CIVIL SERVICE IN DEMOCRACY (Points for discussion)

Basics of democratic civil service Respect of individual freedoms and rights (people-centred policies, plans and programmes) To respect social values, citizen values and choices (right- based approach) To respect human and fundamental rights Rule of law (no one is above the law) Public accountability + transparency Social justice Social responsibility

Basics of democratic civil service Government close to the people (administrative decentralisation) Contribution to sustaining democratic polities (obey the government of the day) Political neutrality Professionalism (efficient and effective public service) Integrity and professional ethics Feedback from the people Collaborative efforts, collective decision-making and participative management Compensation to the victims of late/imperfect/low-quality/no service

Basics of democratic civil service Policy-making + implementation + monitoring and evaluation Model to the other service-providers Bridge between the people and the governments at various levels Follower of the democratic values, norms, standards and spirits Fair, unbiased and clean Highly-motivated and pro-active

Prerequisites for democratic civil service Clear-cut legal provisions Merit-based recruitment and selection system Well-defined job responsibilities followed by measurable performance indicators and a sound and systematic performance-evaluation system Career development based on performance Adequate salary and physical facilities Enhanced internal capacity of the organisation and adequately capacitated employees

Prerequisites for democratic civil service Motivating work environment Democratic work culture Competitive work culture Safe and sound work environment Involvement of the civil society in monitoring and evaluation process (public hearing, social audit, etc.) Justifiable rewards and punishments

Debates on generalists vs specialists Especially for the positions of secretaries and heads of the departments Ministers often prefer the secretary who can provide him better suggestions, adequate information and appropriate inputs in the context of policy-making In the west-ministerial parliamentary system the ultimate accountability rests on the minister for the actions, deeds and performance of the ministry he/she leads. Thus he/she feels comfort if he/she gets the secretary of his/her choice Unlike the positions up to the joint-secretary level, in Nepal, the promotion committee recommends 3:1 candidates for the vacant positions of the secretaries and the cabinet may appoint amongst them Recently, the positions of the secretaries of GoN have been clustered into six categories

Debates on generalists vs specialists Some people argue that: More specialized knowledge and experience becomes less important the higher the position. Secretaries need exposure and knowledge of a breadth of topics, while lower levels need more detailed knowledge of a narrower range of topics Huge amount needs to be invested for developing a specialist. It will be misuse of the investment if the specialist is deputed in the job which is out of his/her expertise Policy-making is really a task of the person who is well-experienced and has broader exposure An expert can contribute more in the field of his/her expertise rather than involving in the process of policy-making Generalists possess immense experience, public-contact, rationale and broader experience which is required for policy-making. Therefore, generalists should be appointed as secretaries

Debates on generalists vs specialists Others argue that This is the age of information and technology. Modern technology provides knowledge, skill and information needed for policy-making. In comparison of the generalists, specialists are more IT-friendly. A secretary can get information, support, advice from his/her sub-ordinates. Therefore, it does not matter who is worth of the post of secretary- specialist or generalist. The expert belonging to his domain ministry should be promoted in the position of the secretary of that ministry.

In the end... This is one of the most challenging issues facing individual contributors and low- to mid-level managers as they look at their career goals: How do I continue to do my job effectively while being exposed to more ideas? To conclude: Rather than settling the Specialist vs. Generalist debate with the answer “it depends”, the better answer is: “Since we need both types, each of us needs to be both types.” In order to get hired and stay employable in the future, we’ll need to BOTH broaden AND deepen our skills. Unfortunately, actually doing so is a bit harder than settling the Chocolate vs. Vanilla debate by having one scoop of each in a cone.

Queries?

Thank you.