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CE AND
ON
KA

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Concepts of governance have become important in public administration reform. Their consideration was sparked off by the World Bank. However, specifics were dealt in the good gover Inmentagenda of Britain. A more thorough going approach was adopted in New Zealand. The OECD has substantially widened their scope in its initiative.
The present volume, to which contributions have been Inade by public administrators, academics, researchers, discuss these aspects in the context of the public administration reform agenda of Sri Lanka. Sporadic attempts at earlier reform have been sketched and possible causes for failure discussed. A plea has been made to adopt an holistic approach if the current efforts were to succeed.
Public administration reform is not confined only to the machinery of the public service but touches wider areas. A model for public administration has been suggested starting with citizens electing representatives to ensure the provision of outcomes. Representatives use the machinery of the public service to produce outputs which would service these outcomes. At each point there is responsibility and accountability. Specific attention has to be given to the ensurance of the Rights of the citizen, manifesting themselves in various guises. The latter orientation reflects the OECD approaches to Governance. In this Wider context, a definition of public administration has been offered.
The change that is now taking place is in the nature of a paradigm shift. The emerging new paradign has to be con
(Continued on the next flap)

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THE THIRD WAVE
Governance and Public Administration in Sri Lanka

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"Awake For Morning in the Bowl of Night Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight: And Lo! The Hunter of the East has Caught The Sultans'Turret in a Noose of Light."
-Omar Khayyam, The Rubbaiyat
"Everything I say must be understood not as an affirmation but as a question.”
--Niels Bohr
"From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth, From laziness that is content with half-truths, From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth, Oh, God of Truth, deliver us.'
- Ancient Hebrew Prayer

THE THIRD WAVE
Governance and Public Administration in Sri Lanka
Edited by M. SOMASUNDRAM
s
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ETHNIC STUDES
Colombo, Sri Lanka in association with
KK
KONARK PUBLISHERS PVT LTD

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KONARK PUBLISHERS PVT LTD A-149, Main Vikas Marg, Delhi 110092 (India)
Copyright O International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Sri Lanka, 1997
All rights. reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing both from the ICES and the publishers.
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ETHNICSTUDIES 2, Kynsey Terrace, Colombo-8, Sri Lanka Tel.94-1-685085; Fax: 94-1-698048; E-Mail: ices cmbGsri.lanka.net or postmastGcmb.ices.ac.lk
Typeset by Cardinal Access, Delhi and printed at Rashtra Rachna Printers, Delhi

Acknowledgements
the Ford Foundation. Mr. Terry George of the Foundation was a ready source of support for the project. Prof. S. Guhan of the Madras Institute of Development Studies provided invaluable support and guidance throughout the project. The Directors of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) ensured that all the required facilities were provided. Mr. Collin Fernando was able to make sense of my hieroglyphics and with patience and good humour, typed out numerous drafts. To all, I extend my sincerest thanks.
Any shortcomings in this volume are solely my responsibility.
T s HE entire cost of the project was met from a generous grant of
M. SOMASUNDRAM
Editor

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Preface
M. Somasundram
"In political activity men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelternor floor for anchorage, neither starting place nor appointed destination. The enterprise is to kept afloat on an even heel; the sea is both friend and enemy; and the seamanship consists in using a resource of a traditional manner of behaviour in order to make a friend of
every hostile occasion."
-Michael Oakshott, Political Education, Inaugural Address to the London School of Economics.
"The true pilot must pay attention to the year, the seasons, the sky, the
stars and the wind, and whatever else belongs to his art, if he intends to
be really qualified for the command of a ship."
-Plato, The Republic
"Judge: I have read your case, Mr. Smith, and I am no wiser now than I
was when I started. Witness: Probably not, My Lord, but far better informed."
-Earl of Birkenhead, Life of F.E. Smith
RI Lanka has a popularly elected government but is ill served
by a popularly despised public administration. Public adminis
tration is composed of a pantheon of agencies serving different markets but with similar structures, processes, and systems. It is complex and adaptive. It is complex because of the length of the regulations used to determine its regularities. It is adaptive because it evolves by learning. In a complex non-adaptive system, like a galaxy, there is evolution but no learning. Public administration has gone through two waves, the first being the pre-British wave (pre-modern, aboriginal?) and the second just ending. In the last decade of the millennium the third wave is about to break. In the third wave, public administration will have to adapt, perhaps its different agencies to

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viii The Third Wave
speciate into different structures, processes, and systems. This is because the fast moving globally competitive information age requires adaptation. Failing, public administration will suffer the fate of dinosaurs. ܖ
The term Governance derives from the Greek verb "Kubernan' meaning to steer and the Greek noun "Kubernetas' meaning helmsman. The direct origin is from the Latin verb "Gubarnare' meaning to steer going through Old French-gouverner- and ending with the English. Plato provided the earliest insights associating steering with governing by suggesting that steering requires a "union of authority with the steerer's art. To govern implies steering the society through its political system. The political system itself is goal-seeking, but the collective societal goals are outside the political system. Society is a ship, the direction of movement for achieving its goals being steered by a steering device called a government. Thus, the act of steering by a government, to take a society in a particular direction, is its governance. Osborne and Gaebler (1991) developing on this nautical image distinguished between two roles of governance, one of steering and the other of rowing. Steering gives direction to the ship, rowing powers it. It is interesting that the word cybernetics was coined by the eminent mathematician, Norbert Wiener, from the same Greek root. It was meant to steer and govern a robot. The governing was through a central processing unit. Initially robots were not learning systems but they are increasingly becoming so. In governance a government could be considered the central processing unit. The concept of governance took on a new urgency with the World Bank considering it a development intervention. For it, Governance is the "manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social development". The definition covers three distinct attributes of governance, the form of political regime, the authority exercised in the management of a country's resources and capacity of the government to steer. The definition is about governmentality. The World Bank opted out of considering the political regime on the grounds that it is debarred. This has been severely criticised since the ultimate beneficiary of good governance is the society and a democratic regime is indispensable. The OECD and USAID have however recognised the vital importance of the political regime.

Preface ία
Governance is defined as a learning based ensurance of desirable societal outcomes through elected representatives. The Governance model adopted in this volume is where the citizens, through free elections, elect their representatives. The representatives will, through an executive consisting of two parts-a political executive and a permanent executive-ensure the economical, efficient and effective output of goods, services and public administration products, to meet the outcomes expected by the electors. The outcomes are dealt under 5 C's namely, Civic concerns, Community concerns, Customer requirements, Consumer requirements and Care considerations. Governance of the '50s-'80s attempted to ensure these outcomes through regulatory and interventionist strategies. The '90s however sees a new approach by finding alternative forms, through private and nongovernmental sectors, with public administration ensuring a fair playing field by implementing transparent codes of conduct.
To ensure civic concerns both negative and positive rights need to be implemented with the judicial system adopting a positivist approach through supporting public interest interventions. The most urgent community concern facing Sri Lanka is to take governance to the second tier that of Provincial Councils and later to the third that of the Division. In India the equivalent of the third tier would be the Panchayats. The customer requirements are provided by offering a plurality of choices in which privatisation plays a major part. The consumer requirements are met by adopting marketing approaches including the marketing of public administration goods and services. Care has to be provided for those unable to cope, because of physical, mental, social, economic, cultural handicaps, with the bewildering changes now taking place.
A load bearing beam of governance is the machinery of public administration. If public administration were to fail or is inadequate, governance fails. The third wave of public administration would require a new type of machinery which means considerable learning is required. It has to distinguish between steering and rowing, the owner and supplier (the Purchaser/Provider split), the separation in New Zealand and England having brought quite substantial improvements, Osborne and Plastrik (1996). The new public administration has to look to the market not the minister, as it has done hitherto, develop its vision, mission, aims, outputs and performance targets

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The Third Wave
and get them approved by the political executive. Once they are approved the outputs should be produced economically, efficiently and disbursed effectively. Entrepreneurial approaches need to be developed, predetermined performance indicators struck to enable performance evaluation of the organisation and the personal appraisal of the individual. Control was to be by output not by input. New Zealand revoked government worker's life tenure, rowing was uncoupled from steering, service delivery agencies, including steering agencies, were placed on performance contracts with control over budgets and personnel. There was a competitive public/private search for executives and 20 percent of their pay was dependent on perfor
aCC. */
In England 75 per cent of the traditional service agencies was transformed into 126 new quasi-government service agencies. Every five years each agency was put out to trial and its future status determined. It could be kept as it was, put out to competitive tender or even abolished. How the public felt about the service it was getting was scanned through a "Citizens Charter” drawn for each agency. Each agency was awarded a prized "Charter Mark” which it could keep for three years. Thus two streams of intervention were being developed one of management and the other of contract. A challenge to public administration of the future is how to make them converge. New Zealand and England approaches to public administration reform were part of the application of the concepts underpinning the New Public Management. These efforts were in the direction of making public administration responsive institutions, catering to their multiple clienteles, and not, as very often happens, looking after itself. Suitable legal and non-legal remedies have been suggested, if public administration were to fail to achieve expectation.
The last decade of the 90s is an exciting period for public administration the world over starting with a change in paradigm. The paradigm shift is based on apercus of the natural sciences, Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Chaos Theory. This does not mean an overt physics envy but experiments are being carried out on all aspects of public administration based on insights derived from the new paradigm. Mere house cleaning, reorganisation and adhoc changes would not be sufficient. Based on an overall framework public administration has to get its act together, shed what it need not do, do well what

Preface xi
it should and entrepreneurially optimise on its comparative advantages. Concepts of Governance would illuminate its direction. But the change process has to be managed by public servants. They require a cultural revolution, to rid them of being imprisoned in the past, and change them to being makers of the future. This has to be achieved through training and career development
An holistic approach to change was lacking in Sri Lanka nor was change marketed except in the solitary case of Divisional Secretariats. Yet Sri Lanka, for decades, has shown concern about the state of her public administration. In 1967 a Staff College was established. In 1970 a separate Ministry of Public Administration was created. In 1974 a Planning Programming and Budgeting System was introduced. In 1986 an Administrative Reforms Committee was established. In 1991 a Policy Division in the Ministry of Public Administration was created. In the following year a foreign-funded Restructuring Management Unit was created in the Ministry of Planning. All of them dealt with individual items of change carried out in an ad hoc manner by circular. They were within the Newtonian paradigm, of considering reality to be composed of fundamental blocks. Consequently, change approaches lay in dealing with these blocks e.g., office systems, the senior management group, governance, etc. The paradigm has now changed to considering reality not as a collection of separate objects but as a set of inter-relationships between various parts of an unified whole. The case study reveals that removing a Director not only affected the organisation within but also deep-froze public administration change. Public administration, therefore, is a network with multiple layers. Hierarchical thinking has to be replaced by synchronous patterning. In 1996 an Administrative Reforms Unit was created in the Presidential Secretariat. It is hoped that this latest initiative will have greater overall success than the others.
N. O. T E S
1. Plato (1945), The Republic, Oxford University Press.
2. Osborne, David and Gaebler, Ted (1991), Re-Inventing Government, Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.
3. World Bank (1992), Governance and Development, World Bank.
4. Osborne, David and Plastrik, Peter (1996), Banishing Bureaucracy, Addison-Wesley Pub.Co.

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xii The Third Wave
5. Capra, Fritjof (1976), The Tao of Physics, Bantam and The Turning Point (1985), Fontana. The first book deals with the emerging paradigm while the second attempts to apply it to economics, medicine, femininism, etc. This volume attempts to apply it to public administration.

Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface M. Somasundram
Case Study: Bureaupathology in the SLIDA M. Somasundram
Public Administration Change M. Somasundram
Democracy and the Rule of Law S.A. Attapattu
The "New" Consensus on Development Assistance, Good Governance and Civil Society Politics Sunil Bastian
Governance: A Critique Nira Wickremasinghe
Taxation T. Ratnasundaram
Privatisation Indranee S. Jayasinghe
Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics M. Somasundram
vii
20
54
89
129
145
83
209

Page 10
riv
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
The Third Wave
... Evolution of Administrative Reforms
S. Nadarajah
Market Oriented Public Administration: An Application to Divisional Secretariats W.A. Jayasundara
Cost Based Performance Indicators for Public Administration: An Application to Divisional Secretariats
E. Arumugam
Career Assurance and the Integrity of the Public Service Somapala Gunadheera
Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants Mahinda Gammampila
Sri Lanka Administrative Service M. Somasundram
Personal Appraisal M. Somasundram
Public Administration Model and Accountability M. Somasundram
The Ombudsman Bertram Bastiampillai
Honest Government: Is it an Illusive Dream Kanya D. Tampoe Sanders
Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Governance Jeevan Thiagarajah
INDEX
239
263
282
295
311
340
357
368
391
411
425
441

Case Study: Bureaupathology in the SLIDA
M. Somasundram
"My only qualification for being put at the head of the Navy, is that I am very much at sea.' -Sir Edward Carson (1916), on being appointed First Lord of the Admiralty
"A scorpion, which could not swim, wanted to cross a river and sought the assistance of a frog to piggy-back. The frog demurred. It was well known that the nature of a scorpion was to give a lethal sting. The scorpion besought the frog not to be silly, for if it does so, the frog will die and as a result the scorpion too would drown. The scorpion urged the frog to see the logic. With many reservations the frog agreed to the proposal and offered the lift. In the middle of the river the scorpion did sting. The frog, in its dying moments, plaintively queried the scorpion about the logic. The bemused scorpion, drowning, complained that there was nothing wrong with its logic, but proclaimed that it stings, that was its nature. It could not help its nature." -A Fable
"It is not possible to make a silk purse out of a Sow's ear'.
-Shakespeare
"Parliament is a tool in the hands of the Minister and the Minister is a tool in the hands of the permanent officials."
–Harold Laski
"Be active in the World but be not of the world."--The Bhagavad Gita
AT do they of public administration know, who only of operational administration have experience, is a haunting question in its current troublesome state in Sri Lanka.
Public administration is a knowledge system enriched by experience. Active or passive policies of government cannot be implemented

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4 - The Third Wave
without a well functioning knowledge-based public administration. Somasundram has noted three waves in public administration the first being pre-British, the second the present and the third the one about to break. The third wave is unique as the second was to the first. The second wave paradigm reduced reality to fundamentals whereas the emerging paradigm is to consider reality a web of relationships which are in evolution. This is consonant with Buddhist Metaphysics. It would mean a shift from looking at a public administration composed, not of different fundamental blocks like office systems, clerical service, etc. but as a whole with a set of interrelationships. Consequently the Buddha's eight-fold approach of right views, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right contemplation apply fully to the public administration of the third wave. A public administrator requires the first two as a preliminary state of mind the next three as fundamental ethical requirements and the last three as mental training to be objective. The management motivators of the third wave are not power but Upeka (Equanimity) Muditha (Sympathetic Joy) Metta (Loving Kindness) and most important of all Karuna
(Compassion). ܝܚ Yn
Immediately after independence public administration was concerned with regulatory and interventionist activity with the objective of mobilising potential. Power was its energy source. Its role is now changing being concerned with finding alternate ways of organising and implementing development. The objective is to release potential. The need now is for a different type of public servant and a different type of management to suit the third wave. The energy source will be in a successful working of inter-relationships.
Recent discussions have revealed a growing unease about public administration in Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon), particularly its capability of playing this new role. This unease covers, to use the colourful phraseology of Osborne and Gaebler, both the steering and rowing aspects of public administration. One of the suggestions for improvement is the resurrection of the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS). This may be a romantic yearning for the benign tranquillity of a perceived Golden Age. Yet, the CCS had a number of desirable elements which would be relevant for the creation of a new Management Service.

Case Study: Bureaupathology in the SLIDA 5
The CCS was an elite service, the mainstay of the British colonial administration but retained after independence in 1948. Recruitment to the CCS was from a competitive examination restricted to Sri Lankan graduates in the age group 22-24. An interview, which carried 25 per cent marks, was an important component of Selection. The Board was headed by the Vice-Chancellor of the only university then in existence and had, as members, the Secretary to the Treasury and three Other Senior Secretaries. Since the CCS wielded enormous power, one of the main objectives of the interview was to spot personality defects which hint at potential for abuse. Only 5-8 cadets were recruited every year. The CCS was the most prestigious public service in Sri Lanka so much so that near success in entering it was yet considered an achievement, though a few failures carried a lifelong chip on their shoulders. Some of them even passed off as CCS. Posts in the lower level positions were filled by the failures of the CCS examination according to their order of merit. The CCS was bound within a strong cultural framework where there was an active transmission of CCS values to inductees. The CCS title was a totem, and more significantly, maintaining the value of the title was considered more important than the individuals themselves. For populist reasons, enthusiastically sponsored by those who held these lower posts, the CCS was abolished in 1963 to be replaced by the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS). All the executives and semi-executives in position were absorbed, called absorbees, irrespective of capability. The newly born SLAS had two segments, first the CCS segment at the higher end which elevated the service and the absorbees at the lower, which freighted it down, though some of them were excellent. The CCS stood as a collectivity of excellence while most of the absorbees made the lower end a collection of mediocrity. The absorbee contribution of dhosa (hatred) has dominated the SLAS preventing the newly recruited young batches from rising above it. The SLAS was not a totem it was a registered trade-mark.
At the time the CCS was abolished there were reservations about it. They have now risen to a crescendo. When the abolition of the CCS was seriously considered in 1963, the head of the public service, who was also the Secretary to the Treasury, pleaded with the Minister of Finance not to do so, since he foresaw getting aid from the UNDP to restore a ravaged public service in thirty years time. The Minister

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pooh-poohed the request, considering it special pleading. The Minister concerned was a particularly weak one, for he succumbed to pressures which every other Minister since independence (1948) had resisted. It would have given no pleasure to this Secretary to know how his forecast had come true almost to the year. The government has now requested aid from the Asian Development Bank(ADB) to rebuild public administration in Sri Lanka. Many would attribute the present plight of public administration to start with this decision.
The history of public administration since 1963 was its systematic debauchment. A ready explanation offered is negative political interference. This is too simplistic for it hides a much more complex reality. The Cartesian partition, given support by Woodrow Wilson, of an organically separate politician and public servant has no validity. Public administration is dipolar, one end being political leadership and the other the permanent administration. To use Crick's language about the relationship of DNA to RNA to protein, the elected politician makes the appointed official make outputs which make outcomes. The main issue, in the history of public administration in the last fifty years, was to determine where the dividing line lay. This was its central dogma. The Civil Servant, recruited for his cerebral capabilities and having a wide and deep exposure, through a well-planned career development program, in varying situations, started life by managing the rowing activity of public administration and subsequently advanced to steering. He was able to offer dispassionate advice to his political masters. His strength lay in his cultural capital, that is knowledge, expertise and ability to manipulate symbols. Civil Servants loved to work with strong political leaders who knew their own minds and the direction in which they were going. The relationship of the Minister to the CCS was co-dependent, metaphorically that of husband and wife with the public servant as the metaphorical wife. Both supplemented each other. The author has worked with some of the strongest Ministers Sri Lanka has known, they being Dr. N.M. Perera, Felix Dias Bandaranaike, Ronnie de Mel, who belonged to three different contending political parties but were all exceptional Ministers of Finance, when he was DirectorGeneral Budget and Director-General Public Enterprises. It was a joy and a privilege to work with them. These Ministers were certainly not tools of public servants. Problems however arise when working with

Case Study: Bureaupathology in the SLIDA 7
weak Ministers. The CCS, in the main, self-effacingly provided them with crutches. But in less committed hands the relationship could degenerate for the benefit of predatory public servants who functioned as mistresses with power, accrue advantages but show no responsibility or rendering accountability. Weak ministers were putty in the hands of bureaupath public servants. Public Choice School of Economics predicts this would happen since the latter have a monopoly of information. The unfortunate Minister paid for it, at his personal appraisal, that of the election. The mistress using political capital, however, got ready to welcome the next paramour. While immediately after independence the public servant was involved in doing good to the public, later he was involved in making good to himself, that is amassing finance capital. Since public servants are mostly risk averse the asset build-up was mainly in houses, to be given on rent. Often this was done while occupying government quarters on subsidised rent. The central dogma has been replaced by an aberrant dogma, that the public servant makes the elected politician support the former's self serving initiatives. The public servant was paving the way to a democracy based kleptocracy. An example of the contrary New Zealand approach is seen in an advertisement in the Economist of 5th April, 1997 seeking a Secretary to the Ministry of Justice. It read: “The Ministry of Justice was established on 1 October 1995, following a comprehensive review of the core functions and structure of the former Department of Justice. One of the key tasks of the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Justice, therefore, is to continue to lead the implementation of the new arrangements. The Ministry's key responsibilities are the provision of high quality advice both on the major issues across the justice sector as well as on resource allocation priorities; managing contracts ... etc.
Successful performance in this position depends on the Chief Executive having demonstrated the following competencies at the highest organisational level, strategic leadership, intellectual capability, managing in the political-cultural context, honesty and integrity, building and sustaining relationships, managerial expertise, effective communication, commitment to achievement, management of people." A theoretical discussion is possible about the relative merits and demerits of the principle of the CCS and the SLAS which in turn moulded its officers. But an ounce of example is worth pounds of

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theory. The case study of what happened to the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration(SLIDA), injust the last 16 months(midSept. 1995-mid-Jan. 1997), would be an illuminating metaphor, on consequences which flowed, when the guiding hand of the CCS was removed.
The Staff College for Sri Lanka was created in 1967 and SLIDA is its successor. SLIDA is the equivalent of the INTAN of Malaysia, the Civil Service College of Singapore, the Civil Service College in Sunningdale in Britain and the Lal Bahadur Shastri Staff College in Mussoorie in India. SLIDA is an organisation under the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA) and its Secretary (SWPA) is the exofficio Chairman of its Board of Governors. As the premier management organisation of the public service it was continuously developed by an intrepid band of dedicated Directors, all from the CCS, except for one SLAS officer, who too had a distinguished record of four years. This quarter century of continual developmentended with the overnight removal of its last CCS Director and his hostile replacement by a semi-executive absorbee SLAS officer, who had voluntarily joined the notorious "Pool" following the change of government in August 1994. The proposal supporting the appointment of the SLAS officer was euphoric about the latter's background, experience, intellectual acumen and qualifications for the post.
In its 25 years of existence the primary focus of SLIDA had been on training and undertaking sporadic consultancy. However in 1992, supported by a three-year UNDP project for $1.1 million (Rs 63 million), it widened its horizons to deal with public administration institution building. In biological terms this could be considered an act of speciation for now it became an institution with social capital. Social capital is a collection of beliefs, values, attitudes, culture and ethics which govern relationships. As a result SLIDA was able to initiate some Gateway events in public administration. Gateway events are breakthroughs which open new potential leading to higher levels of organisation or superior types of functions. Normally Gateway events give rise to large increases in complexity. An example of a Gateway event is devolution. It also leads to an explosion of organisational niches the filling of which leads to further complexity. The SLIDA has a mix of faculty mainly drawn from the combined management services whose personnel are obtained on deputation,

Case Study: Bureaupathology in the SLIDA 9
and a small group of permanent faculty. A well designed UNDP project enabled the entire faculty to obtain institution building skills through training and practical exercises conducted locally as well as abroad. The success of the UNDP project was evident by SLIDA undertaking a large number of institution building consultancies, three of them Gateway events. SLIDA built the 202 Divisional Secretariats, after a foreign funded Restructuring Management Unit (RMU), located in the Ministry of Planning, signally failed and were ignominiously discharged from this responsibility. It sponsored and initiated the development of training and consultancy capability in the provinces, by supporting the establishment of provincial Management Development and Training Units (MDTU). MDTUs were meant to eventually become SLIDAs of the provinces. The contrast is the performance of the MPA. It took over the responsibility of establishing MDTUs in central ministries and departments. It is difficult to find a single that is functioning. The SLIDA led the computerisation drive and even prepared a computerised government accounting package called CIGAS costing Rs. 5,00,000, when the lowest international tender for it was Rs. 110 million. In order to train the cadres the SLIDA built one of the best equipped training facilities in Sri Lanka. Even Cabinet Ministers attended its computer training programs. In addition to these Gateway events it undertook a number of Organisational Development (OD) exercises, prepared twelve thirtyminute videos on public administration in Sinhala, Tamil and English, which were considered of such quality that the national television station-Rupavahini-transmitted them on prime time without cost. It initiated, with management and unions, a programme of public administration productivity, formulated a project proposal, in conformity with the Administrative Reforms Committee (ARC) recommendations on accountancy reform that eventually led to a $12 million loan from Asian Development Bank, and prepared a comprehensive list of performance indicators to enable a review of the varied activities of the Divisional Secretariats. It tried to get across the idea that public administration was in the market offering public administration products to consumers. Within three years, SLIDA became the dominant player in public administration institution building consultancy in Sri Lanka, the crucible in which the new public administration was being forged. Since SLIDA was aware of the

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10 Ihe Third Wave
vacuum in public administration Governance, it went for the Himalayan option and developed a world-view that SLIDA should be both the steerer and rower of change. SLIDA fully grasped the monumental but albeit risky opportunity of re-defining the nature of public administration. To do so it took the high moral ground where deed matched word.
SLIDA was also rapidly making its presence felt in the SAARC (South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation). Exchange programs were undertaken with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan and Maldives. The Director was invited to be a Director of the Association of Management Development Institutes of South Asia(AMDISA). He was also a founder member of the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management(CAPAM). The vision of management was to make SLIDA a centre of excellence in public administration in the SAARC region and become the SAARC Centre for Public Administration(SCPA). SLIDA was moving towards becoming a self-organising (autopoietic) system. In such a system relationships dominate.
SLIDA had such high recognition that there was a clamour to join its faculty, even forgoing perquisites enjoyed in current positions. Fullest credit has to be given to the UNDP project for the achievement. SLIDA showed that administrative reform could be undertaken without executive power or line authority. The remark of Richard Neustadt is apposite. He said that "the authority of the office is the most common but least powerful principle of legitimacy. Though it suffices for obtaining a performance of routine tasks, it is often insufficient to secure the performance of sustained or demanding ones.” An example is the current Ministry of Public Administration (MPA), which though having legal responsibility, is yet incapable of introducing public administration reform. There were two recent Gateway events in public administration in Nov. and Dec. 1996, the first calling for a core group of senior managers from outside the system to be appointed to senior managerial positions, and the other, an initiative on "Performance and Aptitude Appraisal.” Both were by the Presidential Secretariat. The MPA was not mentioned in any one of them. The MPA is now not the head of public administration but its posterior. An examination to fill positions in the Senior Management Group (SMG) was held on 26 April 1997. It will be fol

Case Study: Bureaupathology in the SLIDA 11
lowed with a structured interview. This is the first step in replacing the nomenclature type SLAS, which functions on political capital, with an elite CCS type service which will function on cultural capital. SLIDA was a flagship institution supported by a long trail of provincial MDTUs. It had a deep understanding of its client base and an unrivalled reputation for innovation and customised advice. Since 1992, though there were six Secretaries, all of them gave unstinted support, recognised reciprocities and respected the autonomy given to SLIDA by the law. While the SLIDA was playing its stellar role, there came a change in the top bureaucracy at MPA following on the change of government in August 1994. First, the subject of Wild Life was added to the portfolio of Public Administration, and then, positions came to be manned by junior SLAS backwoodsmen, uncontaminated with any recognisable knowledge or cerebral skills in public administration policy formulation, untutored with the necessary post-graduate qualifications, untainted by international experience, untroubled by a lack of published papers in any language or tortured by a concern for performance and therefore ineligible to join the elite SMG. Consequently they were unforgiving of excellence. The dhosa heritage was working. One of its first decisions was to stop the computerisation of the Divisional Secretariats which was financed by the ADB program. There followed a set of policies which leeched SLIDA of its social capital. This development is in keeping with the insights of the Public Choice School of Economics which foresaw administrative egoism, flowing out of a Darwinian law of the jungle, resulting in public officials serving their own needs rather than societal requirements. What cannot be surpassed, emulated or understood needed to be destroyed to maintain their own positions. It was the triumph of the luddite administrator. The Visigoths would have applauded.
The MPA dredged a long unused rule that officers on deputation could serve only two years. The Director and many of the expensively trained faculty of the SLIDA were transferred overnight to the notorious "Pool" maintained in the MPA. The schadenfreude at the MPA was such, that a request to delay the transfer of the Director and faculty by a few weeks, to enable the affected personnel to find alternative positions without undergoing the humiliation of being in the "Pool, was not heeded. There was no sign of karuna. Dhosa was

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12 The Third Wave
palpable. The Director was subjected to a special internal audit review of his financial management, though it had already been passed by audit and the Parliamentary Committee of Public Enterprises (COPE). The head of the Internal Audit did his investigations without even informing the Director of his presence. This head used to lecture at the SLIDA where he emphasised that an internal audit responsibility was to be a watch-dog not a blood-hound. A special request was made by the S\PA, an absorbee SLAS officer, to the former accountant of the SLIDA, who had reverted to service after his deputation, to sneak on the Director. The accountant taught an object lesson in decent public service behaviour by refusing, though he was a junior in the service. The internal audit inquiry was an abuse of power and harassment for no internal audit review can be made on incurred expenditures approved by Parliament. However there was nothing to reveal in this review. The public service would have been surprised if there were any, since even the left leaning pro-government Ravaya newspaper, no friend of corrupt public servants and not reputed for the generosity of its compliments, had earlier offered a rare commendation to him. References to others in the MPA in this newspaper were less favourable and more colourful. The venom went to the extent of even his salary being withheld by the simple device of not paying it. In the event, the Director, who had 34 years of service, way senior to everyone in the MPA, a founder faculty member of SLIDA when he was a young Civil Servant, subsequently continuously held high posts in widely varying positions in Sri Lanka and in international agencies since his mid-thirties and having many international publications, opted for retirement, though he had an unfinished innings of one year and four months. He has so far voluntarily not drawn his commuted pension and fifteen monthly (so far due) pension payments. It has totalled over Rs half million. He was snapped up by the private sector. Every one of the displaced faculty got better postings within a few weeks.
There are unpredictable results when introducing hostile change in dynamical systems. In Chaos theory this is called the 'Butterfly Effect'. For the first time in the history of SLIDA, a senior member of the permanent staff resigned. The SLIDA lost both its Ph.D. faculty members. Even SLAS officers brought in by the new management, possibly lured by the glamour of the earlier SLIDA ambi

Case Study. Bureaupathology in the SLIDA 13
ence, repented their mistake. Three left. A number of subordinate staff too left including some newly appointed ones. There was never such a massive haemorrhage of staff as this fateful year. There were two advertisements to fill vacancies of the faculty from the management Services. There were no takers.
The Director was succeeded by an absorbee SLAS officer who could not read or write with assurance since he was semi-blind. He had only nineteen months of service before compulsory retirement. He had gone abroad five times, for extended periods, seeking medical attention, the first within two months after assuming duties, adding to the six he undertook before he joined the SLIDA. Despite his major deficiency he represented Sri Lanka, with the approval and support of the MPA, in an international conference on public administration in Kathmandu, Nepal. A special letter to the Presidential Secretariat seeking approval for this visit spoke glowingly of his special qualities. A hallmark of a politicking approach to public administration is the cynical wielding of patronage. There was unconcern about impressions that would be formed in international circles on the standards of Sri Lankan higher level officials and that there would not be enthusiastic support if the proposal for a SCPA were made in Sri Lanka's favour. Although the new Director was differently abled he yet corrected examination scripts by getting them read and made himself the sleeping partner of consultancies thus benefiting from rentier incentives. Even examination results were adjusted. The Diploma in Public Financial Management is offered to accountants. Based on successful achievement there is a study tour to India. The decision of the former Director was overturned and those who failed were given special consideration to enable them to go on, what for them was, a publicly fundedjaunt. Elected politicians never interfered with examination results but SLAS politicians did. With examiners who cannot read and results being doctored, SLIDA diplomas and certificates have now become downgraded. The institution building of provincial MDTUs was abandoned. There was a pressing demand from the Divisional Secretariats for the continuation of the close relationship which the SLIDA had with them. Despite funds being available, the demand being there, the faculty being free and the residential facility mostly empty, this was refused. Margaret Thatcher once remarked that in public administration one is judged

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14 、 The Third Wave
by what one gives society while in the private sector one is judged by what one takes out. There seems to be some confusion about which sector SLIDA really belongs. Self-service has taken over from public service. SLIDA had taken the low moral ground, hardly the Archimedean spot from which to lever public administration change.
The earlier Directorate of head and two additionals, all having post-graduate qualifications in management and eligible to join the elite SMG, were replaced by a new triumvirate who were not similarly burdened and, as could be expected, not eligible to join the SMG. The consequences were dramatic and felt within the year. There was a precipitous fall in performance in training and consultancy, as revealed by every numerical indicator and in comparison with the former year. A number of training programs offered in the prospectus had to be cancelled since there were no takers. Earlier there was an overflow of applicants. Consultancy, on which SLIDA built its reputation declined. Five per cent of the net profits on consultancy earnings are placed in a bonus fund to be shared equally at the end of the year. The 1995 bonus under the earlier management was Rs. 7,500 per person. In 1996 it was Rs. 4,000. The computer training facility was run down the superb residential facility little used. SLIDA had to wave goodbye to any idea of becoming a centre of excellence. Its only "Gateway' event was a clanging of SLIDA gates to disappearing clienteles and fleeing staff evaluating SLIDA with sprinters feet. The former Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Amara Piyaseeli Ratnayake, who worked closely with SLIDA for five years, mentioned in Parliament on the Budget debate,' that the SLIDA has even lost its preeminence within Sri Lanka itself, since the MDTU of Wayamba is now superior to it. Her comments are worth repeating, "The main public administration training institute is the SLIDA. Today its training activities are in the doldrums. Keen public servants shun attending its training programs. Though the SLIDA was considered Sri Lanka's premier training centre, I am proud to state that the Wayamba Training Centre has surpassed it. The Wayamba Training Centre is providing a far greater service than SLIDA.” The Hon. Minister for Public Administration did not contest the statement. Her Excellency The President at a meeting held on the occasion of the introduction of the personal appraisal system, where the S/PA was present, was scathing about the performance of SLIDA. Yet the S/PA, far from

Case Study: Bureaupathology in the SLIDA 15
initiating an internal audit review, offered the new Director a fulsome written commendation in Jan. 1997. There cannot be many examples in public administration of such egregious politicking and administrative egoism leading to calamitous results within a year. The new Director who jauntily assumed duties red in tooth and claw and while in position did not inaugurate or evaluate a single training program, hastily took retirement in mid-January 1997, to resume his interrupted Sojourn in obscurity leaving behind an organisational wasteland.
The S\PA too has responsibility and accountability. He is the Chairman of the Board of Governors, for which he draws a sizeable payment from the SLIDA. He has collected it, even for the months there were no Board meetings, though it is mandatory to have monthly meetings.' Government could show its seriousness on personal appraisal by undertaking it for the SLIDA, if not for the period 11th Sept. 1995-15th Jan. 1997, at least for the calendar year 1996. This is the heart of the new public administration of the third wave where control is by output not by input. The New Zealand reforms are based on this approach.
The traditional explanation for this decline is political interference. This is not quite true since very often it is the public servant who uses the politician by offering sops to build political capital. In SLIDA it was managed by public officials, possibly with a trade-off, by management offering employment opportunities in the SLIDA. But this trade-off was of the worst kind. Over the last few years the SLIDA management had systematically followed a policy of reducing posts through attrition. One grade to which no recruitment was to be made was that of Peon (Office Aide). It was a dying grade. But this cadre is very attractive to the politician since its recruits did not require significant qualifications. Though there was considerable pressure to fill these posts, all the earlier managements had the backbone to resist. The former Director even received transfer orders from the earlier regime for not filling these posts. Before this could go into effect the orders were cancelled. Presumably it was political ploy to test resolve. The posts remained unfilled. However, the current management filled six such posts with disregard to the views of President Kumaratunga about productivity. It takes giants to build but mere pygmies to demolish. The officials were cynically follow

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16 The Third Wave
ing, what the French call renvoyer L'ascenseur, i.e., profitably return favours.
An institution built over twenty-five years, and on which Rs. 63 million was invested only recently, now lies forlorn, brought down by lobha (greed) and dhosa. There were wrong views, wrong aspirations, wrong speech, wrong conduct, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness and wrong contemplation. Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem “Ozymandias' has its bureaupathic resonance
". . . Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the Sand, Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on those lifeless things, The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair' Nothing besides remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
It is a cliche that greatness derives from three sources, birth, achievement and it being thrust. But even Shakespeare did not foresee the fourth, that of comparative greatness, deriving from the performance of the Successor.
If administrative reform were to be a success, SLIDA will have to be a major player. It offered a taste of its potential when the Divisional Secretariats were established. Three pre-requisites are necessary. First, SLIDA will have to be re-founded on the present ruin, where a leadership gives vision to SLIDA. Second, the institution building capability of SLIDA has to be painfully reconstructed. It is not envisaged that either of these can be undertaken under the present Ministry of Public Administration. Its competence could be seen in its inability to get implemented the government decision on increased salaries to the public sector, made in early November 1996, to be effective from 1.1. 1997. The circular was delayed, poorly worded

Case Study: Bureaupathology in the SLIDA 17
and confusing. The increased salaries were not paid in January, despite nation-wide local government elections scheduled in midMarch. It is not possible to blame a government for considering public administration its enemy. The third pre-requisite is that a hard decision needs to be taken to relocate SLIDA under the direct control of the Presidential Secretariat. The SLIDA has showed its entrepreneurial characteristics under the earlier management when it constantly scanned the environment for opportunities, an example being capacity building for internal auditing. The day the government took a decision to have a fresh cadre of internal auditors for District Secretariats, the SLIDA contacted the Addl. Secretary (Home Affairs) and with his support arranged, not only a training program for these cadres in both languages, but also requested the ADB project on "Finance Management', located in the Ministry of Finance, to develop the necessary systems and manuals. The personnel and systems are now in place. A much more demanding opportunity has arisen with the personal appraisal initiative but in three months the SLIDA has not bestirred. A slumbering SLIDA can only be matched by a floundering MPA. The present MPA has neither steering or rowing capacities to manage public administration change. A slumbering SLIDA can be woken but a blundering MPA does not offer much hope. The SLIDA is ripe for speciation which is simply a change in lineage. The MPA is only rotten ripe. The MPA could be left on its current trajectory going towards irrelevance. A regenerated SLIDA under the Presidential Secretariat, having shed its wild life attributes, would be a potent force in administrative change. Its first responsibility would be to undertake the path-breaking training of the new recruits to the SMG with the objective of building its cultural capital. Neither the S/PA nor the SLIDA directorate, themselves ineligible to join the SMG, have the ability or credibility to offer such a training program. Failing this change, there is not much hope for the success of public administration reform in Sri Lanka for it will be a pmere linear extrapolation of the SLAS, more of the same and at a very much higher cost.
This case study is about the misapplication of relationships. As already mentioned public administration is a dipolar activity with the politician at one end and the public administrator at the other. In the theory each has his /her own areas of responsibility. The catchment

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18 The Third Wave
for the politician-minister is limited since it has to be restricted to the legislature. But the entire country is the catchment for her senior public servants, not a particular service. Singapore has systematically followed this policy. Sri Lanka wishes to do so with the core group proposal. Such high class recruits would only have contempt for boorish incompetent public servants and if they are not satisfied will leave. There had been a brain-drain of public servants in mid-career, not for the attraction of higher salaries, but because of the contempt they have for those placed above them. Harassment and humiliation, the hallmark of the SLAS approach to control, has no impact on them since they have portable skills which the market needs. At present there is no accountability for these bureaupathic actions. The result is that the institution, which is a victim of their attentions, is left in ruins. If the new policy, of having a new managerial approach led by a core group of senior officers, where excellence is the norm, were to work, the lessons of this case study may be digested. The question was raised at the beginning, of what they know of public administration they who only of public administration know. The answer seems to be, very little.
NOTES
1. Bureaupathology may be defined as the deviation from healthy, normal, efficient and decent public administration.
2. Somasundram, M. (1995), "The Greening of the Public Sector: The Experience of Sri Lanka', The Asia Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 2, No. 1, Manila.
3. Osborne, David and Gaebler, Ted (1991), "Reinventing Government", Addision Wesley Publishing Company.
4. A Bureaupath may be defined as a person who is bureaucratically ill as a public administrator, shows egocentricity in using his\her position for extreme personal benefit.
5. The Public Choice School of Economics covers the currently dominating sub-division of Institutional Economics. Its main concepts are covered in Somasundram, M., "Public Administration Change." The leading work is Nishkanen, W.A. (1971), "Bureaucracy and Representative Government', Aldine Atherton. Also Ostrom, V. (1974), The Intellectual Crisis in American Public Administration, University of Alabama Press.
6. Coleman, James (1987), "Norms as Social Capital” in Radnitzky and Bernholz (eds.), Economic Imperialism: The Economics Applied Outside the Field of Economics, Paragon House.

Case Study. Bureaupathology in the SLIDA 19
7. A self-organising system is where order is not imposed from outside but within the system itself. This does not mean that it is independent of its environment, for it is in continuous interaction with it, but this interaction does not determine its organisation outside its will. See Jantsch, Eric (1980), The Self. Organising Universe. Permagon. The third wave predicates that most organisations should become self-organising.
8. Presidential Secretariat, "The Selection of a Core Group of Persons for Appointment to Senior Managerial Positions in the Public Sector', Sunday Observer, 13 October 1996.
9. "Performance and Aptitude Appraisal", Circular No:AR/01 of 31 December 1996.
10. Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration Act No. 9 of 1982. 11. Gleick, James (1996), "Chaos: Making a New Science', Minerva Edition. Insights from natural science breakthroughs of the 20th century are heavily influencing the third wave in public administration. For a discussion see Somasundram, M., "Public Administration Paradigm: Culture, Values, Ethics." Some of the relevant publications are Wheatley, Margaret, "Leadership and the New Science: Learning about Organisations from an Orderly Universe', BerrettKoehler, Dennard, Linda F. (1995), “Neo-Darwinism and the Bureaucratic AntiHero', Administration and Society, Vol. 26, Behn, Robert D. (1992), "Management and the Neutrino: The Search for Meaningful Metaphors", Public Administration Review, Vol. 52, No. 2, Kiel, Douglas L. (1994), "Managing Chaos and Complexity in Government: A New Paradigm for Managing Change, Innovation, and Organisational Renewal', Jossey-Bass.
12. Hon. Amara Piyaseeli Ratnayake, Col's 475, 476, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), Mon., 25th Nov. 1996.
13. Meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat, 16th Jan. 1997. 14. Sec. 13(1) of the SLIDA Act reads as follows: "The meetings of the Council shall be held once at least every month.'
15. "Government Management", A Treasury brief submitted to the incoming 1987 New Zealand government. The associated legislation were the State Sector Act, 1988 and the Public Finance Act, 1989. Also see Allen Schick (1996), “The Spirit of Reform: Managing the New Zealand State Sector in a Time of Change.”

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2
Public Administration Change
M. Somasundram
"The public service is severely overstaffed where around 5-10 persons are presently performing the duties of one individual . . . The number of productive persons in the entire public service is less than 10 per cent.” -President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Island, 18th November 1996
“We trained hard, but each time we began to work effectively as a group, we were reorganised. I learnt later in life that we have a tendency to meet each situation with a reorganisation, and also what a wonderful method that is, of giving the illusion of progress when it results in chaos, ineffectiveness and demoralisation.' —Gaius Petronius AD 66
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more serious to conduct or more uncertain of success, than taking a lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” -Machiavelli, The Prince
"Reform is like attempting to cross a river in flood on foot, with only the stones of the river bed for guidance.' --Deng Xiaoping
1. The Supply and Demand Sides of Governance
HE term "Governance' is now associated with a major restructuring of public administration perspectives. Each decade has its ringing phrases on development. One decade had sustainable development, another basic needs. The nineties has governance. The role, responsibilities and performance of the set of institutions which form public administration have become, in the run up to the 21st century, subjects for intense debate. But unlike the other slogans Governance has the promise of initiating the third wave

Public Administration Change 21
in public administration evolution. The first wave was pre-British public administration. The second wave followed on the NorthecoteTrevalyan reforms of the mid-1850s which affected Sri Lanka too. There are two parts to the second wave. The first is the Renaissance period when, what Somasundram (1995) calls a greening of the public sector took place and the second the Baroque period where public administration rituals supervened. To use Rabindranath Tagore's phraseology, "The clear stream of reason has lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.” It was a public administration of taboo.
The 1990s are yeasty years with plenty of promise and excitement, for it is the period of the breaking of the third wave with the attendant heralding that the Baroque period is over. The World Bank initiatives on “Governance' have deepened debate. The term governance swam into the ken of the public administration community, following on a World Bank study on sustainable development in subSaharan Africa. It got shape and form in the 1992 World Bank publication titled Governance and Development. Governance was defined as "the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources for development'. There however are a number of limitations and shortcomings in this definition. They have been extensively discussed in other papers in this volume.
There are two ways to deal with the World Bank's approach t governance. The first is through analysis and the second by studying operations. This volume deals with the application of concepts of governance to public administration. Consequently it will concentrate on practicalities, while benefiting from analysis. This approach is being introduced at a time when generic public administration is undergoing change as a result of two forces. The first is the worldwide change in structures and processes of public administration and the second is the pressure for liberalisation. The second wave Renaissance public administration was built on three supports, first central planning, which replaces market signals where allocative decisions were made by a planning group, second by controls, to enforce these allocative decisions and third, by undertaking production not only of public goods (e.g., parks) and merit goods (e.g., primary schools), but also private goods (e.g., take away meal packets).

