The State of Administrative Accountability in Bangladesh.

Accountability:
Accountability lies at the very heart of good governance. Accountability is the price
rulers are required to pay in exchange for power. It is an essential adjunct to improving
efficiency and effectiveness of public service delivery. Accountability is the capacity to
call officials to account for their action. Effective accountability has two components-
answerability and consequences. Answerability is the requirement to respond periodically
to questions ones official actions. n the other side without consequences accountability
is time-consuming formality.
A major problem throughout !angladeshs public sector is not only lac" of
accountability but also the nature of accountability. #he chain of accountability stretching
from the parliament to the peon is wea" and fu$$y% many of the lin"s have been severed.
#here is also an absence of performance standard to inform public servants about their
responsibilities. &ublic officials relative lac" of accountability goes a long way to explain
!angladeshs wea" governance and poor service delivery. 'overnment has a long
tradition of operating in secrecy and surveys have shown that the public has very low
expectations of government. (or those who are poor and lac" social connections their
greatest hope is to escape harassment by public officials and especially the police. #here
are however two areas where !angladesh has achieved notable progress in ma"ing
government more accountable.
(irst) despite the political difficulties and innovative constitutional amendment adopted in
early *++, has greatly increased the li"elihood of fair elections. In this important respect)
democracy has been strengthened. #he amendment provides for a neutral -careta"er
government headed by a former chief justice to oversee elections. #his helped ensure fair
elections in *++, and a smooth transfer of power from one government to another.
.econd) recently the .upreme /ourt has shown a willingness to ta"e the initiative in
holding public authorities accountable for actions) which the judge to contravene the law
or provisions in the constitutions. #he prime minister has also cautioned by the .upreme
/ourt for critici$ing a court decision to release. 0ost dramatic of all the court has very
recently declared the independence of lower judiciary) thereby accreting the higher courts
advice as ta"ing precedence over that of the executive on the appointment of judges.
Administrative accountability:
Administrative accountability means ma"ing the civil servants answerable for their
actions. #here are different "inds of administrative accountability-such as
&olitical accountability
1egislative accountability and
2udicial accountability
Different institution of the government:
1) Internal
The Comtroller and Auditor general !CA"):
In !angladesh) the chief responsibility for financial monitoring of government lies with
the office of the controller and auditor general. #he office responsible for verifying ex-
post that all public expenditures including aid-financed development spending-conform
to administrative) legal and legislative requirements. #he /A' currently carried out
regulatory and certification audits of all '! agencies) .Es) &I3s.
#ffectiveness$
4ea" staff s"ills-#he /A' does not have a single professionally accreted
chartered account.
#he use of outmoded concepts and procedures-
#he /A' auditors function is viewed as means of detecting fraud and irregularities
rather than as a management control system.
Inadequate coverage of reports-
4hich deal with conventional audits) rather than the effectiveness of spending programs
in archiving policy objectives.
I
The Imlementation% &onitoring and #valuation Division !I&#D):
#his agency is responsible for all routine monitoring of projects) and for preparing
quarterly and annual overviews of expenditures and the attainment of physical
branchmar"s. #he I0E5 also carries out inspections of verify information provided by
implementing agencies. #he I0E5 does provide a central) independent view of
implementation) but the secondary nature of its information.
#ffectiveness:
I0E5 covers projects rather than spending programs) it is not in a position to
monitor the overall effectiveness of public spending.
It is often ineffective in performing even the limited functions it has been
assigned.
I0E5 does not systematically evaluate completed projects.
Anti$Corrution Bureau !ACB):
It is largely ineffective. It ta"es an average three years to investigate cases) of which only
*6 percent actually get to the courts. In*++7) the A/! got almost ten thousands
complaints) and on the basis of these field *)687 cases. 9owever) during the period*++*
to *++7) :,6 persons were convicted form A/! cases and only +6 of these persons were
officers. #he A/! is now widely viewed as a vehicle for pursuing personal or political
vendettas. Infact) the unpredictable nature of the A/!s activities) and the lac" of legal
sanctions against unjustified harassment by its officials) has made the agency yet another
source of delay and inefficiency in government.
#ffectiveness:
#he lac" o legal sanctions unjustified harassment by its officials has made the
agency yet another source of delay and inefficiency in government.
#'ternal:
(arliament:
In practice) under the present constitution) strong type of party loyalty ma"e it unli"ely
the parliament will become an effective instrument for holding the executive to account.
#his is because the party with majority controls both the executive and legislative
branches. 4hy would the parliamentary members of the party in power investigate their
own party ministers; If they turned up evidence of incompetence or wrongdoing) they
would be undermining their own party with the electorate. #hey would also be
jeopardi$ing their own positions.
The Court: Sureme
In !angladesh supreme courts growing activism is to be seen in its ordering the release
of individuals detained under the countries preventive detention act. 4hereas in *+8< the
court freed only 67 of the *678 persons held under the act) by *++,)at last year for which
figures are available. .upreme court ruled that an environmental =' had a sufficient
interest in the impact of proposed flood action plan to bring suit on behalf of itself and
those who would be displaced by plans implementation. .ince then) there have been more
than :> major public interest litigation cases bought in !angladesh.
#ffectiveness:
#he main advantage of targeting the .upreme /ourt in either the first phase of the
judicial reform is that there are constituencies in !angladesh. #here are groups
outside government) which will survive no matter who the minister is or what
party is in power) they strongly support to the contemplated legal reforms.
The (ress:
!angladesh is blessed with a free and out spo"en press. #he press has played a significant
role in the life of the nation by overcoming all difficulties when military rulers suspended
democracy. A few leading newspapers are trying hard to set standards for professional
journalism and are ta"ing lead in generating public debate on pertinent national issues.
4ith varying degrees of accuracy) they frequently critici$e public figures) including the
prime minister and ministers. #here are over **>> daily and wee"ly publications-
newspapers) periodicals) and maga$ines published in both English and !angla.
#ffectiveness:
=ewspaper is supposed to determine the allocation of advertising.
&oliticians easily threaten individuals journalists and editors.
2ournalists are deprived of opportunities to learn to understand better the matters
on which they are as"ed to write.
Strengthening Civil Society:
/ivil society holds the government accountable. &eoples depend on networ"s
associations and other social organi$ations to reduce life ris") access service and
resources) and protect themselves against the depredations of their fellow human beings.
/onsequently) improving governance depends on progressively building the networ"s for
civic associations and other positive forms of social capital. In !angladesh) poor peoples
participation in the design and implementation of service delivery programmers must be a
"ey component of an effective strategy to reduce poverty. 5ha"as slums dwellers report
about this activities.
#ffectiveness:
='s move into more generic service delivery roles.
#he Internal governance and management of ='s will be superior to
government by transparency of power) requirement and management style.
In !angladesh there is large number of ='s) which have enormous diversity of
mission with in the national political system.
)ecommendation:
In recommendation we can say) the judgment of the case should be accomplished as soon
as possible. #he barriers of the media supposed to be demolished. In civil society) all the
=' should wor" for the welfare of the people but not for their business only. /A'
should have chartered accountant. I0E5 should develop manuals to be used by
monitoring units in the ministries. #he unpredictable nature of the A/! activities should
be changed in our country.
Conclusion:
Effective institutions for public accountability are the "ey to good governance.
Authoritarian governments whether on the political right or left) typically lac" such
institutions and therein lies the seeds of their eventual destruction.
All of the institutions to be effective) the government must be willing to set aside its long
tradition of secrecy inherited from colonial rule and be open in all its dealings) except for
a narrow range of matters where national security is demonstrably at ris".