which cost less for the citizens and serve them better with



34

business type management practices. The trend was to adopt as far as possible private sectormanagement practices to produce a customer friendly service delivery system as well as to focus

on value for money concept.

The most publicized recent reform process is called New Public Management (NPM). Thesereforms started in Britain and the United States in the 1980s and later moved to other countries.

NPM has come with a wide range of reforms from which the public service may choose toreduce bureaucracy. The main elements of NPM are geared towards restructuring the public

sector in order to introduce competition, better financial management and performanceevaluation based service delivery system. The objective is to produce smaller faster-moving

service delivery organizations that would be kept moving by the pressure of competition. Buttheir survival would not only depend on their financial and managerial performances but also on

the user responsiveness too. When the Information Technology Revolution emerged thesepublic service reforms were incorporated new dimension called E-Governance. This has created

proactive governance which made an attempt to offer citizens to reach and access to the publicservice through electronic means.

The United Nations Organization is also involved in helping its members to improve the deliveryof services to the people. The United Nations established a Public Administration Network

Mission to promote the sharing of knowledge, experiences and best practices throughout theworld in sound public policies, effective public administration and efficient civil services. After

evaluating the recent reforms in the Commonwealth Countries one scholar has identified eightsubjects that can lead to better public service in the world, namely:

(1). Restructuring of the public service(2). Reexamining the political/administrative interface

(3). Maintaining high ethical standards and an intolerance for corruption(4). Reviewing the role and responsibilities of Public Service Commissions

(5). Consideration of the value and impact of performance standards(6). Exploring the contribution of partnerships, not just with the private sector but beyond

(7). Maintaining high quality services and,(8). Proposal to develop an index of public sector competence (A.S. bin Abdul Ahmad, Best

Practices in Public Administration: Experiences from Commonwealth Countries in MazlinAhmad (ed.), Public Service Management: Achieving Quality Service in the 21

stCentury,

National Institute of Public Administration, Public Service Department, Malaysia, 1998, p.2(pp.2-10) .

These reforms formulas have followed by many countries and brought some good practices fromwhich we can learn lesions in order to understand the public service reforms and best practices to

be adopted in the improvement of public service delivery system in Sri Lanka.



35

3.2 REFORMS AND BEST PRACTICES IN OTHER COUNTRIES

3.2.1 The NPM based reforms

The NPM based Civil service reforms prevailed in the 1980s in advanced capitalists democraciesas respond to poor performance of civil service evidenced in expanded government size, overexpenditure in wage bills, unaccountability of civil servants etc. The main concern of civil

service reform programmes administered by these countries was to deal with the heavy financialburden created by the public service system, which was identified as one of the major

weaknesses of the public service. The failure to deliver expected policy outcomes compelled thepolicy makers in these societies to focus on the public sector expenditure from the point of view

of Value for Money (VFM).

The idea of reinventing government emerged in the 1980s focusing on weak concern on thepublic sector expenditure. As the liberalization of economies activated the market and the

private sector has brought new management practices producing wider space for the domesticeconomies the public sector had to rethink about the centuries old bureaucratic practices which

did not match with the new economic drive in the country. In this context the public sectorexpenditures had been identified as a burden to the people. In practice, this led to a re-

examination of the performance of public sector using the criterion used by the private sector andto introduce reforms attempting to reduce the cost of the civil service, practically by reducing the

size of its civil service. This facilitated the introduction of decentralized budgetary managementsystems on the one hand and citizen/customer/client focused practices following market methods

on the other.

The NPM reform is a process, which is still spreading all over the world. It is a new pattern of

governance associated with the use of a wide range of different “tools” and with a reliance onthird parties to manage and deliver government services. It first originated in the westerncountries and gradually spread to even-non western countries. The NPM reforms have been far-

reaching and have been signed as one of the most important developments in westerngovernments especially in the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and

Development (OECD), like Australia, New Zealand, and United Kingdom. NPM is often seen aspublic sector reforms that are motivated by public hostility to government, shrinking budgets,

and the imperatives of globalization. For long, it was seen as an Anglo Saxon phenomenonbecause the early reformers were Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia and to some extent the

USA. However, during the 1980s and the 1990s the NPM reforms were carried out, almost on aglobal scale.

3.2.2 The reforms in the United KingdomThe reforms made in UK during the government of Margret Thatcher were initially identified asan effort to reduce the expenditure of the public sector. The government commenced the reform

programme claiming that the public servants were enjoying a privileged status and earning good



36

money without much labour as there were no performance based pay system in the government.The government announced that it was interested in changing the managerial style of the public

service to make the system more competitive and citizen friendly.

The reform process was based on the conception that the administrative man in the publicorganizations likes his counterpart - the economic man in the market makes attempt to maximizehis self-interest such as wealth, status, prestige and comfort. Hence the public interest based old

organizations had to adopt new management principles such as performance based pay,decentralized budgets, customer satisfaction and market methods. Finally it facilitated a

fundamental change in the management culture and restructuring of the administrative systemthat existed since the 19

thcentury.

First the government sent the public servants who involved in delivering services into smaller

service delivery centres called Executive Agencies. The Senior Managers had to become thepolicy making core of the ministries and the Agency Heads who were recruited through

competition from the Senior Managers of the public and private sectors to sign contracts with theministries to full their demands. As such the Senior Public Servants who are working with the

ministers to formulate public policy are now responsible for dealing with Executive Agencieswhich accept the supply side of the government and the direct demands coming from the public.

These new service delivery centres, the Executive Agencies whose main function is to undertakethe services assigned to them under these contracts profitably, effectively as private firms. The

Executive Agencies have now become firms within the government undertaking public servicedelivery as business activities undertaken for profit. The citizens had to pay directly to get the

services provided. However, it was the government that under take the use payment on behalf of the citizens. Finally the British Government managed to reduce its workforce by nearly 40% and

save millions of pounds by eliminating too much of procedures which cost more for the

government to purchase its requirements. The government budgetary expenditure was reduceddrastically as the Executive Agencies are now functioning as “income driven and cost-recovery”institutions. The government too became customer of these institutions.

The one of the social outcomes of the NPM process was to introduction of Citizen Charters. The

term ‘Citizen’ in the Citizen’s Charter implies the clients or customers whose interests andvalues are addressed by the Citizen’s Charter and, therefore, includes not only the citizens but

also all the stakeholders. The Citizen’s Charter is a bond of honor between the public serviceand citizens and safeguards the right of citizens to enjoy quality and high-standard services. At

the same time, it helps make public servants feel satisfaction for the services they provide to thepublic. The Citizen’s Charter is not legally enforceable. However, it is a tool for facilitating the

delivery of services to citizens with specified standards. The main objective of Citizen's Charteris to improve the quality of its public services. On the basis of the Citizen’s Charter, public

services are obliged:



37

to inform the public in detail on the kind of services they provide

to define and publicize standards of services

to be easily accessible and friendly to the citizen and to provide adequate information to explain the options afforded and give correct advice to the public to be courteous and forthcoming in providing services and to rectify mistakes

The Citizen’s Charter is not a document, which contains only theoretical and general principlesand aims. On the contrary, it contains specific provisions and sets out specific obligations for the

public services, e.g. the period of time within which the department has the obligation to reply,the type of information to be given etc. A Citizens' Charter represents the commitment of the

organization towards standard, quality and time frame of service delivery, grievance redressmechanism, transparency and accountability.

3.2.3 The reforms in other countries

In USA the NPM based public service reforms started under Ronald Reagan. However, mostrecent changes were taken place under Bill Clinton. His Vice President Al Gore led a National

Performance Review (NPR) and devised the public sector reform programme called “Re-Inventing Government”. This reform focused on the reduction of procedural delays and the

enormous costs involving with these slow processes especially in the procurement processes. Itenabled the public sector managers to focus on decentralized budgets and run their programmes

profitably using user payments and contracted jobs allocated through the Federal GovernmentBudgets.

New Zealand has introduced a home grown reform programme to improve civil service

performance. These civil service reforms apart from being seen as a tool for curbing government

spending through personnel and wage cuts included the creation of a skilled and efficientgovernment workforce. Cost containment is an important aspect of NPM reform, but there areother equally important aspects. An efficient and motivated civil service has been identified as

critical for governance, production and distribution of public goods and services. It alsorecognized as the effective tool for the formulation and implementation of economic policy, and

management of public expenditure. “The broader aim of civil service reform based on NPM wastherefore, the creation of a small size government workforce with the skills, incentives, ethos,

and accountability needed to provide quality public services and carry out functions assigned tothe state” (World Bank & International Monetary Fund, Reforming The Civil Service, Finance

And Development, 1996, Vol. 33, No 3 Pp 10-13).

In some countries civil service reforms contributed to microeconomic stability throughsupporting downsizing programmes which reduce the size and cost of civil service to an

affordable and sustainable level. Reducing the size of the civil service is often a prerequisite forensuring that governments can sustain and finance a smaller and better-paid civil service over

time (World Bank & International Money Fund, “Civil Service Reform in Africa, Mixed results



38

after 10 Years”. Finance and Development, 1998, Vol. 35, No 2, pp. 10-13). However, althoughthe civil service reforms have been applied and implemented in different countries, the reforms

have always become complex, mixed up with various institutional challenges that required time

to accomplish. Civil service reforms are difficult to implement since they often involverearranging difficult human configurations and changing human behavior (Olsen, J. P., PetrsB.G., 1996, Lesson From Experience: Experiential Learning In Administrative Reforms in Eight

Democracies, Oslo, Scandinavian University Press, p. 12). Current civil service reforms usuallyare in cooperated closely with administrative reforms that rearrange the focus of the state and

government to that of the more lean and strategic role through strengthening institutions andprocesses to perform core state functions. The administrative systems would be expected to

develop fewer layers and devolve operational authority to front-line managers. With adownsized staff, many services may leave to be ‘contracted out’ for efficient service deliver.

3.3 COMPONENTS OF GOVERNMENT REFORMS IN THE RECENT YEARS – ANOVER VIEW

One scholar has identified three major focuses in the government reforms taken place in therecent past, namely, (1).Less costing government (2).Professional government and (3).E-

government (A.L. Verma, Public Administration, Lotus Press, New Delhi, 2006, p.238). Next wesurvey the administrative measures implemented in other countries under these headings (the

information provided below under these themes are from the same author, pp. 238-258).

3.3.1 Less Costing GovernmentThe less costing government became one of the prime focuses of the recent public sector reforms

in the world. This was associated with the introduction of strong financial controls and effective

budgetary processes into the public sector. These measures were linked to the highly publicizedcampaigns aimed at the introduction of productivity as a concept relevant to governmentexpenditures. The governments adopted several interrelated strategies to enhance productivity in

the public sector. They included with components such as cost accounting, performance basedbudgeting, flexibility among budget accounts and promoting productivity.

In New Zealand the government services are arranged to compete for budgets on the basis of

their goal achievements. The public sector institutions were given clear-cut performance goals.These institutions had to sign written contracts to achieve goals associated with the

implementation of each of the programme. Singapore being a good example of innovations thatwere promoting productivity and make government cost less. The government of Singapore has

built their attempts to manage costs around four concepts – Limit Damage (waste), MaximizeDiscretion (of the administrators involving procurement), Measure Costs (with the outputs) and

Pursue Excellence (in the service delivery). France passed the constitutional by-law and theBudget Act focusing on the productivity and the reduction of costs in the government in 2001.