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The definition offered by the World Bank raises questions about the institutional capability for managing a country's economic and social development as well as the capacity to fulfil these responsibilities. The economist's distinction between the supply and demand sides of an equation could offer insights. The supply side deals with the offer of resources to public administration agencies. Some of the supply side elements are finance (Budget Department), foreign resources (External Resources Department), personnel (Ministry of Public Administration), policy support (Parent Ministry), etc. The approach thus far adopted for building institutional capability and capacity was to improve the supply side, by providing more finance, staff, infrastructure (e.g., buildings), technology (e.g., computers), knowledge (technical assistance), etc. This however was an unending process. The demand side initiatives are more promising, for they deal with the improvement of internal functioning e.g., the reduction of staff to increase productivity. Public administration over the years has become a vast pool of outdoor relief for its stakeholders. The concentration of the World Bank, through its initiative on governance, is now on the demand side. The demand side deals with value addition. This is a shift of revolutionary import, for its earlier emphasis was on developing the supply side, particularly on enabling public administration agencies to formulate macro-economic policies. Associated with this shift, is a radical change in World Bank thinking about public administration. Originally the World Bank took out a contract on public administration. Wiser counsel prevailed and consequently public administration was considered a necessary evil, to be tolerated. It was the Weltbank's weltschmerz. Now, a well functioning public administration is an honoured part of governance, having a role which cannot be played by any other. For the private sector to be the engine of growth, an efficiently functioning state was required. The World Bank approaches to governance are managerial, ensuring the effective relationship of inputs to outputs. It does not deal with the context in which the managerial initiatives take place.
The Baroque period saw public administration in Sri Lanka lose its Superego. It is coiled in its own labyrinthine convolutions, a Jurassic Park where systems are surreal, regulations are asphyxiating and performance wanting, primarily because of dinosaur public ser

Public Administration Change 23
vants. Public servants were not unmoved movers but unmovable non-movers. In the private sector nothing matters and everything happens, while in public administration everything matters and nothing happens. Public administration in Sri Lanka suffers from bureaupathology. Chapter One is a case study of how an excellent Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA), which was moving towards self-organisation and international recognition, was brought low, within a year, by bureaupaths.
2. The New Public Management
In supporting demand side managerial approaches, the World Bank has a particular ideology it wishes to propagate, that of the New Public Management (NPM). This is part of the third wave in public administration. The Baroque part of the second wave deep-froze public administration in an Aristotelian mechanistic structure. The third wave defreezes it empowering public administration managers to find appropriate solutions. The third wave could be equated to a phase transition in physics. Examples of phase transitions are where a gas like water vapour becomes a liquid i.e., water and in another phase transition becomes a solid i.e., ice. As Hood (1991) has explained, NPM is the conflation of two sets of ideas, one of institutional economics deriving from the "Public Choice' school and the other of managerialism. Public Choice economics was based on highly pessimistic views of human nature and consequently of bureaucracy. It derived from the axiom, which economics shares with Darwinism, that individuals are self-seeking. The conclusion was that officials will always prefer their self-interest to public interest when there is a conflict between them. The politicking part of the case study bears this out. Public interest is the sociological approach to public administration, an altruism unknown to a Darwinian view, but was the CCS view of public administration. The Darwinian view is that officials sponsor bureaucratic growth to optimise personal rewards. It is administrative egoism. Institutional economics was based on ideas of contestability (discussed later in the chapter), incentive structures, transparency, consumer choice,etc. The founding work on this subject was Niskanen (1971)‘ “Bureaucracy and Representative Government.” The other set of ideas attempts to introduce concepts of managerialism to the bureaucracy. New Zealand

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The Third Wave
is a model in the application of this approach. Bureaucratism had so far been the discipline of choice for public administration.
The NPM falls within the new paradigm for public administration discussed in a later chapter in this volume. The elements forming the NPM applicable to Sri Lanka are given in Table 2.1.
TABLE 2.1
New Public Management
No. Principle Clarification Justification
of NPM
1. Small is manageable Breakup giant public 1. Need to create manage
2. Develop contractual arrangement to link relationships
3. Induce competition in
public administration
organisations into their self contained core areas, equivalent to strategic business units of the private sector, e.g., the Railway catering service
Presently, within public administration agencies, there are no contracts for performance, only of employment. This contract should be widened to cover output.
Most of public administration agencies
able units.
2. Split purchaser from provider, e.g., now the Ministry of Health purchases medical care for the public by providing the cash, and also provides it through its own cadre of medical personnel.
1. By having contracts, outputs will be clear.
2. This approach can be adopted both for outputs for use within the organisation, as well as outputs going outside.
3. One aspect of contract is
contestabiiity i.e., the performance of the holder of the post is always reviewed when his contract is due
for renewal.
Competition induces efficiency. It will reduce costs,

Public Administration Change
25
No. Principle
of NPM
Clarification
Justification
4. Improve productivity
5. Provide incentives
6. Adopt principles of private sector management
7. Professional managers
8. Reconfigure budgetary
systems
are either natural, economic or fiscal monopolies. Contractual arrangements at all levels will induce competition both within and outside the agency.
This is meant to reduce costs, use less labour and supplies, and get more outputs.
At present the salary paid and increments gained are automatic and not related to performance
Bureaucratic principles now apply to public administration, not management. Administration is concerned with inputs. Management is concerned with outputs.
Appoint competent persons and give them full discretionary power to achieve results. They should be judged by results.
The budgetary system is the vertebral
provide better services and offer customersatisfaction.
The need to increase productivity in public administration. Sri Lanka has the lowest productivity increase in the region.
The salary is considered a retainer and there is no motivation for work. Incentives based on achieving performance indicators will increase output.
Public administration also serves markets. Though this orientation of public administration is not widely accepted serving markets means satisfying needs. Private sector management skills are required for them.
Accountability requires clearassignment of responsibility for action. In public administration there is only diffusion of power.
Since the NPM would concentrate on outputs, supple

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26 The Third Wave
No. Principle Clarification Justification
of NPM
column of the mentary budget systems
9. Emphasise output con
trol
10. Decentralisation
11. Accountability and
transparency
organisation. The present system does not serve management purposes.
The present emphasis is on inputs and the associated con
tIaCtS.
Developmeasures for delegation and deconcentration.
Accountability is the responsibility to answer for one's action.
need to be developed, to reflect this orientation.
1. Since the NPM stresses outputs and results, concentration on procedures should be supplementary, not a dominating consideratien.
2. The NPM stresses bottom lines appropriate for public administration, e.g., for maternity health, the bottom line is reducing maternal death from one figure to a lower figure.
Public administration is central to nation building. The decentralisation effort is one of the initiatives for nation building.
Accountability has so far been on compliance and integrity. This should be widened to cover performance.
These eleven elements are the universals of public administration of the third wave. They are part of the genotype of each public administration agency. In another paper in this volume the author has discussed the concept of cultural genes, the so-called memes. Seven such memes have been identified, they being Virtue or Dharma, Political Leadership, Professional Management, Responsiveness, 5 E's of equity, economy, efficiency, effectiveness and entrepreneurship, Accountability, and Incorruptibility. The eleven universals nest

Public Administration Change 27
in the seven memes forming the complete genotype of public administration. The genotype is not the genome but the structure which lays down the rules of the game. It will form the framework within which the phenotype of each public administration agency will emerge through an Organisational Development (OD) and strategic management program. This emergence is discussed later in the paper.
3. Individual and Contextual Issues
The separate identifiable elements which form the NPM are managerial issues. However, many change approaches cannot succeed unless the context in which they are embedded is also tackled. This context can be divided into two, the public administration context and the societal context. Contextual issues were discussed in the publication of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its Development Advisory Committee (DAC) "Orientations on Participatory Development and Good Governance.” This report covers four topics namely, participatory development, democratisation, good governance and human rights. Its governance agenda encompasses the sub-topics of rule of law as applied through established legal frameworks and institutions, public sector management, controlling corruption, reducing military expenditures, transparency and accountability. The public administration model that ties up the societal and public administration contexts to its individual elements is elaborated in this volume in the chapter “Public Administration Model and Accountability." Changes in the societal context are discussed in other chapters in this volume. This chapter will deal with change approaches of identifiable elements open to managerial influence with the concomitant changes required in the public administration context.
4. Change
Change is a pervasive but troublesome element of human existence. Change could be understood only when contrasted with its opposite, that of changelessness or immutability. From Greek times changelessness and change had dominated philosophical discussion. Parmenides and Heraclites respectively symbolise them.* But a discussion of change at the level of systems, organisations and societies had been undertaken only in this century.

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The public administration context had been considered changeless since the mid-19th century when the present shape and form were laid out in the Northcote-Trevelyan report and its subsequent elaborations. The inheritance at independence, deriving from British public administration, was set out in golden commandments. Two of the strongest prongs of public administration at the time of gaining independence, were political non-interference and centralisation. Political non-interference meant, a public service committed to a policy, but not to a party. However, in the enfeebled Baroque stage of the second wave, bureaupathology set in. In the later years after independence both these strong points were undermined. The result is that in today's public administration there is either a yearning for a golden age and an attempt to live in the past, or an enthusiastic demolition of whatever remains of these two prongs, considering them to be colonial relics. The politician finds the context difficult to understand, for he cannot distinguish between the two loyalties of policy and party. In no other major democracy is such a distinction made. In the United States, there is a wholesale replacement of top policy-makers of the outgoing administration, with party supporters. In Germany a similar procedure is followed, but the appointees tend to be senior public servants. In France, the Minister is supported by his strong private office (the cabinet du ministre). The requirement now is to reassert the context, that politics and administration are separate, but nevertheless, parts of public administration. So farthere have been three prevailing views, the first being the cybernetic view that the politician is the noise in the system, the second that the politician is the ghost in the public administration machine whose spectral presence haunts and terrorises administrators and the third that a cold war between politician and administrator is endemic and therefore integral to the equation. But the reverse has not been considered, that the noise in the system could also be the public administrator, as well as he being the ghost in the machine. Whatever the view, politics without administration will be lame, administration without politics blind. Both working together form a healthy dipolar public administration. It is a continuum and not a contending duality. These three views only proclaim a schizophrenic duality of despair.
Two axioms could be laid out for the third wave public administration.

Public Administration Change 29
Axiom 1. Public Administration has two polar ends, one end manned by elected public servants and the other manned by selected public servants. This axiom would not consider administrations in theocratic regimes like Iran, martial regimes like Indonesia and Burma, absolute monarchies like Bhutan, dictatorships whether personal like Mobutu of Zaire or of the party like China, or of an entrenched minority like Rwanda as part of public administration.
Axiom 2. There is an exclusion principle within the continuum, the elected public servant deals with high frequency policy making and implementation review and the selected public servant deals with low frequency policy making and implementation. This axiom would eliminate from public administration, the Minister functioning as the manager, as attempted by British cabinet minister Heseltine under Margaret Thatcher.
Based on these two axioms an administrative egoism theorem could be formulated.
Theorem. When public servants breach axioms 1 and 2, administrative egoism takes place.
The author has worked in six Commonwealth countries and has found the theorem holds true.
Malaysia and Singapore are examples where political leadership for change administration resulted in tremendous success. Individual and contextual changes went together, elected and appointed public servants worked hand-in-hand each in their respective area. Sri Lanka is an example where a politicking undermining of administration, from both elected and appointed public administrators, has led to disaster. One result is a decline in public administration which President Kumaratunga has bemoaned. From all accounts India, which inherited an excellent Indian Civil Service, whose traditions should have been continued by the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), seems to be placed on the same slippery path. Seshan, India's outspoken Chief Election Commissioner, who capped his career as Cabinet Secretary, himself a member of the IAS states, “The Indian Administrative

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Service has got reduced to the condition of polished call girls.”
Contextual change of public administration in Sri Lanka lies in two directions, first and most importantly, shifting the leadership focus from politicking to genuine politics that is to conform to axiom one. The second is to make the public service professional, irradiated by a set of professional values. This means conforming to axiom two. At present, with a few honourable exceptions, the public service seems to be the mortician of the politicking will. This is because an administrative egoist politicking context will also breed politicking public servants called bureaupaths.
The challenge to public administration is to shift from a yearning for the past or fall victim to administrative egoism but to pre-occupy itself with making a future. It should change from a state of changelessness to a state of becoming. The World Bank initiative on governance is an attempt in this direction, but a partial one, since it only deals with change into a managerial mode forgetting the context. For the third wave of public administration to fully break and run its course both content and context have to be covered. New Zealand has shown the path. w
There are volumes written on change, its contending definitions and ways of ensuring it. Change is a result of two or more forces interacting over a period of time. A number of points are significant. Change has to be spread over time, therefore it is inherently dynamic. It should be the result of a minimum of two forces in interaction. The World Bank could be a force for change through advocacy of governance, but if there were no responsive public administration, its recommendations will fall on sterile ground, as has been the fate of a number of its initiatives. Whether change is good or bad (evaluatory change), desirable or undesirable (value change), forward or backward (temporal change), are all value judgements. An example is where the World Bank presses for change by pushing a stagnant public corporation into privatisation. But there could also be other views on privatisation, based on the evaluative, value or temporal dimensions. Change is value loaded.
There are different dimensions to change. The first dimension is of initiation both in introduction and sustainability. The second dimension is quantum. Quantum change has three aspects, that of rate, magnitude and amplitude. Rate deals with the speed with which

Public Administration Change 31
change can be introduced and absorbed. The Administrative Reforms Committee (ARC) did not give much thought to the rate of change, though the UNDP's Restructuring Management Unit (RMU) thought it could be completed within 3-5 years. In the author's view a thorough going process of change, adequately funded, and systematically applied, with no compromises, will need a minimum of 8-10 years to be completed. Magnitude deals with the amount of change. A traditional bureaucratic organisation like the Postal Department, though it is a commercial activity, will have to undergo a larger amount of change than perhaps the Elections Department, where its routines have to reflect strict principles laid out in the election law. Amplitude deals with the extent of change. The introduction of computers to cover the accounting function, with the software package of CIGAS (Computerised Integrated Government Accounting System) will not introduce any new principles of accounting, but its amplitude is significant though the magnitude is small. The third dimension of change is the degree of flexibility, whether change is variable or parametric. Variable change lies in alterations which are within the control of operational management e.g., introducing a new office system. Parametric change lies in alterations of the framework itself and is outside the control of operational management e.g., introducing a new salary structure. The difference would correspond to what in genetics is called point mutation and frame mutation.
Public administration is not a homogeneous body. It is composed of different and differing organisations many of them having activities at different stages of sophistication. The change process covering these three dimensions will have to be applied to each public administration agency separately according to its particular stage of development receptivity and the state of each element that needs change. Once all have undergone an Organisation Development (OD) process and developed strategic capacity the context itself will change and a new value system underpinning the new paradigm for public administration will emerge. A simultaneous attempt at contextual change will also strengthen change in individual items.
5. Organisation Arrangements
5. F. Relationships
All public administration agencies are established to convert policy

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initiatives of a government into implementation. In a democracy like Sri Lanka, public policy is initiated by the political leadership while the making of policy is in the hands of the higher public servants. Kogan' considered the former as a “high frequency activity” the latter a "low frequency activity". Even in Britain political parties were considered, according to Fry as "organised for slogan making but not for policy preparation'. Policies may be in the manifesto of the governing party or formulated after assumption of office. An interesting example of the latter is when the new government of New Zealand assumed office in 1987, the Treasury offered it a thorough going reform program for public administration titled “Government Management: A brief to the incoming government” much of it inspired by institutional economics based on theories of Public Choice, transactions and principal-agent. This is an example of a low frequency activity. The incoming government accepted the proposals in the main. The path-breaking reforms introduced in New Zealand as a consequence, are now quoted as a model in public administration change literature. Many of them were accepted by the Australian public service. The two parts of governance, that of policy formulation and policy implementation are colourfully compared to steering and rowing respectively. 缺×
The normal stages of converting policy to implementation would be the 5 P's of policy, programs, planning, processes and procedures. They are
1. Normative policy (policy) 2. Specific organisation strategies (programs) 3. Operational policy and tactics (planning) 4. Organisational operations (processes) 5. Organisational plumbing (procedures) In Sri Lanka different levels deal or should deal with each of these components. They are
1. Policy-Secretary to the Ministry 2. Programs-Additional Secretary to the Ministry 3. Planning-Head of Agency 4. Processes-Deputy Head of Agency 5. Procedures-Assistant Head/Junior Executive of Agency. In a vast conglomerate like public administration, covering institutions dealing with Art to Zoo's, there will be much overlapping.

Public Administration Change 33
But basically
Policy, could be considered as appertaining to leadership. Programs, planning and processes could be considered as appertaining to management. Procedures, could be considered as appertaining to administration.
Policy, programs, planning could be considered the wise thinking part of public administration, the steering aspect, processes and procedures could be considered the routine mechanical part of public administration, the rowing aspect. Policy, programs and planning are segmented at three levels. Planning and programs would require, what Nietzche in another context stated as, Apollonians and Dionysians respectively. Apollonians were logical and analytical while Dionysians were intuitive and synthesise. These capabilities would correspond to the use of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. At the highest level, that of the Secretary to Ministry, the skills required were Odyssean. Odysseans combine both. This is a rare capability. Since exceptional persons were required for this post, a Secretary is an officer mentioned in the Constitution.
5.2. Organisation Structures
There are two different ways of demarcating public administration
organisations. They are - (1) Control based organisations; and (2)
Policy formulating organisations,
5.2.1. Control-Based Organisations
Most of the government departments are control-based organisations primarily dealing with rowing. The sustaining argument for control based organisations is that, for objectives to be achieved to fulfil steering policy directives received from the Ministry, it is best if unpredictable behaviour of the staff were minimised if not eliminated. It was a Newtonian clockwork organisation where free will was wished away. Such an approach would support the creation of a centralised authority with unity of command, precisely defined superior-subordinate relationships, power, graded authority tied to differential decision-making and accountability for actions. The beneficiaries of the activities of a control-based organisation e.g., recipients of

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charity allowances, timber permits, passports, etc. are known, and how they should be dealt with, and the type of services which they should be provided, are laid down in meticulous detail. Individual decision-makers adopt professional approaches in a control-based structure. The motivation offered was carrot or stick i.e., financial reward for success, punishment for failure. Operations were considered value free and were dealt in an impersonal manner. Organisational structures and procedures are mechanistic. They are instrumental means for ensuring performance by minimising variance and disturbances caused by innovation. In this framework employees were expected to be loyal and obedient, and perform to ensure the achievement of objectives. Control-based organisations assume that the public administration context in which they are embedded are supportive of their value free efforts. This may not necessarily be true because bureaupathological procedures have developed a Kafkaian life of their own Strangling these efforts. If the third wave were to break a Substantial pruning of these procedures is required and performance judged, not by the extent of following procedures, but by output. But this is thinking within the framework. New Zealand has shown that an alternate way of getting output is possible, that is to adopt the contract route. There is a purchaser/provider split, which means that the new public administration should learn how to manage contracts. Many government departments which produce outputs by themselves will have to continue as control-oriented organisations. The Elections Department is one of them. Its responsibilities cannot be sub-contracted. Most of its procedures are to fulfil legally mandated processes and procedures. The Elections Department has retained an exceptionally high acceptance from all communities and political parties. Any variation, even in the slightest, of the time tested approaches, may sow seeds of doubt, which are not desirable for this department. There are similar departments like the Department of Immigration and Emigration, Department of Import Control, etc. which have to continue as control-based organisations.
Yet many control-oriented agencies could benefit from a greater magnitude and amplitude of change. This would lie in following managerial approaches of the NPM. To do so, within the new paradigm of public administration, it should develop an appropriate culture, (Peters and Waterman, 1982) obtain a professional manage

Public Administration Change 35
ment team, either by recruiting new or retraining existing staff, develop a strategic vision, offer freedom of management to its staff by decentralising authority, develop indicators for evaluating performance and ensure output-oriented accountability measures. This is at the core of the demand-driven World Bank initiatives on governance. However, the World Bank approach to governance has not given due recognition to two aspects which bedevil public administration, both arising from the changed context it finds itself. The public administration continuum at both ends has now changed to politicking. It conforms to the pessimistic view of public administration as stated by Public Choice theorists. Control-based organisations should be concerned with rowing well by optimising the functioning of its internal environment. Consequently they would like to minimise the influence of the external environment, except for receiving steering policy directions and inputs. But with the shift to a politicking context, the head of the organisation has to spend much time on the boundary, safeguarding the organisation from dysfunctional external influences which threaten to disrupt the smooth internal functioning of the organisation. The head will have to constantly be on the look out for predators. These threats could be from politicians concerned with appointments, promotions, transfers, purchases, or from colleagues. A politicking context breeds politicking public servants very much like carrion breeding maggots. Such bureaupaths undermine the head's authority hoping to replace him, particularly if the latter were a success. Scheming public servants could always find scabs in the victim's agency, in the expressive vernacular called Runoongaratne's, those who run to their star-bosses homes carrying tales. Politicking has triumphed in Sri Lanka, not merely because of the assertiveness of politicians, but more insidiously, because of the connivance and acquiescence of bureaupath colleagues particularly trading on vulnerabilities of weak Ministers.
If public administration were to survive, a major effort has to be made to safeguard its agencies from porosity caused by the changed context of politicking. It is through those multiple cracks that the politicking acid rain hascorroded the excellent public administration organisations bequeathed to Sri Lanka at the time of independence and which performed so wonderfully in the Renaissance part of the second wave. One of the efforts now being made is to reintroduce an

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independent Public Service Commission (PSC). But its success would depend on the quality of personnel selected as its first Commissioners. It is best if this were a body of five Commissioners representing in combination, all the races, languages and religions in Sri Lanka. Commissioners should be appointed for a maximum period of seven years, after which they should not be eligible for reappointment or hold a post for profit in the public sector. The second effort should be to develop a concept of contestability, where judgement about a public servant is based entirely on performance rather than on the whim of a politician or a calculating bureaucrat, a whim which can unceremoniously despatch him to the notorious "Pool' maintained in the Ministry of Public Administration. The third is to abolish this disgraceful "Pool". The fourth means of creating an excellent public
administration would be the rapid build-up of the cadre of a core group of senior management personnel, which will be discussed later. This is the best of them all for it is objective. All these four approaches are meant to alter the context of public administration, so that the NPM approaches can flourish.
5.2.2. Policy Formulating Organisations
Public administration assists in the formulation of pelicies by government and converting these policies into implementation. This is its steering part. The control-based organisation is a device to ensure implementation in which pure managerial decision-making should prevail. It is technically a value-free organisation. Political decision-making on the other hand is a value-loaded activity, since politics is the ability to do something about issues which the politician cares about. This noble concern has increasingly got subverted. Weak politicians with the active support of their conniving public servants, adopting the politicking mode have tended to concentrate on self service rather than public service, as foretold by Public Choice School of Economics. While there is no People's Alliance (PA) or United National Party (UNP) way of building a bridge, the rowing part, there is a PA or UNP way of choosing whether a bridge should be built, the steering part. Such a choice is value laden. The policy formulating organisation has to reflect this dimension.
The institution that deals with policy formulation is the Ministry. Ministries have a political head who is the Minister and a bureau

Public Administration Change 37
cratic head who is the Secretary. Ministries were established only after independence. Under the Donoughmore Constitution each head of department related directly to the Minister. There were no Secretaries to the Ministry and there were no complaints. In fact, the policy foundation for the path-breaking initiatives taken by Sri Lanka in respect of education and health were laid during the Donoughmore period.
The Ministry once created, attempted to fulfil its policy role. The Secretaries after independence and its immediate aftermath were officials of undoubted capability and acceptance. Only alpha civil servants became Secretaries. They sustained Northcote-Trevalyan values of providing low frequency policy support to the incumbent Minister and self effacingly guided the Minister along the correct path when he tended to get on the politicking mode. With the abolition of the higher public service-the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS)- and the independent PSC, there was a drastic drop in the quality of senior ministry personnel. The situation became worse with politicking appointments to these posts where there was little evidence that capability, suitability, experience, qualifications and competence were considered. More often than not, beta public officers were appointed to them. The result was that, over the years, many senior officials have become ill equipped to hold these posts, unlike in Malaysia or Singapore. The World Bank analysis of the East Asia miracle emphasised the policy approach as being primarily responsible for the success of these countries. If Sri Lanka were to emulate this example, urgent attention has to be given to building policy formulation and policy marketing skills through policy entrepreneurs, where giving correct guidance to Ministers is an important capability. In building the cadre of the core group of senior managers the induction of mature personnel, through lateral entry, with these skills is vital. Policy making institutions have to contend with groups, lobbies, elected officials, legislators, aid agencies, etc. Control-based organisations take managerial decisions on how best to combine inputs to get outputs. It is an optimising approach. A policy making institution cannot apply the same approach because of contending concerns of the groups. In this scenario two approaches are suggested. First, the satisficing route of Herbert Simon' and the second, the incrementalist route of Aaron Wildavsky.’ Simon argues that

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given the widely varying expectations of different groups, no one group will give way, even if decisions were rational, unless its concerns were at least partially addressed. Rationality is bounded. Consequently the best approach is to adopt a 'satisficing' mode, that is, combine maximisation and satisfaction. All would be partly happy but not totally unhappy. This is a route where all beneficiaries enjoy part of the solution. The compulsion of public administration to adopt the 'satisficing' approach, is one element that distinguishes it from the private sector. Wildavsky's route of incrementalism recognises that the future depends on the present. For example, a new government finds that 95 percent of expenditure in the budget has been preempted by the future and it will be an unacceptable cost to forego any items. Thus any change is possible only in an incremental fashion.
Both models, one for control and the other for policy formulation are concerned with producing outputs, the first, of products or services, and the second of policy. The crucial difference is that in the control model, efficiency lies in maximising outputs with minimum inputs, while in the policy formulating model, policy output is a result of accommodation and trade-offs, which partially satisfy all stakeholders, though not completely satisfying some of them. Governance initiatives on applying NPM would fit the first situation which is the rowing part. However, neither World Bank governance concepts nor NPM fully address the complex issues of the second that is the steering part, though the OECD approach attempts to do so. Probahly this is because economists are not all that comfortable with theories of the second or third best.
6. Change Approaches
All organisations are manned by individuals. If changes were to be introduced, it will have to be through individuals working in a receptive organisation. Two specific areas for introducing change are considered in this volume, one dealing with contestability, covered in this paper, and the other with personal appraisal, dealt in another paper. There are however many other change areas in public administration. These two areas deal with discrete elements, but both together will substantially change the prevailing public administration context.

Public Administration Change 39
6.1. Contestability-The Nuclear Option for the Public Service
Among the concepts popularised by the emerging sub discipline of institutional economics, which has influenced much of World Bank's views on governance, is contestability. Institutional economics is based on introducing competition wherever possible. In New Zealand it has been tried out with much success. Competition is offered when there are two or more alternative providers of the same service. But holding a post, by its nature, does not lend itself to competition. Obviously it is not possible to have two or more holders of the same post, offering the same service. The NPM overcame this structural difficulty, by recommending that the holder of the post be under constant threat of being supplanted, if he were not upto the mark. This principle is not of recent origin. James Frazer vividly describes in the Golden Bough, how the leadership of the sacred grove of Nemi near Rome was gained by slaying the holder. There was a constant threat to the holder of this post, which would have made him alert, because the moment his attention was distracted a better one succeeded. NPM theorists would argue that the holder's demise was caused by lack of performance. A similar procedure is followed in contemporary Sri Lanka for the change of headship of some of her sacred groves, though in a less bloody manner. The position of Basnayake Nilame is gained by supplanting the incumbent through a contest, where the belt seems to be round the ankles. For contestability to work there is an indispensable requirement as well as be supported by adequate institutional arrangements. The indispensable requirement is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the appointing authority and the public servant, indicating in clear unequivocal terms the expectations on both sides. This is the necessary condition. It should be supplemented with performance indicators, the fewer the better, capturing the elements on which a judgement can be made on performance. This is the sufficient condition. The officer can be removed only if he were unable to meet the expectations laid out in the MoU. If he has to be removed for any other reason, a substantial negotiated cash payment has to be made to him. If there were disagreement on the sum, an appeal from the aggrieved party could be addressed to an independent tribunal. Perhaps the newly strengthened Ombudsman eeuld be such a tribunal, or a special tribunal could be created. This tribunal should be able to

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award punitive damages for wrongful termination. The draft appraisal form in another chapter would assist personal appraisal.
A form of contestability does now exist in Sri Lanka. Secretaries and Additional Secretaries are invariably selected from the combined management services of the public service, preponderantly from the SLAS. The reasons why they and not someone else more senior and better experienced were selected, are not all that clear. But those selected, by whatever means, should be given performance contracts. A significant payment could be made to reward exceptional work. Once experience is gathered on this scheme, it could be extended to the selection and rewarding of heads of departments. A similar system operates in New Zealand with quite beneficial results. Contestability is a nuclear option but it offers promising possibilities for the third wave.
In the meanwhile, government has approved the creation of a cadre of a core group of persons, to be called upon to assume the responsibilities of senior management at the highest levels of the public sector. The selection of this alpha service is to be made from the widest spectrum of knowledge, skills, expertise and experience, available in both the public and private sectors. Appointments are to be on contract with remuneration individually negotiated, a critical factor in this negotiation being the current salary drawn.
The core group proposal is a fresh approach to management in public administration, getting away from the closed-shop approach now followed. The closed-shop confined selected management positions to a particular service, though management is generic, and is common to all professions. The proposal is consistent with the ARC proposal on the SMG. This initiative of government is commended since it attempts to draw in managers with varied backgrounds, in medicine, law, engineering, business management and other professions. The scheme will attract the best managers in the country while permitting contestability to operate. It is also consistent with World Bank approaches on governance.
But reservations have to be expressed about whether the scheme should recruit from the private sector. Government has opted out from economic activities which produce private goods. Consequently private sector skills in this area are not required. Private sector skills in public administration, except in areas 4 and 5 indicated in para 5.1

Public Administration Change 41
arc irrelevant. Areas 1, 2, 3 of para 5.1 require quintessentially public service backgrounds. Personnel in the private sector also draw substantially higher salaries than public service personnel. If their remuneration were to be equated to private sector levels it will completely distort public administration salary structures. Therefore, it is not recommended that selection to the core group be made from the private sector though it contravenes World Bank approaches to gov
(CITT13[1C62.
7. Organisational Development (OD) and Strategic Capacity
The World Bank approach to governance assumes that the virtue of the proposition by itself will induce change. In simple or complex non-adaptive systems like public administration agencies the drive towards progress is not inherent. What is immanent is an instinct for self-preservation by building static self-defences. There are no automatic dynamic sympathetic responses to change in Sustaining environments. If dynamic change were left to the will of each agency, progression will be a Random Walk where most agencies will show little or no advance. Mostly, if at all, the push will be with respect to variable change. Some others will deal with bits of both variable and parametric change and only a very few will go the whole length of a comprehensive variable and parametric change. The whole exercise is left to chance. Graphically the representation will be as on the following page.
A change in Structures, Systems and strategies is approached through consultancy. This may be called the hard change program. The change in staffing, skills, styles and shared values is behaviourial. They are best approached through training programs. These training programs will deal with both content and process. Content covers dissemination of knowledge and skills, matter in natural science terms. Process covers the structuring of the framework for procedures, systems, etc. to function. This could be called energy in natural science terms. Both may be called the soft change programs. Preceding them, each public administration agency should determine its Strategic capacity and determine anew its vision, mission, purposes, objectives, performance indicators and means of performance review based on the mandate given by the political leadership. The mandate is the initial condition, a constant that cannot be changed by manage

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No.of Agencies
Most He--- The beginning
of change
Some ------- u v Progress of
change later on
A Few Change very much
later
C
hange 温 ح
Variable Parametric
Distribution of Change in a Random Walk
FIGURE 21
A Random Walk approach to change is too relaxed for the urgent needs of public administration in Sri Lanka. Change has to be induced and even with the greatest effort there is no assurance of success. One method for introducing change is Organisational Development (OD) through the 7's model. Its schematic presentation is:
Structures
༧། ། འོ།།
Systems Strategies
ܓܠܠ
Shared
values ༄། جس سے
Staffing Styles
~പ്പ Skills محاسبے
7's Model
DLAGRAM 2.1

Public Administration Change 43
ment. It would be helpful to break the organisation into Strategic Result Units (SRU) and Key Result Areas (KRA). Thus, change is introduced by indicating that the organisation is becoming not just being. In Britain each agency has to go through this process every five years. The preparation for becoming should have the approval of the political leadership. Based on it a job analysis which includes a job description, a job specification, a scheme of recruitment and a listing of personal appraisal indicators should be made. Today, there is only a scheme of recruitment to a post. To obtain optimal impact both consultancy and training should go hand in hand. Once they are accomplished, the independently drawn personal appraisal could be meshed. It will be noticed that the OD exercise will be based on a genotype which has the eleven public administration universals nested in the seven cultural memes. The purpose of the OD exercise is to develop the appropriate phenotype. While the Random Walk approach depends solely on chance for inducing change, the OD approach does not make change fully deterministic, where everything is laid down and the role of the public administrator is merely to play the archivist, turning the pages of the corporate plan to find preordained solutions. The OD exercise lays a framework within which public administrators are given free play. Thus, like in quantum mechanics, indeterminism is built into the output of an OD exercise. It would indicate intentionality not causality and that reality is being actively constructed and not just waiting to be determined from outside. The role of the public administrator, who could be an Odyssean, Dionysian or Apollonian, is to find the probabilistic best solution. Within a politically consecrated framework public administrators have free will.
World Bank approaches on governance have a stubborn preoccupation only with reducing staff. It is agreed that public administration is heavily overstaffed but staff being a factor of production is equated with other inert factors like finance and materials. This is an error. Human beings are a factor of production, but of a different and special kind. They cannot be slotted in or out like spare parts. Contestability applies only to a few and that too at the top. If reductions of staff were required they have to be voluntary, bought off with a golden handshake or managed over a period time. If it is the latter, it should be at the end of an OD program, not at the beginning of it.

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The World Bank learnt a bitter lesson when it downsized its own staff. To get rid of a couple of hundred staff, it spent over $100 million, but re-employed most of them on contract.
8. Institution for Ensuring Public Administration Change
Change cannot occur by itself stimulated by an inner virtue. It has to be sponsored and be constantly worked on. Before suggesting the institution appropriate to undertake the change process, a brief review of the fate of reform efforts undertaken in the recent past should be made.
8.1. Policy Division-Ministry of Public Administration (MPA)
A high powered Administrative Reforms Committee (ARC) was established by Presidential decision in 1986 to study all aspects of public administration and make recommendations on their improvement. Comprehensive studies were undertaken and recommendations offered in ten published and one unpublished report. In these reports aspects of governance too were dealt though this term had not gained currency. In early 1991, government accepted the recommendations of the ARC, and created a Policy Division in the MPA to implement them. The Policy Division was to be headed by an officer of Additional Secretary status, and one of the most senior public servants was appointed to the post. While the Policy Division was getting on its feet, the Sri Lanka UNDP office, through its Resident Representative Mr. Robert England had negotiations with the Secretary, Ministry of Finance, to mount a competing $1.3 million public administration reform program located in the Ministry of Planning, which had no mandate over public administration. Public administration reforms were not to be born, au naturel, but by forced delivery from a wrong location through Caesarian section. It confirmed the insight of the Public Choice School of Economics, which prophesied that bureaucrats, whether national or international, will engage in turf wars to increase their power. The UNDP project, based on the Leonard Joy mission report purveying public administration kitsch, was vested with the same responsibilities as the Policy Division of MPA. Yet, since the Ministry of Planning was under the President, the Policy Division got undermined and lost its role. Its obsequies were laid when the UNDP refused to convey a cabinet decision

Public Administration Change . 45
seeking assistance from the UNDAD for the Policy Division. With the departure of the Additional Secretary, MPA's efforts at public administration reform effectively ceased. But in the brief flicker of its existence it was able to get rid of the chit system of appointment by introducing examinations for all selections to public posts, reduce cadres in the public service voluntarily by about 10 per cent and introduce a major reorganisation of the Postal Department.
8.2. Ministry of Planning (MPL)-Restructuring Management Unit
The MPL, which hijacked public administration reform efforts with the UNDP project, attempted to implement them through a Restructuring Management Unit (RMU) located within itself. From the beginning there was opposition on grounds of wrong location, bad design, weak leadership and poor manning. The obstetricians turned out to be abortionists. The RMU was seriously unequal to the challenges or opportunities thrown up, since it was nipping and tucking at the edges of reform. It did not face the issues of public administration reform but merely made faces at them. The situation got worse with corruption, which was discussed even in the press. Corruption was openly the norm. On one occasion the Resident Representative even ordered the Director SLIDA to provide technical assistance to some private sector British consultants who had got a tender in open competition, otherwise he would refuse to approve the private leave of an ILO consultant. Director SLIDA replied that "Dr H. Koudry, an US citizen is a short term ILO consultant working in SLIDA. He applied for his annual leave for two weeks. This leave was approved both by the ILO's Chief Technical Advisor and the National Project Director. The Head of the ILO Colombo had no objection, but you however refused it, fixing a bizarre condition that Dr Koudry should get involved with three British private sector consultants and share with them confidential proprietary data/information obtained by him when working as a part of the SLIDA team. In a telephone conversation with Dr Koudry, you have imposed the condition that his leave will depend on his co-operation with the private sector consultants. In your letter you have given me instructions similar to those given to Dr Koudry. I was to carry them out within three hours. ... Your direction to me to give vital information to the foreign private sector, is contrary to all public administration

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ethics and breaches the code of conduct under which officials holding high office work. Subsequently, on an inquiry, I was informed that the ILO personnel regulations do not provide for the Res Rep approving or refusing annual leave of short term consultants like Dr Koudry. ILO Geneva were apprised of your untenable imposition and they were appalled. Mr Von Muradt, a senior ILO official, telexed that Dr Koudry should be given his leave forth with. This leave was granted to Dr Koudry within the hour.”’’ The project laboured for three years, spent about $7,50,000, much of it on "consultants' and "advisors' from the developed world, none of whom had practical experience on public administration in developing countries. The head of the UNDP report carved out a post of tourist Senior Advisor for himself to periodically visit Sri Lanka. This cost more than a permanent Senior Advisor. Self-service was not confined to Sri Lankans but this was of a cash and carry kind. The RMU turned out not to be a cash cow but a cash buffalo. It is now quite clear that this competing project was created to launder UNDP funds and recycle them to favoured individuals. This conclusion can be drawn because though the government was pressing for administrative reform and the RMU given all facilities, encouragement and empowerment, yet the RMU was unable to perform. Early in its existence the government handed the oversight of the establishment of the Divisional Secretariats to it. The Divisional Secretariats were a lead project of government, and also since it was an attempt to take administration to the people, it was a lead concern of UNDP too. But the RMU was unable to deliver and responsibility was removed from it within six months. The Minister of Public Administration writing to the President explaining the reasons said that "not many prizes can be awarded to the RMU for the responsibility it has shown in supporting Your Excellency's drive to take administration to the people, by establishing Divisional Secretariats. I have made alternative arrangements to cover their failure.' Since the government was concerned about administrative reforms the RMU was to report to the Committee of Secretaries, the highest administrative body. For two years the RMU could report no performance at the monthly meetings of the Committee. The performance of the RMU was reviewed at two annual tri-partite meetings attended by the Resident Representative, Ministry of Finance and the RMU. The local UNDP should have

Public Administration Change 47
insisted on closure, at least at the end of the second year. This did not happen because the local UNDP had an agenda for recycling not administrative reform. The situation became too much for the headquarters UNDP who insisted on suspension at the third tri-partite meeting. The project was therefore dishonourably closed and could memorably be forgotten. Not one of the recommendations of the ARC was implemented. The RMU was a capital idea, providing capital gains to many. But it was capital punishment for public administration change efforts. It is fair to state that the RMU got no assistance from the Leonard Joy project report. The project report was in effect a junk bond, bonding public administration reform efforts with its junk recommendations. A large part of governance is accountability. Though this failed project attracted one of the largest grants of the UNDP, accountability is not all that evident. The author is now preparing a detailed analysis for publication.
As it now stands administrative reform is moving laggardly. However the government is committed fully to it, as it always was. As a first step the government has issued a circular on "Performance and Aptitude Appraisal.” For success to be achieved in reform efforts a determination of the correct location is vital. There are two possible sites, one being the MPA and the other being the Presidential SecretaTlat.
8.3. Ministry of Public Administration (MPA)
The MPA includes the Ministry of Public Administration, the Pensions Department, the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA), and the Public Service Training Institute (PSTI). It is the natural candidate for locating and spearheading public administration reform. But the MPA suffers from serious deficiencies. First, from the time the MPA was created in 1970, it had difficulty in determining its mission and objectives. Second, it has credibility problems in leading improvement efforts of others, when it is in need of substantial improvement itself. The MPA, as it now functions, is at the lower end of public esteem for it has lost the moral high ground. Third, though the Secretary to MPA is the head of the public service, the MPA is unable to attract even minimal numbers of its high flyers. Fourth, though the MPA is manned at executive levels almost entirely by officers of the SLAS, whose head is the Secretary to MPA,

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yet its better members scrupulously tended to avoid the MPA, unless they were forced involuntarily to join its infamous " Pool". The result is that at the three highest executive levels of the present MPA, postgraduate qualified officers are scarce, no one has international experience and none has even written an internationally refereed article. An intellectual and competency vacuum prevails. The MPA is the home of the SLAS and it is not surprising that the President has such an uncomplimentary view of it. The MPA is unpromising material to lead public administration change efforts. Regrettably the MPA, becalmed in a dead end, is not a suitable location. The evidence is that the Presidential Secretariat has sidelined it.
8.4. Presidential Secretariat
The ARC recommended that the public service be placed under the Presidential Secretariat. As indicated in para 5.1., public administration has two parts, one of thinking and introducing change and the other of maintenance of routines, the steering and rowing responsibilities. The first is dynamic and the second is static. The ARC recommendations about location were not implemented, because it was felt that both the dynamic and static parts should be within one organisation, that of the MPA. However, the UNDP Mission on Improvement of Public Sector Management (1990) felt that the dynamic part at least should be under the Presidential Secretariat. This was not agreed upon and it was placed under MPL with unsatisfactory results. It being quite clear that the thinking part cannot be undertaken by the present MPA, administrative reform has now been placed under the Presidential Secretariat. The national consultant on public administration works in the Secretariat. This has been a wise decision. The decision to recruit a core group of Senior managers for public administration is a parametric change, which could only have been taken at the level of the Presidential Secretariat So is the issue of the Performance and Aptitude circular. But while the thinking part belongs to the Presidential Secretariat, the dissemination of this thinking, that of evangelism, is best left to another institution that had a recognised role for this activity. This institution is the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLiDA). The SLIDA should be the pulpit for administrative change. It too should be under the Presidential Secretariat.

