To achieve the goals set in the vision 2030 document, there has to be an improvement in governance in the state. Governance is important in our state as government is the largest player in many sectors. Hence, the performance of the government servants is inextricably linked to the achievement of the Vision .From agriculture and horticulture to education and health, the presence of government is pervasive in our state. Out of the government’s total non-plan budget, more than 50% is spent on salaries to government employees. Another 18% is spent on pensions. Hence, the presence of government cannot be wished away. Moreover for every 100 people in the population roughly 6 persons are government employees in the state. This is way above the all-India average of roughly 1.62government servants per 100 people. One of the reasons for the high proportion is due to a denominator effect of low population levels. The average for the smaller states in India is substantially higher than the national average. This does not mean that all is well with governance in our state.
Government Jobs- Nature and Difficulty
Improving governance and revolutionizing governance is crucial for achievement of any goals that may be set in the Vision document. In a society like ours a government job is highly sought after. In any gathering, be it at the village level, the colony level or a clan get-together the people look upto those holding a government job for guidance.
The prestige that is conferred on these employees is next only to those with traditional titles and the position of village council head etc. The number of people who belong to the latter category but desire a government job is also not miniscule. A government job confers respectability to the incumbent. The missing link in the matrix is the sense of responsibility of the government servants. It is therefore important that we use mechanisms to instill a sense of responsibility on the government servants.
One of the inherent problems with government jobs is that it is extremely difficult to quantify the impact of a government servant’s actions. Had a government servant’s output been measurable, setting targets and making them accountable would have solved the issue.
Penalties could be imposed on laggards and non-performers. However, the majority of results of government action are intangible and hence not amenable to easy measurement. New Public Administration and New Public Management- the main innovations of the last decade of the past century related to the introduction of techniques for goal-setting and reducing actions to quantifiable targets. Innovations like citizens’ charter and even the RTI Act were designed to improve governance in the state.
Closely linked to the above difficulty is the sometimes nebulous nature of a government servant’s job. The conduct rules and rules of business sets the parameters within which government servants have to work, but these only have a marginal impact on reducing the difficult nature of the task. For example, the importance and the impact of my noting on a commoner’s life in a procurement file sitting in a department is difficult to fathom. Individuals and their concerns get reduced to budget allocations precedents and rule positions. Also, since each government servant is part of a hierarchy there is also a natural tendency for me to shift the responsibility that those higher up in the hierarchy. The sense of ownership of the job at hand is reduced and so does job satisfaction.
To add to these inherent problems of government jobs is the difficulty common to all sciences that study man. The human mind is an amorphous entity with little universality and predictability. What can be taken for granted in one cultural setting remains a conundrum in another place, setting or circumstance. The issue of attendance of government servants in offices is a perennial problem not just in Nagaland but also in other states. The introduction of biometrics, the introduction of no- work- no-pay in departments and the secretariat in our state have all been tried but in vain. The same government officials and officers work exceedingly efficiently during elections and other special occasions. This conundrum has excited not just policy makers but also academics.
Some Suggestions
I explore some of the suggestions in the literature below. The easiest way to instill a sense of responsibility is to increase a sense of ownership. In the context of our state and the Vision 2030, we should try to draw up the Vision document after deliberations with the implementers in the ground. Goals of individual departments should be fixed after consultations with the respective departments. This will democratize development in a unique manner but also increase ownership of all people along the line. Information Technology and our closely knit civil society organizations can help in the process. A goal for improving the water supply and sanitation in a town cannot be implemented if the departments or the agencies in charge of the implementation do not subscribe to the goals. If goals themselves are drawn up in consultation with the department this increases the sense of ownership that the departments have towards their sectoral goals. If we can go ahead and involve the citizens and people- who are the real beneficiaries of the scheme then we may be able to increase effectiveness. Importantly and crucially, we should not forget to institute automatic feedback loop mechanisms for making course corrections where required. The saying well begun is half done has greater relevance for policy implementation and policy circles, than for any other walk of life.
The nature of incentives and the incentive structures that animate government servants have extensively been researched in academia. However, incentivizing government officials using monetary benefits may not have the desired impact on performance. In a state like ours, where there are sharp development differences between the town and villages and between different district headquarters and very sharp district preferences stable policies for transfers and postings can have a salutary incentive effect. Some obvious and simple measures like predictable and stable rules regarding transfers and promotions can go a long way in providing the right kind of incentives for officials. Performance measurement-done transparently and in a predictable manner will incentivize government workers more than monetary incentives. These can also have the positive spin-off of reducing corruption.
The importance of governance for development and also for achieving goals that are set cannot be overemphasized. Equal emphasis on governance and growth can improve the prospects of achieving any goals that are set for the state.
(The author is an IAS officer of Nagaland cadre. The views expressed above are personal. He may be contacted at vyasan_r@yahoo.com)