USA passed the Government Performance and Results Act in 1993 to improve the performance



39

of government officials. The Canadian Federal Government successfully overcame the budgetdeficit that was accounted for 8.5% of Gross Domestic Product in 1995. In Chile the Inter-

Municipal Environmental Programme joins with smaller municipalities reduce the cost of

training the officials, strengthen the environmental management and implement commonprogramme for several municipalities. In Italy services centres called one-step-shops wereestablished in order to provide several services required to start a new business. The Mexican

Government had established more than 650 federal government work centres with the ISO –9000 standards up to 2006. In Australia major reorganization taken place for the inculcation of

customer culture in the social service programmes.

3.3.2 Professional GovernmentThe notion of effective state depends on an effective public sector. This became the important

issue in many countries. The ineffective public sector is associated with the following problems:(a). The public sector had difficulty in recruiting talented persons as it could not compete

with the private sector or with NGOs(b). The public sector faced severe skill shortage and not enough funds to train its

workforce(c). Public sector employees faced severe wage compression and this influenced talented

executives to leave the public service(d). Public sector suffered from excessive political patronage causing the government to

employ large number of employees without much work to do(e). Public sector officials do not always work under the rule of law

A major study conducted by the International Monetary Fund found clear-cut relation between

public sector salaries and the level of corruption in a country. The study estimated that wages in

the government relative to the salaries in the manufacturing sector needed to be increased by 2.8-7.4 to eliminate corruption in the public sector. However money is not the only contributoryfactor in the creation of a corrupt public service. The adherence to the rule of law by the public

service has been identified as one of the factors that contribute to the public sector corruption. Itis well known fact that in the countries where the rule of law is not well established the public

service is not undertaking their job according the law.

Singapore is one of the countries which increased the salaries to control corruption. TheSingapore government successfully eliminated the wage disparity between public and private

sectors. Under Margret Thatcher United Kingdom experienced similar reforms when theExecutive Agencies were established to deliver services to the public. The personnel in these

agencies were offered through service contracts increased monetary benefits including largebonuses under depending on performance. In 1999 South Korea introduced a public servicereform programme called “Open Competitive Position System” designed to recruit outstanding

talent from both the public and private sectors. Presently nearly 20% of the positions in the civilservice in every ministry are positions open to this competitive scheme.



40

3.3.3 E-GovernmentA recent UN study noted that 89% of the world governments were using internet in some

capacity to provide information and/or services despite the fact that not all the citizens are

exposed to the internet. The states using the internet have been categorized into three groups.First group included with the governments using internet sites to offer political information aboutthe leadership of the country. Second group is using the internet to attract non-citizens to invest

in the country. Third group is called interactive. They offer citizens services through internet byallowing them to download forms and request information from the government. The third

categories of countries are the states that had adopted IT to reduce costs and increase the qualityof services offered to citizens. Singapore is the pioneer in establishing E-Citizen Portal as a

single gateway to government service. The Canadian government is world leader in interactivegovernment. It increased the citizens input and official decision making using E-Government.

SECTION – 2

4 - THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM IN SRI LANKA – AN OVERVIEW

4.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter surveys the origins and the development of the public administration in Sri Lanka.The discussion below would focus on the legacies of colonial bureaucracy, failure to establish

development oriented administration, the politicization of bureaucracy and the challenges facedby the present day public administration.

4.2 THE COLONIAL BUREAUCRACY

4.2.1 The ideological and organizational frameworkA modern version of administrative system was introduced to Sri Lanka during the BritishColonial rule that existed for nearly one and a half century. The policy changes to this effect

were introduced by Colebrook-Cameron Commissions that came to the country in 1829 thoughthe colony was under an administrative institution headed by a Governor. The Commissioners

were under the influence of the 19th

century liberalism that stressed the values of free-trade andlaissez-faire in preparing their recommendations.

Since the recommendations of these commissions were aimed at the introduction of a free marketthe colony was gradually transformed into, what is called, a “Colonial State” which was

established to facilitate the extraction of surplus of free-market economy through profits for thebenefit of Great Britain. This facilitated the demarcation between state and government. The

establishment of Legislative and Executive Councils and the establishment of independentJudiciary was taken place in 1833.



41

Transforming the administrative system of the government from ‘aristocracy’ to ‘bureaucracy’was also taken place during this era. The selection of administrators through patronage was

abandoned gradually. In the 1870s steps were taken to establish an administrative system led by

an administrative leadership selected through competitive examinations conducted following theguidelines of the Civil Service Commission of Great Britain. This was necessitated by thepolitical transformations taken place in Britain in the direction of democratic governance.

Nevertheless the executive machinery and the process of governance in the colonial state were in

the hands of administrators. Therefore the colonial state was basically an Administrative Stateuntil 1931 when the British government allowed the indigenous leaders to take part in social

welfare policy making and lead that part of the administrative system through limited self-rule.This transformation required the demarcation between politics and administration as the

independence of public service became an important requirement.

The state administrative system of the Colonial State was based on a rigid regulatory system thataimed at the controlling of both public servants and the people. The standard civil service codes

were introduced in order to make the public officers working as the servants of the crown. At thesame time it was used to keep strategic control of the machinery of government in the hands of

the European officers. The main functions of the administrative organization were handling of law and order and collection of state revenue through taxation.

Although the colonial administrators as the servants of crown were required to protect the

imperial interests there were specific instructions to adopt benevolent paternalism whenapproaching the ordinary masses. The administrators were obliged to visit the villages and towns

to see by themselves the problems faced by the ordinary people at least once a week. They were

advised to see even the availability of basic necessities such as water, sanitation, agriculturalrequirements and essential food items to the villagers during their visits. The executive authorityof colonial state was highly centralized under the leadership of the Governor whose office

functioned as the Central Coordinating Secretariat of the government. The Colonial Secretaryfunctioned as the chief of the administrative system and the executive functions of the

government were subdivided into departments.

The Local Administration had features similar to the Prefectural system in France. Like thePrefects in France, the Government Agents who led the highly centralized provincial

administrative system located in the Kachcheriya had military, police, administrative and fiscalauthority to administer the Province as the agents of State and government. It is not an

exaggeration to say that the backbone of the colonial state was the Government Agent’sprovincial administration which was a hierarchically arranged structure in order to maintain the

centralized authority of the colonial government.



42

The Kachcheri system began between 1796 and 1798, when a Resident Superintendent of Revenue was appointed, one for Jaffna and Mannar, one for Colombo & Galle and the other for

Trincomalee and Batticaloa. In 1833 entire country being divided into five Provinces, each was

placed under a Government Agent (GA). The GA was the revenue officer. Because of this hewas responsible to the Revenue Department. With the increase of govt. functions GAs becamegovernment’s general agents in the field. Consequently the line of authority was changed. The

Colonial Secretary became the head of the system. The GAs had to work with him to implementgeneral orders of the government and the decisions taken by the colonial Secretary. The

indigenous hierarchy of officials which extended down to villages with the Village Headmansystem was supervised by the GA.

The term Kachcheri (the building where the office of the GA was situated) came into being to

identify the GA’s administration. The Kachcheri was the office set up in nine areas besidesColombo by the Madras tax collectors who were in Sri Lanka during 1796-98. By 1928 this de-

concentrated administrative structure (i.e. an administrative system decentralized from the centrebut re-centralized at the local level) consisted of nine provinces and nineteen districts, 110 Chief

Headmen’s divisions, 613 sub-divisions under headmen, and about 4000 villages under VillageHeadmen. Although the Government Agent was primarily a revenue collector, a great variety of

functions came to be exercised by him (“he became jack of all trades”).

During the colonial period the Government Agents were to look after the whole aspects of thelives of ordinary masses. The second Governor of the island, Thomas Maitland had assigned the

following functions to them:1. circuit visits to whole of his province

2. exercise judicial power during those visits to resolve petty disputes

3. make arrangements to guarantee the supply of necessities such as seed,grain, clothing and Agricultural Tools to the villagers

4. relieving villagers from the vexation of the Tax Gatherer

Leonard Woolf who wrote “Village of Jungle” in his Diaries in Ceylon 1908-11 gave us a fare

idea about the functions of a GA. He identifies following functions:1. Inspecting town with Sanitary Inspectors

2. Inspecting Hospitals3. Visiting villages with the Mudlyars to hold inquires on village disputes came to his

office4. Inspecting bridges and roads

5. Inspecting schools6. Investigating murder cases reported to him

As shown in the above descriptions the GA performed a combination of legislative, executive

and judicial functions. In addition to those duties he was expected to give his recommendations



43

at the Conference of Government Agents. The Police ordinance recognized the GA as the Headof Police service in the province. In addition the GA was given the control over the inferior

departments in his province. In the final analysis GA became the representative of the Central

Government responsible for promoting the general interests of his province. According to theCivil Service Manual the tasks expected from him was practically unlimited, comprising theobligations of being fully acquainted with all the system of agriculture and industrious pursuits

followed and all the relations of trade carried on.

Later the government departments too established field administrative units at the provinciallevel. Departments of Surveyor General’s, Public Works, and irrigation were the earliest

departments came to the provinces. The technical departments and the departments which hadmore day to day administrative works at the local level established direct control over their field

administration. This created a parallel organization of departmental field units functioningalongside with the Kachcheriya.

4.2.2 Transition from Colonial Bureaucracy to politically neutral Bureaucracy – 1931-48With the Donoughmore Constitution of 1931 the Colonial Bureaucracy faced the challenge of transforming itself to a politically neutral Bureaucracy to be led by the politicians elected by the

people. The new constitution granted universal franchise and enabled the Ceylonese politiciansto take over 07 Executive Departments (Ministries). These measures had a significant impact

upon the structure and style of functioning of the bureaucracy.

The introduction of universal franchise completely transformed the character of the politicalinstitutions. The political institutions were now under compulsion to be sensitive and responsive

to the needs of ordinary people though the system provided a limited self rule. The bureaucracy

was now made accountable to political power emanating from the people. Now it has to shiftfrom the colonial concern of law & order and revenue collection to universal welfare. Theestablishment of difference between politics and administration became a prime importance in

order to distinguish imperial interests and the local concerns and also the smooth functioning of procedural standards and technical requisites.

For the first time the demarcation between politics and administration became a necessity. The

Constitution created a Public Service Commission (PSC) as an advisory body which advised theGovernor who continued the powers entrusted to him in the past constitutional practice on

appointment, promotion, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of public officers. However,the bureaucratic transition was not properly addressed as the politicians were interested in

“Ceylonization of Civil Service” and consolidating the newly gain power by distributing the“spoils” among the personal and political friends. This has created political practices of abusing

power to help the people loyal to them getting positions, grant allocations and other fringebenefits to be drawn from the public offices.