Public Administration Change 49
9. Conclusion
The steel frame of public administration, inherited by Sri Lanka at independence in 1948, suffered metal fatigue when the CCS and the independent PSC were abolished. It ended the Renaissance period of the second wave and heralded the Baroque. Since then an inexorable decline has taken place. The steel frame enshrined the principle that public administration is an objective activity that takes impartial rowing decisions, irrespective of party considerations of the government. There is no duality between politician and public servant but a continuum. The abolition of the CCS and the independent PSC enshrined the principle that public administration serves partisan party requirements of the government. Most politicians became God and proceeded to play dice with public administration agencies. They were however gods who failed since they ignored management. Sri Lanka became a kleptocracy, of government by patronage and spoils, with the public service trying to get the crumbs. But the politician's shelf life is brief since the public boot them out at their next performance appraisal, that of an election. They have, however, left behind a stricken public service beset by malaise, bereft of leadership and ripe for change both in the variable and parametric dimensions. Change is a rare condition in human history. Changelessness had been more the norm. Public administration has not been an exception to this generalisation. This is because public administration is a minicommand economy, where orders go down and information goes up. The change process in public administration could be partially initiated by applying NPM when dealing with the individual elements needing change. However the current predicament of SLIDA symbolises the issues bedeviling public administration change. Neanderthal public administration retains existing laws, regulations and practices by invoking unchanging procedural constants. In SLIDA the obtuse application of an obsolescent two-year rule in respect of officers under deputation, was an application of such a constant. The two-year rule cannot apply to SLIDA, since its faculty can only start functioning after going through training programs of a minimum two years. Current concerns of public administration cannot be obscurantist. They should deal with a regular re-interpretation and refurbishing of laws, rules and practices within contemporary or emerging political, social, economic, and administrative pressures and in the

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context. In a dynamic public administration world there are no procedural constants. Applied to SLIDA, it will mean a recognition that trained faculty, irrespective of whether they are on deputation or not, should serve at least five years to recoup the costs of training investment and if management and faculty were willing should be allowed to stay on. The lesson that needs to be generalised is that a search for appropriate coarse-grained or fine-grained alternatives to fit developing situations becomes the essence of change management in public administration, whether this change deals with individual items or the context. Sri Lanka is fortunate in that it has a guide to public administration change in the well thought out reports of the Administrative Reforms Committee. Change processes, possibly with the help of SLIDA, could best be undertaken through OD programs but should be context dependent. These could be through a combination of consultancy and training. Simultaneously, by professionalising management, politicking could be eliminated. Building a core group of alpha managers would help substantially, since their skills are portable and marketable and these managers would be less prone to compromise. But in introducing change, while accepting that World Bank views have merit, care should be taken that some of its more eccentric proposals, like immediate downsizing, be treated with circumspection. Minimalist public administration and immediate downsizing are a cocaine. A copyright on public administration reform is unearned by the World Bank since it is in many respects a Taliban, advocating fundamentalist support to the Public Choice School of Economics. Public administration should not be built on maximising narrowly conceived self-interest. Sociological approaches of public administration should be predominant since there can be no divorce possible between behaviour and motivation of officials from the culture in which they are embedded. To entrench change, public administration policy entrepreneurship is required. Policy entrepreneurs will have to be skilled navigators, wisely reconciling contrary demands of different pressure groups, and trying to make sense of departmental quicksands. The need is for a cadre of Apollonians, Dionysians and Odysseans who will fire the third wave public administration.
The leadership of the change effort should rightly belong to the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA). But the MPA is not up to

Public Administration Change 51.
the challenge. When the pressing need is the re-introduction of the superego into public administration, its onslaught on SLIDA shows its response to it. Public administration reform which needs high mindedness could ill afford bazaar approaches. It deals with build up not breakdown. Fortunately the Presidential Secretariat has taken over the leadership in reform.
The history of Sri Lanka is a history of lost opportunities and adoption of easy populist solutions. This has resulted in Sri Lanka's main foreign earnings changing from tea exports at independence to remittances of domestic servants today. The decline of Sri Lanka is matched by a decline of her public administration. Public administration reform is a hard path quite hazardous to its advocates. Stable systems which require ordered change are always threatened by barbarisms, Rome by Vandals, modern life by drug-traffickers and public administration by bureaupaths. The tragedy that has brought SLIDA to its knees should be a cautionary tale on adopting politicking approaches and giving a free run to bureaupaths. It is imperative that decision makers eschew this path. Change does not lie in embalming what is but in choreographing what needs to become, if public administration were to surf the third wave. This is the challenge it faces in the run upto the third millennium. In doing so it needs to be pervaded by an existentialist ethos, that significance of public administration cannot lie beyond what public administrators themselves invest in it. An epitaph on a tombstone found near Strasbourg would be enlightening, "Don't think of who I once was. Reflect on who you once were and are now, and who you would like to be in the future." So with public administration.
N. O. T E S
1. Report on the Organisation of the Permanent Civil Service (1854). The Northcote-Trevalyan Report, London.
2. Somasundram, M. (1995), "The Greening of the Public Sector: The Sri Lanka Experience", The Asian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 2, No. 1, Manila.
3. World Bank (1989), "Sub Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth", Washington DC. h
4. World Bank (1992), "Governance and Development', Washington DC. 5. Hood, Christopher (1991), "A Public Management for All Seasons",

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Public Administration, Vol. 69.
6. Niskanen, W.A. (1971), Bureaucracy and Representative Government, Aldine Atherton.
7. OECD (1994), "DAC orientations on Participatory Development and Good Governance", OECD Working Papers No. 2, Paris.
8. Kirk, G.S. and Raven, J.E. (1960), Pre-Socratic Philosophers, 2nd Edn. Cambridge.
9. Seshan, T.N. (1996), A Heartful of Burdens, UBS Publishers. A number of senior IAS officers, who were recruited in the 1950s have now retired and published their memoirs and autobiographies. There is a common chord of disenchantment in all of them. Some noteworthy publications are
Kaw, M.K. (1995), Bureaucrazy: IAS Unmasked, Konark. Singh, P. and Bhandarkar, Asha, IAS Profile: Myths and Realities, Wiley Eastern.
Seshan, T.N. (1996), The Regeneration of India, Penguin. Godbole, Madhav (1996), Unfinished Innings: Recollections and Reflections of a Civil Servant, Orient Longman.
10. Government of Sri Lanka, "Report of the Administrative Reforms Committee', Reports 1-10.
11. UNDP (1990), "Government of Sri Lanka: Programme for the Improvement of Public Sector Management'. A report of the UNDP Management Development Programme Mission in Sri Lanka.
12. Kogan, M. (Ed.) (1977), The Politics of Education, Penguin Books. 13. Fry, G.K. (1981), The Administrative Revolution in Whitehall, Croom Helm.
14. New Zealand Treasury (1982), "Government Management: A Brief to the Incoming Government.”
15. Australian Government Advisory Board (1992), “Australian Public Service: An Evaluation of a Decade of Management Development', Task Force on Management Development.
16. The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Sec. 52.
17. Peters, Thomas and Waterman, Nobert, H. (1982), In Search of Excellence, Harper and Row.
18. 'Pool", Originally the "Pool" was meant to accommodate higher public servants belonging to the Ceylon Civil Service on transfer or on furlough to England. A stay in the "Pool' did not last more than a month.
19. Simon, H.A. (1947), Administrative Behaviour: A Study of Decision Making Processes in Administration Organisation, Macmillan.
20. Wildavsky, A. (1964), The Politics of the Budgetary Process, Little, Brown.
21. Presidential Secretariat, "The Selection of a Core Group of Persons, for appointment to Senior Managerial positions in the Public Sector', Sunday Observer, 13th October, 1996.

Public Administration Change 53
22. Letter of D\SLIDA to Resident Representative UNDP dated 16th July, 1993 in reply to his letter of 13th July.
23. Letter of Hon. Festus Perera, Minister of Public Administration to H. E. The President, dated 18th July, 1992.

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3
Democracy and the Rule of Law
S.A. Attapattu
“The function of the true state is to improve the minimum restrictions and safeguard the maximum liberties of the people, and it never regards the person as a thing.' -Immanuel Kant, 1788
1. Background
I. I. General Introduction
The concept of 'good governance' is central to an effective form of government, which in turn is dependent on a variety of factors. These factors range from economic conditions in a particular country, the form of government, how governmental entities function, to the remedies that are available to the public against maladministration. Good governance is essential for the well-being of citizens, social and political stability and the economic development of a state. It is generally accepted that for a state to exist in international law, four basic requirements need to be satisfied: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) a government; and (d) the capacity to enter into relationships with other states. It is the third requirement that is relevant here. In the words of Brownlie, "The existence of effective government, with centralized administrative and legislative organs, is, the best evidence of a stable political community.' Although the incidence of statehood is not dependent on an effective form of government in every instance, Brownlie's statement highlights the importance of an effective form of government. This argument, however, needs to be read in the light of subsequent developments in relation to self-determination. Thus, any form of govern

Democracy and the Rule of Law 55
ment, in order to be effective, needs the support of the population. It follows that, where a government represents only the minority (as, for example, the then Rhodesia or South Africa) or is a repressive form of government, such government is neither effective nor democratic.
The above analysis indicates that there has to be some form of legitimacy in relation to governments. Problems arise, internally as well as internationally, where the legitimacy of a government is in question. Internally, it would lead to political instability, social disharmony and negative economic development. Internationally, especially where developing countries are concerned, erosion of legitimacy would result in development aid being drastically reduced or completely cut off or in extreme cases, by the severance of diplomatic ties. Where the legitimacy of a government is in question, states have chosen not to recognise such governments, although this generally tends to be a political issue rather than a legal one. The apartheid regime in South Africa was condemned time and time again in the United Nations," yet many states continued to have relations with the minority regime which was guilty of severe human rights violations and for suppressing the majority. In 1980 the British Government declared that it no longer accords recognition to governments which do so.
Although there are many forms of governments (for example, democratic, socialist, communist, dictatorship, etc.), in order to be effective and legitimate, governments need the participation and the faith of its population in the governmental process. In other words, some form of democracy is needed which involves the participation of the population in its electoral process and in the day to day functioning of the government. Where a government is a duly elected cntity according to the wishes of the majority of the population, the government in turn becomes accountable to the public who elected it.
1.2. The Structure of the Paper
The aim of this paper is to discuss the notion of governance in the context of democracy. After a brief discussion of the various definitions of governance and democracy, its relationship with the rule of law will be examined. It will also examine the existing judicial and other institutions and the recent reforms that were adopted. The

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constitutional provisions will also be examined in order to ascertain the provisions on franchise, how elections are to be held, directive principles of state policy, fundamental rights and freedoms and the proposed amendments including electoral reforms. It is also proposed to discuss the reforms and institutional mechanisms that have been adopted by the present government and the mandate of the various commissions appointed by the President. Finally, having examined the present position, this paper will discuss the reforms that are necessary in this area in order to close, or at least reduce, the disjuncture between the reality and the ideal of a democratic Society.
1.3. Definitions
1.3.1. Good Governance
The frequent references to good governance and democracy inspire the necessity to ascertain the meaning of these concepts and their application in practice. Given that these notions are relative in nature, it may not be feasible to arrive at a concrete definition nor would it be possible to definitively lay down what should constitute good governance. The only possible recourse would be to identify the features which are normally associated with these concepts and to ascertain whether these features, or at least some of them, are present in our present form of government.
Various definitions appear in texts. A common definition is "the exercise of authority, control, management, power of government." The World Bank adopts the following definition: "The manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social development.' It further identifies three distinct aspects of governance, the form of the political regime, the process by which authority is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources, and the capacity of government to formulate and implement policies and to discharge governmental functions. The forms of political regimes can be varied, they range from parliamentary to presidential regimes, military to civilian regimes and authoritarian to democratic regimes.
"Governance' generally incorporates certain characteristics, for example, participation in the decision-making process at various levels is a crucial characteristic. At the highest level it indicates the

Democracy and the Rule of Law 57
participation of the populace in electing representatives to the government, at a lower level, it indicates electing representatives to local government bodies. It also means transparency i.e., decision-making process should not be done behind closed doors. In other words, the transactions and activities of the representatives lawfully elected and their officials should be visible to those who elected them. Accountability is another feature, which means that these representatives should be held answerable for their actions. Probity, which is connected to transparency and accountability, indicates that the actions of these representatives should be free from corruption. Good governance also subsumes efficiency and effectiveness, because unless a government is both efficient and effective, it would be impossible to elicit any of the other characteristics.
As regards the legitimisation of governments, Tomuschat has identified two criteria, that of the democratic process and the rule of law, in particular the observance of human rights. He emphasizes that
The democratic principle as being the foundation of all public power and the accountability of those in power to the people, in whom was vested sovereignty, was now almost an universally accepted concept.'
The notion of democracy is inconsistent with discrimination as the idea of equality is inherent in it. Thus, ideally, in a democratic form of governance there cannot be any discrimination based on race, religion, gender, political affiliations, language, place of birth, social status, etc. This, however, is not the situation in many developing countries where nepotism is usually the norm. Thus, even societies which have a democratic form of governance are not free from discrimination in toto and discrimination, in some form or other, does exist to a certain extent.
As regards the second criterion identified by Tomuschat, namely the rule of law and the observance of human rights, it is generally accepted that this is interlinked with the first criterion (i.e., the democratic process) and that where there are widespread human rights violations, there cannot be good governance based on democratic principles. The breakdown of the rule of law leads to human

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rights violations.Although legal systems vary from state to state, this implies that not only should there be a form of governance based on democratic principles, free from discrimination and where human rights are protected, but also that this should go hand in hand with a proper legal system which affords the populace protection against abuse, maladministration and discrimination. Without the latter mechanism no form of government can survive which hopes to achieve at least a semblance of legitimacy. Thus, a proper legal system constitutes the cornerstone of any legitimate society.
1.3.2. Democracy
While it would be difficult to adopt a universally accepted definition of democracy, as it is a relative concept and different regions of the world practise different degrees of democracy, it generally means the participation of people in the decision-making process. Such participation could be either director representative and it is the latter that is relevant here as direct participation in government by the populace is not practical now, given the sheer size of the population as well as its different political affiliations. It would be impossible to achieve unadulterated democracy in toto, as it would be well nigh impossible to accommodate the wishes of each and every citizen. Thus, the majority decision is taken with the necessary safeguards for the protection of minority interests. Since a majority decision may not always be the most democratic one, as the margin of majority could be very slight, it is necessary to safeguard the interests of the minorities as "the rights of minorities are protected because democratic laws and institutions protect the rights of all citizens." -
With more and more communist regimes turning to democracy, one can see a transitional phase as well as different kinds and degrees of democracy being practised across the globe. The dictionary defines democracy as "government by the people in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.' It is the general consensus that democracy is, in its broadest context, the vehicle through which good governance is achieved.
1.4. International Law Standards
Before turning to the discussion on constitutional provisions, it is

Democracy and the Rule of Law 59
proposed to examine briefly relevant international law standards. A brief examination of these standards is imperative as no state can ignore its international obligations, the breach of which would give rise to international responsibility.
1.4.1. The United Nations Charter
The Charter of the United Nations (UN) embodies the protection of fundamental rights of peoples as one of the purposes of the UN
To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion;'
The UN Charter also provides for the administration of non-selfgoverning territories by establishing a Trusteeship System. Under Article 73, the members of the UN have undertaken to respect the principle that the wishes of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount and to that end
To develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of development.
Promoting a progressive development towards self-government and encouraging the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion constitute the basic objectives of the trusteeship system.
1.4.2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948
This declaration, widely regarded as the foundation of international human rights law, has been accepted by the international community of states as embodying international legal provisions relating to human rights. Despite being embodied in a non-binding instrument, its contents have been universally accepted and by subse

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quent state conduct, has now entered the corpus of general international law.
Article 21 of the declaration is relevant to the present discussion. It embodies everyone's right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives and provides thateveryone has the right to equal access to public service. It further states that
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Several important principles are embodied in this article. Democracy shall be the guiding principle of governments whose authority derives from the will of the people, elections must be held periodically and these elections must be genuine (i.e., the elections must be free and fair), there cannot be discrimination in relation to suffrage which must be universal.
I.4.3. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, (ICESC), 1966 Article 1 embodies the right of self-determination and provides that people have the right to freely determine their political status and calls upon state's parties to promote the realization of the right of self-determination, including those which have the responsibility for the administration of non-self-governing and trust territories.
1.4.4. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
1966 The preamble of the covenant specifically refers to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides, inter alia, for civil and political rights. Article 1 reiterates the right of self-determination of peoples and embodies language identical to Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Article 25, similar to Article 21 of the UDHR, provides that every citizen has, without discrimination and without unreasonable restrictions, the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or

Democracy and the Rule of Law 61
through freely chosen representatives; to vote and be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot.
Thus, the right to participate in the formulation of the government is guaranteed by these instruments which also emphasize the need to hold free, fair and secret elections at which people can express their political preferences freely.
1.5. Self-determination
The right of self-determination, guaranteed by the human rights instruments, emerged from the colonial context. Although an uniform definition of self-determination is difficult to find, it generally means the right of cohesive national groups to choose for themselves a form of political organization and establish their relationship with other groups.'
Although this right used to be regarded with suspicion by Western states, it is now widely accepted as a legal principle. A word of caution, however, is necessary. This right cannot be taken to the extreme which would result in the fragmentation of nation-states leading to destabilisation of the world order. Thus, care must be taken in applying this principle to situations outside the colonial context. It is necessary to outline the parameters of this right as the exercise of it by every ethnic minority in the world would lead to chaos. To circumvent some of these dangers, Brownlie states that this principle must be applied in conjunction with other international legal principles, viz., state sovereignty, equality of states and the equality o peoples within a state.
Used in the present context, self-determination would mean that the population of a state has the right to decide and freely choose for themselves the form of government and to participate in the government process, without any form of discrimination. Peoples who are engaged in a struggle for self-determination are entitled to international support. Intervention in such instances is not regarded as an infringement of Article 207) of the UN Charter which prohibits intervention in domestic affairs of states.
The international community has witnessed in recent years the dangers of secession and the plight of ethnic minorities in the former Yugoslavia, the secessionist movements in Chechnya, the plight of

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Kurds in Iraq and the Hutus in Rwanda. Examples of discrimination of minorities abound.
1.6. The Right to Development
The right to development, although controversial, emerged from post-colonial developments. The newly independent states were critical of the lack of opportunity provided to them to develop and this issue emerged as a particularly sore point in relation to environmental protection. In order to reconcile this with the traditional approaches, the term 'sustainable development' was coined and the General Assembly Declaration on the Right to Development was adopted in 1986. This Declaration refers to the right to development as an inalienable human right.
2. Good Governance in Sri Lanka
2.1. Introduction
The notion of good governance became a central issue during the Presidential and Parliamentary elections in November 1994 where a good government policy was articulated. The Peoples Alliance (PA) was one of the two main parties in contention. The PA election manifesto as well as its policy statement contain specific reference to democracy and good governance. The notion of good governance is relevant in two contexts, in relation to development aid and the way a country is governed, and the rights of the populace to get involved in the process. As regards the former, donor countries and agencies were increasingly concerned about gross human rights violations in recipient countries and were insisting that they should improve their human rights record in order to receive development aid. Indeed, some donors have in the recent years, cut off aid completely due to gross human rights violations in would-be recipient countries.' Japan remains the only donor country which refuses to tie development aid to the human rights record.'
As regard the rights of the populace to get involved in the process of government every state has its own style of government although similarities exist. The emphasis here is the way in which the populace can get involved in the governing process (representative democracy), and its fundamental rights, freedoms and remedies safeguarded

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when these rights are infringed. Thus, Sri Lankan law will be reviewed to ascertain the provisions pertaining to the structure and form of government, electoral process, fundamental rights and administrative remedies.
2.2. Constitutional Provisions
The 1978 Constitution defines Sri Lanka as a "Free, Sovereign, Independent and Democratic, Socialist Republic' and states that it is a unitary state. According to Article 3, sovereignty is vested in the people which is inalienable and "includes the powers of government, fundamental rights and the franchise.' Article 4 specifies how the sovereignty is to be exercised, legislative power to be exercised by the Parliament, consisting of elected representatives of the people’, executive power by the President elected by the people and judicial power to be exercised by Parliament through courts, tribunals and institutions. Fundamental rights are to be respected, secured and advanced by all organs of the government and shall not be denied except in the manner specified in the Constitution. The franchise is to be exercised at every election and referenda by every citizen over the age of 18 years. Fundamental rights, which are detailed in Chapter III of the Constitution, will be examined later in the light of the draft amendments on the Subject.
2.3. Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties
Chapter VI of the Constitution embodies the directive principles of state policy which guide the Parliament, the President and the Cabinet of Ministers "in the enactment of laws and the governance of Sri Lanka for the establishment of a just and free society.' It enumerates the objectives of the State as
(a) Full realisation of fundamental rights and freedoms of all
persons; (b) Promotion of the welfare of the people by securing and protecting a social order in which justice (social, economic and political) shall guide all institutions of national life; (c) The realisation by all citizens of an adequate standard of
living; (d) Rapid development of the country by public and private economic activity and by prescribing necessary laws to that end;

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(e) Equitable distribution among the citizens of material resources; (f) Establishment of a just social order; (g) Raising the moral and cultural standards of the people; and (h) Complete eradication of illiteracy. Article 27(4) embodies a principle relevant in the present context. The State is required "to strengthen and broaden the democratic structure of government and the democratic rights of the people by decentralising the administration' and by affording the people every opportunity to participate at every level in national life and in government. Although these are only guiding principles and are not legal obligations, the breach of which can be enforced in a court of law,' how far this provision has been applied in practice is questionable.
2.3.1. Proposed Amendments
Among the provisions in the new draft Constitution on the principles that should guide the state in making laws and the governance of Sri Lanka is included the duty of the State to safeguard and strengthen the democratic structure of government and the democratic rights of the people. Among the duties of every citizen are included the duties to refrain from directly or indirectly participating in bribery or corruption and to uphold the rule of law and abjure violence. These, however, do not confer legal rights or obligations and no breach of these can be enforced in any court of law, apart from probably the latter (i.e., bribery and corruption) which is an offence under the national law.
2.4. The Constitutional Provisions Relating to Elections
Since any form of democracy, which denotes the free will of the population, depends on the way elections are held, it is important to ascertain the relevant provisions applicable to elections and referenda in Sri Lanka.
Article 93 of the Constitution stresses that the voting for the election of the President, Members of Parliament and at any referendum "shall be free, equal and by secret ballot". Thus, the right to participate in the governing process through elections is an important feature of a democratic society. It must, however, be emphasised that the elections must be free and fair and that the right to vote should not be withheld on grounds of ethnicity, sex, religion or any

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other ground.
2.5. Constitutional Provisions Relating to Referenda
Chapter XIII of the Constitution lays down the provisions governing referenda. The President in certain instances can (and in some instances has an obligation to) submit to the people by referendum any Bill which has been certified by the Cabinet of Ministers or by the Supreme Court as requiring the approval of the people. The President even has the discretion to submit to a referendum any Bill which has been rejected by the Parliament. The President can also submit any matter which he (or she) believes to be of national importance (Article 86).
Amendments to or repeal of certain Articles of the Constitution cannot be effected without the approval of the people at a referendum. These Articles include Articles 1, 2, 3, 6-1 1. The only instance where a referendum has been held in Sri Lanka was in 1982 to extend the term of office of the Parliament.
Referenda are used as a tool of democratic participation in many states. Norway, for example, held a referendum recently on the issue whether it should join the European Union. Just as formal elections, referenda are an important tool available to people to participate in the governmental process, provided these are held in a free and fair manner and there is no interference in the electoral process. The key issue here is free and fair elections at which people can freely express their political preferences. Peiris emphasises the merits of the referendum process as follows
The referendum, for which provision is made in the present Constitution of Sri Lanka, is another such device which is designed to give pragmatic expression to the ultimate Sovereignty of the electorate and to ensure that the elected representatives of the people continue to remain responsive to the wishes of those from whom they derive their authority.
Throughout the recent political history of Sri Lanka, however, there have been allegations of ballot rigging, intimidation at polling stations, violence, impersonation, etc. Although the 1994 Parliamentary elections and the Presidential elections were monitored by local

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and foreign observers, many irregularities were reported. The observers, however, concluded that these incidents were not widespread enough to affect the election result. These incidents, coupled with the fact that only a very small percentage of the population voted from the Jaffna and the Vanni districts due to the prevailing situation, raises serious questions as to the free and fair nature of these elections.
2.6. Executive Presidency: An Erosion of Democracy?
It is no scoret that the Executive President of Sri Lanka is Vested with a wide range of powers under the Constitution. The Parliamentary system of government which has been in existence since independence was changed to an executive presidential form of government by the 1978 Constitution. These constitutional provisions have been subjected to much criticism, mainly on the ground that the concentration of power in a single person, who is not answerable to the Parliament is contrary to the notion of democracy. Warnapala. concludes after a comparison of the Sri Lanka Constitution with that of the USA, that
The Presidential experiment, instead of bringing about political stability and continuity in democratic government in the third world countries, has resulted in political chaos and the erosion of constitutional government and democracy. This is a danger we face today in Sri Lanka, and its major symptoms have haunted the political system in the last decade.'
Peiris outlines several features of the provisions in the Constitution on the executive presidency which negate the essence of democracy–
(a) Immunity from the judicial process-there is no remedy against
him; (b) President's power to constitute the cabinet, appoint ministers and dismiss them without consulting the Prime Minister; (c) The power of the President to assign portfolios to himself,
even all the portfolios; (d) President's ability to dissolve the Parliament at his absolute discretion at any time, twelve months after a general election;

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(e) The procedure laid down in the Constitution for amending the Constitution is almost impossible to enforce as the electoral system was changed from a first-past-the-post system to a proportional representation system, as a result of which it is impossible for any political party to get a two-thirds majority.
He further states that although the Parliament comprises elected representatives of the people and is the supreme organ of representation of democracy, it has been "wholly subjugated to the political will of the President' which he calls a total denial of democracy.
2.7. Devolution of Power: Pros and Cons
Although devolution of governmental power and institutions is necessary in order to reach out to the masses, this has its own drawbacks. While some would argue that the central government cannot effectively address the issues of the rural communities, others would argue that devolution of power would weaken the central government. The present Constitution expressly prohibits the delegation of legislative power. Article 76 (1) states that
Parliament shall not abdicate or in any manner alienate its legislative power and shall not set up any authority with any legislative power.
Some of course would argue that the present ethnic crisis arose partly as a result of non-devolution of power. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the devolution package put forward by the PA government as a political solution to end the ethnic crisis, and the arguments for a federal system of government need to be analysed in this light. While such essential issues as national security, foreign policy and national economy should be retained with the central government, such other issues as education, infrastructure development necessary for the region, local government, etc. could be devolved and indeed are necessary to be devolved as these issues could be best tackled at the regional level. Thus, the subjects of devolution which play a crucial role need to be carefully identified.
The 13th Amendment, which established Provincial Councils, contains three lists: the central government list; the provincial list and

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the concurrent list. The 13th Amendment has been criticised on the ground that it failed to introduce substantial devolution of power. The devolution package, which seeks to establish Regional Councils, on the other hand, has only two lists: the regional list and the reserved list (central government list). Legislative power in the regions is vested in the Regional Councils which has the power to enact laws on any subject on the regional list. The devolution package also seeks to establish a regional police service, a High Court in every region, a regional judicial service commission, regional public service commission, etc.
Wanasinghe points out that devolution is basic to the functioning of a participatory democracy—
If participatory democracy is to be a reality, devolution must, necessarily, be its definitive character. The road to a participatory democracy points inexorably towards a devolutionary system-in the policy to the regional and local levels, in the economy to the enterprise level and in the community management of social infrastructure.
2.8. The People's Alliance Government's Policy Directives
The election manifesto of the PA has identified three main objectives which are to be implemented by the PA when they assume power, the freedom to live in a humane society, a free and democratic society with law and order, and rapid and sustainable economic development.' It stresses the importance of constitutional reforms with emphasis being placed on the sovereignty of the people, elimination of bribery and corruption, economic reforms and the eradication of poverty. The PA's policy statement expressly refers to democracy and good governance: "Our resolute commitment to democracy and good governance gives us the courage, to resolve democratically the enormous problems facing the country.”
No form of governance based on democratic principles, however laudable they may be, will survive unless it is coupled with a good economic policy. Thus, a government's economic policies play a significant role in relation to the notion of good governance. Unemployment on a mass scale, poverty, under-employment, high cost of living, inflation as well as bribery and corruption, lead to youth

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unrest which seriously undermines the democratic process in a country." A good economic policy, therefore, is imperative for good governance.
Among the economic reforms envisaged by the new government, privatisation plays a key role. The PA hopes to continue with the market economy based on public scrutiny ensuring that there is full conformity with the requirements of transparency and accountability." In order to ensure openness and transparency, it proposes to formulate the necessary legal framework. How far this has been achieved and the need for further action will be examined later.
In this regard, it is interesting to note that the speech the President made at the Sri Lanka Aid Group meeting held in Paris in April 1995, made reference to "peace, good governance and human rights" and the President reiterated the government's commitment to good governance and the protection of human rights.'
2.9. Institutional Arrangements
In order to give effect to these policy objectives, it is necessary to have the relevant institutional mechanisms in place. As Wanasinghe points out, "in Sri Lanka's move to being a participatory democracy by the twenty-first century, its institutional structure would play a critical role. It could either act as a facilitator of or be an impediment to smooth transition.' The PA government has adopted several such mechanisms with other mechanisms yet to take concrete form.
2.9. 1. Bribery and Corruption
With regard to bribery and corruption, a Permanent Commission on Bribery and Corruption was established. A new bribery law was adopted to give it legal status. The amendments to the Bribery Act made a new offence of corruption which encompasses any use of public office for private gain. In addition, a special Presidential Commission on Frauds and Irregularities was appointed to investigate tender procedures, the sale of government assets, abuse of power, frauds and other irregularities although there is criticism that these allegations are investigated without affording the perpetrator an opportunity to defend his case.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration Act (Ombudsman) was adopted in 1994 to amend the Parliamentary Commis

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sioner for Administration Act No. 17 of 1981 which was not as effective as it was intended to be. Unlike under the previous Act, the aggrieved parties now have direct access to the Ombudsman. Although the Ombudsman can play a significant role in adjudicating grievances on administrative issues, thereby reducing possible costs of litigation, he functions with limited resources. The present Ombudsman had written a paper in this volume about his vision for this institution. A significant addition provided by the new amendments, is the Ombudsman's power to investigate allegations regarding violations of fundamental rights or other injustices caused by a public officer, or an officer of a public corporation, local authority or other like institution.
2.9.2. Constitutional Reforms
Amendments are being drafted to the Constitution to make its provisions more democratic and significant improvements being made to the fundamental rights chapter could be foreseen. These provisions are dealt in Section 3 of this paper. An attempt has been made through the amendments to give effect to the notion of good governance, by making the process transparent by the establishment of a(i) Constitutional Council; and (ii) Public Services Commission.
2.92. I. Constitutional Council
Of particular interest are the provisions on the proposed Constitutional Council. This Council will in future oversee the appointments to the Public Services Commission, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption, the Official Languages Commission, the Election Commission and any other public body determined by the Parliament. No appointment can be made to these public bodies except on the recommendation of the Council. The approval of the Council is also necessary for the appointment of the Attorney-General, Heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force and the Police Force, the Commissioner of Elections, Ombudsman, the Auditor-General and any other offices determined by the Parliament.
The Council, which is an independent body, comprises the Speaker, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, a Chief Minister nominated by the Chief Ministers of the Provinces, five Members of Parliament nominated by the Committee of Selection of Parliament

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and two retired judges of the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal nominated by the Speaker. As is evident from past experience, appointments to public offices have not been made solely on grounds of merit. Nepotism, political affiliations, bribery, etc. have played a significant role in these appointments. It is hoped that this Council will eliminate these practices and that merit and capability will be the only criteria taken into consideration when making these appointIllenlS.
2.9.2.2. The Public Services Commission
According to the new proposal, the power to appoint, transfer, dismiss and the disciplinary control of all public officers is vested in the Public Services Commission. The Commission comprises not more than ten persons appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council. The proposal further provides that no member of Parliament can be appointed as a member of the Commission.
Any public officer who is aggrieved by an order of transfer or of dismissal, has a right of appeal to the Commission. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Commission shall determine all matters relating to public officers including, the formulation of schemes of recruitment, codes of conduct for public officers, the principles to be followed in making promotions and transfers, procedures for the exercise and delegation of the powers of appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of public officers.
These provisions highlight the important role envisaged for the proposed Constitutional Council, which shall in future, oversee the appointments to the major public offices, including the Public Services Commission, which is responsible for all matters relating to public officers. How far these institutions will promote transparency and impartiality remains to be seen.
3. The Rule of Law
3.1. Introduction
In order to enforce policies based on good governance it is vital to
have the necessary institutional mechanisms in place. Of these mecha
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to the enforcement of legal rights and to punish perpetrators where violations of legal norms have occurred. Without an independent and impartial judiciary, no notion of good governance can hope to survive.
The rule of law encompasses the legal framework within which the legal system operates as well as the substantive law. While the former includes the structure of the legal framework and the relationship with legislative, executive and judicial bodies, the latter includes the content of the law and the elements necessary to provide an impartial legal system. In view of their importance, these two components will be examined separately.
3.2. The Structure of the Legal Framework
The Constitution contains details of the structure of the judiciary, and their appointments of judges and independence, and the Judicial Services Commission. In addition to the formal judicial structure, administrative remedies available to aggrieved citizens and the office of the Ombudsman play an important role. Other quasi-judicial bodies are also in existence, out of which Mediation Boards stand out.' Many statutory bodies also have their own appeals boards, etc. These are, however, not judicial institutions.
In addition to the formal structures of the judiciary, special commissions are sometimes appointed to investigate into a particular issue, where the commission functions similar to a court of law, although its mandate is confined to that particular issue. Such commissions usually follow principles of natural justice and other established rules of procedure. In recent months, Sri Lanka has witnessed the establishment of several special commissions to investigate issues ranging from human rights violations and illegal disappearances to fraud, corruption and other irregularities.
Three independent commissions of inquiry were appointed by the President in November 1994 to investigate disappearances and extrajudicial executions that have taken place since 1 January 1988. These commissions are confined to a specific geographic area and are required to report to the President within four months of appointment. According to an Amnesty International report, as of March 1995, these commissions had received approximately 10,000 complaints. Although it is important to hold those who are accountable

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for their past acts, as impunity should not be tolerated in a democratic society, many believe that investigating into thousands of complaints within such a short time-frame is not feasible.
What is, however, more important is to ensure that such flagrant violations of human rights do not occur in the future and provide necessary safeguards against such violations. In addition, given that it is impossible to stop every human rights violation, it is equally important to re-emphasize that impunity will not be tolerated by the government and that those who are responsible will be held accountable for their actions.
The court structure in Sri Lanka can be broadly divided into two categories: appellate courts and courts of first instance. While the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal fall into the former category (although they exercise primary jurisdiction on certain matters such as fundamental rights petitions, elections petitions, etc.), the High Court, District Courts, Magistrate Courts and Primary Courts fall into the latter category. In view of the relevancy to the present discussion, only the jurisdiction of the appellate courts will be discussed here.
3.2.1. The Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
According to Article 118 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court which is the highest and final superior court of record, is vested with jurisdiction in respect of constitutional matters, fundamental rights, consultative jurisdiction, elections petitions, breach of the privileges of Parliament and on any other matters which Parliament may by law VCSt.
Under Article 121, any citizen may invoke the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, on any of the aforementioned issues, by a petition addressed to it. Subject to the powers of the Supreme Court to determine the consistency of any Bill with the Constitution, Article 124 expressly excludes its interference with the legislative process
Save as otherwise provided in Articles 120, 121 and 122, no court or tribunal created and established for the administration of justice, or other institution, person or body of persons shall in relation to any Bill, have power or jurisdiction to inquire into, or pronounce upon, the constitutionality of such Bill or its due compliance with the legislative process, on any ground whatsoever.

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As regards interpretation of the Constitution, only the Supreme Court is vested with the jurisdiction to hear and determine any question. Similarly, with regard to fundamental rights and freedoms, only the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to "hear and determine any question relating to the infringement or imminent infringement by executive or administrative action of any fundamental right or language right declared and recognised by Chapter III or Chapter IV”.
Under Article 130, the Supreme Court has the power to determine on any legal proceedings relating to the election of the President and any appeal from the Court of Appeal in an election petition case.
3.2.2. The Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal
The power of the Court of Appeal to issue writs of certiorari, prohibition, procedendo, mandamus and quo warranto is laid down in Article 140. The power to issue writs of habeas corpus, which is connected to fundamental rights, is laid down in Article 141. The jurisdiction to issue injunctions to prevent any irremedial mischief is recognised in Article 143. The power to try election petitions in respect of the election to the membership of Parliament is laid down in Article 144.
3.3. Substantive Law
The three main principles of law that will be discussed here are: due process, equality, and fundamental rights and freedoms. These three are necessary to implement notions of good governance and ensure democracy. In other words, these three principles are so intertwined with good governance and democracy, that they are one organic whole.
3.3. I. Due Process
The ICCPR embodies the international standards on due process. It provides that every person is entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Several features are embodied in this provision, the hearing must be fair and public, it must be done by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, the tribunal must be established by law. Thus, due process means more than a fair trial. The ICCPR also provides for the presumption of innocence and non-retroactivity of penal legisla

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tiOn.
The present Sri Lankan Constitution does not embody all the features of due process. Instead, it guarantees the right of persons(a) not to be arrested except in accordance with provisions established by law; (b) to be informed of reasons for arrest; and (c) to be heard in person or by an attorney-at-law, at a fair trial by a competent court. It also provides for the presumption of innocence and nonretroactivity of penal legislation. The latter, however, embodies a derogatory clause."
The proposed amendments to the fundamental rights chapter of the Constitution, while not embodying all the features of due process, enlarges the present provisions. The amendments provide that any person charged with an offence shall be entitled to be tried-(a) without undue delay; (b) at a fair trial; (c) by a competent court; (d) at a public hearing.
It has been pointed out that these amendments do not go far enough and that a competent court should also be an independent and impartial court. These are not included in the fair trial clause.'
After an analysis of international instruments on the issue, Sieghart concludes that the obligation common to all the instruments is that there must be a 'hearing'. Almost all the instruments require the tribunal to be impartial and independent and established by law.' He further states that the term "independent denotes two elements, namely, the tribunal's independence from the Executive and its independence from the parties.
The right of access to court and the right to a fair trial constitute an important watershed in human rights law because as Lillich puts it "the implementation of all other rights depends upon the proper administration of justice.”
3.3.2. Equality
The principle of equality dictates that every person is equal before the law and that no one can be discriminated on such grounds as race, religion, language, political opinion, etc.
The Sri Lankan Constitution upholds the principle of equality in Article 12(1). All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law. Despite this broad articulation, however, the subsequent sections distinguish between citizens and others,

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with citizens enjoying more rights than others, particularly in relation to non-discrimination. Thus, Article 12(2) provides that "no person shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any one of Such grounds.” The proposed amendments are similar and provides for derogation in the interests of national security, public order or to secure due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others.
It has been pointed out that neither the 1979 Constitution nor the proposed amendments embody ethnicity as a ground of discrimination and that it should be included in the amendments. Furthermore, this provision should be made open-ended.'
3.3.3. Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
Apart from the right to equality and the right to a fair trial, other fundamental rights that are recognized in the Constitution are as follows
(a) freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 10); (b) freedom from torture (Article 11); (c) freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention and punishment and
prohibition of retroactive penal legislation (Article 12); (d) freedom of speech, assembly, association, occupation and
movement (Article 13). While the rights in (a), (b) and (c) are afforded to every person, only citizens enjoy the rights embodied in Article 13. It must be noted that the 1978 Constitution does not guarantee the right to life nor the freedom of information.
3.3.4. Proposed Amendments
A significant improvement with regard to the protection of fundamental rights can be seen in the proposed amendments, although several criticisms have been levelled against them. A notable addition is the right to life clause. Draft Article 8 provides that "every person has an inherent right to life and no one shall be intentionally deprived of his life."
In an attempt to recognize the freedom of information, although not going so far, the proposed amendments provide that

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Every person is entitled to the freedom of speech and expression including publications. This right shall include the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas either orally, in writing, in print, in the form of art, or through any Other medium.
The amendments have extensive provisions on freedom of thought, freedom of association, right to own property, right to equality and freedom of movement.'
3.4. Institutional Framework
Apart from the formal judicial institutions, there exist several institutions in Sri Lanka which deal with human rights issues: the Human Rights Task Force (HRTF), the Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination and the various presidential commissions that have been appointed. It has also been proposed to set up a Human Rights Commission for which a Bill was presented in Parliament recently. In addition to these governmental mechanisms, a good network of human rights NGOs exists which monitor compliance with human rights standards.
While the existence of such mechanisms is a positive sign, without which the enforcement of fundamental rights cannot be effected, the proliferation of such institutions is also a matter for concern. In an article on the Human Rights Commission Bill, Udagama points out the negative impact of such proliferation.ooo Arguing that the fundamental rights jurisdiction of the Supreme Court should not be undermined or eroded, she states that
The need to avoid the existence of a number of human rights protection mechanisms which, while creating a positive image regarding the incumbent government's commitment, might prove to be very ineffective in providing tangible results and bringing about meaningful changes. . . . Rather than having a proliferation of powerless mechanisms which also give rise to confusion among the public as to who can do what, it is better to have a potent few with streamlined powers and functions."

