Page 1 of 6
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 02
March 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 1
Good Governance Crisis in Bangladesh Civil Service:
Ways for Improvement
Jannatul Ferdous
(Faculty, Dept. of Public Administration, Comilla University, Bangladesh)
Abstract
Intentions Good Governance is to get
complete progress of a state. Numerous
limitations stay as blockades for instituting
good governance. Good governance is not
only a standard goal for civil service, but
also a degree of brilliance for the
government on the whole. Therefore, civil
service would be questioned to sustain
professional brilliance with more
impartially and transparently in all of their
dealings and react with honesty to the needs
and demands of the people. Thus, attaining
comprehensive objective of public interest
becomes extremely vital. This has need of a
people oriented and value considerate
approach. For many years the traditional
public administration has been in
dominating position. There needs advanced
views, thoughtful work, commitment, and
effectiveness. This paper attempts to find out
the loopholes of civil service against the
standard of good governance and suggest
some possible solution.
Key Words: Good Governance, Civil
Service, Bangladesh
Introduction
The civil service presents a grim scenario.
The civil administration has become an
ineffective instrument of governance where
politicization has destroyed the expected
level of efficiency, faulty recruitment
procedure marred the expected level of
competence and the apparent rulebound
framework followed by the civil service
does not allow the practitioners to exercise
the little creativity left within them. The
result is a decline in the „thinking capacity‟
of the government (Jahan & Shahan, 2008).
Bangladesh needs a civil service of high
quality and integrity also for mobilizing and
utilizing its domestic resources. This
requires innovative ideas, serious effort,
dedication, and efficiency. Urgent reforms
are therefore necessary so that these
qualities can be restored and fostered ( Kim
& Monem, 2009). Therefore, the purpose of
this paper is to examine the Bangladesh civil
service for further development.
The paper presets good governance as a
framework to overcome the ills that afflict
the civil service and contains some
prescriptions in the area of good
governance. It is believed that the civil
service will become efficient and effective if
these prescriptions are adhered to.
Good Governance
Generally Governance denotes ‘how people
are ruled, how the affairs of the state are
administered and regulated as well as a
nation’s system of politics and how these
Page 2 of 6
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 02
March 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 2
function in relation to public administration
and law’(Mills and Serageldin,1991).
According to Webster’s dictionary
‘governance’ means ‘the act of process of
governing specifically authoritative
direction and control’. Governance is a
comprehensive concept that government,
state, and regime, and is the interaction
between the organizations and individuals in
civil society. Another definition puts it as, ‘a
process whereby elements in society wield
power, authority and influence and enact
policies and decisions concerning public life
and social uplift’ (Rahman,2006).
Governance is regarded as the workout of
monetary, administrative and political
specialist to accomplish a state’s activities at
very levels. Governance can be defined
through two aspects, one focuses on positive
aspects and another focuses on negative
aspects. Such as: (1) Good governance and
(2) Poor governance. Good governance tells
us about an ideal governing arrangement
that is expected for political, economic,
social and cultural expansion of a country. It
is the ideal direction of government that
works best to attain self-sufficiency,
sustainable development and social justice
(Ferdous,2013).
A World Bank booklet cogently summarized
the major symptoms of poor governance.
These are:
1. Disappointment to create a clear parting
between the public and the private therefore
a propensity for private gain from public
resources;
2. Unable to institute an expectable structure
of rule and administrative behavior
conducive to development or uncertainty in
the presentation of rules and laws;
3. Implementation of rules, systems,
authorizing requirements and consequently
onwards, which obstruct, working of
markets and inspires rent seeking behavior;
4. Importance, uneven, with the
development, causing in a misdistribution of
properties;
5. Disproportionately narrow grounded or
lack of transparency in decision making.
The other symptoms of poor governance are
“excessive costs, poor service to the public
and failure to achieve the aims of policy”
(Islam, 2013).
Good governance, in contrast to poor
governance, focuses on creating and
sustaining conditions that are conducive to
good living. The vital features of good
governance are: (a) promotion of open and
pluralistic societies; (b) strengthening of
transparent, accountable, efficient and
effective national government; (c)
reinforcement of the rule of law, including
fair and accessible legal and judicial system;
(d) promotion of an independent media and
dissemination of information; (e)
anticorruption initiatives; and (f) efforts to
reduce excessive military expenditure
(OECD, 1992).
Existing Condition of Bangladesh
Civil Service
Applying good governance concept as a
framework to improve civil service in
Bangladesh would require creation of a
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Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
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e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 02
March 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 3
congenial environment. Broadly, this means
that democratization of the polity,
improvement in the human rights situation,
progress in the participatory process and
competence of the government are required.
But, the discussion below shows that
congenial environment for good governance
does not exist in Bangladesh (Khan, 2007).
The civil service remains totally inadequate,
ineffective, corrupt and out-of-tune with the
present reality. Successive major
administrative reform measures have been
resisted and consequently not been
implemented (Khan, 1998a). Bureaucratic
culture demonstrates both systemic rigidities
and behavioral dysfunctions of bureaucrats.
These are: excessive reliance on hierarchy,
elaborate formal rules and regulations,
excessive control, lack of trust in
subordinates, diffusion of accountability
through overlapping checks and balances,
and a loss of accountability and control.
Other dysfunctional aspects of bureaucratic
behavior include: centralization of authority,
multiple layers of decision making, a
regulatory modus operandi, and systemic
lack of trust, lack of adequate public
accountability, lack of commitment and lack
of an incentive structure (Khan, 2002).
Another issue is that it is a highly
centralized decision-making system and
focused mostly on, performing regulatory
functions. Given the elite status of public
administrators, many dysfunctions have also
crept into the public administration system
like alienation from people, lack of service
orientation, perpetuation of corruption,
resistance towards change and indifference
to performance measurement. These are all
reinforced by the lack of political
commitment to bring substantial changes
and persistent resistance of major reforms by
civil servants to maintain the status quo. In
an environment where the pressure is more
on maintaining the status-quo instead of
focusing on developmental priorities, the
process of improving the governance
becomes long and frustrating. Corruption
has become a part and parcel of the daily
lives of citizens and seems like there is no
escape from this menace. A recent survey on
corruption in South Asian Countries found
that Bangladesh is one of the most
corruption-prone country (Khan & Naziz,
2013). A general impression conveyed by
the politicians and civil servants is that
corruption is viewed quite clearly as 'a way
of life'. According to them, some common
types of corruption in Bangladesh are:
Ghoosh or Bribe, Tadbir or Pursuing
Bakshish etc. Gift-giving another form of
corruption is part of negotiation and
relationship building. The other forms are
contract steering kickback, misuse of public
asset abuse of travel expenses and abuse of
portable assets etc. (Rahman, 2014).
Ways of Achieving Good
Governance in Bangladesh Civil
Service
This segment covers patterns of reforms that
may bring proper administrative system and
also falls in the framework of good
governance concept.
A Clear Mission for the Civil Service
In the civil service arena, a mission
statement aid, to launch a strong way of