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4.3 THE NATIONAL BUREAUCRACY

The constitutional order facilitated by the granting of independence in 1948 required a national

bureaucracy which has to be the executive arm of the government dealing with twin challengesfaced by the new state, namely, nation building and development. The first constitution provided

constitutional protection to the public service by establishing an independent Public ServiceCommission, which was also identified as a measure of minority protection against the abuse of

recruitment process in favour of majority community. However at independence the publicservice was breathing with the legacies of colonialism. It was still within the mindset of law and

order maintenance administration of the colonial state.

As stated earlier the transition from Colonial Bureaucracy to National Bureaucracy was notproperly addressed by the national leadership during 1931-1948. However, the common class

and elite outlook shared by both the political and the administrative leaders and, the continuation

of most of the public policy strategies established during the colonial period had facilitated agood working relationship between the politicians and the administrators. But this tranquility didnot last long.

The change of governing regime and the introduction of somewhat “radical policy changes” in

1956 the country drifted towards a period in which tension between the political leadership andthe administrative leadership became a visible feature. The tension between the administrative

and the political leaders produced a conflict between new political leaders and the leaders of theadministrative state. The allegation of non-corporation by the administrative leadership was

leveled against the public servants by the political leaders. The constitutional protection providedfor the administrators were identified as one of the obstacles for the political leaders to fulfill

people’s aspirations.

The final onslaught was the abolition of constitutional protections in the constitution againstpoliticization when the new Constitution was adopted in 1972. However, several actions were

initiated some eight years ago in order to facilitate the measures that consolidated the politicalpower over the public administration. In 1963 the government abolished the Ceylon Civil

Service, the administrative class that led the colonial state which was based on meritocracy andthe Village Headman System which was based on aristocracy and replaced them by Ceylon

Administrative Service (now Sri Lanka Administrative Services) and Grama Sevaka Service(now Grama Niladhari Service). Though the abolition of these services hailed as to get rid of an

outdated “Brahmin Class” the changeover helped the politicians appoint political favorites over

looking seniority and the abilities of the persons. In 1970 the establishment of Department of Public Administration further strengthened the politicians’ grip on the administrative system as

the country was moving towards the centralization of political as well as economic power.

The First Republican Constitution abolished the Public Service Commission (PSC) established in1948 and handed over the powers of the public service to the Cabinet of Ministers which



45

received the constitutional protection under “Parliamentary sovereignty”, entrenched in the newRepublican Constitutions. New constitution established the Public Service Advisory Board and

the Public Service Disciplinary Board to replace the PSC. In 1973 the Political Authority System

and the Decentralized Budget for District Development was inaugurated enabling the formationof district political leadership over the local administration in Sri Lanka. The constitution of 1978 crowned the political centralization process by establishing an Executive Presidency and its

leadership in the system of governance. The new system established the Presidential leadershipover the administration. Consequently appointment of leaders of the administrative system

became the constitutional function of the President who now appoints the Secretary to thePresident, the Secretary to the Cabinet, Secretaries of the Ministries and Chief Secretaries of the

Provincial Councils.

4.4 THE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE AND THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Though the post-independent constitution changes targeted at the public administrationenvisaging greater political control over the bureaucracy these changes did not address the real

issues confronted by the administrative system. The post-colonial state was to take up nationbuilding and national development as its key objectives while the public administrative system

needed certain technical and cultural capacities to undertake the tasks associated with these twineobjectives. One such need was to move from procedural oriented centralized administrative

system to development oriented decentralized administrative system. Though the requirementwas to establish a development administration which means “development of administration”

and “administration of development” the system went towards the politicization of bureaucracy.

The second Republican Constitution continued the process of politicization of bureaucracy and it

was taken to its height under the Presidential system. The politicians engaged in administrativebusiness and administrators doing political business became the hallmark of governance process.The final outcome is the creation of an administrator subservient to the politicians in power.

This has created a “bureaucratic imbalance” i.e. the administrators failing to stand between thepositions of “despot and subservient”.

The establishment of Provincial Councils in 1978 created an “Inter-mix of administrative

delivery system”. The establishment of three tiers of governance, namely, Central, Provincial &Local governments have changed the administrative landscape at the Provincial, District and

Divisional Level. The practice of both administrative de-concentration and devolution waswitnessed by the people. However, Sri Lanka has to go a long way to achieve real benefits of

multilevel governance in terms of efficiency, cost effectiveness and citizens’ satisfaction. Thecriteria to be developed to assess the performance of these changes using conceptual frameworks

such as “centralization and decentralization continuum”; “politicization of bureaucracy”,“imbalance in resources transfer” and “stability, allocation and distribution functions”.



46

4.5 REFORMING THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

In the 1990s management efficiency and the productivity of the administrative organization came

to the forefront. The less-government idea promoted by the liberalization of economy and thedonor pressure had made these aspects as urgent considerations of the policy makers and theadministrators.

Several attempts were made in the recent past to this effect. An Administrative Reform

Committee was appointed in the early 1980s. An Administrative Task Force was established inthe Presidential Secretariat and a Minister for Administrative Reform was appointed during

1995-2002. After 2002 the Prime Minister’s Office took up the responsibility of creatingmanagement oriented administrative culture. Within the public administration E-governance

became a catch word among the administrators. Some departments and ministries havecomputerized public information system to expedite the service delivery. As a result services

such as the issuance of birth certificate, National Identity Cards, Driving License and Passporthave been expedited. The department of examination releases results of the public examinations

through internet. The use of internet by the many ministries has been used mainly to provideinformation on programmes undertaken by the government. It seems these information systems

have been used to attract non-citizens who are interested in investing in the country. Howeverthe public administrative system has a long way to go to help the citizens to have responsive

governance through the use of internet. The low rate of using the internet by the people could beidentified as one of the contributor factors for non-availability of fully developed proactive

governance in Sri Lanka. In 2007 HE the President has announced the establishment of Councilfor Administrative Reform.

The proposals such as establishment of a Senior Management Service and a ManagementAssistance Service, introduction of Flexi Hours, Citizens’ Charters and Staff redundancyschemes were included in the reform agenda. However, the establishment of Senior

Management service was abandoned during the time of President Chandirka Bandaranaike asthere were political pressures for appointing their favorites. The establishment of a Management

Assistant Service, accommodating all clerical, steno and office assistant services is stillcontinuing but the senior members of these services have not shown any enthusiasm and in this

respect the Trade Unions have reservations. The whole process lacked the commitment from thepolitical leadership. Although there were projects funded by the World Bank and other donor

agencies to inculcate culture favorable to e-governance these activities did not lead tocomprehensive changes due to lack of continued commitment from the political leadership.

Consequently these programmes have become spare-time-work for the senior managers in theirinternal organizations. However, the most important issues to be addressed by the public

administration in Sri Lank today are high level of administrative corruption, low productivity andthe prevalent of politicized culture among the administrative personnel.



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5 - THE CONSTITUTION AND THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN SRI LANKA

5.1 INTRODUCTIONThe present constitution consists of several legal directives for the public administration. Most

important of them are the articles that elucidate the nature of state, the source of state power,principles of state policy, fundamental rights, public finance, exercise of executive power and the

conditions applying to the public officers.

Many of these constitutional directives are related to the process of centralization of politicalpower that is associated with the state craft strategy followed by the makers of the constitutions

of 1972 and 1978. The centralization of political power became a popular attraction in the 1970sas the people were interested in decolonizing polity and move towards rapid economic

development and a socialist democracy. Consequently the constitutional arrangements

necessitated for the strengthening of fundamental principles such as political neutrality of publicadministration and independence of judiciary were diluted to suit the political power objectives.Following is a brief survey of these important constitutional provisions and their implications on

the public administration.

5.2 THE NATURE OF STATE AND SOURCE OF STATE POWERThe first three Articles of the Constitution stipulate the nature of State, the source of State power

and the sovereignty of State. Article one declares that Sri Lanka is a Free, Sovereign andIndependent Republic and the Article two pronounces that the Republic of Sri Lanka is a unitary

state. These provisions later became the sacred principles to be followed by the members of thepublic service. In 1983 the Parliament approved the sixth amendment to the constitution and

made it compulsory for the public employees taking an oath, promising that they “…will notdirectly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or

advocate the establishment of a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka”. As such thepublic officers must not just show their allegiance to the state but also to its territorial integrity

and unitary nature. Accordingly a public officer will lose his/her employment if proved guiltyfor abetting or associating secessionism.

The most important implication of this constitutional requirement is keeping the public servants

inside the bureaucratic maze inherited from the colonial state. The Financial and Administrativeregulations introduced during the colonial period were continuously followed by the public

administration. This has been the feature even in the administrative organs belonged to the

devolved system of governance today. Though the country has been experiencing multi-levelgovernance for more than two decades it has become a daunting task to change from ruleimposing to customer driven service delivery approach.



48

5.3 SOVEREIGNTY OF PEOPLEThe Article 3 of the constitution declares that “In the Republic of Sri Lanka sovereignty is in the

People and is inalienable. Sovereignty includes the powers of government, fundamental rights

and the franchise.”

As such the Article 3 of the constitution unfolds and broadens the content of sovereignty

declaring that powers of government, fundamental rights and franchise are the means of exercising sovereignty by the people. This interpretation has far reaching consequences as the

Article 83 states that “approval by two thirds of Members of Parliament and the approval by thepeople at Referendum” is required to pass any legislation affecting or amending the particular

Article.

The most fundamental implication is that the constitution empowers the people to participatedirectly in the legislative process through referendum. These constitutional provisions have

become the protective of peoples’ right to exercise franchise at elections to be held in six yearstime and enjoy of fundamental rights declared in the constitution and interpreted by the Supreme

Court. The referendum clause has made transparency as an important element in governance asthe actions of the executive and legislature is subjected to review by the people at open platforms

during the process of referendum. As such the governance decisions cannot be taken in secrecyoverlooking the rights of citizens and due legal processes.

The chapter on fundamental rights together with these provisions has empowered the people to

take up their rightful place in the polity. They have the legal right to challenge the action of government and public administration in the courts seeking judicial remedies. This has been

straight forward in the chapters on fundamental rights and powers of Supreme Court. Article 126

of the constitution declares that “…the Supreme Court shall have sole and exclusive jurisdictionto hear and determine any question relating to the infringement or imminent infringement byexecutive or administrative action of any fundamental right or language right declared and

recognized by chapter III and chapter IV.” Therefore the member of any governmentalorganization, especially the members of public service could be trued at the highest court of the

country. The people have legal entitlement to filing complaints, expressing their grievances andseeking redress and compensation against the administrative decisions violating their rights.

Theoretically these provisions made the rule of law the pre-eminence aspect of the politicalsystem though the politics has the ability to manipulate the system in its favour, using the level

of political awareness of the people.

5.4 CHAPTER ON FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTSThe fundamental rights declared in the constitution could be arranged into following broad

categories:(a). Protection of life:

Freedom from torture or cruel treatment or punishment



49

Right to protection before the law(b). Dignity

Freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment

Freedom of thought and conscience(c). Justice

Right to have equal treatment before the law

Right to have a fare trial(d). Protection by the law

Right to free from unlawful arrestRight to be presumed innocent until proved guilty

(e). LibertyRight free expression

Right to assemble freelyRight to association

Right to form and join Trade UnionsRight to engage in lawful occupation, profession, trade, business or enterprise

(f). ReligionFreedom of religion including to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice

Freedom to manifest religion personally or with others(g). Citizenship

Freedom to return to Sri LankaEntitlement non citizens, permanently and legally residing in the county to the rights

declared in the constitution.