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3.5. Case Law
The recent years have witnessed a marked increase injustice being sought in the Supreme Court by people with regard to human rights violations. Habeas corpus applications have also increased in an attempt to trace those who have disappeared. A landmark case was the Wadduwa Case in which the Court refused to believe the police version of events. It held that Articles 13(1)-freedom from arbitrary arrest; 13(2)-right to be produced before a judge after arrest; 14(1)(a)-freedom of speech and expression; 14(1)(c)-right to freedom of association have been violated. The Court stated that 'although mere errors of form do not perse amount to a violation of fundamental rights under Article 13(1), they do indicate a degree of arbitrariness and a lack of diligence on the part of the arresting officers.' It further states that “unless an emergency regulation was absolutely clear, an abridgement of fundamental rights could not be read as an implied intention of such emergency regulations.' In Velmurugu v. The AG Sharvananda J., although in dissent, reiterated the importance of Article 1 1 of the Constitution which prohibits torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
The fundamental nature of the human right of freedom from torture is emphasized by the fact that no derogation is permitted from this right under any conditions, even in times of war, public danger or other emergency. This human right of freedom from torture is vouched not only to citizens, but to all persons, whether citizens or not. The Constitution is jealous of any infringement of this human right. This care is not to be exercised less vigilantly, because the subject whose human dignity is in question may not be particularly meritorious.
Amal Silva v. Kodituwakku, I.P. is important because it was held in that case that where the evidence supports a finding that a suspect was subjected to torture and cruel treatment by the police, the State is liable to pay compensation even if the persons responsible are not identified.'
4. Conclusions
The foregoing discussion attempted to analyse the present situa

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tion in Sri Lanka with regard to the provisions relating to the form of government and how the existing Constitution and the proposed reforms endeavour to implement the notion of good governance and its related concepts of accountability, transparency, effectiveness, protection of human rights, participatory democracy, probity, etc. While the present government has made a significant effort to improve the country's human rights record which had received international condemnation during the past government's regime, there is still a long way to go. The conflict in the North and the East is far from over. It is taking a heavy toll on the country's population as well as on the economy.
4.1. Positive Steps
On the positive side, the steps taken by the government to imple
ment the notion of good governance and to improve the human rights
record can be summarised as follows
(a) Establishment of a National Human Rights CommissionThe proposed Commission, for which a Bill was presented in parliament recently, will comprise five members appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council. The Commission is entrusted with monitoring of executive and administrative practices, investigating into complaints regarding infringements or imminent infringement of fundamental rights and advising with regard to the formulation of legislation.
(b) Ratification of the Convention against Torture-Having ratified this Convention in January 1994, the government passed enabling legislation to give effect to the obligations therein by adopting the Convention Against Torture Act in November 1994. Extradition law was also amended to include extradition for the offence of torture.
(c) Registration of Deaths (Temporary Provisions) Act-This Act was adopted in 1994 in order to provide relief to the nextof-kin of those who are reported missing and presumed dead as a result of civil disturbances. It provides that where a person is reported missing and presumed to be dead, or has not been heard of for a period of one year, the next-of-kin of

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such persons could apply to the District Registrar of Deaths to register such deaths and obtain a certificate. Bribery and Corruption-A new offence of 'corruption was introduced to the law by amending the Bribery Act of 1954 in 1994 which encompasses any use of public office for private gain. A permanent independent commission was established to investigate allegations of bribery, under the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Act of 1994. The Commission comprises three members appointed by the President on the recommendations of the Constitutional Council. Once a complaint is received by the Commission, it must carry out an investigation and where there is a prima facie case, the Commission has the power to prosecute the alleged perpetrator before the High Court. Office of the Ombudsman-In order to make the office of the Ombudsman more effective and accessible, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Amendment) Act was adopted in 1994. Under the amendments, the public can have direct access to the Ombudsman, who then reports his determination direct to the head of the institution in question, and to the relevant Minister. Appointment of a Commission to inquire into election-related violence. Appointment of a committee to inquire into matters relating to persons detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 and the emergency regulations. This committee was appointed due to the agitation by concerned persons regarding the delay in disposing of cases relating to persons held in custody, etc. The recommendations in the report of the committee is being implemented by the government. Appointment of Commissions to inquire into disappeared persons. Three Commissions were appointed by the President to inquire into matters relating to persons missing since January 1988. These Commissions will cover three geographical arCaS. Compensation for families of insurrection victims-Steps are being taken by the government to provide financial relief to families of persons killed during the period of violence in Sri

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Lanka in the late 1980s. (j) Revival of the Human Rights Task Force (HRTF)-Regulations were promulgated under the Public Security Ordinance to strengthen the hand of the HRTF. (k) Establishment of a Human Rights Advisory Group-An advisory committee consisting of representatives of human rights NGOs was established to assist the Minister of Foreign Affairs in dealing with human rights issues, in particular those relating to Sri Lanka's international obligations. (i) Appointment of a Select Committee of Parliament on the Constitution-This Committee is entrusted with the task of drafting amendments to the Constitution, particularly, the fundamental rights chapter.'
To this impressive list of achievements, one must add the devolution package which seeks to establish Regional Councils with considerable devolution of power to promulgate their own laws on matters falling within the regional list.
4.2. Negative Aspects
On the negative side however, these ambitious proposals failed to produce concrete results. Many feel that the proliferation of commissions, committees, advisory groups, etc. lead to duplication of work, thus a waste of governmental resources. In addition, the time-frame and the mandate given to these commissions, etc. are not realistic and whether these commissions adhere to the rules of natural justice in conducting their investigations needs to be looked into. It has almost become a habit to appoint a Presidential Commission for virtually any issue, thereby undermining their credibility in the public eye. Whether the recommendations of these commissions, etc. are being implemented in full is another matter worthy of investigation.
The UN Human Rights Committee in response to Sri Lanka's country report, while commending the government for the positive steps taken, expressed its concern on several matters, particularly, the non-adoption of all the obligations contained in the ICCPR covenant, and called upon the government to adopt remedial measures. They Wee

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Urgent steps should be taken to ensure that its domestic laws are in full compliance with the Covenant. It should consider acceding to the Optional Protocol which would afford the opportunity to individuals, to invoke all the rights conferred under the Covenant before national courts or the Human Rights Committee. The State party should avoid multiplication of human rights bodies with parallel competence. It should ensure that investigation and prosecution of criminal offences should be carried out by an independent body, the punishment for which should be decided only by the judiciary. The State party should review Article 16 of the Constitution which permits all existing laws to remain valid notwithstanding any inconsistency with constitutional provisions relating to fundamental rights. The provisions of the Covenant should be fully respected in areas where a state of emergency has been proclaimed. The definition of torture adopted in the Convention Against Torture Act of 1994 should be amended to bring it in line with Article 7 of the Covenant. The State party should review the existing procedure relating to the removal of judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, to further secure the independence of the judiciary. The present provisions by which freedom of the press can be restricted by reason of parliamentary privilege should be removed. Measures should be taken to ensure protection of the child and a comprehensive programme should be developed to deal with child labour and the sexual exploitation of children. Greater efforts should be undertaken to ensure that all ethnic groups are provided with the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of public affairs, and are ensured equitable access to the public service.'
Thus, the reality is far from inspiring. Sri Lanka has a long way to go in rectifying its human rights record, without which it cannot implement the notion of good governance. Unless a political solution is found to the ethnic conflict (it remains to be seen whether the LTTE would accept the devolution proposals), all the good intentions

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and endeavours of the government will become a thankless and futile exercise.
It is also necessary to provide the various institutions concerned with different responsibilities, the requisite manpower, financial resources, etc. without which these institutions cannot function efficiently, despite their broadened mandate or the easy accessability to the general public. This is particularly relevant in relation to the office of the Ombudsman which is functioning under severe constraints. If the government wants these mechanisms to function efficiently in pursuance of their mandate, it must ensure that these mechanisms are provided with adequate resources necessary for efficient functioning.
While there is no doubt that a tremendous effort has and is been taken by the government to construct a solid foundation for the implementation of the notion of good governance, and its related concepts, of democracy, accountability, transparency, probity, protection of fundamental rights and the devolution of power, whether and how far this foundation will withstand the negative impacts of the economy, the ethnic conflict, political and practical constraints, escalating cost of living, unemployment, etc. remains to be seen.
NOTES
1. Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States, signed on 26th December, 1933, referred in Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law (4th ed.) (1990), p. 72.
2. Brownlie, ibid., p. 73. 3. There are many examples of non-recognition of governments: see Harris, Cases and Materials on International Law (4th ed.) (1991), pp. 139 ff. The examples include the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia, Tinoco regime in Costa Rica, Obote regime in Uganda, the regime of the People's Republic in China.
4. See International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, 19665 ILM (1966) p. 352).
5. Referred to in Brownlie, supra n. 1, pp. 105-6. 6. "Governance and Development", World Bank (1992), p. 3. 7. Ibid. The definition of good governance adopted by the World Bank has been subjected to much criticism on the ground that it unduly emphasizes efficiency considerations and the reliance on the market at the cost of the state. Since, however, this issue is discussed by another writer, it will not be addressed in this paper. See generally, Wickramasinghe, "From Human Rights to Good Governance: The Aid Regime in the 1990s with Special Reference to Sri Lanka'

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in Sellers (ed.), Sovereignty, Human Rights and the Self-Determination of Peoples (Berg Press, Oxford: 1995) and her paper in this volume.
8. Ibid., p. 58, n. 1. 9. See Tomuschat, "Basis of State Power and the Legitimisation of Govern
ment” in Gunawardena & Wesumperuma (eds.) Constitutional Structures and Devolution of Power (Sri Lanka Foundation Institute: 1987) p. 3.
10. Op cit.
11. "What is Democracy?", United States Information Agency (1991), p. 5. The report further states that "the rights of minorities do not depend upon the goodwill of the majority and cannot be eliminated by majority vote.”
12. Ibid., p. 4.
13. Article 1(3) of the Chapter of the United Nations.
14. See Brownlie, supra n. 1, p. 595.
15. Brownlie, supra n. 1, p. 596.
16. GA Resolution 41/128, GAOR 41st Session, Suppl. 53, p. 186 (1986) referred to in Harris, supran. 3, p. 690.
17. People's Alliance Election Manifesto, p. 14.
18. See Kettaneh, "Human Rights and the Provision of Development Assistance,” Paper presented at the Seminar on "South Asia-An Agenda for Nineties' (26-28 October, 1990) (Ahungalle, Sri Lanka).
19. See Wickramasinghe, "From Human Rights to Good Governance", supra n. 7.
20. Article 1 of the 1978 Constitution.
21. Article 2.
22. Article 3.
23. The only exception is in relation to matters relating to privileges, immunities and powers of Parliament and its members, which are dealt with directly by the Parliament. In this regard, it is pertinent to discuss the provisions in the Devolution Package, put forward by the PA government to end the ethnic conflict in the country. According to the package, the Constitution will be amended to provide that the Republic of Sri Lanka shall be a Union of Regions; that the territory of the Republic will consist of regions and its territorial waters; the legislative power of the people will be exercised by the Parliament, Regional Councils and the people at referenda; executive power of the people to be exercised by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Governors acting on the advice of the Chief Ministers and regional boards of ministers. It also proposed to repeal Article 76 of the existing Constitution.
24. Article 27(1).
25. See Article 29 of the Constitution.
26. See Sri Lanka: State of Human Rights 1994 (Law & Society Trust, Colombo: 1995) Chapter II. See also the policy statement of the People's Alliance (hereinafter, "the PA") which refers to the electoral process as the "lifeblood of representative democracy." W

Democracy and the Rule of Law 85
27. See Peiris, "The Doctrine of Sovereignty in the United States and Sri Lanka's Constitutions: Theory and Practice' in United States and Sri Lanka Constitutions: A Comparative Study (American Studies Association of Sri Lanka and Law & Society Trust: 1991) para 8, p. 22, where he states that in this instance, "the legislative supremacy of Parliament succumbs to the final sovereignty of the people."
28. Ibid., p. 21.
29. See Sri Lanka: State of Human Rights, supra n. 26, pp. 41 ff.
30. Ibid.
31. See Weerakoon, "Sustaining Democracy in Sri Lanka-Opportunities and Challenges' in Weerakoon & Wanasinghe (eds.), Reflections on Governance (Marga: 1994), para 5, p. 10.
32. "Constitutional System of USA and Sri Lanka: Role of the President and the Legislature-A Comparative Perspective' in United States and Sri Lanka Constitutions, supra n. 27, para 28, p. 52.
33. He refers to this as "a uniquely repugnant feature", Sunday Observer, 30th October, 1994.
34. Ibid.
35. See Dissanayake, "Devolution and the Resolution of the North-East Conflict" in Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue 85 (1 Nov., 1994) (Law & Society Trust) p. 15, where he points out that
The devolution of power from government capitals to villages and provinces
is one of the most effective ways of empowering local people, promoting
local harmony and public participation and increasing efficiency.
36. See Edirisinha and Saravanamuttu, "The Case for a Federal Sri Lanka' in Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue 85 (1 Nov., 1994), (Law & Society Trust), p. 1.
37. Ibid., p. 7.
38. See Wanasinghe, "Towards a Participatory Democracy in Sri Lanka (The Institutional Underpinning)" in Weerakoon and Wanasinghe (eds.), Reflections on Governance, supran. 31, p. 65.
39. PA's Election Manifesto, the Preamble.
40. The various insurrectional movements in Sri Lanka provide ample evi. dence. V
41. PA's Election Manifesto.
42. Ceylon Daily News, 28th April, 1995.
43. Supran. 38, pp. 51-52,
44. See Mediation Boards Act No. 72 of 1988. The jurisdiction of Mediation Boards is confined to those disputes which are listed in the second schedule arising within a mediation board area. The parties are not permitted to be represented by an attorney-at-law.
45. See "Sri Lanka: Time for Truth and Justice', AI Index: ASA 37/04/95,

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Distr: SC/CO/GR (April 1995) reproduced in Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue No. 91 (Law & Society Trust, Colombo) (April 1995), p. 7.
46. See Meron, Human Rights Law-Making in the United Nations, (Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1986), p. 93. He points out, however, that these due process guarantees are not included among the non-derogable rights.
47. See Sri Lanka: State of Human Rights 1994, supra n. 26, Ch. 3, pp. 8485 where it is argued that the provisions in the emergency regulations and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) with regard to admission of confessions made to police officers without a magistrate being present, as being a violation of due process standards.
48. See comments made by Udagama, in Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue No. 94.
49. See Sieghart, The International Law of Human Rights (Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1983), p. 270.
50. Ibid., p. 284. He relies on Zand v. Austria (7360/76) Report: DR 15, 70; Huber v. Austria (5523/72) CD 46,99; Engle et al. v. Netherlands (5100-2/71; 5354/72; 5370/72) Report: 19 July 1974. In Sri Lanka, the independence of the judiciary is provided for in Chapter XV of the Constitution. It further makes interference with the judiciary an offence (Articles 115 and 116).
51. Lillich, “Civil Rights” in Meron (ed.), Human Rights in International Law: Legaland Policy Issues (Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1984), para 115, p. 140.
52. See Fortnightly Review, supra n. 47. 53. Ibid. 54. It has been argued that this provision should be brought in line with international law standards embodied in Article 6(1) of the ICCPR which states that: "Every human being has, the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life." See Fortnightly Review, supra n. 48.
55. For the text of these amendments, see Fortnightly Review, Vol. VI, Issue 94 (August 1995), p. 1.
56. See Udagama, "Human Rights Commission Bill (1995)" in Fortnightly Review, Vol. VI, Issue 96 (October 1995).
57. Ibid. Similar point was made by the UN Human Rights Commission, see Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue 93. - Yr
58. See Sri Lanka: State of Human Rights 1994, supra n. 26, p. 91. 59. Ibid. 60. (1981) 1 SLR 406. 61. (1987) 2 SLR 119. 62. For a comprehensive discussion of fundamental rights cases see Goonesekere, Fundamental Rights and the Constitution: A Case Book (Law & Society Trust and the Open University: 1988).
63. This was summarised from Sri Lanka's Report presented to the UN Human Rights Committee pursuant to Article 40 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Reproduced in Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue

Democracy and the Rule of Law 87
93 (June/July 1995), p. 42.
64. See UN Human Rights Committee, Consideration of Reports Submitted
by State Parties under Article 40 of the Covenant (CCPR/C/70/Add. 6 and HRI/
Core/1/Add. 52). Reproduced in Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, supran. 63, p. 42.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amnesty International, "Sri Lanka: Time for Truth and Justice', AI Index: ASA 37/04/95, Distr; SC/CO/GR (April 1995) reproduced in Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue No. 91 (Law & Society Trust, Colombo) (April 1995) p. 7. Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law (4th ed.), (Oxford University
Press: 990). "Constitutional Reform and Fundamental Rights: Some Comments', Fortnightly
Review, Vol. VI, Issue No. 94, p. 12. Devolution Proposals, reproduced in Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue No. 93
(Law & Society Trust, Colombo) (June-July 1995). Dissanayake, "Devolution and the Resolution of the North-East Conflict", Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue 85 (Law & Society Trust, Colombo) (Nov., 1994), p. 15. Edirisinha and Saravanamuttu, "The Case for a Federal Sri Lanka', Fortnightly Review, Vol. V, Issue 85 (Law & Society Trust, Colombo) (Nov., 1994), p. 1. Everding, Problems of Democracy, Constitutionalism and Political Violence
(Goethe-Institut and Law & Society Trust, Colombo: 1993). Goonesekere, Fundamental Rights and the Constitution: A Case Book (Law &
Society Trust and the Open University, Colombo: 1988). Governance and Development, World Bank (1992). Gunawardena & Wesumperuma, (eds.), Constitutional Structures and Devolu
tion of Power (Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo: 1987). Harris, Cases and Materials on International Law (4th ed.), (Sweet & Maxwell,
London: 1991). Kettaneh, "Human Rights and the Provision of Developmental Assistance", Paper presented at the Seminar on "South Asia-An Agenda for Nineties." Ahungalle, Sri Lanka (26-28 October, 1990). Lillich, “Civil Rights” in Meron (ed.), Human Rights in International Law:
Legal and Policy Issues (Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1984), p. 115. Meron, (ed.), Human Rights in International Law: Legal and Policy Issues
(1984), (Clarendon Press, Oxford). - - Human Rights Law-Making in the United Nations, (Clarendon Press, Ox
ford: 1986). Peiris, "The Doctrine of Sovereignty in the United States and Sri Lanka's Constitutions: Theory and Practice' in United States and Sri Lanka Constitutions: A Comparative Study (American Studies Association of Sri Lanka and Law & Society Trust: 1991). -

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People's Alliance-Election Manifesto (1994). Sieghart, The International Law of Human Rights (Clarendon Press, Oxford:
1983). Sri Lanka: State of Human Rights 1994 (Law & Society Trust, Colombo: 1995). Udagama, "Human Rights Commission Bill (1995)', Fortnightly Review, Vol.
VI, Issue 96 (October 1995). Warnapala, "Constitutional System of USA and Sri Lanka: Role of the President and the Legislature-A Comparative Perspective' in United States and Sri Lanka Constitutions: A Comparative Study (American Studies Association of Sri Lanka and Law & Society Trust: 1991). - Weerakoon & Wanasinghe, (eds.), Reflections on Governance (Marga, Colombo:
1994). “What is Democracy?", United States Information Agency (1991). Wickramasinghe, "From Human Rights to Good Governance: The Aid Regime in the 1990s with Special Reference to Sri Lanka” in Sellers, (ed.) Sovereignty, Human Rights and the Self-Determination of Peoples (Berg Press, Oxford: 1995).

4
The “New Consensus on Development Assistance, Good Governance and Civil Society Politics
Sunil Bastian
1. The “New' Consensus on Development Assistance T focus of this paper is what can be called a "new consensus' on development assistance that has emerged among OECD countries, of which the notion of "good governance' is a part. In a foreword to a very recent publication of the OECD titled Participatory Development and Good Governance, the chair of the Development Assistance Committee of OECD states that, "A broad consensus is emerging on a coherent model for sustainable development. While specific application will vary with local conditions, the model is characterised by an integrated process of political and economic stability, good governance, popular participation, investing in people, reliance on market forces, concern for the environment and a vigorous private sector.' The document that follows spells out in much more detail the principal elements of this new consensus of development, and it includes notions of participatory development, democratisation, good governance, and human rights, in addition to promoting markets.
There is no doubt that this consensus on development assistance has the twin objectives of promoting a market economy and a liberal representative democracy. It is a consensus that has evolved to promote structures and institutions of a capitalist social formation. After the momentous changes in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union, liberalism in economics, as well as in politics, has

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become the dominant ideology. As argued by "World System' theorists, this has become the single dominant reality covering the entire world. What is happening through development assistance is the promotion of various elements of this dominant liberal ideology in developing countries through foreign aid. Any discussion of individual elements of this consensus on development assistance needs to take into account not only this overall context, but also to look at the inter-relationships between these elements. This will be the approach taken in this paper when looking at the notion of "governance' or "good governance', which forms one element of this consensus.
1.1. World Bank's Concept of Governance
The first mention of the term "governance" in a World Bank document was in the 1989 World Bank report titled, "Sub-Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth.' A much more thorough look at issues of governance came onto the World Bank agenda after the publication of the World Development Report of 1991. Moving away from the existing orthodoxy, this report accepted that development cannot be left to markets alone but governments also had a role to play. Pointing out that the principal theme of the report was the interaction between governments and markets in development, it argued that, "this is not a question of intervention versus laissezfaire-apopular dichotomy, but a false one. Competitive markets are the best way found for efficiently organising the production and distribution of goods and services. Domestic and external competition provide incentives that unleash entrepreneurship and technological progress. But markets cannot operate in a vacuum-they require a legal and regulatory framework that only governments can provide. And at many other tasks markets sometimes prove inadequate or fail altogether. That is why governments must, for example, invest in infrastructure and provide essential services to the poor. It is not a question of state or market: each has a large and irreplaceable role.”
The report goes on further to spell out three basic principles for state intervention in development. First, intervene reluctantly only when markets cannot deliver. Spending on basic education, infrastructure, relief of poverty, population control and environment protection are key areas identified for government intervention. Keeping interventions under constant check is the second principle. This

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means subjecting government interventions to the discipline of international and domestic markets. Finally, interventions should be simple, transparent, and subject to rules rather than official discretion.
Recognition of the fact that the state has a role to play in development makes the report pay greater attention to the question of institutions in development. The concept of institutions used in the report includes "public bodies through which the state discharges its most fundamental responsibilities: maintaining law and order, investing in essential infrastructure, raising taxes to finance such activities and so on ...", and "conventions that govern the way people deal with each other: property rights, contracts and norms of conduct." Effective institutions in all these areas are considered necessary to face problems of "political instability, weak social consensus and weak governments' which are impediments in development.
There are several other interesting features of this report which mark its departure from the thinking that dominated the eighties. For example, it recognises the fact that state is not a neutral institution, but reflects a variety of social and political forces. Although these forces are looked at primarily from the point of view of how they hinder structural adjustment reforms, the state is not analysed as an empty neutral institution which is common in pluralist traditions. Secondly, the notion that authoritarianism is a necessary factor for economic growth-a common theme in the political stability schoolis questioned. Thirdly, the notion that inequality in society is an essential pre-requisite for economic growth is also rejected.
Parallel to the acceptance of the importance of the state in development, several prescriptions are given for the reform of the state. These include rationalising and cutting down public expenditure (by improving the quality of public expenditure, cutting down the wage bill of the public sector, reducing subsidies and transfers and reducing military expenditure) and reducing the size of the state through privatisation. In other words, the vision is a small but efficient state sector, which establishes institutions for market-based development and intervenes judiciously where markets are unable to perform or fail.
It is this acceptance of a fresh role for the state in development and the concomitant reforms needed to achieve it, which later developed into a larger programme of "governance' within the World Bank.

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Defining governance as "the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources for development", the Bank "identified three distinct aspects of governance-(i) the form of political regime; (ii) the process by which authority is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources for development; and (iii) the capacity of government to design, formulate and implement policies and discharge functions.” Of these three, the first aspect was considered beyond the mandate of the Bank and therefore the explicit concern was on the last two. Within this framework the Bank has devised assistance programmes under four categories—(i) public sector management; (ii) accountability; (iii) legal framework for development; and (iv) transparency and information.’
1.2. Consensus within OECD
The agenda of the OECD includes both political and economic elements of the new consensus. But what has to be noted is that when it comes to the concept of governance, OECD basically maintains the same notion defined by the World Bank in 1992. As mentioned in the OECD publication cited above, the term is used to "denote the use of political authority and exercise of control of society in relation to the management of its resources for social and economic development.” It also states that there are three aspects of governance--"the form of political regime; the process by which authority is exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources; and the capacity of government to formulate and implement policies and discharge government functions.” As with the Bank, the important policy issues of governance are: ensuring the rule of law; improving the efficiency of the public sector management; controlling corruption; and controlling excessive military expenditure.'
However, OECD differs from the Bank by making the form of political regime a valid concern when looking at development assistance. Arguing that, "it has become increasingly apparent that there is a vital connection between open, democratic and accountable systems of governance and respect for human rights, and the ability to achieve sustained economic and social development”, the OECD agenda includes the political form of the regime in its policy concerns. In other words, while both institutions use the same definition

The "New" Consensus on Development Assistance 93
of governance, they have a division of labour when it comes to use of development assistance to promote different aspects of the definition. While the Bank concentrates on specific reforms of the state machinery to achieve the objectives of structural adjustment, OECD has expanded its agenda to include the form of political regime. The three concepts through which this is achieved are: participatory development, democratisation and protecting human rights. In the wider OECD agenda, these three components are the elements that go into developing a strong and a democratic civil society, which is the flip side of the strategy for the promotion of a better form of governance. "Participatory development or popular participation is defined as a process by which people take an active and influential hand in shaping decisions that affect their lives... it strengthens civil society and the economy by empowering groups, communities and organisations to negotiate with institutions and bureaucracies, thus influencing public policy and providing a check on the power of the government." It is also expected to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of development programmes.
"Democratisation integrates participation into the political life of the country and provides the basis for legitimacy of the government.' Periodic free and fair elections and "a pluralist civil society comprised of a range of institutions and associations which represent diverse interests and provide a counterweight to the government' are considered some of the key elements of the process of democratisation and strengthening of civil society.
Finally, there is the commitment to the international norms of human rights as embodied in the UN covenant on civil and political rights. It supports the 1993 Vienna declaration which reaffirmed the "universality and indivisibility of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the United Nations Charter.'
Thus, what this paper calls the new consensus on development assistance includes, components which cover questions regarding markets, state and civil society. It is no doubt based on an acceptance of the primacy of markets for economic growth. But it also argues for a society where the relationship between state and society is mediated through democratic means, and where individual human rights are protected. This is a shift from the neo-liberal market orthodoxy that dominated the eighties, where such political questions were looked at

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more through a concept of political stability than through democracy and human rights.
Several factors have contributed to these changes in thinking. First, there is the acceptance that promotion and adherence to market mechanisms in the economy alone will not bring about capitalist transformations and even capitalist growth. The importance of several other elements such as development of a variety of institutions in society have been recognised. As pointed out earlier, there is also the recognition that markets alone cannot do the job and there is a role for a state small in size, efficient, accountable and open. These aspects are very much a contribution by those within aid agencies concerned with questions relating to economic growth. This is also reflected in the programme of funding concentrating on public sector reforms that they have undertaken under this new consensus.
A variety of forces have contributed to the inclusion of those aspects of the new consensus which speak about relationships between state and society and what can be called political aspects of the liberal formula. No doubt some of it comes from the more forthright and confident ideological positions on liberalism taken up by the governments of developed countries at the end of the Cold War. However, the manner each of these governments adheres to these values depends very much on the political and economic interests of each of them in a particular situation. If cold war politics often projected a single western position on these issues, the difference now is that there are individual positions depending on the interests of each country in different situations. There are many examples round the world to demonstrate it.
The other contributing factor for the emergence of these concerns in development assistance comes as a result of political activism of a variety of social movements both in the developed and developing world that has been making its presence felt since the end of the sixties. These social movements have organised their activism around many themes such as poverty, debt burden, terms of trade, women's rights, human rights, anti-racism, etc. These diverse forms of political activism, which have often emerged outside the conventional political formations, have come of age and their influence is certainly felt in the ideas expressed in this new consensus. Therefore, some of the underlining forces behind this consensus are neither a product of a

The "New" Consensus on Development Assistance 95
reformed leadership of western societies which would make us naively forget their political and economic interests, nor a simple imposition of the west. They are also a product of a much larger political and social process that has been going on in both developed and developing countries for several decades.
2. Responses in Developing Countries
There have been several responses in developing countries to this consensus in development assistance described above. Some of them have rejected it, seeing it essentially as a western imposition. Since these policies are associated with foreign aid, they have been viewed as attempts by donor governments to impose unfair economic and political conditionalities on developing countries. The political élite of developing countries have been specially critical of the political aspects of this consensus which emphasise democracy, a strong civil society, protection of human rights and greater accountability and openness of the state. However they have been ardent followers of market-oriented policies for the purpose of developing vibrant capitalist economies. In other words, while they have been loyal adherents of the economic prescriptions of liberalism, liberal norms in politics are resisted. This position of the political élite has been supported by various other groups in developing countries. Those who have supported the consensus without question base their arguments on a belief in liberal institutions.
There are several strands of arguments used in these positions. Without going into details, the principal positions of these criticisms and their limitations are described below.
2.1. Cultural Relativism
One argument for the rejection of the political aspects comes from a cultural relativist position. This point of view basically considers values reflected in liberal norms of democracy and human rights as being a "western construct, and reflecting so-called "individualism” of the West. This ideological position is increasingly propagated by the élite of the newly emerging capitalism of Asia. Propagandists of this position often counterpoise something called "Asian values" which are supposed to emphasise the "community' as against individualism of the West.

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The cultural relativist argument, that tries to maintain that there is a contradiction between the so-called Western norms of democracy and human rights, does not hold water because contrary to their claims, even a cursory observation of popular mobilisation around issues of democracy and individual rights shows that there is a social base to fight for these values in developing countries. The values of democracy and individual human rights as defined by liberalism definitely have their origin in the West. But, contrary to the proponents of cultural relativism, political changes that have taken place in developing societies in modern times have made various elements of liberalism very much a part of our societies. This can be exemplified by the numerous struggles for democracy and human rights that have been taking place in the so-called Third World. Of course there are differences from country to country. But there are thousands of people who are engaged in this struggle, making it a part of the modern Third World political culture.
Quite apart from the dubiousness of generalisations such as common "Asian Values', the important reason why the cultural relativist argument has to be rejected is because of the political role it can play in our societies. It is a political tool in the hands of the élite who would like the fruits of capitalist economic growth, but need an argument to legitimise suppression of individual freedom and democracy.
2.2. Primacy of Economic Needs
The second argument for rejection comes from a development discourse which emphasises problems such as economic growth and poverty alleviation as being the more important issues to be resolved in developing countries. There are two variants of this counterargument based on the primacy of economic needs. First are those who believe that economic growth is primary, and things such as political freedoms are luxuries that poor countries cannot afford. There is also the assumption that once countries achieve a certain stage in economic growth, it will create conditions for the fulfilment of needs such as democracy and human rights. Till we achieve such a stage there are inevitable social costs and of course the poor have to bear them. Some would like to give this normative framework the status of a social theory by arguing that these are inevitable stages

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that all societies go through. Economic determinists would even see a causal connection between economic growth and political freedoms. This point of view is often propagated by the élites in society, and by those who manage the economy. The cultural relativist argument and economic growth at any cost position neatly fit into each other in order to promote the political and economic interests of the élite.
Another set of arguments that are ready to give up political freedoms for economic gain comes from the populist camp who always legitimise their position alluding to what they believe as the "real needs of people'. They believe that what is more important for poor people is the satisfaction of certain material needs such as food, clothing, housing and education. According to this argument, political freedoms are meaningless without fulfilling these needs. Very often the adherents to this position would expand this same hierarchy of needs to the entire country. In other words, what is primary for developing countries is economic growth and a fair distribution of this growth, and the political freedoms can follow later. Political freedoms have no meaning without an economic base. It is interesting to note how this populist position, which is commonly found in a development discourse sympathetic to poor people, has the same theoretical basis as the élite who want economic growth at any cost. Very often these two groups are also found together as political allies. Those who argue for primacy of economic growth at the expense of political freedoms fundamentally have reductionist, unilinear and deterministic views of the process of evolution of societies. The reductionist view of social evolution attempts to identify a single important factor, for example economic growth, that would explain historical changes in societies. The argument is that if this factor evolves in a positive direction, it will automatically ensure positive developments in other areas.
The unilinear view of social evolution is closely related to the reductionist position. This view believes that all societies go through similar stages or steps in a unilinear fashion in their evolution. In this evolution certain stages have to be achieved before we can think of the others. The notion that countries have to reach a particular level of economic growth before one could think of democracy or human rights is an example of such a point of view.

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Reductionist and unilinear social theories have within them deterministic concepts of history which almost argue that all societies have a pre-determined course of evolution. They minimise the importance of human action and try to look for these determining laws of history.
These reductionist and unilinear/deterministic notions of history cannot be defended either on theoretical, empirical or political grounds. Theoretically and empirically these explanations simplify social evolution and refuse to grapple with on-going struggles in societies. Those who believe that poor people do not have a need for political freedoms not only have a very élitist view of the poor but also do not realise how important political freedom is in order to secure areasonable living standard.
Rather than looking for a sound theoretical coherence in these arguments it is much easier to understand these positions from the political interests that they serve. They are promoted in order to defend and find arguments for various ideological camps, institutional interests and interest groups. In the present context, like the cultural relativism, these arguments with their rejection of the importance of political freedoms support various forms of authoritarianism in developing countries in a context of capitalist development.
2.3. Dependency Theorists
Finally among those who are "suspicious” of this new consensus on development assistance are some of the radical critiques of capitalism whose theoretical basis of analysis of capitalism has been formulated through different variants of the dependency thesis. This position sees the present conditions of developing countries primarily as a product of the relations between developed capitalist countries and developing countries. Therefore, it is very easy for them to see this new consensus as yet another imposition of the West. Within this framework, those of the dependency theorists who emphasise the primacy of economic growth will easily find themselves in the same camp as the élite of developing Societies, whose preoccupation at present is capital accumulation at any cost with a concomitant resistance to any talk of freedoms or rights. Thus a radical perspective finds itself in the same political camp as the élite in developing countries. This is very similar to the fate of the populist position

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described above. Excessive economism in their thinking, and an absence of a serious look at the social processes internal to developing countries, makes them politically very close to the capitalist élite. Despite its limitations, what has to be noted from the dependency position is its constant focus on the unequal relations between countries which characterise the present phase of capitalist hegemony. There is no doubt that the possibility of aid-giving countries imposing conditions on developing countries is a reflection of this unequal relationship, however laudable the objectives behind these impositions are. As this paper argues, it is important to keep in mind this unequal relationship even when one welcomes the values of democracy and human rights found in the new consensus on development assistance. It will not only help us to keep in focus the interests of developed countries who are behind this new consensus, while utilising the political space provided by some of the ideas in this new consensus, but will also not make us naive believers of these new-found saviours.
The point at which the dependency thesis has gone wrong is in its idea of underdevelopment and in the lesser importance given in this framework to social changes and numerous struggles internal to developing countries. All these changes and struggles cannot be reduced to the relationships between developed and developing countries. Some versions of the underdevelopment thesis almost excluded the possibility of capitalist development in the periphery. On the contrary, recent experience in many parts of the world shows that capitalist development is possible in the periphery. This very same development gives rise to numerous struggles in the periphery. As argued later in the paper, the present interest in democracy and human rights in development assistance can be a useful tool in these struggles, and in shaping the capitalist societies that are emerging in the periphery.
2.4. Liberals
In contrast to all these positions, some of the strongest supporters of the political aspects of the new consensus are found among liberals. However, operating in a world of institutions outside concrete societies characterised by structural inequalities, they tend to believe that the legal and normative base of institutions by themselves can

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democratise societies and protect human rights. Therefore, when Supporting the political aspects of the new consensus, they basically seek to establish a set of institutions, and expect that these institutions by themselves will bring about democracy and strengthening of civil Society. For many, periodic and regular elections, a multi-party system, an independent judiciary, adherence to the rule of law, etc. constitute the institutions that need to be established. For the human rights movements, the UN covenant on civil and political rights provides the normative framework. The strategy then is to see how societies can have these elements of the liberal recipe.
What is singularly missing from this framework is any understanding of the historical context within which these institutions operate. The fundamental flaw in their position is that they do not see the Social contradictions of a capitalist society and its influence on these institutions. Contradictions of capitalism shape these institutions, determine what can be achieved through them and even undermine them. However, the largely ahistorical discourse of liberals does not take these into account.
If, for example, we take the political parties of Sri Lanka, their role in this society can range from being a means of capital accumulation to an arena where caste-based relations are played out in a village society. What is more important is that an analysis of most of these parties in the concrete political history of Sri Lanka can demonstrate the limitations of the present political party system as a means of democratising Society. This leads to a number of questions that need to be resolved, rather than believing that the establishment of political parties per se would lead to democracy. Such an analysis will not only raise questions about party reforms but also pose questions about non-party forms of political interventions in society for the purpose of promoting democracy. However, the classical liberal approach which looks at institutions in a historical void can contribute very little to such an analysis.
Unfortunately with the dominance of this ahistorical form of liberalism as an ideology, the implementation of the new consensus has been reduced to a question of seeing a recipe implemented in developing countries. It ignores the fact that issues like development of democracy and strengthening of civil society are achieved primarily through internal political struggles. Outside influence can only help

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to the extent it joins this internal process. Therefore, there is a need to understand concrete situations in countries rather than believing in Some recipes. The normative policy discussion not only tends to simplify the process of democratic development and conditions necessary for defending human rights in developing countries, but also supports a new form of “liberal missionary activities” whose objective is to bring liberal institutions into developing countries. When this is combined with the attitude of some western countries who believe that they have at last found answers to the problems of humanity through liberalism, or when liberalism is promoted as an ideology, it becomes an imposition on developing countries. What is worse is when such attitudes combine with the political and economic interests of western countries. Then there is very little value in the new consensus to the democratic movements of developing countries.
3. New Consensus and Civil Society Politics
This paper argues that there is another possible way of reacting to what has been termed as the new consensus on development assistance, which emphasises liberal norms in politics. This position differs from those who reject it totally, and from those who believe that mere establishment of liberal institutions by themselves will be the answer. The purpose of the rest of this section is to explore this perspective looking at three interrelated issues: (a) capitalism as a social formation which is shaped by conscious action of a human agency; (b) contradictions between capitalism and democracy; and (c) the need to rethink the relationship between state and civil society for a new agenda in radical politics. In the last section the paper points out some of the specific issues that need to be addressed in the Sri Lankan context within this perspective.
3.1. Capitalism and Human Agency
As argued before, there is no doubt that the new consensus on development assistance is a project within the framework of developing capitalism. It is a consensus that has emerged to promote structures and institutions of a capitalist social formation. Therefore, contrary to some of the recent trends in social theory, the study and analysis of capitalism has become all the more relevant for under

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standing the situation in developing countries.
However the process of developing capitalism needs to be viewed as one that can be influenced by actions of a conscious human agency. There is a need to take into account Some of the recent debates in social theory on the relationship between social structures and human agency which have transcended the limitations of the earlier structuralist view of capitalism. " 'Structuralist' approaches drew much of their strength through countering the individualist and voluntarist view that social processes were reducible to the apparently unconstrained action of individuals. But in stressing the way in which actions take place within Social relations, and are rule-governed and constrained by conditions not of the actors choosing, the activity of the agents and their skills were ignored, so that it appeared that the conditions did the acting. At worst, the 'subjects were written out altogether, producing a dehumanising social science.” It is this absence of a role for a conscious human agency in the structuralist framework that needs to be questioned and rectified.
The acceptance of the role of an active human agency allows us to look at developing capitalism as a historical process, where structural characteristics of a capitalist society are established, while the specific social formation that emerges is decided by a historical process which involves numerous struggles in society in which conscious human agency participates. Such a perspective looks at history in a more dynamic fashion and opens up many avenues for Social action and social transformation without the undue constraints that structuralism imposes.
The importance of a conscious human agency also removes the teleological determinism that dominated structuralism. One can get away from pre-determined stages that all Societies go through and "big bangs" that are necessary to move from one stage to the other. All social action, need not be geared towards one final goal while forgetting everything else, as implied by politics influenced by extreme forms of structuralism. It also leaves no room for legitimising all possible means in terms of achieving this final goal, which in the past has resulted in various types of authoritarian politics. If a conscious human agency can influence the process of capitalist development, it questions the populist conspiracy theories which look at capitalism as some sort of a finalised "development model” planned

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by some "guys' sitting in Washington, or as a "devil' and a "demon” inflicted on us by a group of conspirators.
Nevertheless, restoring the importance of the conscious human agency in understanding capitalism needs to be done without falling into the traps of extreme subjectivism or without supplanting "Marx's reductionist emphasis of the primacy of the forces of production in the organisation of societies, and their process of change, with a comparable reductionism of power.' A useful theoretical framework which does this is the Theory of Structuration developed by Anthony Giddens.’
"According to the Theory of Structuration all social action consists of social practices, situated in time-space, and organised in a skilled and knowledgeable fashion by human agents. But such knowledgeability is always bounded by unacknowledged conditions of action on the one side, and unintended consequences of action on the other.' The most important contribution of this theorisation is the attempt to transcend the opposition between "action" theories and "institutional' theories. This is achieved by Giddens by what he calls duality of structures. By duality, he means "that the structural properties of social systems are simultaneously the medium and outcome of social acts',' and "structures must not be conceptualized as simply placing constraints upon human agency, but as enabling' as well. “To enquire into the structuration of social practices is to seek to explain how it comes about that structures are constituted through action, and reciprocally how action is constituted structurally.”oo ܖ
Giddens' framework does not ignore issues related to institutions while recognising the importance of human agency, and one of his objectives is to link "the theory of action to the analysis and properties of institutional structures'. His thesis on the "duality of structures” (structures as the means as well as the outcome) helps us to look at Social institutions not as Something that lies outside conscious human action, but as entities that are shaped by human action while at the same time setting boundaries. Finally structures not only bind, but also have enabling qualities which expand the possibility of conscious human action.
The introduction of the political elements reflected in concepts such as participatory development, democratisation and protection of

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human rights in the new consensus on development assistance is politically useful for a perspective of developing capitalism which recognises that structures and institutions of emerging capitalism in developing countries are constituted through conscious human action and reciprocally these actions are mediated through them--to use Giddens' terminology. Within such a political perspective, not only is it possible to make use of the political space provided by such concepts for radical politics but it is also necessary to do so. In a world where market forces have become a dominant force in the economy, the democracy and human rights of this new consensus are an important weapon not only to protect the rights of the less privileged, but also to shape the society that is emerging through conscious human action.
This is the principal reason why it is necessary to oppose politically those opinions in developing countries who at present are against these tendencies in development assistance. In the case of cultural relativists, it is still difficult to understand the alternative political projects that they stand for. Those who oppose these values on an argument of primacy of economic growth, are very much on the side of the political and economic élite whose primary concern today is not to have any barriers for capital accumulation. This élite is also supported by similar forces in developed countries who have been opposing applications of political conditionalities in situations that hurt their economic interests. The manner in which the United States is behaving towards human rights violations in China and stances that some of the European countries have taken towards the military regime of Nigeria are examples of the influence of such forces.
3.2. Contradiction between Capitalism and Democracy
In utilising the space provided by the political elements of the new development consensus in radical politics a critical issue that needs to be kept in mind is the contradiction between the objective of the promotion of a market economy and the expansion of democracy. Liberal theorists would like to believe that there is a congruence between capitalism and democracy. In recent times, perhaps the most fundamentalist rendering of this notion is found in the writings of Milton Friedman, who sees the roots of democracy in the establish

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ment of private property and ensuring individual choice through the market. A growing body of literature and empirical observations specially in developing countries has not only questioned these theoretical positions, but has pointed out how the inequities arising from market mechanisms undermine the democratic space.'
Contrary to the beliefs of liberal theorists, there is an uneasy relationship between the logic of the market and democracy. "The relationship between constitutional representative democracy and capitalism is both intimate and deeply non-transparent. The historical services which each has rendered to the other over the last two centuries have been profound. But neither, in the end, can be wholly at ease with the other: completely confident of its ultimate fidelity. The source of this ultimate disharmony is not obscure. Each, clearly understood, is in essence a system of free individual choice. But the choices in question are located in wholly different fields, and there is no reason whatever why the choices made in either field should ever dovetail neatly with those made in the other. Political choice governs the content and enforcement of public law. Its imaginative goal, however fitfully attained, is the collective good of the set of human beings directly concerned. Economic choice in capitalist economy takes the form (however non-obviously) of individual decisions to sell and buy; and virtually everything may well turn out to be for Sale.'26
In the case of developing societies which are increasingly coming under market forces, "the creation of stable democracies requires a resolution of both political and class problems. The political involves the development of appropriate institutions so that democratic norms and practices take hold in society. Dealing with the class conundrum, in turn, demands creating acceptable political arrangements that enable democratic equality to co-exist with an economic system based on class inequalities. The simultaneous pursuit of these political and class goals is a delicate task of social engineering; it has never been easy. After all, the goal of establishing democracy is to give the mass citizenry some genuine access to power, while at the same time ensuring that this access does not go so far as to threaten the smooth functioning of a class economy.'
Rising capitalism tames demands arising out of the process of democratisation "by setting boundaries on the evolution of Such

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political institutions as labour unions, parties, parliaments, bureaucracies, judiciaries and constitutions. Political institutions thus come to act as filtering mechanisms between state and Society, filtering in some mass social demands as legitimate objects of political negotiations, and filtering other demands as beyond the legitimate scope of the polity specially those that may hurt capitalism.'
These limitations on democracy imposed by institutions that emerge within capitalism demand the conscious use of the political aspects of the consensus on development assistance, in order to expand both the scope of the democratic debate and the democratic space in state as well as in society. This is necessary to go beyond the limitations imposed by liberal institutions. If by democracy is meant, "a pluralist system of power where decisions of concern to collectivities of various sizes within civil society and the state are made directly or indirectly by all their members', a shift into a genuinely pluralist form of thinking is needed theoretically, as well as politically. This can neither limit our understanding of democracy simply as government by means of party competition, majority rule and rule of law, nor can we expect to find a simple set of principles or rules which would deliver democracy.'
In order to expand the debate on democracy there is a need to examine much more seriously different manifestations of power in society through a multiplicity of categories. In this debate, power arising from unequal distribution and control of resources will be a principal one but not the only one. But it needs to be mentioned here specially because in the present days there is a tendency to ignore the impact of unequal control of resources on power relations, although the expansion of market forces is allowing resources to be controlled by a few. The capacity of every liberal institution to expand the democratic space in society is limited, because of this unequal control of resources which results in control of liberal institutions by the powerful in society. In addition to control of resources, gender and identity are important categories deciding power relations in society, which cannot be reduced to resource allocation. What is needed is to expand the perspective on democracy beyond institutions, taking into account this multiplicity of sources of power. What we need is a truly pluralistic perspective of democracy which takes all these categories into account, rather than an attempt to find a primacy of one of these

