Challenges to making bureaucracy accountable in Bangladesh

Illustration: TBS

"Why did you call me bhai (brother)?"

This was the response I got from the Public Official responsible for admissions at my university. 

That day, I was helping one of my cousins with his admission to the university. I went to the admission office and asked the person responsible, "Brother, can you provide me a form for admission?" 

In response to the question, instead of getting the admission form, I was suddenly bombarded with other questions - Why did I call him brother? Do I study at this university? And a few more about my department, batch etc. After answering all his questions, I apologised to him, called "Sir", and requested his service. 

I was bound to answer all of his questions as he would deny me the service otherwise, but I did not have the option of asking him, "What is wrong with calling you 'brother'? Moreover, what is the relation of it to the service?" It is the everyday scenario in Bangladesh and the main challenge it faces towards accountability. 

Accountability is a crucial requirement of good governance. It is the obligation to explain, justify, and take responsibility for one's actions. It means that all governance actors, like governmental institutions, the private sector, and civil society organisations, must be accountable to the public and their institutional stakeholders. 

Accountability in administration is one of the most significant imperatives for better public service performance. Through accountability, the performance of administrative organisations can be measured. 

According to Paul Finn, a former Australian judge, being accountable to the public is an "obligation of all who hold office or employment in our governmental system." However, this is not happening in reality. Why is it so? 

Bureaucratic accountability is not a novelty in Bangladesh. Even the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 was the culmination of popular discontent and frustration with the military-bureaucratic dominance of Punjabis and the growing disparities between the two wings of Pakistan. Thus, at independence, Bangladesh faced a compelling need for establishing, among other things, a responsible administration appropriate for the changed socio-political milieu. 

However, has the bureaucracy been accountable to the mass people as we expected them to be in the independent state? If not, what are the underlying challenges that exist now? 

The first problem of accountability lies at the roots. Firstly the craze for government jobs and uneven competition in BCS exams is at fault. In the 44th BCS exam, the total number of applicants was 3,50,716 for a mere 1,710 vacant posts. When they pass through this uneven competition, a superior mindset grows upon them, they feel special compared to others. 

Secondly, as the nature of public sector employment is permanent, public officials care less about service quality. They do not fear losing their job because of the poor quality of the services. Next is social recognition- people consider getting it as "Sonar Horin/Golden Deer" metaphorically. Thus, their social status increases after getting a job thus fostering an elitist mindset.

Also, the scope of exercising position power is the primary motivation of the youth and their parents. On top of that, considering these cases and the private sector's unattractive job packages and wretched salary packages, it is why the youth choose the public sector as their career.

However, as serving the masses is never the immediate intention for them when choosing the government sector as their career, accountability to the masses is an almost unacceptable issue and a matter of shame. 

People also consider public officials as administrators. They lack the idea that it is the obligation of the public servants to serve them; instead, they view it as though they are receiving a favour. So, would we ever question the service in such a case? This simple thing is abstaining people from asking questions about government services. Also, as the government rarely receives complaints or questions, it is framed negatively or anti-politically if anyone asks a question. 

So, regarding accountability issues, the rule is simple for mass people: "If you ask questions, you do not get the service." The point is, how many of us are ready to challenge this? If they are not, how can we make them? Overall, how do we change the mindset of public officials and make them see that they are not administrators but servers? 

Research shows that "there is a significant positive relationship between accountability and public interest". This implies that a positive change in accountability in the form of responsibility, answerability and openness promotes the public interest. Furthermore, when the public interest is served, the public is happier. 

So, accountability must be ensured to ensure that the government officials of Bangladesh serve the public interest. To ensure accountability, public officials should first be responsible for what they are doing and for what they are supposed to but cannot do.

There is a need for a culture of answerability. Only in that scenario will there be a valid explanation for why they are unable to take responsibility or why they are self-centric. This is enough to take a further step to ensure the public interest is served. 

Thus, along with providing an appropriate justification for their decisions and actions, public officials should explain their decisions and commitments to society as part of an openness to foster the well-being of Bangladeshis.  

To ensure this, the citizen has a significant role to play. We all should be aware that public officials are accountable to us first. The government in a democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people. Political will for this is vital. Otherwise, there will be no way for citizens to demand a valid government explanation. 

The intervention of NGOs and INGOs in partnership with the government of Bangladesh to ensure accountability should be a new target to set in this new year. Let this virtuous movement begin with establishing the office of the Ombudsman in Bangladesh. 

Md Sohrab Hossen is a Senior Research Assistant at James P Grant School of Public Health, Brac University. Email: sohrab.hossen@bracu.ac.bd 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.