The constitution stipulated that the fundamental rights recognized by the constitution shall be

respected by all the organs of government. As pointed out in the previous section theadministrative actions violating the fundamental rights could be challenged at the Supreme Courtwhich has the sole judicial jurisdiction on fundamental rights declared in the constitution.

Apart from the provisions empowering Supreme Court the basic law has established the Officeof Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (OMBUDSMAN) to enable the people and

the members of the public administration to seek informal redress for fundamental rightsviolations by the public administrators. Later the government established a National Human

Rights Commission [Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC)] to promote human rightsand to inquire about the complaints on fundamental rights violations enabling the people to find

redress without going to the complex and extracting process at the Supreme Court.

The office of the OMBUDSMAN was established with the view that the people need aninstitution which could facilitate easy access to justice with regard to the arbitrary actions of

public administrators. The constitution stipulates that any person can complain against theactions of administrative officers who have infringed his/her fundamental rights or about to

infringe their rights. The OMBUDSMAN has the constitutional authority to enter into any



50

government institution and access to any official document which is not named as a classifieddocument. However, the OMBUDSMAN does not have legal jurisdiction to issue binding

judicial orders. The task of the OMBUDSMAN is to settle the dispute by offering informal

redress and submit a report to Parliament and the President.

The Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission was established with a mandate of promoting human

rights and finding a mutually agreed settlement to disputes involving fundamental rightsviolations. The Commission therefore involved in investigating complaints of fundamental

rights with a view to settling them informally. In the recent years it has involved in resolvingsuch complaints and also assisting the Supreme Court undertaking detailed investigations of FR

cases directed by the Supreme Court.

However, the working of these institutions in the field of fundamental rights is far fromsatisfactory. Both institutions lack basic human and financial resources to function

independently. These institutions have failed to gain confidence among the people because of their inability to provide legal redress. Therefore critiques have labeled these institutions as

ornaments in the political system.

5.5 PUBLIC FINANCEThe control of public finance is vested in Parliament by the constitution. Accordingly the

approval of Parliament is a must for both the collection and the disbursement of state revenue.The constitution has established two funds, namely, the Consolidate Fund and the Contingency

Fund for this purpose and provided detailed legal procedures for the use of these funds.

The direct outcome of this constitution provision is the continuation of centralized system of

fiscal management initiated by the colonial bureaucracy and further strengthened by the 1948and 1972 constitutions. Traditionally it was the Department of Treasury and Department of Auditor General that evolved as the central departments responsible for the management and the

disciplinary control of public finance. The main functions derived from the above constitutionalprovisions such as the management of national tax policy, effective use of government revenue,

enforcement of government financial regulations, execution of the national budget andenforcement of budgetary controls, have been identified as key function of the Department of

Treasury (see webpage of the Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka).

The Auditor General’s Department is responsible for assisting Parliament to exercise itsauthority in controlling the handling of public finances by the administrative agencies of the

state. According to the website of the Department of Auditor General its mission is to promotepublic accountability by carrying out audits and reporting to Parliament on the discharge of

accountability by the executive to enable Parliament to exercise control over public finance. Itskey functions are auditing of the accounts of all the Departments of the Government, Provincial

Councils, Local Authorities and Public Corporations and of any Business or other Undertakings



51

vested in the Government and to report to Parliament annually (see website of the Department of Auditor General).

These constitutional and administrative arrangements demonstrate that Sri Lanka is following“the principle of external financial control which stresses the role of the Legislature in exercisingthe supervisory control over the finances handled by the executive branch.” This is an acceptable

practice in the Westminster system of government where complete divorce of finance andadministration has become an established practice.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Committee of Public Enterprises (COPE)

appointed by Parliament from among its members scrutinize the reports submitted by the AuditorGeneral on behalf of Parliament and recommend the necessary measures to Parliament with

regard to the violation of budgetary discipline set forth by Parliament and the Financial andAdministrative regulations.

As the central department involving in preparing the annual appropriation bill and maintaining

the state revenue the General Treasury has the responsibility of maintaining the financialstandards within public administration. It exercises discretionary powers over the approval of

cadre positions in the government departments and the allocation of funds within thegovernment. This practice of using centralized regulatory mechanisms to control the fiscal

functions at all levels of governance was inherited from the colonial administration.

Since the centralized regulatory mechanisms inherited from the colonial administration did notface a serious paradigm shift after independence these institutions have become the bureaucratic

rule imposers inhibiting the changes in the style of service delivery. The general view within the

public service is that these institutions are interested in maintaining the procedural standards butunable to help the public service to create a development oriented - pro-citizenship approach inthe implementation of public programmes. Some have even argued that the politicians’ answer

to the negative approach of these rule imposers was politicization of bureaucracy in order to pushthe administrators to violate their rules. Finally the administrative system in Sri Lanka has

become a yet another system of administration which is interested in the well-being of theorganization and not the well-being of the people.

5.6 CONTROL OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE

The Public Service of the Country is now virtually under the leadership of the President as the

appointment of all the leaders of the public administration such Secretary to the President, theCabinet, the Ministries and the Provincial Councils are vested with the President. The President

can also influence the appointment, promotion, transfer, disciplinary control and dismissal of Heads of Departments as these functions are vested with the Cabinet of Ministers.



52

This situation is unavoidable as the Executive Presidency is the focal point of the constitutionalmechanism created by the constitution for the exercise of executive power of the people. The

constitution declares that the President of the Republic is the Head of State, Head of the

Executive, Head of the Government and the Commander of Armed Forces. Further President isthe sole authority in appointing all the Officers of State including the Heads of Armed and PoliceForces and the Judges of the Superior Courts. The constitution has offered him legal immunity

for all legitimate actions he has done as the Head of State and Government. As past experiencetells us that the President who is elected by an island-wide electorate with an absolute majority

can establish autocratic governance overriding the powers of the Legislature and the Judiciary.

With the passage of 17th

amendment to the constitution the Public Service Commission (PSC)

has been empowered to be in charge of the public service. Now the constitution has assigned the

powers to appointment, promotion, transfer, disciplinary control and dismissal of public officersto the Public Service Commission. With the passage of 17

thamendment an Administrative

Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was established with powers to hear appeals from decisions of the PSCand the Police Commission. Therefore the public officers have been offered the option of going

before the AAT rather than going before the Supreme Court for alleged violations of theirfundamental rights by the superior officers.

The passage of 17th

amendment reflected the change of mind on the part of the politicians who have

understood the damage they have done to the public service through politicization. The politicization of bureaucracy refers to the violation of the Principle of political neutrality of the public administrators as

envisaged in the liberal system of government. Thus the liberal system of government envisages the

political parties alternate in government required a non-political administrator to play the role of advisor

to the political executive comes from any political party. The notion that recognizes “the policy making

as a political activity and the implementation of such policies as a bureaucratic activity” emerged out of this political practice adopted by the statesmen who have shaped the politics in the modern democratic

governments.

In Sri Lanka the principle of political neutrality of public administration became an entrenched element of

the system of governance since the Donoughmore constitution which introduced the idea of having a

Public Service Commission to safeguard the political neutrality of public servants. The Constitution of 1948 once again established the Public Service Commission entrusting with powers for the appointment,

promotion, transfer, remuneration, disciplinary control and dismissal of public servants. However, the

independence of public administration was not to the liking of the political elite ascending to power sincethe 1950s. The need for a strong centralized state was promoted by the politicians since the 1960s and

finally the culmination of this became apparent in the two republican constitutions. Since the

inauguration of the constitution of 1972 the trend was to make public servants subservient to the politicalbosses in the executive government.

The fundamental argument promoted through the passage of 17th

amendment was to reveres the process

of politicization of bureaucracy and to create an independent professional public service in order toimprove the efficiency in the delivery of services. However, the experiences regarding the 17th



53

amendment tell us that its implementation is far from satisfactory. The Constitutional Council is non-

existence since 2005 as the tug-of-war among the small parties in Parliament regarding the nomination of their member to the Council was manipulated by the President not to reconstitute the Constitutional

Council. It is worth mentioning here that in its First Report the Constitutional Council noted that“…(though) the Seventeenth Amendment is an important step in the direction of good governance, but it

should not cause a thrill of a delirious joy through the country, as though at last a sovereign medicinewere found for all the diseases of the body politic.”

SECTION – 3

6 - CITIZENS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN SRI

LANKA – The Survey Results on the State Service Delivery in Selected Locations

6.1 INTRODUCTION ‘Public services and goods’ refer to the basic needs and collective needs of communities that areusually supplied by some form of government, like water, sanitation, solid waste collection,

transport, health and education. The main reason for the existence of the Public Servicetherefore is to provide goods and services to the community.

Public institutions and employees play a major role in ascertaining, producing and providing

public services that are responsive to community needs and expectations and is supposed to beaccountable, impartial, open, accessible and responsive to all sections of citizens irrespective of

class, race and region. However, there are bureaucratic waste, inefficiency, corruption,discrimination, underrepresentation, irresponsiveness and other maladies prevalent in this

primary duty of delivering goods and services to people.

One of the best ways to focus on these issues is directly consulting citizens through publicopinion surveys to understand the perceptions of citizens on the public service delivery.

Citizens’ perception of the role of public administration in delivering public services and theirassessment of public services can provide valuable information for improving service delivery.

This is because citizens have direct experience to public services in terms of their efficiency,adequacy, accessibility and reliability.

Perception of citizens particularly matters as it helps to develop an analysis of the nature and thequality of service delivery on the basis of the experiences of people themselves. When citizens

identify specific issues and problems of government service we intellectuals are able to articulate

them as feedbacks for citizens’ dialogues, to appropriate government channels for action or themass media. It offers the government the opportunity to investigate and resolve the problems, if they are real. If they are not real, then take step to change public opinion if the perceptions are

based on misunderstanding.



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6.2 THE SURVEY

The present survey was conducted simultaneously in three different locations, namely, Nuwara

Eliya (A plantation District), Dehiattakandiya (A Mahaweli Settlement Area in the EasternProvince) & Kalmunai Coastal (Semi urban area in the Eastern Province) during the periodbetween 23-30

thof July 2009 to find out the state of public service delivery by Government

institutions (GIs) in the respective survey locations. The questionnaire was prepared to collectdata employing both quantitative and qualitative methods.

The field survey examined primarily the question of equity and efficiency in delivering services

by government institutions. In general, questions were asked from respondents focusing on threeimportant aspects of service delivery relating to the citizenship: (1). their knowledge about the

institutions and services available in their respective area of residence, (2). their experience withgovernment institutions and, (3). their attitudes and perceptions on the functioning and

performance of government institutions.

As this is an opinion survey of beneficiaries of government services, the study was limited to aninvestigation of perceptions held by ordinary citizens who had experience of visiting government

institutions for receiving state services particularly during the last one year period of time. Sincethis survey was a rapid appraisal, we used both quantitative and qualitative questionnaire

methods (i.e. asking questions to collect information to put into tables and having longdiscussions with the people allowing them to express their own personal views) to collect the

data.