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categories or trying to reduce one to the others.
3.3. Retreat from State Centrism
The new consensus on development assistance very clearly poses a vision that takes us away from state centrism. The attempts to limit or to check activities of the state come from two directions. First, promotion of democracy, human rights and a strong civil society limits the power of the state through political means. Second, by promoting markets and reducing the state through privatisation as well as public sector reforms, its role in the economy is restricted.
Probably from all the elements of what we have called the new consensus on development assistance, reducing State centrism is the one that has met with opposition from a variety of ideological sources. They range from those who believed in "state administered socialism" as an alternative to capitalism, adherents of the Keynesian welfare state, to many others who looked towards the state not only to generate economic growth, but also to deliver social justice and even protect morality. In many developing countries the dominance of these perspectives has resulted in an extreme form of state centrism, to the detriment of voluntary action of civil society. As will be discussed below, many of the so-called “Development NGOs" who do not have a perspective of transforming the state in their development discourse, are also involved in the politics of strengthening the existing state.
For any form of radical politics in the future it is essential to question this almost subservient dependence on the state. Specially for those with socialist persuasions, it is extremely difficult to define a radical agenda in the post-Cold War context, without moving away from this state centrism. The classical agenda of the traditional form of socialist thinking was extremely one-sided with its concentration on the state. Social transformation was viewed primarily through capture and reforms in the state. In politics this has often led to defending even authoritarian tendencies of states in capitalist societies.
Gramsci has been one of the few Marxists of the early period who pointed out the limitations of this state centrism. Making use of the concept of "hegemony", he pointed out a variety of mechanisms that permeate "throughout the civil society-including a whole range of

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structures and activities like trade unions, Schools, the churches and the family--of an entire system of values, attitudes, beliefs, morality, etc. that are in one way or other supportive of the established order and the class interests that dominate.” This means that there is much that can be done in order to bring about progressive social transformation by struggling for the independence of civil society and by interventions in civil society. It is possible to undermine the hegemonic structures of the established order by focusing on civil society. The recent advances achieved by the feminist movement give us a very good example of this strategy. Therefore the space and importance given to civil society in the new consensus is useful for radical politics, and it should be welcomed.
However, just as in the case of liberal institutions, there are limiations in civil society depending on the characteristics of the Social formation within which it is situated. Civil society consists of a diversity of forces and some of the barriers that prevent progressive social transformations are found in this diversity.' A belief in a homogeneous civil society runs the risk of leading to much the same lisappointment as the earlier belief in a state, which did not take into account the various interests represented in the state.
In the case of Sri Lanka, for example, the forces that have inhibited a resolution to the ethnic conflict are found not only in the structures of the state, but in society as well. Prejudices, dominant nationalist ideologies, and various groups in society who supported them, have been as much a reason for the present situation faced by Sri Lanka as the centralised state structure. Hence, what we need is neither a belief in a civil society that is homogeneous nor a populist idealisation of people, but an approach which poses issues of democratisation within civil society while welcoming the strengthening of it.
This emphasis on the importance of civil society for radical politics should in no way mean ignoring the importance of state reforms. There is often a tendency in some of the populist camps to ignore the state, and move in the other extreme direction of a belief in an autonomous civil society. This populist notion is a way of not tackling difficult political questions associated with state power, and thereby a means of not challenging dominant powers in society. As discussed below, this often leads to an extremely apolitical perspec

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tive specially in the development field. It refuses to deal with the state and powers linked to the state. It has resulted in a developmentalism that becomes an ally of those enjoying state power, and is more keen on maintaining organisations and their projects. Very often such organisations are useful allies of those in power, and sometimes even have to depend on a political patronage system for existence and expansion. The reverse side of this is excessive state centrism. What we need today is a political strategy which combines both questions of strengthening and democratising civil society and reforms of the state. "It'is best envisaged as a difficult and extended process of appropriating power to a multiplicity of public spheres within and between the institutionally distinct realms of civil society and the state.'
Finally, to end this section on a controversial note in the debate on reforms of the state some of the approaches adopted by the World Bank on governance are useful and should be looked at without prejudice. As mentioned above, the World Bank position today recognises a role that the state has to play in areas where markets fail. Therefore it is not a total rejection of the state in favour of markets. Secondly, due to the recognition of the presence of various interest groups within the state and how they use state policies for their own benefit, it has a perspective of dealing with the state in a fashion very similar to what was written by radical critics long ago, although the language might be different. What is more important is that the World Bank's policy strategies arising from this perspective are basically an attempt to neutralise the impact of political expediency in economic policy formulation. This is crucial for many developing countries, which need to follow rational development policies while maintaining a democratic society. One of the biggest problems in this task has been the undermining of state capacity to follow such policies by the élite who come into power through the democratic process. Some of the World Bank strategies on governance try to address this crucial issue.
4. Some Issues for Sri Lanka
The basic argument in the preceding sections of the paper is that
it is not only possible but also necessary to make use of the current
consensus on development assistance, which has begun to emphasise

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the political aspects of a liberal democracy, for furthering the objectives of a radical political agenda. In order to do so there is a need to accept the possibility of influencing the kind of capitalist social formation that is emerging in Our Societies through conscious human action, to make use of the contradictory and uneasy relationship between capitalism and democracy in order to further both the scope and space of democracy, and to get away from the state-centric ideologies that have dominated some of the radical thinking. The objective of the final section of the paper is to highlight some of the issues that need to be addressed in the Sri Lankan context within Such a perspective.
4.1. Democracy and Human Rights
In Sri Lanka, the early seventies was a turning point for the stability of the political framework inherited from independence. The 1971 insurgency showed the alienation of a section of the younger generation from the political mainstream. This political tendency emerged once again in the late eighties to challenge the state. But the kind of politics which accompanied it carried with it an extreme degree of violence which included individual assassination and terror. The methods that were adopted by the state to put down the insurgency were equally barbaric. Since the beginning of the seventies, Sri Lanka has lived more years under emergency than under normal law. The extensive use of emergency regulations, coupled with measures undertaken to quell the southern insurgency of 19891990, made Sri Lanka an internationally notorious case of human rights violations and disappearances. The extent of political violence in Sri Lankan society since the beginning of the seventies is still to be documented, studied and explained. This would reveal the structural problems in the political framework of Sri Lanka, which on one hand has shown the resilience of democratic institutions, but on the other has demonstrated extreme forms of political violence.
The beginning of the seventies was also the start of the manipulation of the constitution by the ruling élite. 1972 produced a constitution which made it very easy for the party that enjoyed a majority in the Parliament to do almost anything. The UNP regime which came to power in 1977 with a massive five-sixths majority made use of this possibility to make many changes which limited the democratic

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space that was prevailing in Sri Lanka. Some of the first steps taken were the establishment of a powerful Presidency, suppression of trade unions, and removing the civic rights of the main political opponent. A turning point of this process was the infamous referendum carried out in 1982, which did away with the general election of 1983. This referendum, which associated democracy with arithmetic, approved the continuance of the earlier Parliament, where the ruling UNP enjoyed a five-sixths majority, by slightly over 50 per cent of the vote. This itself was gained by vote rigging, thuggery and intimidation of political opponents. The constitutional manipulation which began in the seventies has not yet ended.
The beginnings of the activism of many civil society groups on issues of democracy and human rights can be traced back to the insurgency of 1971. Since then they have expanded as a reaction to events that took place specially since 1977. An important strategy for many groups in civil Society has become the monitoring of violations of human rights, documenting them, publicising them and lobbying at various international levels. A high point of this activism was when resolutions against the Sri Lanka government on human rights violations were passed at the UN Commission on Human Rights. The resolution also requested the Sri Lankan government to allow ICRC and UNHCR to operate in Sri Lanka. The deterioration of ethnic relations and violations of human rights which took place in this context made the situation of the government even worse.
By focusing on individual cases or individual instances of human rights violations, the bulk of the effort of this activism has been on three areas. These are reforms in state institutions to protect individual human rights, measures to ensure the freedom of the press, and interventions to ensure free and fair elections.
When it comes to the protection of individual human rights, there have been a series of demands on institutional reforms and also lobbying and pressurising the government to investigate individual cases or instances of human rights violations. Several reports have identified specific reforms that need to be carried out. Perhaps clear identification of these institutional reforms is the best that has been achieved in this front. However, the degree of implementation and what these institutional reforms mean at ground level is questionable. While there are discussions about strengthening the fundamental

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rights chapter in the constitution and the establishment of a human rights commission, what type of institutions these will be and what will be their impact is an open question. Similarly, there are several commissions appointed to investigate individual instances of human rights violations. What comes out of this is yet to be seen.
Freedom of the press has been an important concern for civil society activism due to two factors. The use of both legal and extralegal means to suppress media freedom by regimes in power is one. Secondly, the ideological orientations and economic interests of the mainstream media, which dominated the media scene since 1977, became apparent when the political crises due to ethnic conflict and southern insurgency came to dominate the politics of the country. Therefore there have been two strategies which emerged among the civil society groups. First was to monitor and lobby against the suppressive laws and incidents of violations of rights of the press. Second, there have been attempts to develop an alternative media.
The issue of "free and fair elections' has been the third area of concern. In the post-'77 period, due to various steps taken by the UNP regime, the 1988 Presidential election was the first election where the opposition was able to enter into the electoral process with full strength. But this election too was marred with violence, and actually turned out be an election where a very low proportion of the population voted. Therefore, the parliamentary election which followed in February 1989 was the first election which reached the standards established before 1977. These developments gave rise to attempts to monitor the fairness of elections. The first attempt to do this was at the time of the 1988 Presidential election, followed by the 1989 general elections. At these initial stages, what was more important for this activism was taking measures that could prevent election violence. This work has expanded to cover a whole gamut of issues which include election laws and procedures. What is much more important is that the general election of 1994 showed that the social base of this activism has expanded significantly. In a way it is possible to argue that the activities of these groups contributed in no small way to the peaceful regime change that Sri Lanka witnessed through the August 1994 election.
While recognising the importance of all these interventions for the protection of human rights and defence of democracy, it is also

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necessary to take stock of limitations both at the level of different strategies and achievements. Probably the best starting point for this is to pose questions about structural and other Societal reasons for the barriers that are there for the promotion of some of the specific recommendations that the human rights movement has identified. This should open up many more issues that have to be tackled in the concrete historical context within which this debate is taking place. Without going into a detailed discussion of all such issues, for which there is no space in this paper, this section will end by focusing on one that seems to be critical in undermining democratic space and crucial in violating individual human rights. This question revolves around two types of relationships at the centre where political parties are found. -
There is little doubt that the democratic institutions that were introduced into Sri Lanka during the colonial period have been internalised into Sri Lankan society much more than some of the sceptics from various ideological backgrounds would like to accept. There is mass mobilisation around these institutions. However this very same process of internalisation of these institutions has generated a particular political culture that not only creates a great degree of dependency on political parties for various needs by the electorate, but also limits the space for any other form of autonomous civil Society mobilisation. This tendency is strengthened when particular development policies allow politicians to play a significant role in fulfilling the day-to-day needs of people. As discussed below, how to make development processes independent of these political links is a major issue that needs to be tackled in the area of development.
The most pernicious effect of this dependency on politicians and political parties is the development of a political culture that numbs the sensitivity of the electorate when undemocratic acts are carried out by parties which they support. In the case of party activists, this leads to an extreme version of loyalty politics where the use of violence and many other undemocratic methods is no barrier. In other words, this particular relationship between the electorate, the party and the political culture developed is not only a barrier for the emergence of an independent democratic consciousness in Society, but is also an important contributor towards political intolerance and many other fundamentally undemocratic attitudes. It is a simple step

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from this political culture to political parties where internal party matters are decided much more through kinship networks, patronclient relationships, etc. rather than through democratic means.
Political parties form a critical element in a liberal democracy. But at the same time they have been instruments in limiting democratic space and violating human rights. Sri Lanka has been no exception. What is important to note is in this process there is direct or indirect support from an electorate which is used to a particular political culture. Therefore, strengthening of a democratic civil society that is able to relate to political parties independently is a critical issue that needs to be addressed.
Equally important is the issue of independence of law and order institutions from the influence of political parties and regimes in power. Most instances of violations of human rights are situations where the independence of the law and order machinery has been completely undermined due to the political needs of those in power. A variety of mechanisms of political patronage have developed over the years to bring this about. The net result is at critical moments these institutions are controlled by political bosses rather than by the rule of law.
The independence of state institutions from political expediency is a much discussed theme in present debates on economic reforms. Much attention has been paid to see how decision making on economic issues at various levels could be protected from political expediency. This not only includes enactment of legislative measures that ensure the independence of these institutions, but many other steps that enhance the capacity and standards of these institutions. It is important to expand this debate to institutions that deal with law and order. -
4.2. Ethnic Conflict, Devolution and Peace
The deterioration of ethnic relations and the civil war that engulfs the country can be seen as the most serious political crisis faced by independent Sri Lanka. Once again the seventies was a turning point of this conflict, and marked the beginning of the separate state demand and the armed struggle of the Tamil minority. A number of steps such as the enactment of the 1972 constitution, standardisation, and shootings at the time of the Tamil Researchers Conference in

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1974, led to a deterioration of the situation and the emergence of the separate state demand. Post-'77 developments, at the centre of which stands the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983 and the removal of political representation of Tamils from the legislature through the sixth amendment to the constitution, led the way for escalation of the conflict. Ethnic pogroms, armed action, the passage of draconian laws like the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and violations of human rights accompanying these, has alienated the Tamil community from the Sri Lankan state.
Over the years the counteraction from the Tamil community, specially through armed struggle, has come to be dominated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Considering themselves as the sole representatives of the Tamil minority, the LTTE has allowed no space for any form of democratic politics within the Tamil social formation. Their armed strategies have a combination of behaving like a conventional army holding territory, guerilla strategies and terror tactics that have inflicted heavy casualties on civilians. Depending very much on their armed strength, they have continued to wage an armed struggle for a separate state.
Responses to this conflict by organisations in civil society vary in the extreme. At one extreme are organisations who represent politics of extreme forms of nationalism on both sides. Those within the Sinhala ethnic formation, who believe that the ethnic conflict is an unjust attempt to divide Sri Lanka, argue that it should be handled primarily as a law and order problem. Some such organisations are more involved in carrying out various activities to help the Sri Lankan security forces. At the other nationalist extreme are those who believe that a solution cannot be found within a united Sri Lanka. They do not have a perspective of Sri Lanka as a plural Society, and are ready to condone all forms of politics carried out for the cause of a separatist demand. In between these are organisations who have accepted that Sri Lanka has a serious problem in managing her ethnic relations, and that political answers have to be found to resolve them. These groups have by and large rejected the notion that ethnic conflict is a mere law and order issue or a terrorist problem that can be resolved purely through military means. They have also been sympathetic to the plight of the minorities in the context of this conflict, have worked in different ways to highlight their problems,

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and have intervened to ameliorate their conditions. This protracted conflict has generated a variety of responses in Society from these organisations. The principal strategies adopted by such organisations can be discussed under the different issues they tackle.
A primary political issue underlying Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict is the debate over the political structure that would form the basis for managing inter-ethnic relations. The debate has been between a centralised form of state structure that would safeguard the rights of minorities with checks and balances, versus a form of regional autonomy which will give regional units a substantial degree of autonomy to manage their own affairs. With the aggravation of the conflict, the answer to this question has decisively moved in the direction of regional autonomy.
There are many organisations who focus on the issue of reforms of a highly centralised state in order to resolve the ethnic conflict. In fact, looking closely at the emergence of the concept of regional autonomy and the degree to which it is accepted now, it is clear that many civil society groups have played a key role in first articulating it, and clarifying and propagating it in Sri Lankan Society. At present, these activities have contributed to making both major political parties in the country accept the concept of regional autonomy as an answer to the ethnic conflict.
As much as the pressure for reforms in the state structure, activities that have attempted to question the hegemonic Sinhala-Buddhist ideology regarding the character of the Sri Lankan state and society have been an important response that has developed among civil Society groups. The primary focus of this type of work has been the dominant notion that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala-Buddhist country, and therefore pride of place within the state has to be given to the identity of the majority community. The Sri Lankan constitution accepts this notion, and it is enshrined in it. This ideology is widely accepted among the majority community. It also gets concrete expression in state structures, policies and in various activities of organisations in society including some in the NGO sector. The aggravation of the ethnic conflict has seen the development of many responses that have questioned this hegemonic Sinhala-Buddhist interpretation of Sri Lankan Society. Many groups have sought to propagate notions of pluralism which accept the multi-ethnic character of Sri Lankan

The "New" Consensus on Development Assistance 17
society. This has been done through research activities, various forms of publications, audio-visual productions, seminars, discussions, etc. Conflict resolution is a more recent entry in the context of the ethnic conflict of Sri Lanka. Conflict resolution activities can be attempted at various levels ranging from interventions between armed actors to working in society among different ethnic groups. The latter seems to be the dominant intervention in Sri Lanka. Such work is based on a notion that the primary issue is for different identity groups in society to understand each other, and resolve conflicts amicably or through peaceful means. But often such activities are undertaken without taking up issues such as the transformation of the state structure and questioning of hegemonic identities. It is for this reason that this type of work is identified as a separate category.
Intervening to take care of the social costs of the ethnic conflict has been the principal response of the group of organisations called "Development NGOs”. In a sense we can see this as an extension of the responses that Sri Lankan society has seen at times of what are popularly called "ethnic riots'. However due to the persistence of the conflict, some of this work has got established on a more long-term basis.
The range of activities that “Development NGOs’ are carrying out in the conflict situation of Sri Lanka is very broad, and falls within three main areas: emergency relief, including the provision of food and medicines; ensuring that basic needs are met in the areas of health, education, water and housing; and income-generating activities.
The turning point of many of these activities around the ethnic conflict was the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983. This event activated many dormant organisations, brought in new ones, and also prompted some to work together on various issues posed by the ethnic conflict of Sri Lanka. The entry of international NGOs in all these areas of work has been another significant development. It is important to note that there is participation of people of different ethnic groups in these positive responses within civil society. In most organisations working on these issues there are representatives of different ethnic and religious groups. The conflict itself has generated . a process in society which has a multi-ethnic character.
All these responses have continued through the years of violence

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and armed struggle. They have developed very slowly, their effectiveness is uneven, and some of the groups have worked under severe pressure and threat from the champions of the hegemonic ideology. They have come under threat both from state institutions, who have viewed these activities as detrimental to national security, as well as from non-state actors, who have violently opposed any concessions to minorities. The questioning of the hegemonic Sinhala-Buddhist ideology has resulted in reactions that have elements of extreme racism. In the camp of the non-state actors who have been opposing these activities either directly or indirectly, there have been organisations who could be categorised as NGOs but which adhere to different ideologies and serve different interests.
Despite the numerous difficulties faced by the groups involved in these activities, their interventions have made a significant contribution to promoting the idea that Sri Lanka has a serious problem in her ethnic relations, and there is a need to find a political answer to it. The activities have also made some progress in the acceptance of the notion that Sri Lanka is a plural Society, where identities and rights of various ethnic and religious groups have to be accepted and given a space if Sri Lanka is to resolve the ethnic conflict.
Looking towards future activities on this issue, it is necessary to take into account the events of 1995, which has been a momentous one for Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict. In this year was witnessed events that were significant on both political and military fronts. On the political side, the most important one was the presentation of a set of proposals in order to resolve the ethnic problem politically. These proposals were first put forward for a public debate in August 1995. Now they have been expanded and formally presented to the Parliamentary select committee on constitutional reforms.
There is no doubt that the ideas embodied in these proposals go far beyond anything that any government has tried so far, in order to meet the grievances of the Tamil minority. The proposals demonstrate a willingness to do away with the notion of a unitary constitution, expand the degree of devolution, and rectify some of the shortcomings of the 13th Amendment which established provincial councils. However there are no clear answers to the long-standing Tamil demand for a merged North-East province.
The political struggle that is bound to emerge if the government

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goes ahead with these proposals will be the critical issue facing civil SOciety groups in the area of constitutional reforms in the near future. Mobilising to put pressure on the government so that they go ahead with the proposals, and intervening in society within the political struggle that is bound to emerge around these reforms, are the crucial tasks facing these groups.
In contrast to these political trends, the year ended with the dominance of the military aspects of the conflict. As a response to the breakdown of negotiations with the LTTE and the cease-fire, the government launched a military operation codenamed "Operation Riviresa', with the objective of wresting control of Jaffna from the LTTE. The operation lasted for about seven weeks and the army moved about a dozen miles and secured Jaffna town. However, the operation has added thousands more to the category of so-called “internally displaced”. Except for a few families, the bulk of the population left the area either because of pressure from the LTTE, or simply to escape getting caught in crossfire. Hundreds of thousands are refugees and are likely to be victims of a cruel war game in which civilians have become components of politico-military strategies. This impact of the war makes the legitimacy of the proposals among the Tamil population a very debatable issue.
Historically, grievances that have been articulated by the Tamil minority covered many areas. They included the nature and structure of the Sri Lankan state, the impact of Sinhala nationalism in various public policies which covered the field of socio-economics, language, culture, and finally the question of their security as an ethnic group. Black July '83 was a turning point on the issue of security. In the period that followed, the security dimension of the conflict (security of the state vs. security of an ethnic group) became dominant. The emergence of the LTTE as a dominant group, and the LTTE's political as well as military capacity to deal with various governments in Colombo, has led to the military question of dealing with the LTTE becoming a prominent issue. Parallel to this, various types of pressure for a political answer to the conflict have brought the question of power sharing and institutional reforms of the state to the forefront. It is these two issues that dominate the popular discussion through the usage of term such as "political solution' or “military solution'.

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There is no doubt that the constitutional reforms, to promote which civil society groups have put in much effort, are critically important. But at the same time it is necessary to treat this objective in a manner that does not lead to a perspective which reduces resolution of the ethnic conflict to institutional reforms of the state. The limitations of a reductionist perspective on any social issue has come under criticism in recent discussions of social theory. The resolution of the question of ethnic relations in Sri Lanka is a much wider issue than constitutional reforms. Even if we confine ourselves to the question of state reforms to meet the grievances of the Tamil population, what has to be done with state institutions is much wider than a passage of constitutional reforms. Implementing bilingual policies in areas such as language and media, decommunalising state institutions, and identifying new initiatives that would lay the foundation for a multi-ethnic society, are crucial. All these reforms in the state sector do not necessarily follow from constitutional reforms. There are interlinkages but they are not reducible to constitutional changes. These are also policy areas where one does not have to wait for the resolution of the conflict in order to initiate policy decisions; they are critically important for the day-to-day living of the Tamil population, and also to win their confidence.
Equally important are the interventions to be undertaken at societal level. There are deep-seated prejudices on both sides of the ethnic divide that have led to the situation that we are in. It is difficult to think of a civil society imbibed with values of democracy and tolerance without challenging these prejudices in society.
There is no one single factor or one single "truth” which explains this conflict. There is also no given sequence of policy changes in order to resolve the ethnic conflict. One need not focus on what can be called "a primary reason" before tackling the others. Strategies can be pursued in several areas simultaneously. Institutional reforms alone will not make a minority feel that they belong to this country and resolve a complex question like ethnic relations. Institutional reforms which stress constitutionalism have an even narrower perspective. To have an almost reductionist and fundamentalist attitude towards them is even worse.
Finally, it is also extremely important that organisations who have entered into the area of conflict in order to take care of relief tackle

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questions that have a relevance for the resolution of the conflict both at the level of the state and of society. If they do not, there is a danger that they could be very much a factor that allows prolongation of the conflict. There have been extremely disturbing trends of this nature in other parts of the world. With an increased amount of assistance for relief in conflict situations being channelled through NGOs, there are many organisations bidding in this deregulated funding market without considering the political implications of their activities. This is specially true of international NGOs that operate in many parts of the world. In situations of protracted conflicts, when these organisations become a permanent feature within the country, their activities tend to develop numerous linkages with political issues that underlie the conflict. These linkages could be with the internal political process or with the political positions taken by various international actors. The longer they get involved in conflict situations, more difficult it becomes to cover these political roles with notions of humanitarianism. Such a situation has already arisen in Sri Lanka and the Sooner these organisations face these political issues, the better it will be for NGO activism in this country.
4.3. Democratising Development
As in the area of human rights, democracy and the ethnic conflict, the activism of civil society groups has expanded in the area popularly known as "development'. In fact by looking at the flow of funds, "Development NGOs’ constitute the largest part of what could be called civil society groups. Their activism covers a variety of sectors of development. However it is in the area of development that these organisations have been least effective in terms of civil Society politics. This is primarily due to an extremely apolitical discourse of development employed by these organisations. The emergence of the new consensus on development raises new challenges to this discourse.
The economic project of capitalism is dominated by the attempt to expand the resource base of the country making use of market forces. Within this context, there are interventions by various groups in order to increase the share that disadvantaged groups get from this economic development. The objective of this type of intervention is to identify "target groups” and their "needs' and "deliver develop

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ment." Associated with this is a proliferation of terms such as "participation', "group formation", "networking”, “identification of real needs of people', etc. within development projects. Although some of these concepts, if used with a greater degree of political awareness, could lead to expansion of the democratic debate, what dominates in the delivery mode of development is a discussion about management of projects using the above terms. All these terms are a part of management techniques to manage projects which "deliver development to target groups”.
The principal defect of this delivery mode of development is an absence of a discussion on issues of power, and relationships in society that determine power. The fundamental objective of a development strategy, that hopes to shape capitalism so that the disadvantaged have a stake in it, is to change these relationships so that the capacity of the less powerful to determine their own living conditions is enhanced. Even if we confine the word development to mean distribution of the fruits of economic growth or social development, it is the power relations into which the poor are locked that need to be changed if they are to have a better share. For example, in the day-today struggle of a peasant farmer to obtain what mainstream economics calls "factors of production', there is a series of relationships that the farmer has to enter into with a variety of actors. It is the capacity of the farmer to control issues of power found in these relationships which matters when it comes to the question of his or her survival. The term "factors of production' does not tell us of this human drama and the power Struggle that goes on. The question of development is how to change these power relationships for the benefit of the farmer. If one looks closely at the limitations of the achievements of many "delivery-oriented” development projects, they have to do with the difficult battle that has to be carried out with the logic of the market. Very often, so-called project evaluations do not even acknowledge this. The often publicised successes have either to do with projects reaching a section that has enough endowments to fight with the market, or projects that have successfully obtained support from the political processes in order to deal with questions of power.
One of the basic outcomes of the absence of a political perspective in dealing with questions of power by "Development NGOs” is the manner in which many of these organisations deal with the state. Not

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only does it reflect the absence of a perspective of reforming the state, but it also leads to a clientalist manner in which the question of the state is dealt with. An example of this is the Code of Ethics that has been developed recently in Sri Lanka by some of these organisations. The document which elaborates this code of ethics has several sections, and interestingly enough the section that tries to develop the "code” for dealing with the state comes in the section titled “Consolidating the identity of the non-governmental organisations.” Elaborating on relationships with the state, it goes on to say that "the recognition of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is essential in order to strengthen and make fruitful and effective in a greater degree their services within the national framework of a sovereign state.” Apart from the strange emphasis of highlighting sovereignty in a context where it has been questioned, what needs to be noted is how the relationship with the state is conceptualised. According to this, it seems that NGOs need "recognition of the state' in order to be effective. The text that follows lists various legislation which could be used to get this "recognition" from the state. The signatories to the document also "solemnly” and "dutifully" "pledged" to follow and fulfil the code of ethics.
This may be compared with the discourse of human rights organisations, who have looked at this very same legislation not as a means of getting "recognition” from the state, but as a means which ensures their freedom of association. They are not concerned about getting recognition from the state, but have been fighting for the right of organisations to exist without interference from the state. Some organisations have gone as far as to say that no form of registration is necessary in order to exercise this right.
What is more alarming is how this Code of Ethics has linked the question of consolidating the identity of NGOs and so-called recognition by the state. It is stated that it is this "recognition' by the state which helps to "consolidate the identity” of NGOs. The same section states that "the process of community development should not assume the character of an isolated secretive and unpopular performance.” This presumably means that if the state does not recognise these organisations they are "isolated", "secretive' and "unpopular". The ideology reflected in this Code of Ethics basically accepts the state as it is. It neither questions the state, nor has a perspective which

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will help to challenge and reform the state. On the contrary, the objective seems to be to find a language to deal with this state in order to carry out their projects. This leads to a highly subservient attitude towards the state.
Within such an ideological framework, “Development NGOs' are very much involved in supporting and strengthening the state rather than transforming it. None of the above criticisms of the politics of "Development NGOs' about their relationship with the state should be taken to mean that either these organisations should not deal with the state, or come to a working relationship with the state. What it means is that if there was a much closer look at the issues of power, these organisations could have carried out the same functions while at the same time contributing to reforms of the state, rather than strengthening it in its present form. This would have been a different form of politics. However due to the absence of a political perspective, they are much more involved in a process of strengthening the State.
The rights discourse in the "good governance' thesis forces much of the developmental activism to see the politics of socio-economic issues much more sharply. It forces development interventions to get out of the framework of being delivery services, and start looking at themselves as political actors in social transformation. The elements that form the socio-economic field are considered rights of the people. However, disadvantaged groups of Society do not obtain these rights by virtue of them being delivered by someone. It is something that they gain making use of the democratic space that is provided by society. This is a more political perspective on development.
Incorporating politics and a political perspective into development interventions demands a move away from project-based mentalities. The objective of interventions is not to implement projects, but to be engaged in social transformation. The latter has to be done with many others. Social transformations are not achieved through projects, but by being a part of social and political processes in the wider society. If we are to use the fashionable term "participation', the task is not to get people to participate in our projects, but for us to participate in people's projects of social transformation. In order to join these, the development interventions need not only to get away from a narrow interpretation of development, but also to think beyond the project

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focus.
The fundamental task of democratising development involves serious reforms of the role of the state in development, while intervening in society through various development interventions with a much greater political awareness. As has been pointed out by radical critiques, the state that gets involved in development is a state in a capitalist Society representing various interests. A characteristic feature of the role of the state in development in a capitalist society is how those who wield political power use the development interventions of state for their own ends. For example, the use of access to political power as a means of competing in a market economy has been noted by many who have studied the development of capitalism. Specially in economies where the state is still a large source of contracts for the private sector, the latter employs various ties to gain unfair advantage in market competition. One thing that is very characteristic of the capitalist classes of developing societies is to clamour for policies that promote markets and private sector and use all means possible to undermine market competition. Sri Lanka is no exception. In the case of Sri Lanka the factors that are useful for this purpose could range from political linkages, family connections, caste, etc. This is basically what can be called the political economy of "corruption', although it is often debated as a moral issue. Principally it has to do with the use of political means for capital accumulation, which undermines the role of the market. In such a context, an important issue has become the openness and accountability of the dealings of the state, specially in the economic sphere.
Finally, various welfare services provided through state intervention are prone to political influence, whose objective is to maintain a system of political patronage. This not only leads to overall problems of economic management, but to extreme degrees of inefficiencies in the welfare services and corruption. Beneficiaries become dependent on politicians for the state services to which they are entitled, leading to a political culture which creates a high degree of dependency, as discussed above. All these, of course, do not mean reducing the role of the state in welfare. In poor countries like Sri Lanka, market mechanisms cannot deal adequately with welfare issues. The state has to intervene. However the fundamental question is how to ensure that this intervention is controlled by beneficiaries rather than by

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powerful sections of the society. This a political question that has to be tackled by not only having project interventions, but by reforming state mechanisms in the Welfare sector. This is a part of the task of democratising development.
N. O. T E S
1. This is sometimes called the "Washington consensus' in development assistance.
2. "Participatory Development and Good Governance', Development Cooperation Guideline series, Development Assistance Committee, OECD, 1995. 3. The term "good governance' is used more in OECD documents, while the World Bank prefers to use the more neutral term "governance'.
4, "World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth', Washington D.C., 1989.
5. “The Challenge of Development", World Development Report 1991, World Bank, 1991.
6. “Participatory Development and Good Governance”, op. cit. 7. Ibid. 8. Good Governance and Development, World Bank, Washington D.C., 1992(b); Governance, The World Bank's Experience, Development in Practice, World Bank, Washington D.C., 1994.
9. “Governance, The World Bank Experience”, op. cit. 10. “Participatory Development and Good Governance”, op. cit. 11. “Participatory Development and Good Governance', op. cit. 12. Some accounts specially in the African context add the important issue of a non-political military as an ingredient of good governance. This, if interpreted as depoliticisation of the law and order apparatus, has a relevance for other situations as well. See, Nicholas Hopkinson, "Good Government in Africa', Wilton Park paper 54, Report based on Wilton Park Special Conference: 27-31 January 1992, London, HMSO, May 1992.
13. “Participatory Development and Good Governance', op. cit. 14. Ibid. 15. Ibid. 16. Ibid. 17. Ibid. 18. Andrew Sayer, Method in Social Science, A Realist's Approach, (Hutchinson, 1984).
19. Anthony Giddens, A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism (University of California Press, 1981).
20. Anthony Giddens developed his theories in several publications. See: New Rules of Sociological Methods, (Hutchinson, 1976) Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism, (University of California Press, 1981); The Nation

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State and Violence, Volume Two of A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism, (University of California Press, 1987); Beyond Left and Right, the Future of Radical Politics, (Blackwell/Polity, 1994), for a more extensive account of his ideas.
21. Anthony Giddens, A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism, op. Cit.
22. Anthony Giddens, A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism, ор. cit.
23. Anthony Giddens, New Rules of Sociological Method, op. cit. 24. Ibid. 25. See: Samuel Bowels and Herbert Gintis, Democracy and Capitalism, Property, Community and Contradictions of Modern Social Thought, (Basic Books, 1986). Ellen Meiksins Wood, Democracy Against Capitalism, Renewing Historical Materialism, (Cambridge University Press, 1995). A. Przeworski, Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforns in East Europe and Latin America, (New York, Cambridge University Press, 1991). Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Huber Stephens and John D. Stephens, Capitalism Development and Democracy, (Polity Press, 1992).
26. Dunn, J. (ed.), Democracy-The Unfinished Journey, (Oxford University Press, 1992).
27. Atul Kohli, "Democracy. Among Economic Orthodoxy: Trends in Developing Countries”, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 4, 1993.
28. Atul Kohli, op. cit. 29. John Keane, Democracy and Civil Society, Verso, 1986. 30. See John Keane, Democracy and Civil Society, op. cit. 31. Carl Boggs, Gramsci’s Marxism, Pluto Press, 1976. 32. The emphasis of the importance of strengthening of civil society has in recent times focused attention on a variety of organisations identified by the common term "NGOs'. If by the term "NGOs' we mean all types of organisations in civil society, they play extremely diverse roles in society. They stand for different ideologies and sometimes are on opposing platforms on various issues in society.
33. John Keane, Democracy and Civil Society, op. cit. 34. See, John Toye, Dilemmas of Development, (Blackwell, 1993), specially chapter 5 titled "The New Political Economy of the Left and the New Right” which discusses the similarities of these two seemingly opposite points of view. Also see, Leila L. Frischtak, Governance and Economic Reform in Developing Countries, World Bank Technical Paper Number 254, World Bank, 1994 for a theoretical framework of a World Bank research programme in Governance which takes into account the "capture" of policy making process by prominent economic interests to the detriment of the public interest.
35. See Crawford Young, Ethnic Diversity and Public Policy: An Overview, Occasional paper No. 8, World Summit for Social Development, UNRISD, Geneva, 1994 for a recent overview of different areas of public policies that are

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relevant in multi-ethnic Societies.
36. NGO National Action Front, Code of Ethics for NGOs involved in Social Development, made public on 12th September, 1995.
37. NGO National Action Front, op. cit, Sec. 2(c). 38. See Neff, S.J., The Activities of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry in respect of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Report of mission to Sri Lanka in May-June 1991 on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists,
ICJ, Geneva, 1991.

5
Governance: A Critique'
Nira Wickremasinghe
"If you wish to see the Face,
Seek another eye. The philosopher,
With his two eyes sees double,
So is unable to view the unity of the Truth"
—Sharbistari, Persian Sufi Poet
1. Introduction
OVERNANCE is a term of recent coinage which has captivated the literature of development. The concept of good governance is closely linked to the changes which took place in aid regimes of the last decades. With these changes there was also an emphasis on the human rights agenda of donor states. Earlier, in the 1980s, while the volume of aid to less developed countries. increased, tax-payers in the developed countries grew concerned that these aid contributions should address the issue of human rights conditions of the recipient countries. They were becoming perturbed that in many instances, aid was not trickling down to the poor. 1994 Human Development Report of the UNDP states very specifically
"Aid is not targeted to the poor. Donors send less than one-third of development assistance to the ten most populous countries, which
*This paper is based on my publication "From Human Rights to Good Governance; The Aid Regime in the 1990s" in ed. Mortimer Sellers, The New World Order: Sovereignty, Human Rights and the Self-Determination of Peoples, (Berg Publishers, Oxford, 1996).

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are home to two-thirds of the world's poor. As a result of these distortions the richest 40 percent of the developing world receives as much aid per capita as the poorest 40 per cent.”
This was an unacceptable proportion for donor countries. Human rights deal with civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights embodied in the declaration of human rights and other international covenants to which all nations have subscribed. When signing these covenants, governments accepted that issues of human rights are an international responsibility and governments are not accountable solely to their own citizens on these matters. A strict constructionist interpretation of sovereignty has given way when dealing with breaches of human rights. It is now accepted that human rights have an universal applicability which transcend mere national borders. Accountability on human rights is to the world community. Consequently human rights considerations, have affected the provision of aid or development assistance.’
This paper suggests that the human rights discourse, which was itself limited by national security considerations, is in the process of being displaced and supplanted by another and more pernicious ideological discourse, that of good governance. Good governance is fast becoming a new orthodoxy in official western aid policy and development thinking. Thus there has been a shift among donor countries from a concern for human rights, based primarily on the protection of the rights of the individual, to a more complex and interventionist approach, embodied in the notion of good governance and political conditionality. The aim of this interventionist approach is nothing less than restructuring the world system, by reforming the fundamental institutions of the state which are now subject to pressures by donors to reform themselves.
2. Governance and Government
Etymologically, the term governance derives from the Greek verb "kybenan' and noun "kybernetas' which mean to 'steer and 'pilot or helmsman respectively. Initially the concept related to global order rather than intra-state order. But gradually the latter assumed prominence in the concept. Rosenau's approach to governance is to clearly separate it from government. Both refer to purposive behaviour,

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goal-oriented activities, and to a system of rules. But, according to him, government is a bundle of activities which is backed by formal authority and coercive powers to ensure the implementation of duly constituted policies. Governance on the other hand refers to activities backed by shared vision and goals which may or may not derive from legal and formally prescribed responsibilities. Governance does not necessarily rely on police powers to overcome defiance and ensure compliance. Governance in other words is a more encompassing phenomenon than government. It embraces governmental institutions and processes, but also subsumes informal non-governmental mechanisms, whereby those persons and organisations within its purview satisfy their needs and fulfil their wants. Thus governance not only encompasses the activities of governments, but also includes other channels by which steering mechanisms ensure the framing of goals of development, formulation of policies and their implementation. The concept of steering entrenched in its etymology is central to governance. Governance is a process by which an organisation or society steers itself. To do so, the dynamics of communication and control are central. •
Governance has latterly been considered synonymous with liberal democratic government. This is a limited reading. Governance should be of a different dimension for it is not a value loaded term. It is both a descriptive and analytical tool. It is instrumental, in that it tries to lay bare the patterns by which a particular system works, be it a society or an organisation. Governance encompasses authority and power and is closely related with politics, economics, law of a given society. An important point that has to be re-emphasised is the nature of the goals which are framed and policies which are pursued can be multiple. This dynamic aspect of governance is very often ignored.
3. Governance and Development Assistance
3.1. Governance and the World Bank
The World Bank is the dominant development institute in the world. With its neighbour the IMF, they are called the Washington Twins. It is technically part of the United Nations family of institutions but has ploughed an independent furrow. At present the World

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Bank has 148 members. Like its twin sister, the IMF, the big five control 42 percent of the votes and the developed industrial countries together control 60 per cent of the votes in the World Bank Board of Executive Directors. This concentrates power in the developed states, and allows a particular ideological and political slant to influence fund allocations. An example is that of Vietnam. For a long time that country was not eligible for World Bank funds because of an United States veto. There was a freeze on World Bank funds to China following on the 1989 June Tienanmen killings. Almost 70 per cent of World Bank funds are disbursed as straight loans, the balance is given in the form of concessionary loans through the IDA, after leaving a small part for technical assistance grants. Because of its dominance, the Washington Twins are able to influence other multilateral development institutions like regional development banks and even bilateral sources, in the policies they adopt towards a developing country. A developing country like Sri Lanka which has a substantial aid dependency, has very often to tailor its policies to the Bank's ideology.
The World Bank seems to have moved through three major shifts in its development policy. The 1950s and '60s were characterised by large scale infrastructural development which required massive investments in capital projects. The bulk of the World Bank loans in this period was for dams, Schools, roads and other infrastructure projects. The theory underpinning this approach was that developing countries required a jump start, after which they could take off. This was the growth pattern of the European precursors of the industrial revolution. Such a policy initially strengthened the elites but the World Bank argued that the benefits will trickle down to lower levels of society. However, the second part of these expectations were not realised though very often the first part were.
A change of World Bank policy took place in the '70s, that of concentrating on providing "Basic Needs'. The basic needs attended were poverty, education, health, nutrition. But these policies were not fully implemented. Inefficient bureaucracies not adept at development administration coupled with the balance of payments crises of the 1980s were the cause for the failure of this second phase in development initiatives of the World Bank. The third phase is the advocacy of good governance.

Governance: A Critique 33
The thinking which jelled into the concept of good governance . started as a critique of the African state. The Sub-Saharan development efforts were a standing indictment of World Bank approaches to development. Massive loans to Sub-Saharan Africa had been granted but development seemed minimal. In fact in a few cases, the levels of well being had retrogressed to lower levels than before the second world war. This was in marked contrast to the East Asians experience, which countries benefitted minimally from World Bank assistance. Yet many of these countries have become the dragons of economic development. The first contemporary public appearance of the notion of good governance emerged incidentally in a World Bank report on Sub-Saharan Africa, which argued that "underlying the litany of Africa's development problem is a crisis of governance.” It went on to define governance as ". . . the exercise of political power to manage a nation's affairs'. According to the World Bank, good governance includes some or all of the following features, an efficient public service, an independent judicial system, a legal framework to enforce contracts, an accountable administration of public funds, an independent public auditor responsible to a representative legislature, respect for the law at all levels and pluralistic institutional structures. The World Bank views on governance were limited to establishing excellent institutional structures and processes. In 1992, these views were further elaborated in a report dedicated to governance, which quite clearly redefined them in terms of development where policy was separate from politics. The problem of governance was said to involve four distinct issues, poor public service management, lack of accountability, an absence of a legal framework for development and problems arising from lack of information and transparency. The underlying assumption of the World Bank's view of governance was that it was possible to have a technical solution to problems of governance independent of the form of political representation. World Bank indifference to representative forms is highlighted in an analysis which correlates World Bank loans to democratic structures. The Philippines and Bangladesh are cases in point. After these two countries lifted martial law, their shares in the total loans given by the World Bank declined. Clearly martial law regimes were felt to be more stable and susceptible to improving economic development.

