Administrative Reform in Nepal
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In this article, I will discuss overall information about administrative reform in the context of Nepal.
Introduction:
Reform is the reflective changes that occur in the organization’s structure and its work processes for best performance. Normally, the process of reforms includes data collection and analysis, improving Human Resource Management, and organizational restructuring etc.
Similarly, Administrative reform is one of the important functions of public administration and governance. It helps to tackle contemporary issues daily. The prerequisites for successful administrative reform are planning, sufficient resources, and clearly defined management procedures.
Administrative reform brings improvements in the structure, operation, and quality of public sector organizations. Strong commitment of political and bureaucratic leadership can ensure administrative reform.
Bureaucratic culture should be changed from the status quo and from process orientation to result orientation. The politics and administration work together for the betterment of public services.
Administration in Nepal is rigid, complex, and delayed in decision-making. The rigidly structured administrative systems can be inappropriate for carrying out enormous development programs. So, reorganization and reform are crucial for successful development.
Traditional public administration was responsible only for the maintenance of law and order but its roles changed after converting into new public management.
New Public Management (NPM) has become a more dominant model of reform since the 1980s. It led to the transformation of the public sector. Now, the major role of Nepal civil service is to serve the state by maintaining peace and order in the society and conducting socio-economic development activities.
At the same time, citizen’s expectations and demands are increasing with the advancement of information technology. So, it is essential to explore alternatives for the future structure and modalities of the civil service.
The behavior of service providers plays an important role in pursuing institutional goals and objectives. Similarly, the quality of public service depends upon the skills and motivation of public personnel.
At the same time, an efficient management system is required. Nepalese bureaucracy is hierarchical. It creates problems in service delivery and accountability establishment. The civil service still has various weaknesses like low employee motivation, delays in the decision-making process, lack of responsiveness, etc.
Bribery, sycophancy, and political influence are found to be deeply rooted in Nepalese Bureaucracy. Public servants are lacking commitment due to the influence of Political parties. The game of power is endemic in the Nepalese society.
Administrative Reform History of Nepal:
By focusing on the separation between politics and administration, Woodrow Wilson introduced the political-administration dichotomy in 1887. He claimed that this separation helps to control corruption at a certain level. But it was impossible to separate politics and administration.
The new public administration movement was introduced in (1968) early 1970s as a major part of the reform. The major focus of that movement was decentralization, participation, and representative bureaucracy. Later, it was criticized as a traditional approach.
Again after the 1980s, new public management was introduced with its key focus on results, accountability, responsibility, and performance. Following the global trends, Nepal had also formed various reform commissions but these reforms were not effective.
During the Rana era, the Royal Palace and the king played a major role in appointing public servants for different departments. The main beneficiaries of all important roles of civil servants were Royal families and their relatives.
But the situation changed a lot after the overthrow of the Rana oligarchy and the establishment of the Public Service Commission in 1951, all of the Nepali citizens gained access to be civil servants.
After political changes, King Tribhuvan initiated a restructuring committee in 1956 under the name of the Butch Commission. After that, Prime Minister Tanka Prasad Acharya conducted the Administrative Reforms Planning Commission in 1956 which made an important contribution in modernizing public administration.
In the 1990s, democracy was restored in Nepal by increasing people’s political-administrative awareness. The government started to get more pressure for accountability and improvement of public service everywhere including stakeholders and political leaders.
As a reform process, many administrative reform commissions were set up i.e. Buch Commission in 1951, the Acharya Commission in 1956, the Jha Commission in 1968, the Thapa Commission in 1976, Koirala Commission in 1991.
Those commissions made many recommendations in the area of personnel management, region service, program budgeting, and resource mobilization. However, these reform programs failed to ensure democratic participation and strong political and bureaucratic commitment.
Again, the Administrative Reform Commission (2008) made recommendations on the personnel management system, structure, and the allocation of responsibilities. Other systematic attempts taken towards the improvement of public administration were the Administrative Reorganization Planning Commission (ARPC) 1956, the Civil Service Act and Regulations 1956, and the First Five Year Plan 1956-61.
To make the Public Service more effective, efficient, accountable, capable, and result-oriented, the Administrative Reform Commission in 1992 made 116 important recommendations. Key proposals were downsizing of the bureaucracy, devolution of power to local bodies, and implementation of 15-year development plans.