Also we have used the studies conducted by other organizations in the recent past, particularly on

the corruption and the delivery systems in the public sector as comparative data and to fill thegaps in our survey as well.

6.3 THE ISSUES FOCUSSED IN THE SURVEYSince the study will be incomplete without at least a brief account on certain important issues

that inhibit the efficiency, effectiveness, equity and responsiveness in the service delivery theywill be briefly discussed before reporting the results of the opinion survey.

The study noticed that corruption, favoritism, regulatory procedures and lethargy of personnel

have been identified as the key problems faced by the people who visited the governmentinstitutions for receiving services. These are the maladies that have been identified by the many

researchers who had examined the administrative systems in developing countries as factors thatundermine good governance, distort public policy, lead to the misallocation of resources and

harms the private and public sector and their development.



55

Corruption can be regarded as the abuse of public office for private gain, when an officialaccepts, solicits or extorts a bribe. Corruption is one of the greatest challenges facing the

contemporary world. It undermines good governance, distorts public policy, leads to the

misallocation of resources and harms the private and public sector and their development.

It is worth noting that according to the Global Corruption Perception Index, Sri Lanka ranked 84

in 2006 in a list of 115 countries (Transparency International 2006 & 2001-2002, Sri LankaEconomic Association (SLEA) White Paper 2007). In the case of Sri Lanka, nevertheless, there

are some other specific causes for corruption in addition to the aforesaid common causes. AWhite Paper prepared by the Sri Lanka Economic Association (SLEA) in 2007 has discussed

factors responsible for corruption in Sri Lanka under several headings. They include Poor or BadGovernance; Low Financial Remuneration in the public Sector; Cultural Background: Foreign

Aid; The Failure to Take Punitive Action; Failure of Civil Society; Too much DiscretionAllowed to Public Officers; Lack of Competition in the Supply of Public Services; Weak

Accountability. The report also discussed the cultural attitudes of society, especially among thevillagers as reasons for prevalent of corruption. Accordingly, corruption exists not only due to

flawed procedures within the institutions, but also due to the encouragement by service recipients(Ibid.).

In the current opinion survey, people have identified Police and the G.N. Offices as most corrupt

institutions in their areas. From the survey we noticed that the practice of corruption takes placelargely due to the lack of awareness about the nature of state services on the part of beneficiaries,

excessive discretionary power of certain public officials such as police and Grama Niladharies,and lack of service driven mentality among the public officers.

Favoritism refers not only to the normal human inclination to prefer acquaintances, friends andfamily over strangers but also to the favored treatment given to the people who have political,economic, educational and social power. Whatever the form it may take, favoritism is also a

corrupt practice as it deprives ordinary people of their right to access to government service.When public (and private sector) officials demonstrate favoritism to unfairly distribute positions

and resources, they are guilty of cronyism or nepotism, depending on their relationship with theperson who benefits. Like corruption, favoritism also exists within most of the state institutions

that provide service to citizens. It’s visible through the survey that favoritism is a commonpractice nearly in all the public service institutions with the health sector scores the highest.

It should be therefore understood that the major reason for the prevalence of both corruption and

favoritism within public service institutions is the ignorance of people about the services they areentitled to receive and the proper channel to get those services in a way they are supposed to do

it.



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6.3 People’s Perception and Experience about Public Service Delivery

In this section the background information pertaining to the Government Institutions (GIs)

covered by the survey is reported. In general, it is observed that despite various Acts, Ordinanceand Charters, most of the GIs in Sri Lanka are not in a position to provide a satisfactory and

efficient service by following the formal procedures and practices because of the culture andattitude prevailing within the state institutional setting and among the citizens as well.

In general the majority of recipients are unhappy about the services rendered by the publicservants and they feel that they cannot expect a proper service unless they have a third party

support. The third party support they used is friends, relatives, politicians and paying bribesdirectly to the officers concerned or through an intermediary. Thus, equal and equitable access

to state services by citizens with differing socio, ethnic and cultural background is less possiblethrough the existing system and the mechanism of the state services delivery.

6.4 PRIMARY INFORMATIONAs stated in the beginning, the survey covered eight geographical areas located in the above twodistricts. Out of these, four are semi urban areas (Sammanthurai, Nintavur, Akkaraippattu &

Alayadivembu – Amapara District), one Mahaweli settlement area (Dehiatta Kandiya – AmparaDistrict), one plantation area (Nanuoya – Nuwara Eliya) and one Sinhala village (Kalapura –

Nuwara Eliya). The sample distribution is fairly representative. It covers almost all thedifferences in geographical and ethnic concentration of the country. Data were gathered using a

formal semi structured questionnaire with some open ended questions in order to capturedescriptive information. The questionnaire was coded and subjected to tabulation to facilitate

quantification of descriptive information.



57

26%

12%

14%12%

36%

Geographical Distribution of the sample

Dehiatta kandiya

Nintavur

Akkaraipattu

Samanthurai

N'Eliya

Table 2: Ethnic breakdown of the sample by areaArea Sample Sinhala % Tamil % Muslim %

1.Dehiatta Kandiya 40 40 26.0 - -- - -

2.Sammanthurai 20 - - 05 3.0 15 9.0

3.Nintavur 20 - - 05 3.0 15 9.0

4.Akkaraippattu 20 - - 10 7.0 10 7.05.Nuwara Eliya 60 30 18.0 30 18.0 - -

Total 160 70 44.0 50 31.0 40 25.0



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6.4 THE GOVERNMENT OFFICES REGULARLY VISITED BY THE PEOPLE

The survey found that the District Secretariat, the Divisional Secretariat, the Grama NiladariOffice, the Police Station and the Government Hospital are the most common institutions visited

by the sample population belonged to different geographical areas and ethnic groups.

The people live in Mahaweli settlements and in the Estate plantations have institutional setupunique to them. The Mahaweli settlement are being looked after by the Zonal and District

Offices and the Managers appointed by the Mahaweli Ministry and most of the agrarian servicesrequired by the farming communities are channeled through these offices.

The estate plantation communities have an institutional set-up unique to the plantation areas. The

State has now established its own authority system in the plantation districts through the Ministryof Infrastructure which is now functioning under the Mega Ministry called Ministry of Nation

Building. After the privatization of plantations a new organization called Plantation WelfareTrust has been in operation. These institutional arrangements have contributed to the weakening

of the Plantation Raj established during colonial period. However, new political alignments in

the area and also the caste based political and trade union organizations are controlling thepeoples’ dealing with the government offices including the Grama Niladari.

Apart from these special arrangements in every locality, it is the Grama Niladari office which hasto be visited by the people for the initial formalities to apply for National Identity Card, Passport



59

Application, Death Registration, Certificates of Residence, Character Certificates, Registrationof electors, Permit for felling tree, Complaints of petty crimes and minor disputes among people.

The functions assigned to Grama Niladhari (GN) show that this particular officer has become the

sole representative of government and the state at the village level. It seems that the area isremote to the District or Divisional Secretariats the Grama Niladari has too much of discretionary power on the functions assigned to him by the law. It seems that their discretionary

capacities have further strengthened due to their close connection to the police as the villagelevel government officers responsible for law and order issues in the particular area.

The majority of the people interviewed have named the District and Divisional Secretariats, the

Government Hospital, the Office of District Medical Officer of Health (MOH), the GramaNiladari, the Samurdhi Bank, the Post Office, the Agrarian Service Centre, the Police Station and

the Cooperative Shop as the most frequently visited offices by them and their family membersfor services offered by the government. It is interesting to note that a considerable number of

people in the villages and the plantation areas do not have a fair idea to distinguish governmentoffices from the Non Government Organizations one. For example, the majority of the samples

we have met in the Sinhala village in the Nuwara Eliya District had named SARVODAYA as agovernment office they visit regularly. This shows not only the level of knowledge and

awareness of ordinary masses of public institutions but also their level of citizenship whichaccording to the citizenship criterion of Aristotle are not really sharing the public office.

Table 3 presents the information provided by the people about the services available with theoffices in their areas.

Table 3: Peoples’ knowledge about the GIs and their Services No. Institution Services

01 Hospital Free hospitalization, medication, surgery

02 M.O.H Office Thriposa, Vaccination

03 District Secretariat (Kachcheri) Land Grants

04 G.N. Office Residence or Character Certificate & Income

Verification Certificate, Initiation of National

Identity Card and Passport Application, Birth& Death Registration, Registration of Voters

04 D.S Office Processing of applications for National

Identity Cards, Passports, Birth Certificates,

Vehicle Revenue License, Rehabilitation Fund

Claim, Registration of business

05 Kachcheriya Driving License,

06 Agrarian Service Centre Fertilizer Subsidy, Seeds and Plants, IrrigationTax and Problems Related to Farming

07 Samurdhi Bank/office Loans and Other Samurdhi Benefits

08 Police Civil Complaints, Police Reports, Civil

Disputes and Settlements

09 Cooperative shop Ration (Purchase Rice & Kerosene by the



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Table 3 shows the knowledge and awareness of the people about the existence of GovernmentInstitutions (GIs) and the services available for them in those offices. The services named in the

table are the services requested by the majority of people. However, out of 160 respondents,although over 75 per cent were able to identify the institutions available in their respective

locality, majority of them were not able to identify either most or all the basic services (we haveidentified more than 30 services in the questionnaire) available at these institutions.

Some said they seek support of a friend/ relative or an intermediary to approach the government

institutions. Some have openly said that they had to pay money to get urgent requirements suchas National Identity Card or Birth Certificate. This is very common practice in the plantation

areas. In Dehiatta Kandiya we met a person who alleged that he had made a payment to a personat the Human Rights Commission Office to get his son bail out from the Court but it was not

happened. Another person said that Grama Niladaris are very cunning that they are any howmanage to get something from them in return of the speedy service. One person commented that

the majority of the police personnel don’t know how to talk to people politely and they don’t seeany difference between the bad people and good people when they deal with the people who

come to their police stations.

Many have said that they visit the government institutions without a proper knowledge about the

services available or the procedures to be followed at the offices. Some said that they makevisits to the offices whenever they need a service without checking whether there are fixed timefor them to visit these offices for the particular service. They said that very few government

institutions provide information materials for the people to understand the nature of serviceavailable and the procedures to be followed by the public to receive their services. Therefore the

statement we received from many people that “it is better to go early in the morning to get thework done” explained this two sided dimension related to the service delivery. .

6.5 EFFICIENCY OF GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS

Although the questionnaire does not pose questions to directly measure efficiency of GIs, the

survey included a separate question in the semi structured questionnaire regarding efficiency of GIs in service delivery. However, the way respondents appreciate the GIs` performance in

delivering service is available. This sub-section is a very brief description of the respondents`experience and assessments of the levels of efficiency of the GIs in the sample. One key

indicator of the levels of efficiency is the time taken/needed to accomplish a given task.

villages)

10 Post office Parcel, Telegram, Postal letters

11 Veterinary office Cattle Care including Breeding of Animals

and their minor ailments12 Mahaweli Settlement Office in the

Village (Colony Office)

Issues Relating to Water for Irrigation, Land

Claims, Fertilizer Subsidy



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According to respondents, GIs in the survey take an average number of visit ranging betweenone and five to accomplish a requested service. This number varies according to the different

locations and services requested. For example, as shown in the above chart registration of deathwith G.N in Kalmunai coastal area takes longer time than other locations in the survey.

