The Government - Citizenry Interface in Bangladesh : Some

Suggestions

If the modern state can be thought of as a train, then the government would be
its engine. The state goes where the engine goes. However, the engine is only
important because there are coaches in the train. The coaches are filled with
passengers. The passengers, in the case of the state, are its citizens. How the
government interacts with the citizens should be of primary interest to all.
Unfortunately, this important issue receives the least importance in this country.

In a modern state, the state regulates, administers, advises, promotes,

encourages, reprimands, punishes, sells, buys, and engages its citizens in a
myriad number of ways - all, for bettering the lives of its citizens. The
government is the mentor, the god-father, the guarantor, the protector, the
provider, the adviser, the pacifier, the host, and the prime mover of a thousand
other functions that the citizens must rely upon on a daily basis. In short, the
state is indispensable for the normal execution of the daily lives of citizens. And
therefore what the government does, or, not does, is of life-impacting
consequence to its citizens.

This is not to say that the government is the only factor in the lives of the
citizenry. Other important players are entrepreneurs, innovators and private
citizens who work privately and publicly to improve lives for themselves and for
all. But the role of the government is unique, in that it gives overall guidance,
and sets rules of engagement for all citizens.

Many of the functions of the state affect the citizens indirectly, but many
functions affect the citizens directly. Functions which affect citizens indirectly are
long term and macro-level policy making regarding fiscal policies, foreign
policies, infrastructure development etc. Even these, in some ways affect the
citizens directly at some time in the future. But there are some areas, where the
state interacts with the citizens in an open and direct manner. These are the
areas where the state must exercise direct jurisdiction, because private entities,
either are untrustworthy or are incapable of providing these services which are
of a special nature. Examples of these are the various departments eg. the tax
and revenue collection departments, law enforcement departments, the national
security apparatus, the national defence forces, the judicial courts, land revenue
and registration offices, demography and statistical departments, post-offices
and railways, telecommunication regulation, hospitals and schools, and a host of
other government department and offices which must be handled singularly by
the state.

In the case of these special services rendered by the state to citizens directly,
this is where the citizen meets the state virtually on a daily basis. This interface
determines the state’s relationship with its citizens. If this interface is easy and
affable then the government – citizen relationship is good and if it is not, then
the relationship is not good. In fact, the quality of life in a specific country may
depend on it. In western countries and other countries this relationship is very
good and in other underdeveloped countries it is not. Unfortunately, for
Bangladesh, this relationship may not be termed as good. The citizens feel
alienated from the government, and the government considers itself in an
adversarial position to the citizens. The employees of the government do not feel
the urge or the motivation to perform their duties. Each citizen, and each
government, therefore, goes in its solitary path, in a continuous cyclic motion of
mutual estrangement and disillusionment.

Try entering the Bangladesh Secretariat building, if you need to conduct any
business in any of the ministries there. You will have to know someone in those
consecrated grounds in the position of Joint Secretary or higher, otherwise you
will not be permitted entry. If there is no senior civil servant in your family you
are in hard luck. Try meeting an official in the RAJUK building and you will not
know where to begin or where to end. The window marked ‘Information’ is
manned by a person who will give you a wry smile when you approach him and
will casually point you to the elusive stairs upwards, if you ask him a question.
Try customs-clearing your freight which has arrived at the port and you will have
to go from table to table in a labyrinthine maze where officials and their agents
will send you in a paper chase of bureaucratic sadism and extortion. Try getting
adjudication in the land office regarding a land ownership issue and you cannot
even locate the office having jurisdiction over the land let alone understanding
the formalities of solving the problem. The list goes on and on forever, in almost
every government department or office. There is no place to plead, no place to
lodge a complaint, no one to give advice, no one to lend a helping hand. You are
the criminal, you are the culprit, and you are to be blamed for having to ask
anything from the government.

Government departments and offices are run as small fiefdoms. Any person
seeking any assistance from the fiefdom must first submit to its keepers.
Thereafter, the price must be negotiated and only then shall the person be given
relief. To persons with no experience in that particular office, agents must be
consulted who will negotiate the price on behalf of the officials. In most cases
the lower level officials themselves are the agents who will guide the person
through the abstruse ways of the department. And, if the person is not trusting
of agents, woe may befall him, in that, he will not find head or tail to where he is.
Such is the situation prevailing in government departments where the public
have to interact with these officials on a daily basis.

If you are one of the lucky ones who do get the service that you need, you will be
confronted with another problem – the incompetence and lethargy of the
officials. Paperwork will contain numerous errors, procedures shall be complex,
accountability and the value of time, of no consequence. Grumbling about these
problems will cost you more expense and attract insults. You will have to bear
with the mistakes, and the inconsistencies that come with their sloppy work.
Their sloppy work will cause you much trouble in the future when you have to go
to these same officials with the same paperwork containing the errors, when
they will quickly and unabashedly point out the mistakes, and charge you extra
for it.

What are the reasons for this sordid state of affairs ? Traditional methods of
improving accountability, installing efficiency and ensuring customer care do not
work in the government departments. Neither does the time honoured practice
of the carrot and the stick to regulate office administration. Annual Confidential
Reports do not mean much because promotions depend largely on political
affiliation and not on personal mastery or efficiency. Moreover, the higher salary
that can be obtained from a higher position is insignificant compared to the
benefits that can accrue from securing the right position through lobbying and
other transactions. A grossly inadequate compensation package for government
employees moves the onus of conscience onto the side of the employees who
engage in open and perpetual rent seeking. No statistical or management
information systems exist to evaluate the performance of individual employees.
Training facilities and opportunities are largely inadequate. And so the laissez
faire environment persists with impunity.

The colonial legacy is probably partly to be blamed for the impasse. Government
officials still think of themselves as the overlords of the people. Antiquated
official procedures, laws and systems in most cases have not been altered even
65 years after the departure of the British. Service conditions and rules have not
been formulated that recognise the needs of a citizenry of an independent
progressive nation.

Is there a remedy for improving this abysmal situation which has contributed to
Bangladesh becoming one of the most underdeveloped and corrupt nations on
earth ? Some suggestions can be given in this regard for scrutiny:

— Increase the emolument and benefits package of senior government

officials commensurate with their obligations, duties and responsibilities.
Rent money presently being paid by citizens, which is contributing to the
accumulation of untaxed black money, may be channelled to deserving
staff through enhancement of service charges.

— Open up offices of Administrative Ombudsmen in all government

ministries and departments preferably from members of the civil society,
or members of the judiciary or from elected representatives. Citizens
should have the facility to register complaints through websites and in
writing. The Ombudsmen shall have authority to investigate and
recommend administrative solutions to problems faced by the citizenry.
Ombudsmen shall be obligated to answer to complaints from the citizenry
regarding government departments. They shall also have the right to
institute civil and criminal cases in necessary.

— Transfer functions of the Anti Corruption Commission to committees to be

constituted from members of the civil society, or from members of the
judiciary. Funding for the ACC should be ensured by the government
 through an act of parliament so the executive branch cannot influence its
functions. If funds are not forthcoming from the national treasury, then,
the Chambers of Commerce can create a fund to administer this most
important of departments.

— Use technology to make the government - citizenry interface more

interactive, eg. by opening information websites, call centres, and
complaint registration facilities.

Getting cooperation from the government regarding issues that affect the lives
of the citizenry is a fundamental human right in a modern state. This vital issue
must be given due importance by the government and the elected
representatives if the country is to move forward in the future.

Syed Mujtaba Quader