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3.2. Governance and Leverage Instruments
While the World Bank explored the power route to governance, concentrating on deficiencies in public administration, an alternative approach was formulated elsewhere based on the human rights agenda. Considerable reservations began to be expressed in the developed world about the human rights record in developing countries. The aid handle proved an excellent opportunity to improve the human rights situation within a recipient country. This of course meant a direct intervention in the internal management of a country.
There was ambivalence in the approach of institutions, through which aid was to be channelled. The recipient could be the government or non-governmental organisations (NGO). While these alternatives were present, many aid donors channelled assistance through the government, which itself was the source of human rights abuses. This approach may appear contradictory, but it has a solid pragmatic reason. The government seems to be the best source to channel assistance when considering the alternative of either withholding aid or providing support to an often ideologically bent human rights sector. The United States has tended to channel assistance directly through the government, though increasingly the trend is for reversal, that is, for aid to be routed through NGOs. Thus governance has got a new dimension, over and above the limited World Bank view, of ensuring human rights entitlements. The instrument which was to ensure the prevalence of human rights in a society had increasingly become a NGO Sector.
The last twenty years has seen a rapid growth of indigenous NGOs in Sri Lanka. Most NGO’s combine elements of service delivery with elements of community mobilization. Most bilateral and multilateral aid programmes make explicit allocations of resources for NGOs. From the donors perspective, this is partly a response to the equity concerns of their domestic stakeholders about how well and efficiently recipient governments utilise assistance funds. The new emphasis for using the NGO sector as an instrument can be placed within the framework of wide changes in macro-economic policy, privatisation policies, the reduction of the role of the state in all aspects of the economy and for the provision of services. As alternatives, NGOs seem to be sceptical of state bureaucracies. NGOs function in a flexible and dynamic manner appropriate to private

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organisations, while being efficient, effective and having missionary like commitment to their cause.
The policy followed by the Danish government, reflects the new support given to the NGO sector. Denmark cut off aid to Sri Lanka by the end of 1989, when the Sri Lankan state in its attempt to eradicate the insurrection of the Peoples Liberation Front (JVP), was responsible for massive human rights abuses. When aid was restored in 1993, Denmark proposed to upgrade Sri Lanka to "Country Programme” status, while assisting Sri Lanka in improving her human rights record and ensuring democratic rights. Groups and individuals working at the grassroots, whose activities could promote ethnic harmony or promote press freedom were to be supported. The Sri Lankan government appeared indignant at these proposals, for it appeared to the government that this was a "NGO Trojan Horse' for installing a permanent non-governmental mechanism to monitor and perhaps meddle in human rights matters.
The use of the NGO sector, often equated with pro-democracy movements, coupled with the collapse of communist regimes and the resurgence of neo-liberalism widens the concept of the World Bank definition of governance. This widened concept encompasses democracy and human rights. The world community is now moving onto delineating positive linkages, using aid leverage to improve, not only public administration but also human rights and democracy.
3.3. Governance and Modernisation
The good governance ideology echoes and elaborates aspects of the modernization theory of the 1960s which held that Western economic and political liberalism represented "the good society itself." At the root of both modernization theories and good governance is the Weberian formulation that the world should head towards adopting the features of representative government, an independent bureaucracy, a capitalist economy, the protestant ethic and a scientific methodology. The result of the application of this model is the emergence of a disenchanted or secular modern culture. Interestingly, the modernising approach infused with Weberian undertones has been largely internalised by policy makers and thinkers in developing countries. It permeates even works critical of the post-colonial states in developing countries. ۔ -

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If the purpose of good governance is the development of modern institutions, such as banking systems modelled on the Bundesbank, it appears to be very similar to the ideology of modernization. The main difference, however, is that while modernization theorists postulated that democracy is the outcome of development as manifested in new roads, bridges, rail networks and television, the new orthodoxy of 'good governance' postulates that democracy is a necessary condition for development. Democracy/good governance is not an end in itself but the means for attaining a certain stage of development.
The World Bank is using the age-old script of the Industrial Revolution in its attempt to forge a new world order where there will ideally be governance without government. In this formulation the approaches to good governance means in effect a Search for less government. Governments would still operate and be sovereign in a number of ways, but some of their smaller responsibilities would be relocated to sub-national collectivities, and the larger responsibilities probably shifted up to supra-national entities, such as the World Bank. Comparing governance and government, Rosenau summarizes governance as "order plus intentionality'.
4. Governance and Bilateral Aid
A political conditionality agenda has always been present to one degree or another in superpower dealings with developing countries. In the case of the United States, its content had always involved reference to multi-party democracy and human rights. After the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, political conditionality was adopted by the European Union in 1989, and by the French, British and German governments the following year. The new political conditionality agenda contained governance issues as enunciated by the World Bank, but broadened it with calls for reforms in the sphere of political representation as enunciated by the United States. Thus these countries did not hesitate to make an explicit linkage between economic and political reforms. Leftwich has quite pointedly demonstrated that the idea of good governance is not simply the new technical answer to the difficult problems of development, but an organic part of the emerging politics of the New World Order.' In this New World Order, the United States goals for South Asia are quite clearly dominated by a concern for good governance. They

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are: "to continue to support and promote security in the region through decreasing tensions between the states; second, to discourage a race toward acquisition of weapons of mass destruction; third, to promote and strengthen democratic institutions through economic development, encouraging privatization and assisting with the buildup of democratic structures; and finally, to seek support for a successful winding up of the issues raised by the Gulf War.'
The US government hopes that aid to South Asia will continue to bolster the “improved climate” for democratic institutions and promote regional Security. Indeed, the US showed much appreciation of a number of advances which include the adoption of market style economic reforms in Pakistan and India, and the election of new democratic governments in Bangladesh and Nepal. Although human rights are described by officials as a negative feature in many parts of the sub-continent, the new doctrine still holds, and except for warning the governments about abuses, nothing drastic had followed. The widespread sentiment in the US Congress on the other hand is that except for trade and investment on favourable terms, the best policy is one of benign neglect.'
Sri Lanka can be viewed as a case study of the US approach to development in South Asia. Ambassador Teresita Shaffer at her Senate confirmation in May 1992 mentioned the aim of US foreign policy in Sri Lanka as 'to take advantage of every opportunity to expand US exports or investments'." According to the Sri Lanka desk officer at the State Department the objectives of US policy towards Sri Lanka are three-fold: to encourage a political settlement with the Tamil militants, to foster human rights reforms in the country at large, and to improve economic relations and trade with Sri Lanka especially in the area of the garment industry.' Sri Lanka governmental sources indicate, however, that human rights are treated only at a general level by the US administration and that the US is satisfied with the steps taken by the Sri Lanka government to improve the human rights situation.
The USAID objectives for Sri Lanka derive from strategic goals which flow from a vision of Sri Lanka as a democratic, environmentally sound, newly industrializing country. It was felt that US assistance can be especially helpful to the Sri Lanka government in managing the transition to a competitive market economy. The focus

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is on agricultural development-led industrialization and private initiative at the forefront. USAID proposes to broker new private-public partnerships in key development sectors. In this strategic vision the following three sub-goals are defined: an effective market economy; protection of the environment and productive resource base; and an active, pluralistic society. In the 1990s, in contrast to the previous decades, USAID has attempted to focus its projects within these clear strategic objectives. This was made possible by the conjunction of the Sri Lanka government's economic policy and social objectives with those of the US government. Thus, the US approach is to promote both good governance as defined by the World Bank and political conditionality.
The European Union has also clearly spelt out such concerns in its resolution on “Human Rights in the World and Human Rights Policy” of 12 March 1993. The EU policy on positive measures and conditionality underlines that "the community can be a very positive force in promoting democracy and human rights, where it has clear international obligations. Among the objectives stated were to provide Support for
-efforts by countries to establish democratic structures and
improve human rights performance;
-the holding of elections, and the strengthening of the rule of
law;
-promoting the role of non-governmental organizations and other
institutions which are necessary for a pluralist society.
However, unlike the US approach there is no linkage made between market-friendly policies and human rights. Economic aspects . do not enter directly into the frame of reference. In contrast, in the US case there is an underlying assumption that without free markets, there is no respect for human rights. Thus if there were no democracy then there can be no aid.
5. Good Governance: A Critique
There are two necessary dimensions in a critique of good gover
nance: one is a qualitative aspect and the other is the substantive
aspect. The question that must be addressed is whether the good

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governance policy advocated by the World Bank is of universal application. Is it the only way and if not, are there no better roads to development? The notion of good governance, as defined by the World Bank, should be reviewed to determine whether they are indispensable conditions for development in all societies.
5.1. Development and Good Governance
One of the central features of good governance, advocated through structural adjustment programs, is the gradual withering away of the state at the macro level. The underlying assumption is that development, taken here in its least controversial understanding as the expression of a nation's growing economic well being, evidenced by an increasing quantity produced and distributed of people's satisfaction, is caused by good governance. This simple equation may not be all that definitive.
Interestingly the structural adjustments prescribed by the World Bank for developing countries, face strong Japanese opposition. This is an important development, as Japan is the second largest bilateral contributor of aid after the United States. The Japanese had reservations about Bank policies of the early 1990s and had pointed out that Japan, Korea and Taiwan, developed according to a different model. Their governments worked closely with business to develop strategies for growth. Nationalized banks gave low-interest loans and grants to selected industries. Governments restricted foreign investment to maintain control over the direction of economic development. Subsidies were granted to business in exchange for specific performance requirements. Planners placed high priority on becoming competitive through higher productivity rather than through lower wages. It was argued that those countries which followed the American model have floundered since the 1960s, while Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand grew three times as fast as Latin American and South Asian countries and five times faster than Sub-Saharan Africa. The Japanese challenge touches a raw spot about the limited role of the government adverted by the aid giving countries. It offers an opportunity for rethinking the role of the state in economic activities, in particular of central planning, and policy co-ordination, as well as the state's ability to influence the evolution of the economy. It suggests that alternative models, in

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spired by the Japanese experience as well as the Scandinavian welfare state, which fundamentally differ from the 'good as defined by the World Bank, should be fruitfully considered, in the attempt to formulate a mode of development best Suited for a specific country. The argument adduced is not that democracy and development are incompatible, but rather, that the state can play an important role without the regime being authoritarian, as neo-liberals are wont to suggest. Sometimes the pre-supposition that democracy/good governance is a necessary condition for development may also not be valid. . Atul Kohli reviewing the records of five diverse democracies namely India, Malaysia (which hardly qualifies as a democracy), Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Costa Rica and comparing them with countries which followed an authoritarian route to development, has argued that these democracies of the developing world, can boast of impressive economic records in terms of income distribution, debt management, and even growth rates.' Would not his conclusions linking democracy and development be refuted, had he chosen as case studies countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Thailand which do not conform to his criteria of democracy?
The link between democracy and development is complex and cannot be encapsulated in a notion such as good governance. Not surprisingly the concept of good governance has been subject to scrutiny by human rights activists in Sri Lanka who have expressed doubts about the concern for "erecting the kind of juridical structure necessary for the spread of market relations'. For a developing country such as Sri Lanka, there is no doubt that the main objective of aid and development policies in the 1990s, should be that of helping to integrate her into the global mainstream. At the same time, aid and development policies will have to continue to serve their traditional objectives of supporting long-term development programs, of building infrastructure and financing projects with substantial social benefits such as investment in rural development, health, nutrition, education and poverty alleviation.’ Just as there is no clear causal relationship between democracy/good governance and development, the linkage between economic growth and social advancement is not self-explanatory. -

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5.2. Good Governance as an All Encompassing Concept
The second dimension in the critique of good governance is of a more fundamental nature. The existing comfortable intellectual framework with an all embracing paradigm covering all individual disciplines has been shattered. However, a new absolute seems to have emerged in its place, that of governance. In an era characterised by the loss of paradigmatic guidelines, the concept of good governance has not remained unchallenged. Social scientists are increasingly stressing the need to get away from limited models. They are showing that the main deficiency of political development theories is the tendency to demarcate them in terms of two general overwhelming dichotomies, those of modern vs. traditional societies, and of democratic vs. non-democratic political systems. Thinking within these binary sets of categories, does not recognise that many states encompass within themselves, apparently contradictory characteristics and structures. In many instances development and underdevelopment, democracy and authoritarianism, civilian and military rule co-exist at the same time within one polity. The development myth is a powerful one. In its name modernising, elites have shed all sensitivity to indigenous pluralistic systems of thought and science, which were cast away during the great development decades of the UN systems. Western modes of thought, science and technology were transferred to replace indigenous techniques in the developing world. This particular aspect has been subjected to critical examination by scholars in the developing countries, who have castigated the power of the development myth and the creation of a republic of science, where capitalism had lost its poetic power to a Baconian-scientific world view.’ The current formulation of good governance falls within the tradition of dichotomising models which should be critically reviewed. Similarly, the widely accepted concept of democracy must be submitted to the same rigorous scrutiny.
At the level of the current discourse, there is a tendency to confuse deep democracy, often though not innocently. Deep democracy embraces all three components of the motto of the French Revolution, that of liberty, equality and fraternity. Deep democracy is founded on a complex, multi-layered and multi-dimensional array of human rights (political, civil, economic, social and cultural) while good governance, as presently formulated, is nothing more than political

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liberalism, a process of political change controlled from the top but where the social status quo is preserved. This limited view of democracy associated with good governance entails a change in the shell not in the fruit. No change in social relations follows. Formal democracy where democracy is limited to the mechanics of periodic electoral participation is not sufficient. Instead the return to the notion of human rights, which prioritises basic social rights or what is commonly known as second generation rights of the individual (education, health and well-being) may be a more useful attempt at building a deep democracy or progressive democracy. The latter entails more than formal liberties, it deals with profound social reform.
An encouraging trend is that development economists in the UN have today ceased to use a narrow concept of development as growth, and begun to concern themselves with the qualitative improvement of life. This trend is reflected in the concept of human development indicators "such as freedom of expression, association and movement, the preservation of human rights and safeguards against intrusion into individual liberty, as preconditions for development'.' They accept that "development must be woven around the people, not people around development'. A more difficult task will be to convince the financial institutions that sound administration and democratic institutions are not enough, and that the benefits must seep down to the people. The incidence of IMF riots in some countries has shown that democracies cannot be created from outside and that a government which is too evidently dependent on external support imposing dated paradigms of development is liable to lose legitimacy at home.
6. Conclusion :
Just as much as governance is an important and useful tool of analysis, the notion of good governance as a paradigm appears to need critical review. It contains the pre-supposition that freedom is the highest good and that less government means better governance. This paper has highlighted the main shortcomings of the concept of good governance, as presently formulated, the principal one being that it is an unidimensional concept which suggests that there is only one model available for countries striving for more efficient government.

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N. O. T E S
1. According to the Human Development Report, 1994, (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994), p. 72-73: "Aid is not targeted at the poor. Donors send less than one-third of development assistance to the ten most populous countries, which are home to two-thirds of the world's poor. As a result of these distortions, the richest 40 per cent of the developing world receives as much aid per capita as the poorest 40 per cent.'
2. Katherine Tomasevski, Development Aid and Human Rights. A Study for the Danish Center of Human Rights, (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989).
3. Adrian Leftwich, "Governance, Democracy and Development in the Third World', Third World Quarterly, Vol.14, No. 3, 1993, p. 605.
4. James N. Rosenau, "Governance, Order, and Change in World Politics' in (eds.) James N. Rosenau & Ernst-Otto Czempiel, Governance without Government: Order and Change in World Politics, (Cambridge University Press: 1992), pp. 4-5.
5. James N. Rosenau, "Governance in the Twenty-First Century" in Global Governance, Vol. 1, No.1, Winter 1995, pp. 14-15.
6. Akhter Hussain, Abu Elias Sarker, M. Mahbur Rahman, “Governance in Bangladesh: An Analytical Review”, Theoretical Perspectives, Vol. 1, p. 166. 7. World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth, (Washington DC: the World Bank, 1989).
8. Human Development Report 1994, 76, Table 4.9. World Bank Loans and Democracy.
9. Counterpoint, (April-May 1994), pp. 26-28. 10. S.M. Lipset, Political Man, (London: Heinemann, 1960) p. 403. See, Karl Deutsch, Nationalism and Social Communication.
11. James N. Rosenau, "Governance, Order and Change in World Politics' in ed. James N. Rosenau and Ernst-Otto Czempiel, Governance without Government. Order and Change in World Politics (Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 3-4.
12. A. Leftwich, p. 613. 13. Statement of Teresita Shaffer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, 7 March, 1991, Hearings before the Sub-Committee on Asian and Pacific Affairs.
14. Selig H. Harrison, "South Asia and the United States: A Chance for a Fresh Start", Current History, (March 1992), p. 103.
15. Human Rights Watch World Report 1993, pp. 187-188. 16. Conversation with Alison Krupnick, Desk Officer, Sri Lanka Bureau, State Department, 15 March, 1993.
17. Annual Budget Submission, FY-1994, Sri Lanka, USAID, June 1992, USAID/Sri Lanka. Strategic Framework FY-1992-96, April 1991; USAID/Sri Lanka. Development in Sri Larika. A review April 1991; Sri Lanka, Country Development Strategy Statement FY-1983, Jan. 1981.

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18. Human Rights Law Journal, 14, 1-6) 1993, p. 286. 19. Atul Kohli, "Democracy and Development' in J.P. Lewis and V. Kallab, eds., Development Strategies Reconsidered (New Brunswick. Transaction Books 1986), pp. 153-82.
20. Charles Abeysekere, "The Limits of Space: Human Rights and Foreign Aid", Index on Censorship, Vol. 21, No. 7, July-Aug. 1992, p. 28.
21. A. Sen Gupta, "Aid and Development Policy in the 1990s', Economic and Political Weekly, (March 13, 1993), p. 453.
22. Ashis Nandy, ed., Science, Hegemony and Violence: A Requiem for Modernity, (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1990).
23. UNDP Human Development Report 1993: Human Development Indica tOTS.
24. Ibid. (note 37).

6
Taxation
T. Ratnasundaram
"Profits are not an end in themselves. To conduct business for profit alone, would be like living only to breathe. Society will tolerate private business only if it could prove that profits for the enterprise, create benefits for the society.”
-Herman Joseph Abs, Longtime head of Deutsche Bank
1. Introduction
r AXATION has a close relationship with governance. The Westminster model of democracy was based on the Magna Carta signed between King John and his chief feudal nobles in 1215. It laid down principles that eventually became embodied in the slogan "No taxation without representation.” Thus the beginnings of parliamentary democracy could be traced to a fiscal origin. This fiscal imperative had revolutionary effects. The 13 American colonies broke away from Britain invoking its merits. The concept of parliamentary control of finance evolved from it, where individual ministers were held responsible to Parliament for performance in their portfolios. Parliamentary control of public finance is entrenche in the Sri Lanka constitution. Article 148 states- -
"Parliament shall have full control over public finance. No tax, rate or any other levy shall be imposed by any local authority or any other public authority, except by or under authority of law passed by Parliament or by any existing law.”
Initially, taxation was meant as a source of revenue to finance recurrent needs of government. The level of public expenditure has

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therefore been the dominant factor which determined the role and level of taxation. However over the years, especially in the latter half of the 19th century, governments have been concerned with the establishment of social justice in an evolving welfare state. This gave taxation an equity purpose. In later years, in the 1960s and 1970s, taxation was used as a means of promoting economic growth and capital formation, supported with legislation to provide incentives. In this milieu and with growing fiscal deficits, the need to have sufficient Sources of revenue to meet requirements such as servicing of debt, social welfare and rapid growth rate, governments of the developing countries have been in a frenzied search for a stable tax system which would ensure a steady and predetermined flow of revenue. To fulfil these needs, periodic tax reforms were undertaken. Tax reform is the term used in tax literature to denote changes that are made from time to time to the tax system. Tax reform is, therefore, not a one time event, but takes place continuously in order that the tax system attunes itself to the political, social and economic system in a country. It is politically driven and administratively implemented. Taxation therefore encompasses within it all elements of good governance.
In recent years, a large number of countries have effected reform in their tax system or are in the process of doing so. The stimulus for the reforms stems from the desire to adjust the tax systems to the social and economic transformation that Societies continuously undergo. It has also become necessary to adjust the tax system to the changes in the world economy, the globalisation of economic activity, external linkages concerning trade and investment and to attract foreign investment to accelerate economic growth. "OECD has identified three reasons for this upsurge of interest in tax reform. The first is tax competition. Capital and certain categories of labour have become more geographically mobile and the economies have become more integrated and trade barriers have been removed. In this new environment, governments may feel that they cannot allow their tax systems to get too much out of line with that of the major competitors, be it a capital exporting or capital importing country. The second is a new emphasis on structural adjustment. Many governments began to review critically their existing tax systems as new research findings had pointed to the distorting influence of tax systems, particularly during periods of sustained inflation and rapid price changes. The

Taxation 147
third is the fascination effect. With improved communications, learning takes place quicker from each other these days and when we see something likeable is seen imitation is quick. Politicians and even policy makers like to be trendy and to follow fashion." Structural adjustment is primarily induced by the Washington twins of the World Bank and IMF. Both of them would also support the first stimulus, that of tax competition.
The two main components of tax reform are tax policy and tax administration. The two are so interconnected that effectiveness and success of one depends heavily on effectiveness and success of the other. Tax policy is concerned with the tax structure, the choice of taxes, the tax level, their incidence, the impact it has on individuals, corporate bodies and other groups and generally on the economy as a whole. It is initiated by government under control of Parliament. Tax policy therefore should not be viewed in isolation but as an integral part of the whole process by which the government and subnational authorised bodies plan to achieve their avowed objectives. Tax administration deals with the organisational arrangements to implement tax policy. Both aspects, those of tax policy and tax administration are vital components of World Bank/IMF concerns of governance.
2. Evolution of Taxation Policy in Sri Lanka
On formulation of tax policy, the Taxation Commission of 1966 StateS
"The use of the tax structure to serve general policy objectives, of necessity implies a carefully planned, well thought out tax system, not a haphazard growth through adhoc legislation intended to meet the exigencies of the moment or to satisfy the demands of influential pressure groups. If the general purpose is to be served, the tax structure itself must be viewed as a composite whole, with each tax complementing the other and serving in its own way the same general policy objectives of the government. Tax policy must form part and parcel of the general policy objectives of the government. In other words, it must be integrated with budgetary, monetary, social and economic policy.'

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Prior to 1932, tax revenue was mainly derived from import duties and on a modest scale from export duties, estate duty and stamp duty. Income tax was first introduced in 1932 as an attempt to raise the finances necessary for the maintenance of the colonial administration. The Income Tax Code of 1932 was based on the British model ordinance and the experience of the tax administrators in the United Kingdom. The period 1932 to 1945 witnessed a series of tax legislation promoted by the requirements of the second world war. Excess profits duty was introduced in 1941 and replaced by a profits tax in 1947. Profits tax was chargeable on agricultural, professional and business income of individuals and companies where the income was over Rs. 50,000 or 6 per cent of the capital. Profits tax was abolished in 1958.
Taxation up to the time of independence in 1948 was used purely to secure revenue for the state. The period after independence saw the use of the tax structure as an instrument of Social and economic policy. Legislation was introduced in 1949 and 1951 granting an initial allowance for investment in plant and machinery, tax holidays for government corporations to promote industrial growth, thereby offering incentives for diversifying the economy which had hitherto been wholly agricultural.
The post-independence era saw a high level of spending on physical infrastructure like communications, roads, irrigation, land development, health, education, etc. The government also spent a considerable amount on social welfare such as free education, free health services and food subsidies, which accounted for 40-50 per cent of the total current expenditure. All this expenditure had to be financed by both direct and indirect taxes with high rates. -
With socialist governments in power from 1956-65 and 1970–77, the state began to play a bigger role in the development process. The state, not content with providing infrastructure and social services, entered into production fields such as trade, industry, transport, banking, and insurance. Apart from the state dominating production, socialist policies had another compelling dimension, namely equity. Redistribution of income and wealth was one way of achieving equity. There were the levies such as land tax (1961 and 1962) based on acreage, the capital levy (1971) which was a once and for all levy on the total wealth, surtax (1962-1963) which was levied on income

Taxation 149
over Rs. 36,000 and the compulsory savings scheme (1971-1975) under which a part of income was compulsorily collected and kept as a credit in favour of the tax-payer. Direct measures for ensuring equity were ceilings placed on land and houses. The equity principle was based on the belief that it was right for those who are better off in society to provide money through taxation to improve the position of the less fortunate.
Another milestone of tax reform in Sri Lanka was the introduction of the Kaldor scheme in 1959. This scheme had two basic objectives, first to make the tax system more equitable than the earlier systems and second to make the tax system act as a stimulus rather than as a disincentive for savings and investment. The expenditure tax was meant to discourage high consumption. The Kaldor scheme introduced three new taxes, namely, wealth tax, expenditure tax and gift tax. The base for income tax was widened by making capital gains liable. The Kaldor tax system was an integrated scheme with a degree df inherent self-checking.
The self-checking device was based on a simple formula, that wealth at the beginning of the year plus all receipts during the year including income, less what was expended or gifted should be equal to the wealth at the end of the year. Taxes were levied on the wealth at the end of the year, on the expenditure incurred during the year and on gifts made during the year. An attempt to evade one tax resulted in increase in another of these taxes. For example, the receipts during the year unless expended or gifted should go to increase the wealth at the end of the year. If an attempt was made to understate the wealth at the end of the year, the amount understated will be treated as either expenditure or gifts and taxed. If this was explained as income by way of gift from another, the person gifting will be made to pay gift tax. More than anything else wealth tax declarations were to be an automatic check on the income declared. For the scheme to be effective, the rates of the different taxes had to be carefully selected. Political and other considerations prevented the rates for income tax being brought down to the levels recommended to induce Savings. The recommended maximum rate for individuals was 45 percent, but the rate of 60 per cent was maintained to ensure revenue. The rates for the expenditure tax were fixed at lower than what was recommended, to compensate for the increase in income tax rates. The

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result was that the tax yield from the expenditure tax was insignificant. This provided opponents of this tax the strongest argument for abolishing it. The details called for in the expenditure tax return were also voluminous and personal. Tax-payers were required to keep a record of their personal activities in order to complete the return form. This was most irksome and caused resentment. The expenditure tax was abolished in 1961, destroying the self-checking aspect of the scheme. By re-introducing this tax in 1976, the then Minister of Finance (the same Minister who abolished it in 1961) had the objective of curbing wasteful luxury expenditure with the maximum marginal rate being fixed at 100 per cent. It sought to achieve the same objectives of promoting savings for investment rather than through compulsory savings and ceilings on income which were abolished. The expenditure tax was abolished again in 1977.
In retrospect, taking into account the perennial problem of tax evasion which no government in any part of the world has been able to eradicate, it is regrettable that this good scheme to tackle tax evasion had not been given a fair trial in Sri Lanka or in any country. It may be that in future tax experts may take a fresh look at the Kaldor scheme, in the context of inability of tax administrations to control evasion. The Kaldor scheme fits in with requirements of good governance, with self-checking advantages and reduced discretion of taX aSSCSSOS.
The period of the 1960s and early 1970s was dominated by socialistic policies. It was characterised by the public sector playing the major role for investment and development, with systems of controls, licences, accent on social welfare and redistribution of wealth. To finance them meant tax policies with high rates for both direct and indirect taxes. These policies discouraged private investment, and savings and led to the stagnation of the economy, because the public sector growth was insufficient to speed economic growth.
Another important milestone in the 1960s was the introduction of the Business Turnover Tax (BTT) in 1963. It was introduced purely as a revenue earning measure but had a narrow base. In 1965-66, the collection from BTT was only Rs. 39 millions as compared to Rs.731 millions from import and export duties, Rs. 138 millions from excise duties and Rs. 275 millions from income tax. BTT accounted for only

Taxation 151
3 percent of the tax revenue. But later, BTT became significant. The collection from this tax in 1993 was Rs. 29,400 millions, accounting for 34 per cent of the tax revenue.
The post-1977 period witnessed a total reversal of the policies of the 1960s and early 1970s. The new government introduced a comprehensive package of open market economic reforms, designed to stimulate the stagnant economy. The overall strategy was to shift away from direct controls and place greater reliance on market mechanisms. The broad policy thrust involved the unification of the exchange rate, liberalisation of imports, exchange and price controls, and privatisation of state ventures. The private sector was to be the . engine of economic growth with the role of the state being steadily reduced by deregulation.
These changes in economic policies, brought about consequential changes in the tax system. The role of income tax changed from that of being a redistributive function, to that of promoting economic growth. The top marginal rates of tax for both individuals and companies were reduced to stimulate investment and savings. Income tax was amended several times to provide for further concessions like tax exemptions, tax holidays and reliefs for direct investments in desired areas. Tax holidays were given for activities such as deep sea fishing, processing of these products, undertaking animal husbandry, cultivation of agricultural products other than tea, rubber, coconut or paddy, for small-scale industries outside municipal limits, housing, milling of paddy, etc. These tax incentives were however not openended, but introduced as a short-term measure to give a boost to economic growth and revive the stagnant economy. In the field of tax legislation, attempts were made to simplify tax laws and a new Inland Revenue Act No. 28 of 1979 was enacted. This replaced the existing act which contained numerous amendments, and replaced it with a simpler, coherent Act. There were two significant amendments to the income tax law during this period. First was the abolition of the tax on the emoluments of the public servants. The other was the introduction of Section 93(2) to the Inland Revenue Act No. 4 of 1963, which made it mandatory for the tax assessor to give reasons. for rejecting a return. The latter was in conformity with governance initiatives of being more open and transparent with the citizens.
In the field of indirect taxes, the turnover tax was to be the major

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revenue earner and a new Turnover Tax Act No. 69 of 1981 was enacted. This act widened the base by reducing exemptions and introduced taxes on imports at the point of customs and provided input credits for taxes paid on raw materials. The effect on revenue of levying a tax on imports can be seen by the increase in turnover tax revenue from Rs. 1,640 million rupees or 39 percent of department's revenue in 1980 to Rs. 4,051 million or 55 percent of the department's revenue in 1982. The percentage rose to 62 in 1983.
The revenue aspect of import duty was gradually reduced by the reduction of rates, and import duty was to be used more for protective purposes. Export duties which brought in Rs. 254 million or 20 per cent of total tax revenue in 1965, brought in only Rs. 57 million in 1993. In earlier years, export duties were a buoyant source of revenue mainly due to the high prices enjoyed by the three major agricultural products tea, rubber, and coconut. With the decline in their prices in the international markets the gap between the cost of production and the sale price dwindled and the possibility of a tax being levied on this gap disappeared. As a matter of basic policy, exports of nontraditional products are not taxed, as is the practice all over the world, in order to remain competitive in the world market.
Excise duties assumed new dimensions with the imposition of excise duties on luxury and semi-luxury goods based on the wholesale price. Excise (Special Provisions) Act No. 13 of 1989 was enacted and initially the Excise department administered the tax with an intake of new officers. The responsibility of collecting these taxes has now been handed to the Customs department as the bulk of this i revenue is collected at the point of import. -
The post-1977 reforms in economic and fiscal policies revived the stagnant economy and the growth in the GDP rose from 2-4 per cent in the early and mid-1970s, to 6.2 per cent in 1978-1982. Savings 'increased and investment rose from 14 per cent in 1970s to 24 per cent in the 1980s. The tax revenue was 24.2 percent of GDP in 1978, which was high for a developing country. However in the next few years the total revenue fell to around 16 percent of GDP in 1982 but increased to around 22 per cent in 1984-1987. It has since remained in the range of 17-22 per cent. Expenditure on the other hand which was 39.6 per cent of GDP in 1978, increased to 42.7 per cent in 1980 and has been in the region of 31-35 per cent thereafter. The budget

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deficit which rose to an all time high of 23 percent of GDP in 1980, remained in the region of 12-16 per cent of GDP till 1989. The huge budget deficits fuelled by factors such as escalation of the ethnic conflict and the security situation in the south, caused severe macroeconomic problems such as high trade deficits, increasing public debt, inflation and adverse balance of payments.
The new government in 1989 embarked on a stabilisation programme in order to reduce the budget deficit, lower the rate of inflation, restructure the public sector through privatisation/ peoplisation, promotion of private sector activity by further deregulation and encouragement of export-oriented growth. A new industrial policy was formulated in 1990 which aimed at encouraging private sector investment by facilitating the availability of creditrevolving schemes such as venture capital funds, providing infrastructural facilities, marketing assistance, incentive for research and development and transfer of technology. As part of this incentive package, generous tax concessions and incentives were given for expansion of industries, for new industries of a pioneering nature, computer technology, and provision of infrastructural facilities, venture capital companies and Unit. Trusts. This new set of incentives was a deviation from the earlier policy of removal of all incentives and the movement towards a low rate, neutral, broad-based tax system. However these incentives were designed to galvanise investment and were introduced on a short term and time specific basis. All approvals were to end on 31st March, 1992.
As a part of the stabilisation and adjustment programme, the new government saw the need to review the tax system and the Finance Minister in his 1989 budget speech announced the government's decision to appoint a Taxation Commission to review the entire tax structure and make necessary recommendations. The terms of reference of the Taxation Commission included examination of the incidence of tax, the mix of taxes, the performance of the different taxes, the revenue potential and actual revenue performance, the tax base, tax rates, and the methods of assessment and collection with reference
tO
-mobilisation of resources for government outlay -adequacy and suitability of the system to promote capital

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formation and economic growth -establishing a system that is fair, simple and efficient having
regard to scope for increasing the role of direct taxes -transforming the turnover tax into a Value Added Tax -harmonisation of excise tax with turnover tax/value added tax
and import duty -harmonisation of taxation taking into consideration the devolution
of powers to decentralised units -examination of the appropriateness and effectiveness of the
existing organisation for the administration of taxes.
The Commission's report of the 21st of November, 1990 was published as Sessional Paper No. 1, 1991. Taxes in force in 1990 Wér6
. Taxes on income-Income tax . Taxes on property-Wealth tax . Taxes on international trade-Export Duty and Import Duty . Taxes on domestic goods and service-Turnover Tax . Excise duty-This was the traditional excise duty on items such as tobacco and liquor generally based on quantity or weight, and special excise duty on luxury items based on wholesale price. The more important recommendations of the Taxation Commission can be summarised as follows:
3.1. Policy Decisions-Tax Structure
The commission recommended that the tax system should continue the trend followed in the late 80s, that of eliminating tax incentives and moving further in the direction of a broad-based, neutral and a low-rate system. The tax structure should also be integrated with a few major taxes on a comprehensive base with low rates, rather than a complicated structure with a multitude of taxes with high rates on a base now eroded by a plethora of tax concessions and reliefs. On the question of using taxation as an instrument to achieve equity, the commission was of the opinion that at the present stage of development, taxation with high progressive rates on income and wealth is not the appropriate vehicle to achieve this objective. This recommendation has an important bearing on governance, one aspect of which is the

Taxation. 155
equity consideration and how it could be operationalised in society. If the tax approach were not satisfactory, to achieve this aim others will have to be engineered.
3.2. Policy Reforms
The commission suggested the following policy reforms1. Broadening of the tax base by eliminating, wide ranges of tax holidays, exemptions and reliefs both for direct and indirect taXeᏚ. . 2. Reduction in the rates of income tax, increasing the threshold
and restructuring the rate brackets. 3. Unifying the rate for companies, in place of the three existing
rates. Integration of company tax and personal tax. . Transformation of the present turnover tax to Value Added
Tax (VAT). 6. Abolition of Wealth Tax. 7. Public servants to be made liable for tax on their salaries.
3.3. Administration Reforms
The commission suggested the following administrative reforms:
Establishment of a Board of Revenue. Establishment of a permanent National Taxation Commission. Appointment of a Revenue Ombudsman. Enactment of a Tax-payers Charter or a Bill of Rights. Administration of excise special provisions, with a turnover tax and subsequently the proposed VAT. Rapid computerisation of the Department of Inland Revenue. This would involve the creation of a master file and the allocation of a Tax-payer Identification Number (TIN) to all tax-payers. 7. Establishing an Institute for Training. The government accepted the recommendations of the commission in principle, but proceeded to implement them in stages, mainly due to budgetary constraints. Some were not implemented possibly due to political pressure. This draws attention to one important aspect of governance. In a democracy, technical solutions cannot be applied either in their totality or immediately. Politics is the art of the possible. Politicians will have to determine the content, aspects and speed of
6.

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change. They cannot be moved only by the intrinsic efficiency of technical measures. . .
During the period 1991-1995 most of the policy recommendations, such as reduction of rates, integration of personal and corporate tax rates at 35 percent, broadening of the tax brackets were implemented. Decisions have also been taken to do away with tax holidays except in the area of animal husbandry, fisheries and cultivation. The wealth tax was abolished with effect from the year of assessment 1992-93. However, in the November 1995 Budget, government thought it necessary that incentives should be reintroduced on a short-term basis to encourage large scale investment and provide tax holidays for two categories viz. advanced technology and for investments of over Rs. 500 million.
4. Evolution of Tax Administration in Sri Lanka
4.1. Background
Taxation is one field of government activity where the administration plays a critical and vital role in the formulation of its tax policies. In cases where it has not been able to do so, there have been unfortunate consequences. Notax system, however sophisticated or however well designed will achieve its objectives, unless it is capable of being administered well. It has been the experience of many countries that tax approaches which in theory had all the elements of a good tax system, like being designed to combat evasion, having an inherent self-checking ability, etc. have failed simply because its administration proved far too difficult and beyond the capability of governmental machinery. A case in point is the failure of the Kaldor system in Sri Lanka, India and other countries. Even though in fairness to Kaldor it must be said that the system was not given a chance to prove itself, as it was implemented after several modifications which radically altered its basic rationale. Its administration was too complex and beyond the capability of most of the smaller unsophisticated tax administrations. Another example is the introduction of sales tax in Sri Lanka in 1962 which was withdrawn after two days. This was a classic example of a tax being introduced, without any consultation with the department which had to administer it, or any preparations being made for its administration. It is now

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being increasingly realised that improving the tax administration and making it more effective, gives policy makers larger options in the choice and design of the taxes. This supports the governance approach that there should be vision in administration and its structures and processes should be simple and realisable.
The influence of tax administration on tax policy can also be seen in the choice of taxes by a small country with weak administration. These countries prefer taxes which are easy to administer such as taxes on international trade or traditional excise where the collection can be made at the source, at a single or few enforceable points e.g., ports or the warehouses. If the administration is weak and evasion high, the expectations of policy makers regarding yield, equity and efficiency will not be realised. A tax system with high rates, with the intention of making the system equitable may well become a most inequitable system, if the taxes due from the higher-income groups are actually not collected. This reservation has to be kept in mind in governance.
Glenn. P. Jenkins has very aptly described the role of tax administration when he says that "it is now widely acknowledged that the tax law and tax policy are only as good as its tax administration." In tax reform there is a strict and clear interrelationship between good tax policy and tax administration. Simply stated, good tax policy cannot exist without good tax administration. Whenever actual practice differs from legislative intent, tax administrators may formulate tax policy leading to distortions of intended economic and trade policies and revenue yields. Tax administrators do this by redistribution of the tax burden of different sectors of the economy and altering the required compliance costs incurred by the tax-payer. Tax administrators can easily and directly affect tax policies through the assignment and allocation of resources to some taxes and not to others. Prof. Carl Soup's often quoted statement that tax administration is the key to tax policy has proved itself time and again.
4.2. Decentralisation-Self Assessment
The first major change in the tax organisation was made in 1963 with the decentralisation of the Department of Inland Revenue. The first regional office was set up in Jaffna in October 1963. The department now has 13 regional offices. The other important changes

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that took place in the early 1970s were the introduction of the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) system for employees in 1971, the self-assessment system in 1972 and the use of the banking system for collection in 1974. It is creditable that these three major steps in the improvement . in tax administration were implemented over 20 years ago without any breakdown. These systems are now part of the modern tax administration. Some of the developed countries have still to introduce the self-assessment system. These changes ensured a steady flow of revenue into the government coffers. It is now universally accepted that the self-assessment system is far superior to the traditional assessment system, in that it reduces the work load in the tax department but ensures a steady flow of income to the government. Under this system the liability to pay and the dates of payments were incorporated in the law itself. It requires the tax-payer to compute his own liability according to the law and pay the taxes on the due dates. This is an onerous responsibility cast on the tax-payer. He has with the help and guidance given by the tax authorities, to be in a position to understand the law, and compute his own liability, or in the alternative seek the assistance of the auditors or tax practitioners (named tax agents in some countries) in order to comply with the law. The degree of success of the system depends therefore greatly on the availability of persons either in their own organisation or outside who could compute the taxes according to the law and pay them to the banks. The reluctance or the delay in introducing the self-assessment system in a country arises from a concern about the ability of taxpayers to comply. The self-assessment scheme is a part of effective governance in that the client, in this case the tax-payer, takes responsibility for his own taxes. Another factor is that the cost of enforcement is reduced. Even developed countries like Australia had introduced the Self-assessment system in stages and have still to extend the scheme to individuals.
Sri Lanka introduced the self-assessment scheme in 1972 and it may now be the appropriate time to examine how this scheme has worked over the years. It has to be acknowledged that the scheme took off without any major breakdown, largely due to the capability of officers in the tax department, and the availability of high calibre professionals outside the department to assist tax-payers. The bulk of the revenue has come in by way of voluntary payments. However

Taxation 15y
there is a flip side. Even though the bulk of the revenue has come from voluntary payments, the percentage of those who paid in relation to those liable was low. The level of compliance in furnishing returns was in the region of 30-36 percent up to 1986. Even though statistics regarding those who did not pay are not available, the issue of a large number of estimated assessments by the department is an indication that the percentage of those who did not pay was also very high. During the period 1984 to 1989 the department dealt with the nonfilers by way of issue of estimated assessments. These estimated assessments were at times unrealistic. It led to the proliferation of appeals and arrears.
A committee which examined the arrears came to the conclusion that only 10-20 percent of these arrears was collectible and the buildup was due to exaggerated estimated assessments. By 1986, the position had become serious. The number of unsettled appeals had risen from 19,232 in 1983 to 37,562 in 1986. The arrears had increased from Rs. 1808 million in 1983 to Rs. 8,971 million in 1988. The large number of appeals and arrears came in for adverse comments from visiting IMF missions and even parliamentarians. This situation appears to have arisen due to the basic fault that, even after the shift to the self-assessment system, the department continued with the same organisational structure, the same practices, thinking and procedures which existed during the "assessment' system. If the department had been reorganised on a functional basis, after the introduction of the self-assessment system, this situation may probably not have arisen. During the period 1987-1989 a concerted effort was made to reduce the backlog of appeals and the number was brought down to 18,389 as at 31 December, 1989. In 1990, the department changed its strategy for dealing with non-filers. The issue of estimated assessments was stopped and instead the penalty system was used. The result was dramatic. The filing compliance for returns after one month of the due date increased from 35 per cent in 1988 to 55 per cent in 1992. The position after 13 months was an increase from 59 per cent to 90 per cent. The number of unsettled appeals fell from 18,389 in 1989 to 5,404 in 1992 and to 3,234 in 1993. Taxes in default fell from Rs. 8,763 million in 1989 to Rs. 5,278 million in 1992 and to Rs. 4,790 million in 1993. The method of estimated assessments was a bureaucratic weapon to ensure compliance. The

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method of imposing penalties was a managerial method, in that it offered an incentive to comply. The dramatic improvements using the incentive method, is a good example of using management in governance. In sum, it could be stated that the introduction of the self-assessment scheme, permitted tax-payers to be responsible for their own taxes. It is an excellent example of governance in practice.
4.3. Inland Revenue Service and hcentive Scheme
Another major change in the department was made in 1974, with the creation of the Inland Revenue Service and making the department a closed service. The clerical grade of officers was absorbed into a new grade of Tax Officers and they were to perform both clerical and technical functions. All technical grades, from Commissioner-General, Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, Assessors and Tax Officers, belonged to the Inland Revenue Service and were not transferable to other departments. The transferable officers were only those who provided support services like administration, accounting, transport, supplies, etc. A target setting and incentive scheme were also introduced. The officers in the department are expected to perform according to the targets set for them. The incentive scheme that is presently in force is group incentive based where targets are set for the group (units and branches). Group performance is evaluated once in six months in relation to the targets. Within the group, targets are set for each individual officer. This way makes every officer accountable to complete the work allocated. The method of target setting and rewarding performance is a recommended approach for public administration change, under the governance approach of the World Bank and may be considered for the personal appraisal scheme now being formulated.
4.4. Information Technology
A major step in computerisation of the work of the Inland Revenue Department commenced in 1990. A pilot project was set up with the assistance of consultants from the IMF. The project initially developed a computerised system to monitor compliance with regard to filing of returns and payment of taxes of 500 of the biggest corporate taxpayers. A prototype of the master file under a relational data base system which was developed, included the design of registration,