The table 4 offers the peoples’ perceptions and attitudes about the government institutions in

their respective areas. In the questionnaire we named 12 government institutions which dealwith the ordinary people and asked them to comment whether they are efficient, inefficient,

corrupt or bias for power according to their own experience. Although everyone in the sampledid not answer the questions as they have not visited the institutions named in the questionnaire

the percentages have been prepared for the total number of people participated in the sample(160). It is observed that large number of people (41%) identifies hospital as the most efficient

among the GIs followed by G.N. Office (26%), Samurdhi (16%) and Agrarian Service Centre(9%). According to the survey, a vast majority of people (78%) see Police as the most

inefficient, corrupt (28%) and bias for powerful people (28%). The next in line for inefficientGIs are D.S. office (37%) and Grama Niladhari (33%). An interesting revelation is all the

institutions except Land Department have identified by a section of the sample as efficient due totheir personal experience. The chart appeared after table- 4 offers a comparative assessment.

Table 4: THE PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION ABOUT THE SERVICES OFFERED IN THE GOVERNMENTOFFICES – All AREAS (Number of people 160) Institution Attitude (out of 160 respondents)

Efficient % Inefficient % Corrupt % Bias for

Power

%

Kachcheriya 10 6.2 15 9.3 03 1.8 05 3.1

D.S office 11 6.8 60 37.5 31 19.3 28 17.5

Average number of time taken to provide services

1

1

3

4

4

3

3

5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Obtaining birth certificate (If the

perfected application is submitted)

Samurdhi Loan

Water Supply

Electricity (new connection & repair) Police Report

Certificate from the GN

Fertilizer Subsidy

Rehabilitation Fund or

Compensation

type of service

Number of days



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G.N 42 26.2 54 33.7 41 25.6 33 20.6

M.O.H office 08 5.0 15 9.3 02 1.2 03 1.8

Hospital 67 41.8 11 6.8 03 1.8 04 2.5

Police 06 3.7 117 78.0 46 28.7 46 28.7Samurdhi Bank/Office 27 16.8 12 7.5 09 5.6 08 5.0

Ag. Service Centre 15 9.3 08 5.0 06 3.7 07 4.3

Ceylon Electricity Board 10 6.2 10 6.2 06 3.7 05 3.1

Water Board 10 6.2 02 1.2 06 3.7 05 3.1

Land Department ---- ---- 05 3.1 12 7.4 11 6.8

37.533.7

78

41.8

28.7

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Efficient

Inefficient

corrupt

BiasFpower

The overall picture emerging out of this tabulation is presented below. It is prepared on the basisof averages prepared for each category. Accordingly the overall percentages for these

identifications are 36% Inefficient; 20% Corrupt; 18% Bias for powerful people and 24%Efficient.



63

25%

37%

20%

18%

Peoples' attitudes towards public service

institutionsEfficient

Inefficient

Corrupt

BiasF power

The people generally accept that the officers in the GIs are not treating every one equal. The

large number of people accepts the fact that the officers tend to treat the powerful people welland they seek undue advantages form the ordinary masses. Hence the public service in SriLanka is weak in adherence to the rule of law principle.

The people say that always they have to find a third party to get their service done on time. The

officers in Kachcheri, DS Offices are blamed for their disregard to the community and lethargicapproach to the work. Some said that the officers anyhow find a wrong to send them back and

postpone the work for another day.

Some have pointed out that if the government introduces impartial complaint machinery andredress mechanism the public would have a better prospect of getting their work done. The

biggest complaints were against the Grama Niladharis who have been identified as persons whoare interested in taking anything possible as bribe. Further, they are not available in their offices

on time though they have fixed one or two days as office days to attend to the needs of thepeople. Similarly, the police department too does not enjoy a good feeling among the villagers.

The police are infamous among the people for their rude behavior and lack of compassiontowards the people.

We have presented separate tables below in order to provide the regional variations for these

components. The charts prepared using the number of people not the percentages. These tablesshow that GIs have different rating in the different areas. This may be attributed to the fact that

the importance of the institutions differ according to the level of development (urban/rural/estate)

and the availability of special institutions to provide services in some localities (Estate andMahaweli areas).



64

Table 5 - THE PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION ABOUT THE PUBLIC SERVICE BY AREA - Kalmunai Coastal

Institution Attitude (out of 60 respondents)

Efficient % Inefficient % Corrupt % Bias for Power %

Kachcheriya 25 7.0 4 10 5 2 5 3D.S office 9 6.0 42 28 15 17 7 25

G.N 12 15 23 23 27 24 8 21

M.O.H office 8 5.0 15 10 2 1 2 2

Hospital 48 32 9 6 3 2 4 2.5

Police 6 4 18 65 35 30 15 30

Samurdhi Bank/Office 20 13 6 4 8 5.5 6 4

Ag. Service Centre 10 7 5 3 6 4 3 2

Ceylon Electricity Board 7 4.5 10 7 5 3.5 4 2.5

Water Board 10 7 2 1 6 4 5 3

Land Department - 5 10 7 8 5.5

People`s perception about govt.institutions-Kalmunai coastal

24

9 128

48

6

20

10 7 10

04

42

2315

918

6 510

2 5515

2 3

35

8 6 5 6107 8

156 3 5

27

425 84

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

K a

c h c h e r i y a

D . S o f f i c e

G . N

M . O . H o f f i c e

H o s p i t a l

P o l i c e

S a m u r d h i

B a n k / O f f i c e

A g . S e r v i c e

C e n t r e

C e y l o n

E l e c t r i c i t y

B o a r d

W a t e r

B o a r d

L a n d

A u t h o r i t y

L a b o u r

D e p a r t m e n t

Institution

N u . o

f p e o p l e

Efficient Inefficient Corrupt Bias4power

It is clear from the above chart that among the total of eleven identified GIs in this area onlyhospital tops in efficiency with significant number of people (80%) consider it as the most

efficient GI followed by Kachcheriya(40%)and Samurdhi(34%).Further, Kachcheriya is the onlyinstitution which scores very low in all other three indicators. On the other hand, D.S. offices

(with 70% of respondents) and Grama Niladhari offices (39%) and Police (18%) are identified asthe most inefficient GIs in the area. Similarly, Police is deemed as the most corrupt (59%) as

well as the most biased for powerful people among the all eleven GIs. Another interestingobservation is that no single respondent identified Land Authority with efficiency, although they

identified it to a lesser extent with other three indicators. Further, out of eleven GIs five such asD.S., G.N., Police, C.E.B and M.O.H. offices score high in the inefficient bar than in efficiency



65

one. Also, people tend to associate Police and G.N. Offices more with corruption than the otherthree indicators.

Table 6 -THE PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION ABOUT THE PUBLIC SERVICES BY AREANuwara Eliya (Tamil) Institution Attitude (out of 30 respondents)


Power

%

Kachcheriya 09 30 12 40 08 27 01 3

D.S office 03 10 01 3.0 01 3 01 3

G.N 09 30 6 20 3 10 1 3

Dept. Education 02 7.0 01 3.0 - - - -

Hospital 05 17 03 10 - - - -

Police - - - - 03 10 - -

Samurdhi Bank/Office 02 7.0 12 40 03 10 - -

Agri. Loan 03 10 - - - - - -Ceylon Electricity Board - - 03 10 - - - -

Water Board - - 01 3 - - - -

Land Authority - - - - 03 10 - -

Labour Department 01 3.0 03 10 04 13 02 7

School 03 10 - - - - - -

Registrar office 02 7.0 - - - - - -

Foreign employment 01 3.0 - - - - - -

People`s perception about govts.Institution in Nuwara

Eliya(Tamil)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

k a c h c h e r i y

a G. N

H o s p i t a l

S a m u r t

h i

E l e c t r i c a l b o a

r d

L a n d. A u t h o r

i t y

R e g i s t r a r o f f i

c e

efficient

inefficient

corruption

bias of power



66

People`s perception about govt. institutions-Nuwaraeliya Tamil

9

3

9

2

5

2

3

1

3

2

1

12

1

6

1

3

12

3

1

3

8

3

3

3

3

4

1

1

2

1 1

0 5 10 15

Kachcheriya

D.S office

G.N

Dept.

Education

Hospital

Police

Samurdhi

Bank/Office

Agri. Loan

Ceylon

Electricity

Water Board

Land

Authority

Labour

Department

School

Registraroffice

Foreign

employment

i n s t i t u t i o n

nu.of people

Institution Bias4power

Institution Corrupt

Institution Inefficient

Institut ion Efficient

Among the fifteen identified GIs in Nuwara Eliya (Tamil speaking area), G.N and Kachcheriyaare considered as the efficient GIs by 30% people while another 20% and 40% of them consider

G.N and Kachcheriya inefficient respectively. Similarly, another 40% associate Samurdhi Bank & office with inefficiency as for the corrupt GIs, Kachcheriya tops with 27% followed by Labour

department with 13%. Of the perception of the respondents with regard to the GIs biased forpowerful, two of them (7% ) identify labour department while one(3.5%) consider G.N, D.S.

Office and Kachcheriya in that category. Moreover, out of fifteen GIs five such as Kachcheriya,Samurdhi, C.E.B, Water Board and Labour Dept. are considered as the more inefficientcompared to the score received by the other three indicators from the people.



67

Table 7 - THE PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION ABOUT THE SERVICES OFFERED IN THE GOVERNMENTOFFICES - Nuwara Eliya - Kala Pura and Shanthi Pura Villages (Sinhala) Institution Attitude (out of 30 respondents)

Efficient % Inefficient % Corrupt % Bias forPower %

Kachcheriya 01 4 12 40 01 4 02 7

D.S office - 05 17 - - 03 10

Agrarian Service Centre 04 13 02 7 -- - 02 7

Samurdhi Bank/Office 02 7 04 13 01 4 02 7

Land Department - - 04 13 01 4 03 10

Foreign employment bureau 01 4 01 4 - - - -

G.N 09 10 6 30 02 7 1 4

Municipal council 04 13 - - - - - -

School 01 4 - - - - - -

Hospital 11 37 -- - - - - -

People `s perception about GIs-Nuwaraeli ya S inhala

3

1

3 21

9

7

1

1112

0 0

4 4

1

6

1

5

21 1

33 3 2 2 3

1

0

24

6

8

10

12

14

K a c h c h e r i y a

D. S o f f i c e

G o v i j a n a K e n d r a y a

S a m u r d h i B a n k / O

f f i c e

L a n d D e p a r t m e n t

F o r e i g n e m p l o y m e n t b u r e a u G.