Nepal was unable to implement all of the recommendations made by the administrative reform commission because of various reasons i.e. lack of political commitment and support to public service reform, and lack of institutional mechanism to initiate and control reform measures.
Why Administrative Reform is Necessary?
Administration reform is a process to establish a new advanced system by removing chronic problems in the present system.
Inadequate resources, conflict of interests, lack of sufficient skills and training programs, corruption, and political instability are the major obstacles to administrative failure. Poor governance is responsible for weak bureaucracy and the ineffectiveness of development programs.
At the same time, there is a lack of linkage between performance and rewards, inefficient inter-cadre rivalry, and unfavorable conditions for women. Widespread corrupt practices also reduce the motivation of public officials.
Over the years, several studies reported the Public Service as being politicized, ineffective, and inefficient. So, reform is necessary. It can solve various problems i.e. administrative ineffectiveness, lack of transparency and accountability, distrust, and centralized decision-making process.
A competent and dynamic administrative mechanism is necessary to drive governments at all levels (federal, provincial, and local levels), support the governments in implementing the laws as well and provide services to the people.
Reform helps to improve the role of government and the quality of public service. It also ensures the effective implementation of public policy. But existing old attitudes can also create problems in improving services. So, to reform administration, it is necessary to change the culture of an entire society.
How Administrative Reform Helps to Retain Youths?
Youth power is a valuable asset of the nation. They are rich in courage, learning competence, innovativeness, creativity, and self-confidence. To achieve the desired target of development, every country should ensure the participation of youths in all sectors.
Mobilization and leadership of youths can have a big impact on development. Active participation of youths in the process of nation-building can achieve social, economic, and cultural transformation of the society.
In the present context, the most common youth problems are unemployment, lack of employment-oriented education, and lack of youth-friendly investment environment, etc.
Lack of employment is another major factors of the youth migration in Nepal. Youths are moving abroad for economic opportunities, quality education, and quality of life. To retain the youth in the country, the government should create an environment for economic growth, job creation, and civil engagement.
Delays in service delivery can create disappointment in youths. So, improving the effectiveness of service delivery plays an important role in minimizing youth’s frustration.
Reform are essential requirement for the successful implementation of development policies and programs. It creates job opportunities for youths. Administrative reform can make a suitable strategy to attract the youth towards the public service.
The fair recruitment process in the Public Service Commission motivates youths to be in civil service. Control of issues like Nepotism and Favoritism in administration can bring equal opportunities for youths.
Administration conducts youth awareness and orientation programs for their social, economic, cultural, and political empowerment. Administration reform can help in the overall development of youth and help to bring youth competence into the mainstream of national development.
So, there should be more result-oriented, people-oriented, and gender-responsive civil service. Likewise, local hiring in civil service helps to retain youths locally and also improves the sense of ownership. Overall, reform in the administrative system helps to empower youths. It also brings the positive changes to the society.
Conclusion:
A desirable change is reform. The meaning of reform varies from country to country. In the context of Nepal, administrative reform means to improve the efficiency of the civil service and to enhance the competence and motivation of civil servants. It solves youth-related problems.
Public administration should be more competitive and able to meet international standards. To make public administration more efficient, transparent, accountable, and responsible, there are various legal instruments like the Right to Information Act, the Good Governance Act, the Corruption Control Act, etc.
Nepal has also introduced several reform measures similar to New Public Management (NPM) approaches like right-sizing bureaucracy, redefining the role of the state, administrative decentralization, use of citizen charter, and people-centered service delivery.
The main factors that are preventing the application of New Public Management reforms in Nepal are political instability, the faulty policy process of reforms, lack of political will, and lack of citizen-centered work cultures in bureaucracy.
Because of civil education, social media, and technological advancement, public awareness and expectations are increasing continuously. So, Public sector reform is needed. To make civil service more effective and efficient, there should be a good relationship between administrators and politicians.
This is only possible when there are strong political commitments and accountable public servants. The unnecessary mechanisms should also be reduced. At the same time, the government should introduce a strong reward and punishment system for effective service delivery.
I hope this article helped you to understand about administrative reform.