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data entry, assessment, compliance enforcement and statistical management information systems. The system was successfully tested from 1 April, 1992, on the 500 corporate tax-payers with respect to income, turnover and PAYE taxes. The system has now gradually been extended to cover other tax-payers and is under the Compliance Enforcement Branch. It is capable of detecting non-filers and defaulters of tax within a few days of such occurrence. Forms have been simplified and redesigned. The issue of reminder notices, warning letters, penalty assessments for late filing and assessments for short payments are all applied using the computer. The department is now in the process of restructuring the entire administration on a functional basis.
4.5. Research and Policy Unit
A Research and Policy Unit, was set up in the Department in April 1993, with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The unit will
(a) develop and maintain a database to enable monitoring, control and the forecasting of revenue and the impact of policy alternatives; (b) analyse revenue performance, forecast potential revenue and identify means and methods of improving revenue collections; and (c) analyse and plan the ré-organisation and the restructuring of the department in areas such as work methods, computerisation, manpower development and scope of work. * :
The data base developed is regularly updated with data obtained from agencies such as the Customs, the Census and Statistics Department and the Central Bank, in addition to that collected from within the department. A tax simulation model for corporate taxation has already been developed.
5. International Experience in Tax Reform
Tax reform has been the special concern of many governments both of developed and developing countries in the 1980s and early 1990. Tax reforms have been carried out in the developed countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden and in developing countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

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In the United States and the other industrialised countries the urge for tax reform came principally from the widely shared perception that the tax system was unfair, unduly complex and detrimental to economic efficiency. A formally progressive rate structure of income tax riddled with a plethora of concessions and preferences, which only the rich and the resourceful could exploit, gave rise to this widespread feeling of unfairness. Empirical studies lent support to this feeling. Researchers also drew attention to the harmful effects of a regime of high rates operating in combination with preferences and concessions which tended to create wide disparities across activities, investments and forms of business and ineffective incidence, thus interfering with the choice of economic agents. It was felt that making the tax system neutral, and levelling the playing field was needed for reducing the excess burden of taxation and promoting welfare. A move towards a fairer and a more neutral tax regime would also make for simplicity and transparency.
The motivation for reform in the developing countries too came largely from the quest for fairness, efficiency and simplicity which are now at the heart of governance initiatives. Tax reform of many of these countries which had taken place in the 1950s and 1960s, though highly progressive on paper, were seen as iniquitous in operation and a source of inefficiency in resource use. Heavy reliance on indirect taxes of various kinds, coupled with rate differentiation on the one hand, and steeply progressive direct taxes with exemptions and preferences on the other, made the tax system in many developing countries extremely complex and harmful to the growth of the economy. What lent urgency to the search for better systems was the spectre of wide budget deficits and the need to raise revenue from domestic sources to meet them. All these issues are relevant to effective governance.
The tax reform effortin developed countries has been characterised by two major aspects, the first was the reduction of the top marginal rate for both individuals and corporations, achieved by a reduction in the number of tax brackets, and second, the widening of the tax base by minimising incentives, deductions, exemptions, etc. In the field of tax administration, the thrust of the reforms in developed countries has been to

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-increase efforts to promote voluntary compliance by providing timely information, assistance, education, etc.
-use of modern information technology (computerisation) to reduce paper work. This enables the creation of tax-payer master files, detection and issue of timely notices to non-filers of returns, and defaulters of payments (generally two weeks), formulating criteria for selection of cases for audit.
-file electronic returns, where returns are filed through a network of computers from home as done in the United States, Canada, and Australia.
-introduce a single tax-payer identification number to be used for all taxes and requiring persons to quote this number in important transactions. This enables the tax department to match information contained in the transactions with those declared in the returns.
-introduction of the self-assessment scheme for filing of returns and payments.
-new approaches to audit of returns, that is to move away from 100 per cent of audit of files to selective audit.
-emphasis on service aspects of tax administration by treating the tax-payer as a client, rather than as an adversary, thus giving him value for money.
-emphasis in recognising the rights of tax-payers through the creation of institutions such as Revenue Ombudsman (UK), Taxpayer's Charter or Bill of Rights (USA, Canada, UK), Statement of Purposes (New Zealand).
-involving and using the private sector in tax administration (UK and New Zealand).
The main thrust of reforms in developing countries were
-to broaden the base for corporate and personal taxes by the reduction of tax holidays and exemptions;
-to lower the personal and corporate income tax rate and align the top marginal income tax rate for personal tax, with the corporate rate; -
-to integrate the personal and corporate rate at least partially; -to introduce VAT and abolish the existing sales and turnover taxes. VAT was to be the main source of tax revenue supplemented

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by special excise to achieve progressivity;
-to improve administrative capabilities; -the extension of the withholding tax system and the levy of a presumptive tax on smaller tax-payers in cases where ascertainment of net income was difficult. Prescriptive tax as levied on assumed criteria but subject to appeal.
VAT has been introduced in more than 60 countries by January
1995, including several developing countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Peoples Republic of China, Thailand, and more advanced countries such as Singapore and Republic of Korea. Korea was one of the first to introduce VAT in South East Asia in 1976 and the latest was Singapore in April 1994. Sri Lanka has made all the preparations and will be introducing VAT in the near future. Malaysia is actively considering its introduction and restructuring its consumption tax to pave the way. Even very small countries like Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Western Samoa have introduced VAT.
Specific tax reforms in some selected countries are as follows: 5. I. Indonesia
Major tax reforms were carried out in Indonesia in 1984. In designing the new tax system, the main concerns were increased progressivity, economic neutrality, additional revenue and simplified tax administration. Value Added Tax replaced the sales tax on goods other than luxury goods. In the field of income tax, the bold step to abolish all incentives was taken. Tax deductions and exemptions were reduced broadening the base. Tax rates were reduced and the tax laws simplified.
5.2. India
The Tax Reform Committee headed by Prof. Raja J. Cheliah enunciated principles of tax reform. These are the acceptance by taxpayers of moderate rates with broader bases, tax structures be progressive but not be such as to induce the generation of unaccounted income and wealth. The tax structure once established should remain stable until economic conditions undergo radical transformation. Ad hoc changes should be avoided since they will undermine rationality and re-introduce complications. The tax system and law should be simple with limited objectives of raising revenue, achieving redistri

saxation 165
bution, discouraging selected industries,the use or consumption of selected products as well as granting a greater degree of protection to domestic industries. A simple system with a limited number of rates and exemptions or deductions and which gives the least possible discretionary powers to the tax officials for interpreting the law was considered the best. Methods of tax administration should be modernised and tax enforcement visibly improved.
5.3. Singapore
A major innovation in the field of tax administration was made in Singapore by the creation of the Revenue Authority of Singapore on the 1st of September, 1992. It is a separate legal entity created by an Act of Parliament and has greater autonomy over the management of staff and finances. It is given the freedom to recruit its own staff, own its assets and function as an independent financial institution. It is paid a fee for the tax it collects and has to pay the government for all the facilities provided including rent for buildings. Its Board of Directors is headed by the Minister of Finance, the chief executive officer being the Commissioner of Inland Revenue. It carries out all the functions of the tax department, and also advises the government on tax policy.
6. Tax Reform in Sri Lanka
No system is perfect, it has to be continuously reviewed and regenerated. The government in Sri Lanka, has had the benefit of detailed studies and recommendations by three Taxation Commissions, the first one in 1955, next in 1966 and the most recent one in 1990. There have also been reports from several IMF missions and tax experts like Nicholas Kaldor. However, when changes were made based on these recommendations it is found that they were done in an ad hoc and haphazard manner. This has resulted in the tax system becoming unnecessarily complicated and inefficient. The Tax Commission of 1966 said
"The tax system is neither consistent with the growth objectives nor is it designed to maximise revenue. More specifically the system has tended to emphasise equity at the cost of revenue and economic growth.”

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and again
"Ceylon today has a system which far from being rational, consistent and simple, is in several ways, irrational, inconsistent and complex.”
The Taxation Commission of 1990 evaluated the prevailing system and made the following comments
"The system is relatively inelastic, has failed to meet the requirements of equity, and is unduly complex."
The commission also identified the following deficiencies, among others, that of excessive dependence on international trade taxes, excessive coverage, cascading effect of the turnover taxes, the declining importance of the direct taxes on income, low elasticity of the tax system, complexity in tax laws and procedures, and lack of efficiency in tax administration.
7. Tax Evasion and Avoidance
Any organisation has to achieve its objectives. In the case of the tax department it is to collect taxes. However tax evasion and tax avoidance have been its bane.
Tax evasion occurs when the taxes due to authorised bodies under the law, are not paid either by concealment or understatement of income and/or turnover. Tax evasion occurs in both legal and illegal activities in a state. It will be noted that illegal activities are also liable to be taxed. But in the case of illegal activities, excepting for a portion of income, which is reported in some form to account for visible acquisitions such as buildings, vehicles, etc. the rest is hidden and contributes to the growth of the underground economy. The typical examples of Such illegal activities are gambling, smuggling, vice, drug-trafficking, manufacture and distribution of illicit liquor, etc. An underground economy leads to economic distortions, which a government is unable to fully control or rectify, thus debasing governance. AW
It is admitted that there is a considerable amount of tax evasion and avoidance in almost all countries in the world. This high level in the developing countries is attributed to factors such as weak

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administration, lack of modern technology to take speedy remedial action and the prevailing social and political climate. Tax evasion and avoidance are not considered anti-social acts and there is no shame or seriousness attached to tax offences in developing countries. It is even considered an achievement spoken of proudly on social Occasions.
The only attempt to estimate the extent of tax evasion in Sri Lanka was made by the Taxation Commission of 1990, which adopted the monetary approach. It estimated the potential credit in the system at Rs. 156.6 billion in 1989, and deducted from it the total credit in the formal sector of commercial banks, rural development banks and in the non-bank financial institutions. This was estimated at RS. 143 billion. It arrived at a figure of Rs. 13.6 billion or 6 per cent of GDP as the extent of black money.
Sri Lankan Governments have been making repeated efforts to bring into circulation the gains of evasion by offering tax amnesties. The first amnesty was given in 1964 and the last one in 1993. Even with the attraction of a low rate of tax of 10 per cent, none of the amnesties had any degree of success. The failure of the tax amnesties can be attributed to one single factor, the lack of confidence that the tax administration will observe secrecy with respect to their declarations. Potential responders did not want to be identified as tax evaders and be black listed for the future. The government of 1989, being aware of this, saw to it that declarations were not made to the department for the amnesties it offered in 1989, 1991 and 1993. However even with this step, the 1989 amnesty was a failure, whilst the results of the 1991 and 1993 amnesties were not recorded and are not known though it is possible to surmise them. There are no short cuts in trying to tackle this problem of tax evasion. It is only by building an effective tax administration with trained honest officers who are adequately remunerated and who can identify the areas of evasion, investigate them, and quickly quantify the amount of lost income, that an impact could be made. Prosecuting large scale evaders in courts and giving publicity to such prosecutions in the mass media will also be a deterrence. A concerted effort by the tax administration to organise carefully planned audits and investigations, programmes, computer aided selection of cases for audits, and matching information obtained from customs and external sources with information in the

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returns filed by tax-payers, could help to reduce the incidence of tax evasion. The assignment of an unique tax-payer identification number under the computerisation programme of the department is a move in the right direction. Strict enforcement of Section 92AA of the Inland Revenue Act will also help in detecting tax evaders. Section 92AA requires every individual, company or body of persons to indicate in their returns the National Identity Card number and the Business or Company Registration Number. In terms of the Gazette Notification published for the purpose of Section 92AA, it is compulsory that the NIC number or the BRN be noted in all records relating to notarially executed documents, registration of motor vehicles, transactions with banks and financial institutions, purchase and sale of shares and transactions for registration of building plans. In tackling the problem of tax evasion, corruption in tax departments has become an important factor. While this is a general malady that prevails in most developing countries, the opportunity for corruption in a tax department is very much greater. The greater use of computerisation, the creation of a more autonomous body as a tax agency with flexible powers to appoint and dismiss staff, better incentive schemes to adequately remunerate the officers and reducing the discretionary powers given to the officers, to the minimum possible, are some of the measures that could be adopted to minimise corruption.
8. Effectiveness of the Tax. Administration in Sri Lanka
Effectiveness is an important consideration in governance. The
effectiveness of the tax administration can be judged by certain
criteria. These are
8.1. The percentage of those who are liable and registered with the
tax department,
8.2. The percentage registered, who file returns and pay taxes;
8.3. The percentage of returns furnished which disclose the correct
income or turnover.
In terms of these concepts, an attempt is now being made to review income tax effectiveness using Some of the available data and information. The number of registered tax-payers for income tax as at 31 December, 1993 was 1,37,1 11 (excluding those under the PAYE

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scheme). This represents only 0.8 per cent of the population. A very, rough estimate cf the potential number made by the Taxation Commission of 1990 was in the region of 3,50,000 to 6,50,000 taxpayers. Even though the tax revenue foregone by these unregistered cases is not significant, as most of these cases have marginal liability, from the point of equity and tax-payer morale, many more should be on the department's register. The second area of compliance is in filing returns and making payments. Prior to 1989 the level of compliance in furnishing returns was low, the return compliance even after 13 months being only 60 per cent. Payment position was also bad as evidenced by the build up of arrears and the relative percentage collected by way of self-assessment and direct assessment. In 1989, the percentage collected by way of self-assessment payments was only 53 per cent. The position in 1993 shows a remarkable improvement in that 90 per cent of the returns were filed within 13 months of the due date and 86 per cent of the tax payments came by way of self-assessments. The increase in the percentage of payments under self-assessment in 1993 could be directly attributed to the efforts of the new Compliance Enforcement Branch which monitors 90 per cent of the revenue collected from income tax. The third area is the understatement of income. The results achieved in the area of audit and investigation may be noted. During the period 1987-1993 understatement has been detected in 21,114 cases, additional income assessed being Rs. 7,740 million and additional tax of Rs. 3,454 million. This gives an average of 2 per cent of the number of files, and 4-5 percent of the annual tax collection as additional tax imposed. However penalties for understatement in terms of Section 124(1) of the Inland Revenue Act have been imposed on only 693 cases out of 21,114 cases detected and even in these cases penalties of over Rs. 25,000 have been imposed on only 57 cases, the maximum penalty imposed being Rs. 200,000. It will be noted that under Section 124(1) the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue is empowered to impose a penalty in cases where the income finally assessed is more than the income shown in the returns. One inference is that the majority of these cases detected are routine adjustments in terms of the law and/ or the amount of the understated sum is not important for penalties to be imposed. The other possibility is that even in bad cases, penalties have not been imposed. The fact is that the highest penalty imposed

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in these 7 years was only Rs. 2,00,000, and that penalties of over Rs. 1,00,000 were imposed in only 16 cases. (The maximum penalty that could be imposed is twice the tax understated plus Rs. 2,000.) This is a clear indication that the department has not successfully investigated any case of large scale evasion. The department apparently has been spending its energies in picking the sprats, letting the sharks go free. It is also to be noted that not a single case has been prosecuted in courts for the last twenty years. The final reluctant conclusion is that, the whole audit and investigation programme and the penalty system have not been used to deter or combat evasion and avoidance.
9. Public Administration and Tax Administration
The role of public administration is being redefined with a greater accent on rendering service to the citizen with the principle of good governance of transparency and accountability as its key concepts. However the functions of the tax administrator differ from the administration of the other arms of the government, which are mainly concerned with providing services and development. The roles of the department, as stated by the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue in his annual reports are to
(i) Collect the taxes under the law by encouraging voluntary compliance and by deterring tax evasion and avoidance; and (ii) Maintain public confidence in the integrity and efficiency of the tax system by implementing tax laws fairly, uniformly and efficiently. In the context of tax administration the concept of good governance will be to ensure that everything possible is done to make the taxpayer comply with the law voluntarily. Voluntary compliance is the key to good tax administration. Why some citizens comply and others do not, and what could and should be done to encourage voluntary compliance have been the main concern of the tax administrations all over the world. Voluntary compliance is a state of the mind and what the tax administrations try to do is to create the climate which will induce the tax-payers to comply. This is a very difficult process, especially in the context where the citizen views certain government activities as wasteful. Tax administrators have no control over the activities of the government. The two main reasons why people do not comply are firstly the feeling that their contribution

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by way of taxes is being wasted, and secondly that those who in similar circumstances do not pay. It is in this second area that the tax policy makers and tax administrators should concentrate and remove the feeling of unfairness and unequal treatment in enacting the law and administering it. Tax literature has identified public campaigns by tax administrations, educating the people as to the benefits that they derive from paying taxes such as provision of roads, schools, hospitals, etc. as aids to increasing voluntary compliance. It is doubtful whether such a campaign will have much effect in Sri Lanka where people are politically mature, and examine public expenditure critically. It is in the area of equity and fairness, that tax administration can make an impact and improve compliance by ensuring that in carrying out audits, investigations and imposing penal action for nonfiling and non-payment, immediate action is taken to cover similar groups of tax-payers. Transparency in the field of taxation can be achieved to some extent in the policy area by having discussions with the public, professional bodies, and Chambers of Commerce of Industry and Trade, before a law is enacted, to make the law as simple as possible. Educating the people on the provisions of the law, how liability arises, the exemption limits, the reliefs accorded, and in the area of administration, the procedures to be followed and the assistance rendered to the tax-payer to complete the returns, calculate the tax and make payments is important. It is hoped that with decentralisation, greater efforts will be made to canvass the willing Support of tax-payers in paying their taxes.
10. Accountability in Tax Administration
The tax department is entrusted with the responsibility of collecting taxes every year according to the law. The annual collections should not be less than the estimates made by the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance bases its estimates taking into account the collections for the previous year, the rate of growth, inflation, change of rates and amendments to the law which have an impact on collection. The incentive scheme referred to earlier to some extent provides a basis by which each individual officer accounts for the collection of revenue. The other aspect of accountability of the officers of the Inland Revenue is the manner in which they conduct themselves in their dealings with the tax-payers, and the use of powers conferred on

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them by statute, including vast discretionary powers. Officers of Inland Revenue have powers to reject a return, estimate the taxpayer's income, impose penalties, waive penalties and in the process of collecting the tax, seize properties, seize bank accounts, prosecute a defaulter in courts, etc. Unfair use of these powers can sometimes cause irreparable damage to a tax-payer. The courts and the development of administrative law have to some extent provided Some safeguard against unreasonable acts of tax officials. In dealing with the subject of the impact of administrative law on the rights of tax-payers, Professor G.L. Peiris has said that "the applicable law and practice, if it is to be a viable instrument of social policy, must achieve a perceptible balance between fiscal effectiveness on the one hand and administrative justice and fairplay on the other.” He identified the doctrine of ultra vires as the principle that should govern the action of tax officials. The doctrine receives expression in the two contexts of substance and procedure. "The substantive limb of the doctrine enjoins that the Department of Inland Revenue and its officers, in any action that they take against the citizen, must function within the purview of authority allotted to them by the empowering legislation. The procedural aspect requires that, even though they have acted within the boundaries of properly conferred authority, their action is nevertheless open to challenge if they have failed to act in conformity with standards relating to natural justice and procedural fairness which are compulsorily required by the law.”
The judicial authorities have examined the tax legislation in relation to certain fundamental concepts such as equality of treatment under the law, consistency and uniformity, entitlement to natural justice, protection of the tax-payer through revisionary jurisdiction, unreasonableness and tax-payer's rights. Certain rules and principles have emerged from these judicial reviews, the ultimate purpose of which is to achieve a pragmatic balance between efficiency of the mechanism directed towards tax collection and upholding of equity and fairness for the tax-payer.”
The conduct of officers of the Inland Revenue has been the subject matter of adverse comment by the Taxation Commission of 1990. This commission had said that they were concerned about reports of dwindling public confidence in the efficiency and integrity of the tax administration in the recent years. They have also referred to

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complaints of officers being discourteous, indifferent and over conscious of their own powers than of the rights of tax-payers. As a remedial measure they have recommended the appointment of a Revenue Ombudsman as an independent grievance redress machinery. The paper in this volume by Ombudsman Bastiampillai reviews favourably the impact of his institution on the administrative machinery. As a further safeguard the commission has recommended the enactment of a Tax-payer's Charter or a Tax-payer's Bill of Rights defining tax-payers' rights as well as their obligations.
11. Devolution and Taxation
II. 1. Provincial Councils and Taxation
Political decentralisation is a major thrust of the governance initiative. In terms of the 13th Amendment to the constitution, the powers to collect certain taxes have been devolved on the Provincial Councils. This is the fiscal part of devolution, which goes hand in hand with political and administrative devolution.It is part of the devolutionary process which enables the Provincial Councils to partially meet expenditures they incur in providing the services which had now become their responsibility. Twenty taxes, duties and fees are enumerated in Section 36 of List 1 of the Ninth Schedule to this amendment as devolved taxes. It has been found that only five of these taxes yield revenue of any significance, these are:
I 1.1.1. Turnover Tax on wholesale and retail sales, but within such limits and subject to such exemptions as may be prescribed by laws made in Parliament.
11.1.2. Motor vehicle licence fees and fees under the Motor Traffi
Act.
11.1.3. Stamp duties on transfers of properties such as lands and motor cars and on documents produced in Courts.
11.1.4. Court fees and fines.
11.1.5. Excise Licences.
Even though the stamp duty on transfer of properties, court fines and fees are listed as revenues accruing to Provincial Councils, these two taxes have already been earmarked as revenue of the local

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authorities, namely, the Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas, as provided in their respective Acts. The Provincial Council collects these taxes and distributes them to these local authorities, as was done by the Central Government earlier. One of the principles of governance is decentralisation. This arrangement lays out methodologies while giving financial means to strengthen it.
11.2. Problems in Collecting Taxes
The Provincial Councils have set up their own revenue departments and have collected these taxes from 1991. It is therefore the appropriate time to examine the problems encountered and whether any improvements could be made to the present system. These could be examined in two phases in respect of each problem. The two phases are: first, the policy, legislation and interpretation of the law and Second, that of administration.
11.2.1. Turnover Tax
The turnover tax provisions contained in the financial statutes of the Provincial Councils are identical to those found in the existing Turnover Tax Act but with a few differences. This is to minimise the problems which can arise in the initial stages. However with the development and expansion of Provincial Council activities it is possible that they may pass amendments which may alter the scope and the administration of these taxes. This could lead to conflicts. The only restriction that has been placed, is the legislation passed by Parliament in October 1995, namely "Provincial Council Turnover Taxes (Limits and Exemptions)." These restrictions are: (i) The rate of tax should not exceed 5 per cent. (ii) It is mandatory for the Provincial Councils to exempt the following sales in the region i.e., sale by wholesale and retail of goods: (a) By the manufacturer of such goods. (b) By Co-operative societies. (c) Buyers outside of Sri Lanka.
11.2.2. Tax Base
While sale by manufacturers and the services are taxed by the centre, the retail and wholesale sales are taxed by the provinces. The

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word "service' is not defined in any of the legislation. Certain services such as provision of food and liquor could also be interpreted as sales by Provincial Councils. This may give rise to conflicting claims. A business could engage in sale of goods and also the provision of services. When the two are clearly demarcated like sale of goods and provision of transport, no problem arises. However when the same transaction involves a combination of sales and service, the treatment becomes more difficult. Examples of such transactions are the supply of building materials and labour by a contractor, the charges made for the repair of vehicles which include cost of spare parts, professional charges by a medical practitioner which include cost of drugs. Another area where conflict may arise is the determination of the place where the sale takes place, for example goods belonging to a business in one region can be sold in another region. The Provincial Councils however have solved some of these problems among themselves by a process of consultation and consensus. This was made easy by the fact that the centre and the provinces were upto recently controlled by the same political party. An example of a solution being found was when the right to tax goods was vested with the province where the goods . were actually sold to the consumer. It is the application of the destination principle. Another area where difficulties have arisen is the determination of whether certain articles sold are manufactured and sold or whether they have been bought and sold, for example jewellery and furniture. This is a question of fact, and requires a detailed examination of the records. This problem had been resolved by treating these sales as goods purchased and sold and by levying a higher rate of 5 percent and 10 per cent, and allowing the Provincial Councils to levy the tax. The same system was adopted earlier by the Inland Revenue Department.
However when the centre and the regions are controlled by different political parties, arriving at such a consensus may be difficult and an institution such as the proposed Devolution Commission may have to undertake this task of consensus building. The present definitions of governance do not provide for such conflictual solutions since governance is a static concept. But it is possible to make it into a dynamic concept which means approaches have to be much more complex not only legally, but behavioral and organisational.

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11.2.3. Tax Rates and Exemptions
Provincial Councils have the right to fix rates and decide on items to be exempted, subject to the limitations enumerated in the legislation titled "Provincial Council Turnover Taxes (Limits and Exemptions).” The need for more revenue and the peculiarities of local conditions may induce the Provincial Councils to adopt different rates and exemptions. This may disrupt island wide market conditions and cause economic distortions. Firms may alter their tax strategies in order to get tax advantages resulting in economic inefficiency for the country as a whole. Complex arbitrage arrangements may arise, to take advantage of variations in prices of different markets within Sri Lanka. While the initiatives of Provincial Councils should not be dampened, macroeconomic policy should not be distorted. This is another example of the dynamism of decentralisation at work.
I 1.2.4. Administration of Provincial Taxes
Provincial Councils have set up their own departments of revenue to administer the devolved taxes. Officers have been drawn mainly from the central government with experience in tax administration. The transition has been smooth. However the liaison with the central government is almost non-existent, and it is possible that much revenue is lost by way of evasion and avoidance.
A large number of businesses, especially in the regions out of Colombo, are engaged in retail and wholesale sales as well as the provision of services. Taxes on the services are collected by the central government. The verification of the turnover involves examination of the same set of books of accounts. The turnover is also the base for computation of income. Normally, the verification of the turnover or income, is done by examining the books and records either by calling for them and subjecting them to a desk audit or by inspecting the place of business. During an inspection, officers look for other evidence like unaccounted cash, or other incriminatory documents which point to evasion. These processes of verification could be carried out by both the central government and the provinces, resulting in duplication of effort and possibly leading to accusations of harassment. Inspection, by the officers of the Provincial Council may result in discovery of double sets of books and other evidence of understatement of income which may not be relevant for ascertainment

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of turnower, and which they may ignore. On the other hand, the Inland Revenue Department may be in possession of information through inspections, from letters, from informants and information generated from the examination of audited accounts, which may be useful for the ascertainment of the correct turnover. Regular and organised exchange of information and joint inspections, are therefore vital for the proper administration of these taxes. The secrecy provision of the Inland Revenue Act has been amended to pass on information to the Provincial Councils but similar provisions have not been made in the financial statutes of the Provincial Councils. It is essential that the Provincial Councils amend their statutes to provide for free exchange of information. The present practice of working independently without liaising with the central government department of Inland Revenue is inadvisable. But probably this will be a temporary phenomenon. As it becomes evident that there are considerable benefits which arise out of cooperation, it is foreseen that collaboration on a systematic basis will occur.
I 1.2.5. Stamp, Duty
Stamp duty on transfer of properties is now collected by the Provincial Councils. It comes next to the turnover tax in terms of revenue yield. The function of the Provincial Council is not only to ensure that the proper sum of stamp duty is paid according to the value in the deed but also to examine the deed for underValuation. Undervaluation is resorted not only to lower the stamp duty paid but also to evade income tax, since the amount underValued normally comes from undisclosed income. Detecting undervaluation requires detailed knowledge of market values of the properties. In this respect the Provincial Councils may be in possession of a more extensive knowledge of property values than the centre. It is to be noted that the stamp duty collection before devolution, was centralised at the head office of the Inland Revenue Department. Devolution of stamp duty to the Provincial Councils appears to be a step in the right direction, even though the stamp duty collected is ultimately paid to the local authorities. If Provincial Councils are rewarded by the payment of a matching grant or given an incentive for collection of duty in excess of that payable on the deed value, the Provincial Councils may prove to be a better collector of this tax than the centre. It is important that

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any undervaluation should be communicated to the Inland Revenue Department, because as mentioned earlier, this information will b most useful for detecting undisclosed income.
11.2.6. Taxation and Devolution Proposals
If the 1995 devolution package were to succeed the provinces must be assured of the income required by them to administer the regions. At present, except for the Western Province which collects about 60 per cent of its requirement by way of taxes, all the other provinces collect only about 10 per cent of their requirements. The new proposals envisage the transfer of one extra tax, namely some earmarked excise duties which could give them additional revenue. The bulk of the excise duty is derived from tobacco and liquor. Petroleum is also an item which could be brought under the excise regime. Transfer of the right to tax part of the excise duty on all or any of these items may provide the provinces with substantial revenue. Allocation to the regions could probably be made on the basis of the consumption in the region.
12. Goods and Services Tax for Sri Lanka
12.I. Background
The decision to replace the present turnover tax by a Goods and Services Tax (GST) was announced by the Finance Minister in the budget speech of 1991. After several postponements the Finance Minister in his budget speech of 1995 announced that the GST will be introduced on 1st October, 1995. However even this date has not been adhered to. There is little doubt that GST is a superior form of sales tax than the existing turnover tax. The two principal defects of the turnover tax are its cascading effect and the lack of transparency. The GST system does not have these defects. Under the turnover tax a large number of articles were exempted and an equal or bigger number taxed at the concessionary rates of 6 percent and 10 percent. This led to the erosion of the tax base. It is commendable that under the proposed GST the government has taken, the hard decision to broaden the tax base for GST.

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12.2. Design of the Proposed GST
According to the Deputy Finance Minister's speech of 1995 the exemptions under GST will be kept to the minimum and a few essential mass consumption items will be brought under the concessionary tax rate. All other goods and services will be brought under a standard rate with full credit for inputs including capital goods. The threshold for GST will be Rs. 200,000 per quarter with the standard rate of 16-17 per cent and a concessionary rate of 6 per cent. The GST will not extend to the retail and wholesale stage. Apart from the difficulty in making small retailers comply with the tax laws, the main constraint in extending the GST to the retail level is on account of the 13th amendment to the constitution, which gave the power of collection of turnover tax from wholesale and retail sales to the Provincial Councils. Extending the GST to the retail stage would have resulted in the retailers and the wholesalers paying GST to the central government on the value added, (generally the sum of profit plus administrative cost) and in addition the turnover tax (1 per cent) on the full value of the sales to the Provincial Council. On the same sale he will be compelled to furnish two returns and make two payments.
12.3. Problems in GST Administration
With all its inherent advantages, GST is not an easy tax to administer. The GST system as designed in Sri Lanka works on a system of tax credits. The tax-payer will have to issue invoices in respect of all sales and keep a proper record of these invoices. Even though the same requirements are made under the provisions of the turnover tax legislation, in practice the smaller businesses do not conform to this requirement. Under the GST, the claim for input credit will have to be supported by a proper invoice as prescribed in the law. Invoices are, therefore, crucial to the proper operation of the GST system. The issue of these invoices incorporating the details such as name, address and registration number of both the supplier and purchaser, showing the GST and items charged at different rates separately on every invoice, cast additional burdens on the businesses and increase their compliance costs. This system is also highly susceptible to abuse. Sri Lanka however has the experience of operating a partial GST system for manufacturers under the turnover

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tax and this experience will facilitate the administration of the GST. To get the best effect of the GST the whole system has to be computerised.
13. Conclusion
The taxation initiative was the starting point of democracy of the Westminster model and therefore an intimate part of governance. The tax system in a country is influenced substantially by political changes. Sri Lanka has been fortunate in that she has not been subjected to frequent changes as in Some other developing countries. Sri Lanka had a government with socialistic policies from 1956 to 1970, except for a brief period offive years (1965-1970) during which no significant change in policy took place. The post-1977 period had governments with market-oriented policies for a continuous period of 17 years (1977-1994). The Governments had the benefit of comprehensive, well studied reports of three Taxation Commissions in 1955, 1966 and 1990. However it is unfortunate that the recommendations of these commissions had been implemented piecemeal and not as a package. Consequently the country had not derived the full benefits of these recommendations. The 1966 and 1990 reforms were an integrated package of reforms but as the 1966 Commission, in its concluding remarks said, "Any attempt to implement our recommendation partially will detract from the integrated nature of our proposals and can only result in much confusion.” While the recommendations were integrated the implementation was not.
The central role of the administrator in tax administration cannot be over-emphasised. The tax administrator has on the one hand to use the powers conferred on him by the law firmly and effectively to deter non-compliance, tax evasion and on the other hand use it in a manner which will protect and safeguard the rights of the tax-payer as citizens. Tax evaders are quick to complain of harassment and discourtesy on the part of tax officers, ignoring their obligations, while some tax officers are over-conscious of their powers, zealous in their approach, ignoring the service aspects of their work. A good tax administration therefore attempts to strike a balance between these two different roles and uses the carrot and the stick approach. The success of tax reforms depends to a great. cxtent on the degree to which the tax administrators are able to blend these apparently

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contradictory roles. Political support for the tax system cannot be over-emphasised.
Dr. A. Bagchi has stated that "One important lesson of tax reform in developing countries is that, however urgent the need may be, reform cannot make any headway without political support. The tax systems of many developing countries are in a messy state not because they do not know what needs to be done or lack requisite talent or expertise but the lack of political and social support." Prof. Carl Soup's often repeated statement that “Tax Administration is the key to tax policy' has proved itself repeatedly as the experience of many countries has shown.
This paper reviews some of the reforms that have taken place in developed and developing countries in the 1980s and early 1990s and recounts the tax reforms that have taken place in Sri Lanka from its inception, in the context of political, social and economic changes. The paper also makes an attempt to examine the effectiveness of the tax administration in Sri Lanka and the role of tax administration in the context of decentralisation. It also highlights the important role that tax administration plays in the field of tax reform and tax policy. All this is done in the context of the critical role tax administration plays from the point of view of good governance.
N. O. T E S
1. S.I. Chelvathurai, Ambalavanar Memorial Lecture 1990 (I.F.A. Sri Lanka Branch). Reproduced in APRIRC, Vol. 9, 1 of 1991.
2. Bagchi, A., Asian Development Review, 1991, Vol. 9, No. 2.
3. Ibid.
R E FER E N C E S
1. Report of the Taxation Commission, Sessional Paper XVII, 1955. 2. Report of the Taxation Inquiry Commission, Sessional Paper No X, 1968. 3. Report of the Taxation Commission 1990, Sessional Paper No. 1, 1991. 4. Central Bank of Sri Lanka Annual Reports -several years. 5. Administration Reports of Commissioner General of Inland Revenue several years.
6. Asian Development Review, 1991, Vol. 9, No. 2. 7. Newsletters of Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA), -several issues.

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8. Ambalavanar Memorial Lecture I.F.A. (Sri Lanka Branch) 1990, S.I.
Chelvathurai.
9. Ambalavanar Memorial Lecture I.F.A. (Sri Lanka Branch) 1993, Prof.
G.L. Peiris.
10. Modernisation of Tax Administration, Glenn P. Jenkins, Ceylon Daily
News, 12th September, 1994.

7
Privatisation
Indranee S. Jayasinghe
". . . . from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.”
-Charles Darwin (concluding words), Origin of the Species
1. The Dominance of Public Corporations
RIVATISATION could be considered a recent phenomenon P in governance, not only in Sri Lanka, but the world over. In the 1990s it is felt that the better steering the ship of state lay in shedding its own economic activities. But governance in the aftermath of the second world war was the obverse, that of sponsoring and running state owned enterprises (SOE). In the 1950s it was felt that steering the ship of state lay in undertaking economic activities. Consequently an understanding for the need for SOEs is required, to fully understand the need for privatisation and the methodologies adopted for it.
During the war years (1939-1945) and immediately thereafter, the overwhelming concern of government was for ensuring the ready availability of essential commodities. Government's active involvement was required in distribution activities, particularly of food, which upto then had been a strict preserve of the private sector. Thus equity aspects of economic activity were dominant in governance considerations, rather than allowing pro-market forces to deal with issues of food Security. These activities were managed by government institutions using the revolving fund technique of meeting operational expenses from its own sources. Capital expenditure was provided by the government budget, as well as increased needs of working capital. This system under the title of "Advance Account"

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was a workable proposition where flexibility for financial operations was permitted within a government departmental framework. The Department of Food was given a monopoly of all imports of rice, flour, sugar, while the Department of Commodity Purchase had a monopoly for the export of rubber. The Marketing Department however, competed with the private sector in vegetable and fruit marketing but was a dominant player. The advance account system was an exercise in creatively adapting the government departmental structure and processes to meet an urgent newly emergent need.
When Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, two sets of economic activities were in the hands of the state. Physical infrastructure provision, for example postal services, telecommunication facilities, railway, broadcasting, electricity, urban water Supply, etc. were run by appropriations made in the budget to government departments. The second set of activities, as mentioned earlier, were also run by government departments but under Advance Accounts. One of the objectives for seeking independence was for the people, as represented by their own government, to undertake development for their own benefit. With independence, it became evident that Sri Lanka (Ceylon as she was called till 1972) was deficient in management, the necessary finance, technology, skills of different types, raw materials and access to markets. The private sector that existed was more oriented to providing Services to expatriate businesses rather than undertaking entrepreneurial approaches. Consequently all governments which took power in Sri Lanka from 1948-1977 sponsored the creation and development of SOEs, which in Sri Lanka were called public corporations. This was despite the fact that one party which alternatively formed the government, the United National Party (UNP), had an ideological commitment to the private sector. Public corporations are defined as corporate bodies established by acts of Parliament or under special enabling acts, other than the Companies Ordinance, with capital wholly or partly provided by government by way of grant, loan or transfer of assets. Public corporations had a corporate and legal personality of their own and were managed by a Board of Directors. The creation of public corporations was another indication of the virility of the public sector and its capacity for responding to change, for it was willing to think anew lines, when there was a compelling need to do so. *

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1956 saw the first post-independence change of government. The new government was formed of a political coalition, subscribing to a left of centre political ideology. The policy framework laid down by the government prevailed more or less continuously from 1956 to 1977 though there was an interregnum in 1965-70 when the private sector supporting UNP was in power. This policy strongly stressed ownership by the public sector of productive assets and public management of entrepreneurial activity. It was carried through a process of nationalization of leading institutions or setting up new entrepreneurial ones in significant sectors of the economy like road passenger transport, importation and refining of petroleum products, banking, insurance, import trade, port cargo operations, Steel, tyre, ceramics, etc. These interventions in the field of economic activity were matched by actions in the social sector such as the nationalization of the school system. The government which assumed power in 1965, though it was oriented to the strengthening of the private sector, also contributed to the view that effective governance meant that government had a basic responsibility towards the community in providing services and infrastructure. This government (1965-70) consolidated the earlier investments in public corporations, rather than dismantling the SOE structures. The government which succeeded it lasted from 1970-77. This government, with renewed vigour, clearly considered public corporations as the dominant medium through which developmental initiatives could be carried through. This policy resulted in a rapid expansion of public corporations in almost all sectors, except small farmer paddy cultivation and tourism. A Business Acquisition Act gave draconian powers to nationalise private sector enterprises. In respect of plantation agriculture, direct state production and distribution was undertaken through the Land Reform Acts. By the end of 1976 Sri Lanka could be considered a corporate state with a command economy.
It has to be emphasised that the setting up of public corporations, in the immediate aftermath of independence, was the only viable economic development strategy then possible. This was because the private sector was ill-developed, lacked capabilities of entrepreneurship, had little risk capital, management skills or access to technology. The World Bank, a public enterprise owned by governments, actively sponsored the creation of public corporations in that period

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in order to lend to government on its behalf. This process was then called the corporatisation of government departments. If concepts of good governance were prevalent in that era, the creation and managing public corporations would have been high on the then World Bank agenda.
2. Performance of Public Corporations, 1948–76
Several studies have revealed that the performance of public corporations was extremely disappointing. With a few notable exceptions, capacity utilisation of State manufacturing corporations was below acceptable norms. This was traceable to factors other than market constraints and foreign exchange difficulties. The distribution activities, the policies of controlling imports to permit substitution by public corporation products, severe overmanning had led to high prices and inferior goods. In all public corporations the depressing phenomena of a steady deterioration in standards of management and discipline were apparent. Public corporations were monopolies. There were barriers to entry and exit. Consequently there was no urgency for them to be efficient, effective and be market-oriented.
It may be appropriate to set out some of the structural problems faced by public corporations which may have contributed to their lower then expected levels of performance. Capital investment.involves along-term commitment of resources to realize future benefits and has a significant long-term effect on its well-being. As such, evaluation of the investment represents an important aspect of the capital expenditure process. In many cases, the unsatisfactory performance of public corporations has been the direct result of weak initial capital investment decisions coupled with operational inefficiencies including wrong location. Even if capital magnitudes were correct, short-term financial demands of the government made it easy for capital investment to be the first candidate to suffer a cut to meet budgetary restrictions. Absorption of outdated technology is another example of failure at the appraisal stage. Projects linked to aid packages seem to have been accepted without adequate identification of all costs and benefits. The best available alternatives had not come up for consideration and analysis. Delays in project execution as well as project cost overruns due to inadequate feasibility study of projects, underutilization of capacity are some of the other factors. Many of

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the public corporations have been unable to attract the right type of professionals and, where they have done so, have been unable to keep them for a reasonable length of time, the reason being the inability to pay an attractive salary. The private sector, on the other hand, is able to offer a more attractive package of benefits. Government has found it difficult to overcome this problem and is saddled with poor productivity of personnel as well as poor quality of management. Other complaints of management are that its autonomous powers are curbed by Ministerial, Treasury and other controls. Public corporations are tied down by the procedures and checks on purchases. Tender procedures prevent purchase decisions being made at the right time. There are tedious checks and controls when it comes to capital investments where, the concurrence of the supervisory Minister and the Minister of Finance and Planning is necessary for even small sums.
In public corporations the satisfaction of the objective of social benefits supersedes that of financial profits since public accountability is paramount. This is in contrast to a private sector organization where the management's concern is primarily that of maximization of profits. If an outsider were to look solely at accounting profits and return on capital employed, it might seem as if the efficiency with which resources have been utilized is not satisfactory. Perhaps different evaluation criteria should be employed to consider the efficiency of public corporations. However, despite this caveat, quite a number of public corporations in Sri Lanka have failed to realize the objectives for which they were established and have been a severe drain on government funds. Resources which should have gone into properly planned development programs have been siphoned into subsidising weak public corporations, and maintaining their inefficient levels of operations. In this scenario it is argued that privatisation would give those economic agencies greater flexibility both in policy making and at decision making levels. The new governance initiative is to vest productive assets in those who could best manage them and simultaneously provide choices of goods to the consumer. The drive for privatisation in Sri Lanka reflects the flexibility of the public sector which is now willing to reverse decade old policies and actively implement them. It will be remembered that in the first flush of independence, it was the public sector which was instrumental in

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setting up public corporations, which it is now dismantling, since objective conditions have changed.
3. Governance and Public Corporations
Concepts of governance developed in the 1990s. The World Bank initiated the debate by emphasising its relevance to development. One component of governance appropriate to public corporations, is the whole area of public sector reform. Within it, a clear demarcation has to be made between what is public and what is private so that public resources are not misdirected for private benefit. Thus privatisation of commercial profit making enterprises was strongly advocated by the World Bank as a critical test of good governance. Privatisation was one component of the so-called Washington consensus. Another aspect of governance was the need for accountability in all actions. The privatisation process should be transparent.
4. Privatisation Initiatives
The 1977—94 government adopted privatisation as a policy measure. Different approaches were adopted.
4.1. Approaches
4.1.1. Limited liability company approach
Limited liability companies were set up to takeover the activities of public corporations. Examples were Rubber Manufacturing Corporation converted into a joint stock company, Air Lanka Ltd., as a successor to Air Ceylon, the Department of Machinery and Equipment converted to a company called Lanka Machine Leasers (Pvt) Ltd., the Coastal Engineering Research Centre also converted to a company.
4. 1.2. Private management contract approach
Private management contracts were entered with foreign firms for the management of five textile mills owned by the government.
4.1.3. Creation of subsidiaries approach
Public corporations established subsidiaries which took the form of joint stock companies. Examples were where the Ceylon Ceramics