N

M u n i c i p a l c o u n c i l

S c h o o l

H o s p i t a l

I n s t i t u t i o n

Nu.of people

Efficient

Inefficient

Corrupt

B4Power

The above chart shows that among the total of eleven identified GIs by all thirty respondents in

Nuwara Eliya Sinhala division around 37% of them consider hospital is the most efficient GI intheir area followed by G.N. Office with 30%. Meanwhile another 40% consider Kachcheriya as

the most inefficient GI among the total of eleven GIs followed by G.N offices (30%) in the area.Similarly, it is obvious that just less than 7% people see G.N and Agrarian Service Centre as the

most corrupt GI among the all eleven GIs in the area. Out of total eleven GIs three such as



68

Kachcheriya, Agrarian Service Centre and D.S. Office top in inefficiency than in the other threeindicators. Another striking observation emerging from this chart is that people in the area tend

to consider GIs such as School, Municipal council and hospital as purely efficient. Further, not a

single respondent consider Land Dept. as an efficient GI.

Table 8 - THE PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION ABOUT THE SERVICES OFFERED IN THE GOVERNMENTOFFICES- Dehiatta Kandya

InstitutionAttitude (out of 40 respondents)


Power

%

Mahaweli Area Office

(Kottasha Office)

03 15.0 06 20.0 ---- ---- ---- ----

Mahaweli Office in the

settlement (Colony Office)

09 12.5 02 15.0 ---- ---- ---- ----

D.S. Office 02 5.0 13 32.5 06 15.0 18 45.0

G.N. 08 20.0 04 10.0 03 7.5 1 2.5School 02 7.5 ----- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Hospital 08 20.0 02 2.5 ---- ---- ---- ----

Samurdhi Bank/Office 05 12.5 02 ---- ---- ---- 1 ----

Ceylon Electricity Board 03 7.5 03 7.5 01 2.5 01 2.5

Police ---- ---- 25 62.5 05 12.5 05 12.5

Colombo – Health Ministry ---- ---- 03 12.5 ---- ---- 01 2.5

Kachcheriya ---- ---- ---- ---- 01 3.0 01 3.0

Agrarian Service Centre 01 2.5 01 2.5 ---- ---- 02 5.0

Foreign Employment Bureau 01 2.5 ---- ---- ----- ---- 01 2.5



69

65

2

8

3

8

3

1

8

6

13

4

1

25

3

1

6

3

1 1

18

1 1 1 12

5

3

5 5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

M a w

e l i O f f

M a C

o l O f f D S O f f

G N O f f

S c h o o l

H o s p i t a l

S a m u r d h i

E l e c t r i c i t y P o

l i c e

M i n i s t

C o l

K a c h

c h e r i y a

A g r a r i S e r

E fficient

Inefficient

C orrupt

pwr bias

The above chart shows that in Dehiatta Kandiya area only hospitals and G.N offices top inefficiency with sizeable number of people (20%) consider them in that way among the total of

twelve GIs. On the other hand, as the chart demonstrates, Police as well as D.S. Office areidentified as the most inefficient GIs by63% and 33% respondents respectively. Further, another

20% of them consider Mahaweli Office in that way. Another notable finding is out of total 40respondents 18 (45%) consider D.S office as the GI of highly biased for powerful. Similarly, in

the corruption index, again D.S office and Police top with 15% and 13% respectively. It is

noteworthy that out of total 40 respondents, not a single one identifies Police, Health Ministryand Kachcheriya with efficiency. Moreover, 8% of them identify Samurdhi and school only withefficiency among the all four indicators given to them. Another interesting point is among the

total twelve GIs in the area five GIs (Mahaweli Area Office, Mahaweli Colony Office, D.SOffice, Police and Health Ministry) score high in the inefficiency bar than efficiency.

Tables 9 to 12 appeared below are useful in understanding the utility value of having offices in

the remote areas by the central government departments. In the questionnaire we have asked thepeople to name the GIs visited last six months. Also we have asked them to comment on what

are the reasons they have identified for the non delivery of service or delay in delivering theservice.

It is observed that the 96% of the Tamil people in the estate sector have visited Kachcheriya

(District Secretariat Office). Next in line are Samurdhi Office (46%) and the Labour Department(33%). Samurdhi relief was not taken by the people in the estate sector sometime back. The

large number of visits to the Samurdhi Office shows that the people in the estate sector are



70

looking for government poor relief. The large number of visits to the labour department isunderstandable as most of these people are working as labourers in the plantations. However,

the table shows that the people in the plantations are not regular recipients of public services. No

one said they have visited the GN office during last six months. This can be attributed to theiremployment in the estate plantations where the workers are channeling their servicerequirements through Estate Superintendent’s office or the plantation sector Trade Union

Offices. In contrast the people from the Sinhala villages in the Nuwara Eliya District havevisited G.N. (100%), Hospital (93%), Kachcheriya (53%), Samurdhi Office (46%), and Agrarian

Service Centre (43%).

Interestingly in Dehiatta Kandiya the two offices belong to the Local Administration, namelyKachcheriya (2.5%) and DS Office (1%) are the least visited GIs by the people. The most

number of people have visited Water Board (100%), Hospital (100%), Veterinary Office (85%)and Department of Labour (92%). It is interesting to inquire about the large number of visits to

the labour department by the people live in agricultural area like Dehiatta Kandiya.

The information gathered in Kalmunia area show that a large number of people have visited DSOffice (81%), GN (78%), Hospital (75%), MOH Office (61%), Samurdhi (58%), Cooperative

Shop (58%), Agrarian Service Centre (58%), Police (48%), Water Board (41%) and Kachcheriya(33%) for services. Compared with other localities the people in Kalmunai area have more

requirements with the GIs. This shows that the people live in urban areas have more servicerequirements with the GIs than the people in rural areas or the estate sector. These regional

variations are given in the tables and charts presented below.

Table 9 - Number of people visited main government institutions in Nuwara Eliya (Tamil)

Institutions Nu. of people visited PercentageKachcheriya 29 96.0

D.S 08 26.6

Samurdhi 14 46.0

G.N 06 20.0

Hospital 09 30.0

School 03 10.0

Dept. Labour 10 33.3

Police 04 13.3



71

Nu.of.people visited main govet.institution in

Nuwara Eliya(Tamil)

0

5

10

15

20

2530

35

K a c h c h e r i y D

. S

S a m u r t

h i G. N

H o s p i t

a l

S c h o o l

D e p t . l a

b o u r

p o l i c

e

Nu.of.peoplevisit.

Table 10 - Number of people visited main government institution during last one year (Dehiatta Kandya)Institutions Nu of people visited Percentage

Kachcheriya 01 2.5

D.S 04 1.0

Samurdhi 26 65.0

Water Board 40 100.0

Hospital 40 100.0

Dept. Agriculture 11 27.5

Dept. Labour 37 92.5

Veterinary Office 34 85.0

Nu of people visited main govt.institutions in

Dehiatakandiaya

1

4

26

40

40

11

37

34

0 10 20 30 40 50

Kachcheriya

D.S

Samurdhi

Water Board

Hospital

Dept . Agriculture

Dept. Labour

Veterinary Office

Nu.of people

in

st

it

u

ti

o

n

s



72

Table 11 - Number of people visited main government institution in Kalmunai coastal.

No Institution Num. of

people

Percentage

1 Hospital 45 75.0

2 Post office 08 13.3

3 D.S. Office 49 81.6

4 Agrarian Service Centre 35 58.3

5 Water Board 25 41.6

6 Samurdhi Bank 35 58.3

7 Kachcheriya 20 33.3

8 Bank 10 16.6

9 Cooperative shop 35 58.3

10 M.O.H Office 37 61.6

11 Veterinary Office 09 15.0

12 Fisheries Cooperation Office 08 13.3

13 Police 29 48.314 G.N. Office 47 78.3

Number of people visited main government institution in Kalmunai coastal

Num. of people

45

8

49

35

25

35

20

10

3537

9 8

29

47

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

H o s p

i t a l

P o s t

o f f i c e

D . S . o f f i c

e

A g r i . c

e n t r e

r

W a t e r

B o a r d

S a m u

r d h i B

a n k

K a c h

c h e r i

y a B a

n k

C o o p e r a

t i v e s

h o p

M . O . H o

f f i c e

V e t e r

i n a r y

o f f i c e

f i s h . c

o o p r a

t i o n P o

l i c e

G . N .

o f f i c e

institutionsinstitutions



73

Table 12 - Number of People visited main government institution in – Nuwara Eliya (Sinhala)

No Institution Num. of people

Percentage

1 Hospital 28 93.32 Post Office 02 6.6

3 D.S. Office 02 6.6

4 Agrarian Service Center 13 43.3

5 Urban Council 05 16.6

6 Samurdhi Bank 14 46.6

7 Kachcheriya 16 53.3

8 School 12 40.0

14 G.N. Office 30 100

Num. of people visited main got.institution in Nuwara

Eliya(Sinhala)

2 2

13

5

1416

12

3028

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

H o s p i t a l

P o s t o f f i c e

D. S. o

f f i c e

K o v i j a n a k e n d r a y a

U r b a n c o u n c i l

S a m u r d h i B a n k

K a c h c h e r i y a

S c h o o l

G. N.

o f f i c e

7 – CONCLUSION - EFFICIENT, EFECTIVE AND RESPONSIVE GOVERNANCE

7.1 INTRODUCTIONThe previous chapters have provided discussions on the issues related to the public

administration which is the executive arm that helps the government to implement laws, policiesand programmes. Further, these discussions have identified “rule of law” and “rights of citizens”

as essential requisites to be incorporated into the actions of public servants. Therefore not onlythe competence but also the commitment of the public administration is crucial in the

improvement of quality of the service produced by the public service.



74

Another important dimension identified in these discussions is the linkages between the State

and the public administrations. When involving in the delivery of services the public service

personnel have to represent the state and enforce its power on the people. There are certainservices that are instrumental in enforcing the authority of state on people. This particular aspectcompels the administrators to follow the procedural and regulatory frameworks that have been

prepared to implement law and order in society. Nevertheless the public administrators cannotignore the two important principles named above, namely, the rule of law and the rights of

citizens. These two principles are interdependent and intertwined. The synthesis of these two isvery crucial for good governance.

The present chapter focuses on citizens’ rights. However, the focus is not the civil, political,

social and economic rights but the citizens’ right to efficient, effective, equitable and responsivegovernance. These aspects have an important place in the administrative discussions. These

terms may have different meanings to the economist, the sociologist and the managers in theprivate sector. In the discipline of public administration they are measured in terms of the public

administrators’ ability to synthesize the principles of rule of law and citizens’ rights. This paperprovides administrative definitions to these terms, namely, efficiency, effectiveness, equity and

responsiveness and, discusses how they become rights of citizens. The intention is to facilitatean informed civil society dialogue on these aspects in order to understand the space available

outside the proper sphere of constitutional changes in the improvement of quality of life as wellas the unity and diversity of our society.

7.2 DEFINITIONSEfficiency, Effectiveness and Equity (Three Es) are the central organizing concepts of public

administration institutions in the modern democratic states. All of them are equally importantpublic service values and the citizens can expect the administration to decide matters inaccordance with them. If these values are entrenched in the processes and structures of the

public administration and the people working in the organization are really committed to thesevalues the system would produce the “Responsive Governance”.

First, we shall explore the three value outcomes: Effectiveness, Efficiency and Equity as rights of

citizens. Then we can properly think about these three outcomes and develop our perspective inline with the discussions we already had on the system of public administration.

