Problems and Prospects for Management of Public Services

Public service is an essential service or commodity linked to the livelihood or existence of the society or the general people. Public service is a means of connecting the government and the general public. Such services are provided by the government through its administrative channels. In order to meet the needs of the people as a whole, the work performed by the state and the goods and services provided are public services.

The flow of public services is the process by which the government or the state provides services to the citizens in a fast, economical and effective manner, which can be guaranteed by the general public. It is the responsibility of the state to provide public services.

In Nepal, all the essential, basic, infrastructure-based, commercial and other services are provided from the public (government) level. Various policies, legal, institutional and procedural arrangements have also been put in place to make the basic service delivery systematic and effective. However, the service delivery does not seem to be as systematic and effective.

The public sector, civil society and the private sector are involved in running the state or providing services to the people. Through the collaboration of these three sectors, people get services and facilities. The public sector includes the following two sub-sectors:

1. Political Subsector
2. Public Administration Subsector

1. Problems of Political Subsector

(A) Rise of unconstitutional power

If a leader or a person becomes a minister or a leader of higher level, all his relatives will be powerful, which will greatly affect to the transfer, promotion, appointment and so on.

(B) Emergence of Vicious Politicians to Enhance the Financial Status of the Party

There is a situation where a certain ministry i.e. a powerful ministry is needed and the party has a habit of supporting such.

(C) Critical situation of party operation

There is a crisis of confidence between the government and the party. Even if one's own party joins the government, there will be disputes. There was a lot of undisciplined work even within the party. All the parties started splitting. Leaders had zero vision. The tendency to try to join the government by removing one's own party government is emerging. The political sector is not right and other sectors cannot be right, so this is a very important sector. Such defects need to be rectified.

Problems of Civil Society

• Civil society should be fair and non-profitable, not as sister organizations of political parties.
• They are morally corrupt and unaccountable to the people.
• They have not been able to represent the voice of the people.

Problems of Private Sector

• Less responsible towards the society due to profit motives.
• The latent syndicate system is still prevalent.
• Trade unions have made the private sector unhealthy.
• Salary facility is very low.
• There is a situation of extreme labor exploitation.
• The private sector is becoming more cities centered.

2. Problems of Public Administration

• Extremely politicized and non-professional.
• Lack of work culture in the public sector and insensitivity to the problems, demands and needs of the people.
• Basic public service delivery to the general public has not been guaranteed.
• Extreme abundance of nepotism, favoritism and violation of merit system.
• The performance of public services is not satisfactory.
• The voice of the people is least reflected in public administration. People are given what we think is right. The public administration has ignored the demands of the people.
• Salary facility is very low and overall people with sharp intellect have not entered the administration. Average people run administration.
• Not enough attention has been paid to transparency and accountability regarding the availability of public services. Also, corruption in service delivery could not be controlled.
• Lack of clear demarcation between politics and administration.
• Representation of some castes is still low i.e. public administration is not inclusive and representative.

Some more problems:

• There is a situation where the right person in the civil service is not in the right place at the right time. When a person is not in the right place, then the overall capacity of the nation is weakened. Proper planning has never been done.
• The approach of conducting public service management activities in a systematic manner has not been followed.
• The role of fair and neutral civil society in the management of public services has not been enhanced.
• Lack of sustainable system. There is no sustainable system in transfers, promotions, postings, scholarships, foreign trips, etc.
• Our governance reform is fragmented, ad-hoc and without overall reform; Only focus on structural change.
• The qualitative and regulatory role of the government is weak. There is lack of monitoring in areas like education, transport, health etc.
• There is a complete lack of concept and use of human resource development. There is nothing greater than wisdom and knowledge, but wisdom is despised.
• Local bodies could not function properly.
• Economic and social development works have not been able to move forward in the required proportion, which has created obstacles in expanding the flow of public services.
• It seems that attention has not been paid to those who perform less work.
• Low status and situation of public institutions and authorities.

Prospect to solve the aforementioned problems

Measures to solve the problems of the political sector

• There should be timely improvement in politics.
• There should be development of good political culture.
• There should be political will and commitment.
• The best brain should go in the political sector.
• Minimum educational qualification should be determined in the political sector as well.
• Politicians should be sent on study visits time and again.

Measures to Solve the Problems of Civil Society

• There should be a fair civil society.
• The registration of the backward civil society should be revoked.

Measures to Solve the Problems of Private Sector 

• There should be effective monitoring. The consumer committee should be more active. Consumers should be aware. The private sector must be punished for wrong doings. The bureaucracy should be stronger. 

Measures to Solve the Problems of Public Administration

• Government should be responsive, sensitive.
• The government should take the lead in meeting the demands of the people.
• The immediate problems of the citizens should be solved.
• Every organization should monitor time and again by forming a team.
• Quality should be regulated.
• To resolve the situation of impunity.
• The government should be strong in anyway.
• Measures should be taken to increase the morale of the employees who are doing a good job.
• Steps against corruption should be made stronger.
• There should be dynamic pay policy.
• Bodies such as the CIAA and the Vigilance Center need to be strengthened.
• Multi-staffed staff should be arranged.
• There should be a result oriented public sector rather than a procedural one.
• A predictable promotion system should be developed.

Finally,

• Political will and commitment;
• Professional will and
• Public wills lead to the development of the country.

These three wills are collectively called national wills. In order to make the availability of public services effective, the management of the public sector must be strengthened as a whole. For the management of Nepal 's public sector which is surrounded by problems and challenges, there is a lot to be done. In the view of the various efforts being made by other nations of the world to achieve the new Millennium Development Goals, Nepal's public administration also needs to move forward with a concrete vision for the future. There is a need to give special emphasis on other aspects such as good governance and transparency, demarcation between politics and administration, innovative public management, public accountability, favorable public service policy, strong and effective staff, simplification of procedures, public grievance management, information management, increasing participation of local bodies, economic discipline, effective monitoring and evaluation.

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