Bent Christensen, Professor of Law, University of Copenhagen, noted that efficiency is used in at

least three different meanings in the academic literature (Bent Christensen, “Efficiency and Ruleof Law in Public Administration”, Paper presented at the Twenty-sixth Meeting of Scandinavian

Lawyers, Helsinki, August, 1972, pp.55-56).“First the word is use to indicate the degree of goal achievement. By this definition

administration or a particular administrative activity is efficient if it achieve the specified



75

aim. Second the most general use of the world, which is rooted in the thought process of managerial economics, where production is customarily called efficient if it leads to the

greatest possible return measured in money. Third definition sees administrative activity

similar to industrial production. Then administration involved in manufacturing certaingoods and services. Thus efficiency has to be measured in terms of the goods andservices produced.”

To economists, efficiency is a relationship between ends and means. Accordingly we call a

situation inefficient when we are claiming that we could achieve the desired ends with lessmeans or that the means employed could produce more of the ends desired. The economic

efficiency mainly concerns the monetary values in the means applied and the ends achieved. Inthe classical administrative literature this view was widely accepted and the administrative

organization was seen as a technical mechanism for achieving desired goals. This view, namely,equating efficiency with a rational consideration of the organization of the administration was

later criticized as it provided a poor guide to public administration because it ignores valuesother than money. Critics of economic efficiency contend that the public administration cannot

always stick to the monetary values as it gives priority to the peoples’ satisfaction, publicsecurity and the fulfillment of social goals. It is the term equity that takes a deeper view on these

non-monetary values involved in the public administration.

Equity refers in the public administration to fairness in terms of social groupings that are

suffering from inherent social and economic inequalities. As such the task of public

administration is not just delivering public goods and services in a fair and reasonable mannerbut also to address separately the needs of the weakest sections in the society such as poor,

marginalized communities, people with disabilities, elders, children and women. Then the

service providers should treat the customers differently and try to address their different needsdifferently. Formal equity means you give people the opportunity and leave it up to them tomake the most of it. Therefore, offering free education in government schools mean everyone

has the same chance of a decent education and it is then up to each student to make the most of it. Further, equity principle makes the public administrators responsible for making people feel

better by not taking up a great deal of time to deliver the services and avoiding steps that buildcomplicated work-place arrangements. The most important aspect is to address the social justice

issues through the services delivered. For instance it is now recognized that the welfare policiesemployed to re-arrange income distribution and achieve some re-distribution are essential in

establishing equity in society. Therefore equity is a cost and it must be addressed throughefficient management of resources.

In dictionaries the term effective is applied to that “which has the power to, or which actuallydoes, produce an effect”. Effectual is used especially in the processes which produces the

desired effect. Thus the effective public service must be economical and efficient in its use of tax payer funds. That means the public sector must be an on- merit employer with a focus on



76

outcomes rather than its own cumbersome internal processes protecting the well being of underperforming lethargic bureaucrats. But it’s also true that an effective public service is one

which responds well, and in a timely way, to the demands of the people. Under democratic

governance one of the criterions of measuring the effectiveness of public service is applying theprinciple of political responsiveness. It refers to the need of responding to the political demandsof the day by the public administration with policies, programmes and processes that are low in

administrative cost, well targeted, fair and transparent. Since the public sector enjoys amonopoly over state power, it is only the public sector that can enforce legal contracts aimed at

the fulfilling of demands of citizens channeled through politics. If any such demand to befulfilled by the private and non-profit sectors it is the public sector that has to enter into legal

contracts with them on these specific subjects. Therefore the quality of public sectorsmanagement becomes very important dimension of overall effectiveness of democratic

governance. This overall effectiveness of public sector includes the competence of public sectormanagers and the quality of service delivery. They determine the level of equality or inequality

in society. If the service is provided only to rich and powerful it would naturally result in betterincome opportunities for the powerful. The result would be the same when the public sector is

not efficient in getting things done. If the public service is provided evenly it will help toimprove income distribution and as a result marginalized groups have greater chance of coming

out of poverty trap.

7.3 EFFICIENCY, EFFECTIVENESS AND EQUITY AS NATIONAL GOALSAs we noted above these three Es guarantee economical use of resources belonged to the people

and justifiable distribution of outputs to be produced by the use of these resources. That makesthe government not only less costly for the people but also an instrument of removing social

disparities in society. Such a government first uses their resources and money economically;

second it provides equal choices and just opportunities for its citizenry.

The less costly government encourages the people to use their capital and entrepreneurial skills

to become the driving force of economic development. This in turn strengthens the civil society,the real force in making the state and government more strong. The existence of a strong civil

society promotes equal freedom, dignity and rights among the members of society. In that waythe society and the state becomes a closely knitted entities guaranteeing good governance in

which people enjoy real freedom. The government which provides equal choices and justopportunities for its citizenry establishes practice of a fair treatment. It makes sure -women have

the same chance of economic security as men -no one lives in poverty -no one suffer from socialdisabilities in their old age -children from both rich and poor families have a same basic start in

life.

The role of the public sector is to ensure that they meet all these requirements as employers as

well as policy implementers. Thus efficiency and equity become national goals. Theadministrators have to do with the fundamental right to opportunity of all our citizens. Then they



77

have to do with the management of difference between genders, races, capacities, even classes. Itis true that public administration which is efficient and follows equity principle in their every day

practice becomes a catalyst in enabling us to attain other national interest goals such as economic

growth, low unemployment, reduced poverty and improved competitiveness. In this sense thesethree Es promote national security as it strengthening human security. Therefore they areessential to the survival of democracy. As such efficient, effective and equitable governance is a

national goal that would help the citizens to enjoy their rights in a democratic system.

7.4 RESPONSIVE GOVERNANCE

The forgoing discussion pointes to the fact that public administration of a country by associatingwith the above three values would strengthen the state security and serve for national interests

better. If the administration of the country is efficient in producing outputs in terms of themonetary as well as non-monetary values and guarantees fairness to the marginalized groups the

country has a well established practice of rule of law.

In business, to be “responsive” to the customer is the responsible thing to do. In politics the

governing institutions of the state to be responsive to the citizens as the rationalization of state isbased on the sovereignty of people. In politics responsiveness is defined as affirmative decision-

making by the policymakers and administrators to fulfill the demands of the citizens. Thedemocratic theory identifies “responsible government” as a government that respects mass

opinion in making of policy decisions. This has influenced the democratic societies to producegovernance frameworks that make the government receptive to the demands of the people and

maintain high standards in the use of public resources. The term responsiveness in governancealso referred to the ability of the policy makers or the public administrators to respond quickly

and affirmatively to the needs of the people. In this regard as noted above rule of law and rightsof citizens are the two important aspects to be reckoned with by the policy makers and the

administrators. Hence responsive governance is a government which is keen on maintainingefficient, effective and equitable governance through its legislative, executive and administrative

decisions respecting rule of law.

In this respect the policy makers or politicians have more responsibility than the administratorsas they are the representatives of people who hold the ultimate responsibility of deciding public

policies. The politicians play a crucial role in transmitting the public opinion and demands of thepeople into policy making. Therefore the politician should participate in the public affairs to

discuss the issue and demands of the people and communicate these demands to the places where

policies are formulated. They also responsible for establishing rule of law and ensuring therights of people. Some countries have special mechanisms to recall the politicians who are notfollowing the principles of responsive governance. A certain number of electors can demand a

by-election to check the popularity of those politicians. Another mechanism is allowing certainnumber of electors to submit a draft legislative bill to the national Parliament for ratification.



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These measures highlight the importance of setting legal obligations for the politicians who havebeen elected to the governing institutions established at all levels of governance. This is an

imperative to establish responsive governance as “responsiveness” is not spontaneous and

automatic outcome.

As noted above the political leaders alone cannot establish responsive governance. The

existence of an efficient and effective public administration is a pre-requisite to achieve this insociety. The establishment of merit based recruitment, training, placement and remuneration

policies are important in producing efficient administrative system. Since the second half of the19

thcentury political interference was identified as a danger to the merit based personnel

administration system. Hence politicization of bureaucracy has long been recognized as ananathema to the responsive governance. If the merit system is abused by political or societal

vested interests ultimate outcome would be the declining of the quality of service delivery. Thiswill open the floodgates of politicization making it a normal thing in the life of public servants.

Since the public administration system is the final delivery point of the policy process it is thepublic administrators which be evidence for the level of responsiveness existed in the governing

process. If the public service is corrupt; lethargic; inefficient; or bias for power when theydeliver services no one could say that rule of law is respected in the governing process.

7.5 HUMAN RIGHTS AND RESPONSIVE GOVERNANCEThe effective, efficient and responsive governance is now recognized as a universal human right.The Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued in 1948 claimed that “everyone has the right

to take part in the government of his/her country, directly or through freely chosenrepresentatives and …equal access to public service in his/her country” (Article 21). This has

become a directive for the states and community of states when they proclaimed themselves as

the duty bearers of the universal human rights by signing of two major human rights treaties.

The International Covenants of Civil and Political Rights recognized that the citizens of a

country have a right to participate in the government directly as well as indirectly. This rightincludes the right to franchise, right to have free and fare election and participate in the affairs of

government etc. These political rights clearly recognize the citizens’ right to take part in thegovernment of their country. The reasons for requiring such participation have been explained in

the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It explicitly recognized thateveryone have the right to adequate standards of life, featuring right to food, shelter, health care,

social security and education. Although most of the countries in the world have allowed theprivate sector to become providers of most of these social and economic requirements the

ultimate responsibility of guaranteeing the enjoyment of these rights by everyone is always agovernment responsibility. Hence citizens expect the government and the administrators to benon-partisan. They want participation for all citizens in government policies, programmes and

projects. They want to have a share in governance. To enable them to do that, they need toensure easy access to information. They want effective delegation and decentralization of



decision-making powers and resources to local bodies. “Citizens demand that the state mustrespect the education for all principle. Community and civil society leaders, on the other hand,

want a more accountable and transparent system and culture of good governance rather than

government” (adopted from Commonwealth Foundation, Citizens and Governance: Civil Societyin the New Millennium – National Summary Report from India, 05 October, 2000).As such under responsive governance we must expect from the State:

• To respect rule of law and basic human rights

• To guarantee efficient and effective public service

• To deliver basic services to all citizens

• To organize the education, health care and social security for every one

• To help the poor and marginalized groups to enjoy human rights

• To promote economic development and livelihoods

• To protect life, property and rights of citizens

• To ensure participatory and democratic governance

The public service and the administration system must organize with a clear vision to support the

state and society to achieve full realization of each of these components to have a good society.

7.6 CONCLUSIONThe chapter presented definitions for efficiency, effectiveness and equity in order to understand

what responsive governance is in the context of democratic governance. It is argued that sincethe public administration is responsible for assisting the state to achieve social objectives its

performance to be evaluated in terms of non-monetary values while adherence to the modernpublic management methods such as value for money, operational and personal performance

evaluations. Although the modern new public management promotes features such as user pay,privatizing and contracting out public provisions the public administration cannot ignore the

large number of poor, minority, and marginalized people who do not have any other protectionother than the state

policy paper on the right to efficient, effective, responsive and accountable governance

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