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Corporation established Lanka Porcelain Ltd., and Lanka Wall Tiles Ltd., the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment created the four separate joint stock companies of Sathosa Computer Services Ltd., Sathosa Printers Ltd., Sathosa Motors Ltd., Lanka Milk Foods Ltd.
4. 1.4. Joint venture approach
The government entered into joint venture agreements with foreign investors in the sugar industry which had been a government monopoly upto now. Two joint stock companies were created permitting private participation in the equity of the two companies. Their day-to-day management was entrusted to Booker Agriculture International Ltd. and Mehta International Ltd.
4.1.5. De-Monopolisation approach V
The Paddy Marketing Board had a monopoly of the rice trade upto now. Government permitted the private sector to market paddy and process it but private producers were now allowed to dispose of their production in the open market. The rump Paddy Marketing Board served primarily to maintain floor prices for paddy.
4.1.6. Competition creation approach
The commuter services operated by the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) were a monopoly. The SLTB was a constant butt of public criticism. The Private Omnibus Service Act, 1985 was enacted to permit the private Sector to provide regular commuter services in competition with the SLTB.
By the time the government tabled its Budget proposals in 1987, its firm commitment to the process of privatisation was very clearly evident. The private sector had been activated by favourable macroeconomic policies and incentives. The Minister of Finance considered the private sector now to be sufficiently mature and oriented to undertaking long-term investment. One such capability that it was thought it could manifest was to take over and run publicly owned corporations.
Privatisation was a novel experience for public servants charged with this responsibility. Upto now, public servants had cut their teeth on the opposite process of nationalisation and running commercial

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operations. To push through privatisation they had to undergo a paradigm shift, learn from the context, benefit from the lessons gleaned from the privatisation processes in other countries, think on systemic lines in untravelled territory, and most important of all, change their mindsets. Based on these emerging insights, a number of sequential steps were taken to facilitate the privatisation process.
4.2. Privatisation Steps
4.2.1.
4.2.2.
4.2.3.
Undertake capital restructuring exercises mainly to decide whether to close down or restructure a commercially oriented public corporation by determining an aggregate debt/equity ratio.
Draft laws enabling divestiture. Those public corporations and government institutions nationalised prior to 1987 were converted into public companies under the Companies Act without resort to special laws. However it was felt that this was a long drawn out process and in any case did not meet the needs of all institutions. Accordingly legislation for the conversion of public corporations and government-owned business undertakings, was enacted facilitating their conversion under the Public Companies Act No. 23 of 1987. These steps conform to World Bank approaches on governance where it supported legal reforms. One aspect of legal reform was the formulation of a legal infrastructure to midwife the newly emerging private sector led economy.
A Presidential Commission on Privatization was appointed by the President on 23rd June, 1987 under the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act. This commission was requested to recommend to government, the list of public corporations and government-owned business undertakings which should be privatised, and the procedures to be adopted for such privatisation. The commission was a mix of public and private sector personnel.
The Presidential Commission approached its task in consultation

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with the ministries concerned. The final list was approved by the President and later by Cabinet at its meeting held on the 8th of March, 1989. The selected corporations were State Distilleries Corporation, United Motors Limited, Ceylon Oxygen Limited, Hunas Falls Hotels Limited, Hotel de Buhari, State Trading (General) Corporation, State Printing Corporation, Ceylon Leather Products Corporation, Ceylon Oils and Fats Corporation, Sri Lanka Sugar Corporation, Sri Lanka State Trading (Consolidated Exports) Corporation, Independent Television Network, Veyangoda Textile Mill, the tile factories run by the Ceylon Ceramics Corporation, viz. Eragama, Uswewa, Mahiyangana, Ellayapattuwa, Weuda, Bingiriya, Bangadeniya, Sri Lanka Paper Corporation, Ceylon Ceramics Corporation, the Colombo Commercial Company Group including, Colombo Commercial Co. (Teas) Ltd., Colombo Commercial Co. (Engineering) Ltd., Colombo Commercial Co. (Fertilizer) Ltd., Ceylon Manufacturers and Merchants Ltd., Ackland Finance Ltd., Hevyduip Limited, The British Ceylon Corporation Group consisting of British Ceylon Corporation Ltd., Orient Company Limited, British Ceylon Milling Corporation Limited.
The Privatisation Commission based their recommendations taking into account public corporations whose functions could be better performed within the legal and institutional framework of the private sector. For instance those enterprises which were owned and managed by the private sector prior to them being acquired or nationalized by the government were the first choice for divestiture. The enterprises selected belonged to different ministries and covered different sectors of the country's economy. Public corporations which performed strategic functions and therefore should be retained by the government, such as the Petroleum Corporation and the Ports Authority, as well as enterprises whose privatisation would be politically sensitive such as the plantation corporations, were excluded from this list.
The Privatisation Commission also recommended that, in the early stages of the privatisation programme, only public corporations which were functioning profitably should be offered for sale to the private sector, as it was unlikely that private capital would be forthcoming to purchase the shares of loss-making enterprises. At a later stage however, when the privatisation programme had made sufficient progress,

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some of the loss-making public corporations could be offered for sale to the public, especially in cases where there is a reasonable prospect that they can be converted into profitable enterprises. However, in view of the very limited capital market in Sri Lanka, the Privatisation Commission recommended that the programme of privatisation should proceed at a relatively modest pace. If too many public corporations were offered for sale simultaneously to the private sector, there would not be sufficient private funds available for their purchase. Moreover, if a major part of the funds available for private sector investment was directed to the purchase of public corporations, then there would not be sufficient funds left in the private sector for the establishment of new business enterprises or for the expansion of existing ones within which new employment opportunities would be created. At the stage when corporations were dominant, private sector investment was crowded out by taxing it to support a burgeoning public sector. Now, the government was not going to make the opposite mistake of crowding out new investment by facilitating private sector investment in existing assets rather than in creating neW aSSetS.
In the light of these considerations and taking into account the likely availability of funds to the private sector, the Privatisation Commission recommended that only three public corporations should be offered for sale to the private sector in the first year. The selected three were: United Motors Limited, Ceylon Oxygen Limited, and the State Distilleries Corporation. It will be noted that while the government supported privatisation on ideological grounds, the implementation was cautious and pragmatic.
4.2.4. A private sector policy support project was set up under USAID. Under this project, Ernst & Young Management Consultants (USA) were appointed as consultants with the concurrence of the Privatisation Commission. Their local counterparts were Ernst & Whinney, Chartered Accountaris, (now Ernst & Young).
4.2.5. Comprehensive privatisation of all commercially-oriented corporations was Subsequently approved by Cabinet at its meeting held on February 6, 1991. The decision stated that

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"all Ministries should take action to complete the privatisation of commercial corporations under the Ministries before the end of the year (1991), and that all Ministers and Secretaries of Ministries should ensure that this is done'. Accordingly, 68 public corporations were identified for privatisation. The new policy of the government was to broadbase the ownership of these public corporations by selling shares to the public with upper ceilings placed on the purchase of these shares by individuals in order to prevent a selected group or individuals becoming monopoly owners.
4.2.6. Procedural guidelines for divestiture were developed, because increasingly a need was felt for these guidelines. In terms of a Cabinet decision dated 10th April, 1991, a committee was appointed to formulate procedural guidelines for Divestiture Committees to be appointed to privatise various public corporations. This was an officials committee while the Presidential Commission on Privatisation was a mix of officials and leading businessmen. ". .
In determining the award, the Divestiture Committees were to take into consideration the following criteria-(1) The financial offer; (2) Development plans including transfer of technology; (3) Credentials of offerers; and (4) Interests of the employees.
Greater weightage was to be placed on the financial offer. Detailed procedures to be adopted were also laid down. These recommendations were accepted by the Cabinet on 10th July, 1991. The procedural guidelines were amended by Cabinet at its meeting held on 14th October, 1992. The amendment was to the effect that evaluations were to be made solely on the basis of quantifiable financial offers. The highest financial offer should prevail over all other offers and considerations.
4.2.7. A scheme to provide 10 per cent of the shares to employees was approved by cabinet decision of 16 June, 1990. This was to be offered free on the basis of the length of service of the employees.

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5. Criteria Used to Determine Method of Privatisation
The methods of privatisation were be determined on a case by case basis, according to the following criteria
5.1.1. Objectives pursued by the government. 5.1.2. Enterprise performance record and economic prospects. 5.1.3. Size of the public corporation to be sold. 5. 1.4. The ability to mobilise private funds, whether from a core of
domestic or foreign investors or from the general public.
Privatisation can be achieved in three general forms; privatisation of ownership, privatisation of management or allowing the private sector to provide the goods or render the service for a fee. Privatisation of ownership is achieved through sale of shares or assets. Privatisation of management is done by leasing an asset to the private sector or by contracting the private sector to manage a public corporation or provide a service.
5.2. Privatisation techniques fall into the following categories
(A) Transactional Techniques 5.2.1. Public offering of shares on the stock exchange 5.2.2. Private placement 5.2.3. Sale of assets or shares through public auction or tender 5.2.4. Employee/Management buy-out 5.2.5. Lease or management contract 5.2.6. Joint Venture (B) Non-Transactional Techniques 5.2.7. Voucher programme
5.2.8. Liquidation
5.2.9. De-monopolisation
5.2.1. Public offering of shares
A public offering of shares is the sale to the general public, through the stock exchange, of all or part of the shares of a going concern. This method may be combined, with the creation of a private management to form a control group which will later publicly offer part of their shares. Steps for the public offering of shares will

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include the preparation of the prospectus. The prospectus would include the price, detailed description of securities offered, the use of the proceeds from the issue, the legal and financial structure, a description of its main assets and important pending legal proceedings. This method is more appropriate for large offerings, and for achieving widespread ownership. This form of transaction gains public approval. In theory at least everyone has an equal chance to buy shares and it is politically more palatable and transparent.
5.2.2. Private Placement
This is the sale of all or part of the government's shareholding in a public corporation to a pre-identified entity. The sale can be 100 per cent or partial. The sale could be through competitive bidding or negotiation with a single person or group. The shares can be offered at a fixed price similar to public sales or at a price investors propose. In the absence of a functioning stock market, private sale may be the only alternative for disposal of a going concern.
Private placement is preferred when it is necessary to restructure or expand a public corporation or a service. It is relevant where public corporations are too small for public auction or too limited in appeal to interest many investors. It is also used to avoid concentration of ownership or to target ownership. But private placement can be very difficult politically where concepts of transparency prevail. The World Bank approach does not take into account such conflicts and trade offs involved in effective operational governance.
5.2.3. Sale of assets or shares through public auction or tender
In this case, the transaction is the sale of assets, rather than the sale of shares of a going concern. The sale can be effected by competitive bidding or by auction.
5.2.4. Employee/Management buy-out
Buy-outs are usually management led. A small group of managers buy a controlling share in the public corporation, or management and workers acquire all or most of a government's interest. The purchase can be of shares or of assets. Management/employee buy-outs are the preferred alternative when it is not possible to go public. Generally, financing will have to be made available both for the acquisition itself

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and for working capital. Where the public corporation is a research organisation dependent on professional management and has a skilled stable workforce to perform its services, this method is advocated.
5.2.5. Lease or management contract
By this method private sector management and technology are provided under contract to a public corporation for a given period. Thus management is privatised but not ownership. This method is often used as an intermediate solution prior to sale. It is done by contracting with an individual or company to manage the public corporation and paying a fee to the manager. A refinement is where a base agreement rent is paid to the government by a private user, who may have the option to apply the rent towards purchase.
5.2.6. Joint ventures
Under this method a private company makes an investment in a public corporation thereby distributing the government's shares and takes a management contract. This can be called partial privatisation. Joint ventures can be effected via capital increases or merger.
5.2.7. Voucher programme
Sometimes public corporations are so non-viable that they are given away free to the managers/workers, or shares in the public corporation are distributed free to citizens. This method is useful for injecting extra life into hollowed out public corporations and can be a method to spread ownership very widely. In Eastern Europe, when switching from a managed to a market economy and confronted with the task of privatising many public corporations quickly, vouchers were given free to every citizen to "buy' a certain number of shares in privatised companies.
5.2.8. Liquidation
This method is to dissolve the public corporation by selling the assets and then let the private sector fill the vacuum. This is adopted where the public corporation is not viable at all and/or the equipment is relatively worthless. This is the method by which barriers to exit are removed. It is a method of last resort.

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5.29. Demonopolise
The state eliminates the monopoly of the public corporation and opens it to market competition. The state may relax or remove statutory barriers which inhibit private sector entry thus subjecting the public corporation to competitive market forces. This is a method where barriers to entry are removed.
6. Procedure for Divestiture
The 25 public corporations, which included government-owned business undertakings initially earmarked for privatisation, were converted into public companies under the Public Companies Act No. 23 of 1987. 100 per cent shares of such companies were vested with the Secretary to the Treasury who became the sole shareholder on behalf of the government.
Thereafter, the Cabinet appointed the members of the Divestiture Committees, with the Secretaries of the relevant ministries as Chairman, and two or three other officials. This included the Director of Commercialization of the Ministry of Finance in most cases, as a member. a
The Divestiture Committees were required to
6.1. Obtain a valuation of the assets and liabilities of the company
from the Chief Valuer. 6.2. Recommend the most suitable method of divestiture. 6.3. Recommend the percentage to be sold. 6.4. Implement the divestiture, making a reservation of 10 per cent of shares to be gifted to the employees of the company.
Once Cabinet approved the recommendation of the Divestiture Committee, the general conditions and guidelines for making offers are prepared and an advertisement calling for offers inserted in the newspapers locally and in certain cases in the foreign newspapers as well. In the case of sales on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), a minimum of three brokers were called and a selection made on the basis of the lowest quotation received. The selected broker prepares the "Statement' for the Stock Exchange.
When the tender bids are received they are either evaluated by the Divestiture Committee or it may co-opt a technical evaluation com

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mittee to assist it in the evaluation of technical proposals and the credentials of the prospective bidders. The Divestiture Committee then prepares its report and makes its recommendations which are forwarded by the Ministry for the approval of the Cabinet.
Once Cabinet approves the issue of shares to the successful bidder, the Divestiture Committee informs the bidder to draw a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU is finalized in consultation with the Attorney-General's Department. After the AttorneyGeneral gives clearance, the MoU is signed by the successful bidder and the Secretary to the Treasury. When payment is made, the share transfer is effected by the Secretary to the Treasury. Even if the purchase consideration is by deferred payments shares have been transferred to the successful bidder after signing of a MoU.
One of the critical issues faced in governance is that of arriving at a fair valuation of a public corporation. It should be attractive to the purchaser but should not be a give away. It should stimulate the further development of the public corporation but not be handed over to dominant economic power groups (crony capitalism) in the country. In a valuation exercise, the past and future profits of the public corporation, the extent to which an investor could improve the performance, etc. will be major attractions to an investor. Setting the price of government property to be sold is not only an economic issue but a political one. Given the sensitivities which exist in a process of this nature, it is recommended that valuations be conducted by independent appraisers recognized for their professional standards. It is inadvisable for decisions to be taken by the existing government alone but preferably be on a multi-party basis. New Parliamentary procedures may have to be devised for this purpose. Such procedures enrich governance particularly on the accountability and transparency aspects.
It is essential that valuations provide a realistic view of what investors would be willing to pay for a given public corporation or assets in the open market. Historic costs or book values do not normally reflect this reality. One of the best approaches for appraising public corporations is the income approach, including that of discounted cash flow (DCF). The DCF method is a flexible and versatile technique but it may misrepresent values. Another technique used, that of revaluing assets, is difficult to manage from a

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political point of view. In many cases the assets to be sold are overvalued in the books and, a failure to accept the gap between the accounting records and the market value could mean that there may be no buyers.
7. Rationalisation of Staff
One of the reasons for having established public corporations was to make a dent in the unemployment situation in the country. This applies to all countries of the world. The result is rampant overstaffing of public corporations. If public corporations have to be made attractive for purchase by the private sector, a rationalisation mostly through downsizing of staff is required. This is a critical test of governance, for staff of public corporations are highly organised, being the aristocracy of the labour movement. A variety of soft approaches would be required if this problem were to be solved. In Sri Lanka, in every case of privatisation, the employees were identified and were given the option to retire voluntarily, subject to an attractive compensation package approved both by the trade unions and the Labour Commissioner. Wherever possible, this was done at the stage of conversion to a company so that it will not be a burden on the new owner. The remaining workers were distributed 10 per cent of the shares.
8. Privatisation in Sri Lanka
Privatisation has taken drastically different forms in different countries. Some governments have resorted predominantly to the sale of shares to the general public, while others have sold shares or assets to a corporate investor and a fair number have resorted to both. Sri Lanka has resorted to a mix of techniques. The techniques adopted by Sri Lanka, So far, are as follows
8. I. Contracting out management of public corporations to the private sector without the transfer of ownership. Loss-making institutions such as a few of the textile mills were turned around as a result of the infusion of foreign management expertise, and thereafter majority shares were sold to an investor. Other shares were issued to the public when the mills became viable.

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8.2. Public offering of shares. This was done in the case of United Motors, Bogala Graphite Lanka Ltd., Ceylon Oxygen, National Development Bank, People's Merchant Bank, Sathosa Motors Ltd.
8.3. Negotiated sale of shares where the prospective buyer is known in advance and is evaluated on his ability to bring in technology, market access or even management, e.g., Ceylon Oxygen, Colombo Gas Company.
8.4. Sale of assets as in the case of the Ceylon Plywoods Corporation where the liabilities were so high that it could not be sold as a going concern. In this case government took over all the liabilities and the assets were sold.
8.5. Private sector sub-contractors to undertake aspects of work which hitherto had been performed through the direct employment of public sector employees. Such work includes the design, construction and maintenance of roads, irrigation works and public buildings as well as the provision of janitorial services and security services in public buildings.
8.6. Stimulating competition, an example being road passenger transport services. These services, which were a sole monopoly of the public sector, were opened to the private bus operators in 1979 and by 1988 the latter had increased their market share to 60 percent. The process needs some clarification. The commuter road transport prior to privatisation, was undertaken by a massive organisation called the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB). It was a monopoly which had 7,000 buses distributed in 104 depots. It ran 3,700 routes every day and linked every one of the 25,000 villages to at least one urban centre at a minimum of once a day. It was serviced by 65,000 employees. Privatisation of Such a massive organisation had to be done in stages, and within these stages in phases and using different methods. The first step adopted was to sponsor the creation of a group of private sector omnibus operators through a licensing scheme. The second step was for a government sponsored bank credit scheme where finance for the purchase of buses by these private operators was made available. The third stage was in 1990 when the govern

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ment decided to dissolve the SLTB structure. SLTB was broken into approximately 104 independent ventures, which were called depots. These depots were to be structured on the lines of private limited liability companies. The companies were relatively small in order to facilitate efficient management and services. Independent management boards were to be appointed by the Ministry of Transport to run each of these depots. The Board was to comprise a depot manager, an operations manager, a depot accountant, an engineer, two employee representatives and two officials from the Central Bank. The assets of the SLTB were to be transferred to the depots. However, the criteria for allocating these assets among the depots were not specified, leaving loopholes for ad hoc means of asset distribution. 50 per cent of the shares within the depots was to be allocated to the retained employees of the depots free of charge. The balance was to be held in trust by financial institutions for three to five years after which they were to be traded on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The structure of the depot and the share ownership plan was designed to create a manager-owner system that would increase efficiency and exert pressure on the depots to maximize profits. However, since the Board consisted of political appointees not elected by the employees, the possibility of political interference was not eliminated. Therefore, there was a structural constraint from the start on the achievement of the efficiency goals. The privatisation program also included a retrenchment target of approximately 20,000 employees. This was to be accomplished by means of a voluntary retirement scheme with pension benefits. However, this entire scheme had its own problems. One problem surfaced immediately. No concrete plans were drawn to eliminate the subsidised fare structure. There were only vague suggestions at the ministry level that something should be done to restructure fares. The Ministry of Transport established a National Transport Commission (NTC) to serve as an overall body in the transition to privatisation and hoped all these problems will be attended by the NTC. -
8.7. Liberalisation. This was particularly adopted for insurance and banking. With this change in policy and removal of curbs, several foreign banks and local companies entered these sectors.

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8.8. Demonopolisation. In the state sector, the state has now ceased to play a monopoly role in two sectors, that of the delivery of curative health care and technical education.
8.9. Joint venture initiatives were taken mostly to facilitate foreign participation in specified areas of activity, e.g., Pelawatta Sugar Company in which the state owns only 49 per cent of the shares.
9. Public Enterprise Reform Committee
The government which came to power in 1994 was dissatisfied with the ad hoc approaches to privatisation adopted by the previous government. It set up the Public Enterprises Reform Committee (PERC). PERC hoped to accomplish several goals. It is entrusted with the task of initiating and coordinating strategic alliances between public corporations and private sector investors, to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the economy, to help industry to acquire modern technology and expertise and thereby upgrade production and services, to develop and democratise the capital market and long-term private savings, to motivate the private sector, to augment the fiscal budget and the balance of payments. PERC was also to follow-up past cases of privatisation, assist in the selection of new candidates for reform and assist the government in monitoring progress and performance as reforms are effected. Privatisation was to be based on the three guidelines for successful privatisation, enumerated by Attila Karaosmanoglu, a Vice-President of the World Bank.
(i) Transparency-Honesty and openness are important factors
that PERC attempts to implement at all levels. (ii) Equity-Everyone will be able to participate in purchases. (iii) Efficiency-The state attempts to generate maximum revenue
in the national interest. The task of the Commission during 1995-96 will be to complete the outstanding reforms in respect of:
(a) Opening government monopolies to fair competition. (b) Complete reforms in respect of:
(i) Janatha Fertilizer Enterprises Ltd. (ii) Sevanagala Sugar Industries Ltd. (iii) Colombo Commercial Co. (Teas) Ltd.

Privatisation
(ίν) (v) (vi) (νίί)
203
Orient Lanka Ltd. (A trading organisation) State Trading (Textiles) Corporation Ltd. Sri Lanka Rubber Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Milk Industries of Lanka Ltd. (MILCO)
(viii) National Paper Co Ltd.
(ίχ)
British Ceylon Corporation Ltd.
(c) Sale of all or part of Government shares in various companies:
(i) (ii) (iii) (ίν) (v) (vi)
(νiι)
Capital Development & Investment Co. National Development Bank
Lanka Ceramics Ltd.
Ceylon Glass Company Ltd. Pelawatte Sugar Co. Ltd. Sri Lanka Insurance Corpn. Ltd. (shares in Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Robinson Club) Ceylon Hotels Corporation
(vii) Lanka Phosphates Ltd.
(ία) (x)
Galadari Hotels Bogala Graphites (Lanka) Ltd.
(d) Strategic Alliances in the Public Utilities/Infrastructure/Ser
vices sector:
(ι) (ii) (iii) (ίν) (v) (νί) (vii)
Air Lanka Ltd. Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd. Ceylon Shipping Corporation Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Ceylon Government Railways Galle Harbour Development Colombo-Katunayake Highway
(viii) Colombo-Matara Highway
(iχ) (x)
Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd. Ceylon Electricity Board
In all instances where public and national interest is of paramount importance the Government will safeguard such interest by retaining a substantial share and where necessary, by possession of a "Golden Share” which will have special powers. The concept of a Golden share is explained later.

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10. A Case Study of Privatisation-Regional Plantation Companies
10.1. Background
Reference was made earlier to the land reforms which, led to the foreign-owned plantation companies, dealing with the mainstays of tea, rubber and coconut of the Sri Lanka economy, being nationalised. These companies were grouped under two mammoth public corporations. In June 1992, under the provisions of the Companies Act No. 17 of 1982 and conversion under Public Corporations Act No. 23 of 1987, 23 Regional Plantation Companies (RPC) were formed to take over and manage 460 estates owned by these two public corporations. All the shares of the RPC were held by the Secretary to the Treasury, on behalf of the government. Only the business, employees and movable assets of the estates accrued to the RPCs. The estate lands themselves, which by Sri Lankan law includes everything fixed to the land such as tea bushes, rubber trees, buildings and fixed factory machinery, were given on a 99-year lease to the RPCs at a nominal lease rental of Rs. 500 per estate per year. The RPCs are managed by private sector Managing Agents (MA) under contract.
10.2. Proposed Restructuring
Under the privatisation programme, government has decided to sell a controlling interest in the RPCs to the private sector. A financial. restructuring of the RPCs has been undertaken as part of this sale of shares. In particular, the estate lease periods were reduced from 99 years to 50 years from June 1995, and lease rentals substantially larger than the prevailing Rs. 500 per estate were charged. The high lease rentals will result in significant lowering of the net asset values of the RPCs, since they now have the added obligation of meeting high lease rental payments. The lease rentals to be charged would vary by RPC, and were being determined so that by the end 1994 net asset values of every RPC (whose present net asset value exceeds Rs. 200 million) would be reduced to Rs. 200 million.
Prior to the sale of shares, the issued share capital of every RFC will be pegged at a 1994 net asset value of Rs. 200 million after the above financial restructuring. It will then be demarcated into 20 million shares each of par value Rs. 10. For the two RPCs with 1994 net asset values of less than Rs. 200 million the number of issued

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ordinary shares with par value Rs. 10, will be the net asset value of
the RPC divided by Rs. 10.
Some of the other significant features relating to the sale of a
controlling interest in the RPCs, are as follows:
10.2.1. If an RPC has made an operational profit, i.e. a profit after considering all costs, except interest charges during fiscal year 1994, the MA of that RPC will be eligible to purchase 51 per cent of the shares of the RPC at a "market price' per share determined in the manner specified in 10.2.2., provided the MA meets the condition on purchase of debentures.
10.2.2. The market price of shares of RPCs, where the MA is given an option to purchase a 51 per cent stake, is to be established. The following procedure enabled the RPC to obtain a listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). 20 per cent of the shares of the RPCS will be offered for sale. The share offer would consist of a fixed price portion and a tender portion.
10.2.2.1. Fixed Price Portion
8 per cent of the shares will be made available at a fixed price of Rs. 10 per share. If there were a under-subscription in this category, the remaining shares will be made available for allotment to applit cants in the tender portion. If there were under-subscription in both the fixed price and tender portions, the remaining shares will be taken by the underwriters to the offer.
10.2.2.2. Tender Portion
12 per cent of the shares will be made available on a tender basis where applicants will be allowed to offer varying prices for the shares. The applicant offering the highest price per share was to be given his full requested number of shares at the offered price, upto the maximum limit of 1/3 of the shares offered on tender. The applicant offering the next highest price per share will be given the full requested number of shares as the offered price upto a maximum of a further 1/3 of the shares offered. If there were under-subscription in this category, the remaining shares will be made available for allotment to applicants in the Fixed Price portion. If there is under

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subscription in both the Fixed Price and Tender portions, the remaining shares were to be taken up by the Underwriters to the offer.
102.3. A MA purchasing 51 per cent of the shares of an RPC at the market price will be required to provide or arrange to be provided by other parties, up to a maximum of Rs. 150 million. It will consist of five-year transferable debentures issued by the RPC at an annual interest rate of 6 percent. The precise amount of debentures per RPC will be decided by the Ministry of Plantation Industry prior to the 20 per cent share issue. These debentures will be convertible to shares by the holder at the originally established market price any time after two years from their date of issue and mandatorily convertible to shares at the same price, on the fifth anniversary of their issue.
10.2.4. In the case of RPCs where the present MA is not given the option to purchase 51 per cent of the shares or is not interested in purchasing the shares, 51 per cent of the shares will be sold through the CSE to the highest bidder on an all or nothing basis. The minimum acceptable price will be the par value of Rs. 10 per share. The condition to take up to Rs. 150 million in 6 per cent debentures will also be applicable to this purchaser. Approximately 20 per cent of the shares of these RPCs owned by the Secretary to the Treasury will then be offered for sale to the general public through the CSE on the earlier described tender basis, in order to obtain a listing of the RPCs on the CSE within three months of the sale of 51 per cent of the shares.
102.5. In all sales of shares of RPCs through the CSE, the total share holdings of non-nationals will be restricted to a maximum limit of 49 per cent of issued ordinary shares of each RPC. This is similar to the present restriction in place in the banking sector.
10.2.6. After obtaining a public listing and the sale of 51 per cent of the shares to the private sector, 10 percent of the shares of each RPC owned by the Secretary to the Treasury will be distributed free among the employees of the RPC on the basis of an allocation mechanism to be determined.

Privatisation 2O7
102.7. The remaining 19 per cent of the shares of each RPC will continue to be held by the Government for the present.
10.2.8. In order to ensure consistent government policies in respect of the RPCs, such policies will be implemented via the government ownership of a "Golden Share' in each of the RPCs. A Governmentowned company will be formed to hold the Golden Shares of all RPCS.
102.9. The rights accruing to the Golden Share will be as follows:
-The concurrence of the Golden Share holder will be required for the RPC to sub-lease any of the estate lands originally leased to them.
-The concurrence of the Golden Share holder will be required to amend the Articles of Association of the RPC in any manner which affects the rights of the Golden Share holder.
-The Golden Shareholder, or his nominee, will have the right to examine the books and accounts of the RPC at any time with two weeks written notice.
-The RPC will be required to submit a detailed quarterly report to the Golden Share holder in a pre-specified format, within 60 days of the end of each quarter. Additional information relating to the RPC in a pre-specified format must also be submitted to the Golden Share holder within 90 days of the end of each fiscal year. -The Golden Share holder can require the Board of Directors of the RPC to meet with him or his nominees once every quarter to discuss any issues related to the operation of the RPC of interest to the government.
-Only the Government or a fully Government-owned company, can own the Golden Shares.
Based on the unaudited 1994 accounts of the RPCS and other information available, it is expected that about 10 of the 23 MAs of the RPCs will be eligible and will choose to exercise the option to purchase a 51 per cent stake in the RPCs they are managing today. PERC has now offered MAs the option of buying 51 per cent stake of the plantation companies under their management on a first refusal

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basis. The companies capitalized at Rs.200 million will have a 10 per cent stake divested through the stock market at a fixed price while a further 10 per cent will be bid upon by investors. Bids will be accepted on a top down basis and the MAs will be allowed to acquire the controlling interest at the lowest acceptable bid. In the event of the MA not exercising the option, the controlling interest will be offered on an all or nothing basis to a single investor with 51 percent stake going to the highest bidder.
11. Conclusion . V−
Sri Lanka has travelled far on the privatisation route. Privatisation as originally advocated is an exercise in holistic organisational engineering. As has been repeatedly emphasised, privatisation was a novelty for governance, both at the political and administrative ends of the spectrum. Much of the pressure for it had been induced by lending agencies. But once decisions were taken, public administration, which had so far been familiar with the opposite phenomenon of nationalisation, adopted pragmatic stances. Privatisation is a politicoeconomic act, bristling with traps and uncertainties. Granted the inexperienced public administration had to move carefully. Instead of adopting pre-determined stances, the Sri Lanka public administration approaches were to achieve partial improvements, testing periodically the validity of the change. There may have been mistakes. It is too early to evaluate the success of privatisation. But the firm knowledge base built on successes and failures so far, will be a rewarding learning experience for public administration in its efforts to keep on adapting itself to change and environmental demand.

8
Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics
M. Somasundram
"You are pious and saintly in character, but your piety could not protect you from a series of misfortunes, hence virtue is of little use. Happiness of created beings is something tangible. Since piety or virtue are not so, virtue cannot be the means of happiness. . . . Seeing the happiness of the sinful and the sufferings of the virtuous, the old cant that virtue leads to happiness and vice to miseries appears now to be disproved. On the other hand vice leads to happiness and virtue to sufferings. Or if it be true that virtue leads to happiness and vice to pain, then let the virtuous be happy and the vicious miserable. But when we find that the virtuous suffering infinitely and the vicious prospering beyond expectation, it appears vice and virtue are idle conventions.' —Valmiki (1000 BC), The Ramayana
“Virtue? A figTis in ourselves that we are thus and thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop or weed up thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs or distract it with many, either to have it sterile with idleness or manured with industry, why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills." -William Shakespeare, Othello
"Having once received His Majesty's Commission to be General of his
forces, there are certain commands of His Majesty which, acting in
that capacity, I am unable to accept.'
-Sun Tzu (5th Century BC), The Art of War

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1. Virtue or Dharma in Public Administration
AKSHMAN in the Ramayana and Iago in Othello, though separated by two and a half millennia, express similar sentiments, a cynicism about virtue or dharma. Though both deride it, in the case of Lakshman at a moment of intense depression on hearing the reported death of Rama, yet both accept virtue or dharma as an objective fact-a proposition discussed by Aristotle in his The Nichomachean Ethics and in the Mahabharatha, epic of India round about 1500 BC. Virtue or dharma can be defined as choiceless awareness. The 20th century has seen virtue or dharma as a derivative being viewed in relative terms. Marx considered virtue as subjective, merely a product of the class struggle. Neo-classical economists of the developed West consider virtue or dharma as arising from transactions of the market. For Marx, virtue was malleable, for neo-classicists virtue is fungible.
Virtue or dharma is a fundamental issue of government and by extension governance. Public administration is the instrumentality for governance. The argument in this paper is that virtue or dharma should irradiate public administration: Thirty million Russians paid with their lives following a virtue-free or adharma revolution. Many millions have been immiserised, the result of implementing Bretton Woods solutions. These enormities would have been reduced in Scale and intensity if virtue or dharma prevailed in public administration. Virtue or dharma is a positive force that shapes and sustains unities whether they be the unity of family, organisation, society, nation or any other.
2. Ideology, Theory and Fundamentalism
Justice is one element of virtue. Socrates in Plato's Republic raised the question of the nature of justice. Thrasymachus, as cynical as Lakshman and Iago, considered justice an imposition of the strong over the weak. A rich discussion has ensued over the centuries on the fundamentals of the state, how it should function, the best form of government, whether it is anchored in divine will, nature, power, tradition, consent, etc. the authority of the ruler and even the legitimate right of resistance. The list of thinkers is long as it is distinguished. Kautilya and Manu in India, Confucius and Lao-Tze in China, Plato and Aristotle in Greece, all belonging to the ancient

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 211
world, Augustine and Aquinas during Europe's medieval period, Machiavelli during the Italian Renaissance, Hobbes, Locke in the English Enlightenment, Rousseau, Voltaire, the Encyclopaedists in the French Enlightenment, Jefferson, Paine, the Federalists in the
American Enlightenment, Hegel, Marx, Lenin as totalitarians, were
some of them. Many of their viewpoints have become ideologies. An ideology has been defined "as a pattern of logically related beliefs, assumptions, body of ideas, and cause effect explanations that make up a thought system.” (Cuber, 1971). The Divine Right of Kings is as much an ideology as capitalism or marxism. They are thought systems. An ideology is deductive in its logic valid so long as the axioms on which it is based are accepted. An ideology is not a theory though theorems are built on it. As Stephen Hawkins, (1988) the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics of Cambridge states: "a theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements. It must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of the future observations.” A theory is based on inductive logic. Popper pointed out that a theory should be constantly verifiable with the nagging possibility of it being falsifiable. A particular politico-administration system does not have predictability though it is constantly being falsified. Therefore it is not a theory but an ideology. The World Bank's approach to public administration reform is an ideology. Fundamentalism is the literal dependence on books and Writings of an ideology. Institutional Economics, on which the so called "New Public Administration' is based is a fundamentalist version of public administration reform. The founding book is Niskanen's (1971), Bureaucracy and Representative Government, used very often as a devotional text. World Bank's adherence to this ideology makes it the fundamentalist's fundamentalist, the Taliban of public administration.
3. World View
An ideology is embedded in the individual's world view about persons, the state, and the relationship of persons to each other and the state. A world view is an individual interpretation of the universe, human beings and institutions of human beings. Encompassing an ideology and located within the world view are a set of beliefs. It will

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be remembered that an ideology is a logically related set of beliefs.
4. Beliefs
Since this is a paper on public administration, it will focus on beliefs as applied to this discipline. Public administrators form a generic group of about 400,000 in Sri Lanka. While it is only about 10 per cent of the labour market, yet it wields disproportionate influence not only on policy formulation and implementation but also within society itself. While belonging to the homogeneous group of public administration they yet form sub-groups working in specified public administration agencies. As members of a sub-group they have to maintain continuous co-operative relationships. Co-operative relationships require predictability of response. Therefore there should be a sharing of beliefs and values among group members which are communicated to each member. Beliefs, derived from the world view, are facts, opinions and general knowledge that a person holds about objects, a conviction of how the world is. There are three kinds of beliefs:
4.1. Beliefs which are descriptive or existential. Descriptive or existential beliefs could be proved to be true or false. An example of such a belief is that overtime payment is a motivator for more work. This could be proved to be true, if once it is paid extra work were in fact done. If there were predictability when each time such a payment is made it will lead to extra work, then this belief will become a theory. It would be proved false, only if work that should be done during a paid period is now being done on overtime or no extra work was in fact done.
4.2. Beliefs which are evaluative. Evaluative beliefs are judgemental, whether something is good or bad. An example of an evaluative belief is providing a car for private use by the senior public service for making them content and thereby concentrating on their job. Since the work of a senior public servant is judgemental, this is not a descriptive belief but an evaluative one, that it is good in itself. Another example of an evaluative belief is the repeated assertion by the World Bank that the public service, not only in Sri Lanka but in every country in the world, is overstaffed. If this belief were true it

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 213
should be capable of justification. Justification would only be by reviewing each institution in public administration, determining their work loads in terms of their mandates, mission, and goals, Striking their performance indicators and then concluding whether the staff employed by that agency is in excess for the expected performance. The author is not aware of such evaluations being undertaken in any public service in the world. It is of course worth mentioning that within the World Bank itself, based on such an evaluative belief, an expensive golden handshake was given. Within three years the numbers were back at the same level with many of those who left being re-employed on a contract at higher remuneration. The same policy was applied in Sri Lanka in 1992, with exactly the same results. 32,000 (9 per cent of the public services) took advantage. They were the best in the service and it cost Rs. 1.8 billion. This is a good example of fundamentalism working in public administration.
4.3. Beliefs which are prescriptive or proscriptive. These beliefs lay down whether something is desirable or not desirable. Prescriptive or proscriptive beliefs cover both means and ends. An example of this belief is that paying a kickback (means) ensures the grant of a contract (ends). In respect of public administration, the achievement of the end is prescribed, but negative means for achieving these ends are proscribed. In the private sector such a categorisation does not prevail since what matters is profit, the bottom line. Improving the bottom line is a prescription, and, action to prevent it, is a proscription.
5. Values
Values are a subset of beliefs, those which are desired. Values connote near absolute ideological and moral fixtures. They deal with both prescriptive or proscriptive beliefs. Values cover both means and ends. Values are beliefs about not only what a person ought to do but also what a person desires to do. Values are thus a positive factor. Values cover two components first of being a mode of conduct, examples being honesty, following the law in implementing policy, etc. The second component is that it is an end state of existence. It is therefore final, like adopting a positivist view of public administration or having the belief that public administration should be effi

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cient. Values are both a flag and a fig leaf. Modes of conduct cover both moral values and competence values. An example of a moral value is honesty and an example of competence value is judgement about one's own promotability. End states cover accountability values and efficiency values. An example of an accountability value is making drought relief payments on time and an example of an efficiency value is achieving targets. Competence values and accountability values are intra-personal lying within oneself, while moral and achievement values are inter-personal deriving from others. Intra-personal values could be considered self-centred while inter-personal values could be considered society-centred. Terry Cooper (1982) referred to them as subjective and objective values. Objective values deal with expectations imposed from outside while subjective values arise within oneself. If all this appears confusing a schematic value tree will hopefully clarify matters.
Public servants shape their public administration values only after they join it. Before recruitment they have societal values. Public service values are enriched as they gather experience and proceed up their career path. Their induction into a system of values at entry, and constant reinforcement throughout their careers are vital, for these values will colour thrir attitudes as they wield increasing responsibil
1ty.
6. Paradigm Shift or Shifty Paradigm
There is emerging in public administration literature references to a paradigm shift. Aucoin (1990) and Kernaghan (1993) refer to a post-bureaucratic paradigm. Osborne and Gaebler (1991) refer to a shift from bureaucratic to entrepreneurial government. Hood (1991) refers to a shift from traditional public administration to a new public management. Harman (1988) explains a paradigm as "basic ways of perceiving, thinking, valuing and doing, associated with a particular view of society." The concept of a paradigm shift was popularised by Kuhn (1970). Kuhn referred to natural science disciplines where the commonly held value consensus of the discipline breakdown and is replaced by a new set of values and assumptions, very often erected by external sources. An excellent example of a paradigm change is that of Copernicus. He rediscovered Aristarchus of the 5th century BC, and re-shifted mankind after a millennium, from a geocentric

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 215
e.g. If dishonest, e.g. If not promo- e.g. If drought If targets
social ted, feelings relief not achieved, condemnation of inadequacy provided, given
tradဖူး scholarship
Society centred Self centred Self centred Society centred (Inter-personal) (Intra-personal) (Intra-personal) (Inter-personal)
OBJECTIVE SUBJECTIVE SUBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE
Moral values Competence Accountability Efficiency (e.g. honesty) values values values
(e.g. Promotability) (e.g. making (e.g. achieving
drought relief targets) in time)
༄།།
Instrumental Terminal or End states
Ends and means Ends and means
བོ།།
Values (Desired Beliefs) Value Tree DIAGRAM 8.1
view point-which considered the earth as the centre of the universe with man as its central figure-to a heliocentric viewpoint, considering the sun as the centre and man as another form of life. Darwin continued the demotion making man a run-of-the-mill bio-form. This -paradigm shift changed commonsense assumptions about values and how human beings relate to each other. Quantum mechanics and Relativity are making the world undergo another paradigm shift the influence of which is felt even in public administration. Curiously these two are restoring man's primacy. A paradigm shift therefore questions commonsense viewpoints, brings in new values and new agendas, often requiring fresh personnel to recast the new areas which are being advanced by the new paradigm. Public administration so far had certain understandings which were taken for granted. They were not eternal themselves but the result of a paradigm shift in

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the mid-19th century following on the second wave in public administration. British public administration values inherited by Sri Lanka, were initiated by the Northcote-Trevalyan reforms. Many of them were being supported even as late as 1994 in the UK Government White Paper on the Civil Service (CMD 2627: 1994). A basic value that is supported is the independence of the public service. But as Caiden (1994) has pointed out “all public administration is political, it is an instrument of politics and political values are dominant'. This insight was seen at its best during Margaret Thatcher's premiership of 12 years, where she placed a premium on public servants commitment to party policy. Her choice of top public servants was based not on merit but on an affirmative answer to the question "Is he one of us?". Even as late as 1994 there are differing views on the fundamentals of public administration. This is because public administration is living in the cusp of a paradigm change and there is confusion about the continued validity of old values and the relevance of the emerging new ones. However another school of thought does not consider what is emerging as a paradigm shift but more a shifty paradigm. The viewpoint of this volume of papers is that there indeed is a paradigm shift, because the old values are changing and a new set of values have to be midwived.
7. Attitudes
A change in public administration behaviour will be caused not only by transcendental aspects of paradigm shifts working through value change, but also through attitude change. It is therefore necessary to distinguish between values and attitudes. As already mentioned values are desired beliefs. Attitudes are the organisation of any belief round a specific situation or object. There are only a few values but there can be numerous attitudes. Values are more enduring while attitudes may be of a short term character. The basic differences could be listed out as follows:
TABLE 8.1
Values Attitudes
1. Value is a single belief about 1. Organisation of several beliefs that something desired e.g., advo- are all focused on a given object or cacy that efficiency should pre- situation. Examples are:

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics
217
Values
Attitudes
vail in public administration.
2. A value goes beyond a specific
object or situation e.g., not ac
cepting a partisan political or
der, but accepting political leadership in a democracy.
3. A value is a criterion for judge
ment e.g., not claiming private
payments for doing a public
duty.
(a)
(b)
(c)
2.
The World Bank's attitude that the only way to gain efficiency in the use of human resources is to reduce staff. - - The politician's attitude that there is no way to reduce staff and thereby worsen an already bad unemployment situation. The only solution acceptable to them is a golden handshake voluntarily accepted. The managerial public servant's attitude that the only way to gain efficiency is to increase intrinsic productivity by extracting more output, or extrinsic efficiency by increasing activity with the same ÍCSOll (C6.S. An attitude is focused on some object or situation, for example resisting a politically motivated transfer of a subordinate.
Attitude is not a criterion for judgement, for example it is possible to have an attitude which permits taking payment for doing one's official duties.
Many training programs deal with attitude alteration. But a more durable change will take place if programs were also developed for value alteration coupled with value formation.
8. Governance
The issues pertaining to governance were first systematically laid out by the World Bank and subsequently elaborated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Independently of these approaches, the British dealt with various aspects in their good government agenda. These were seen in approaches like the Financial Management Initiative (FMI) and the Next Steps Programme. In Britain, by 1989, there was a far-reaching revolution

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in public administration seen since the Northcote-Trevalyan reforms of the mid-19th century which initiated the modern civil service. Two-thirds of the civil service had been transferred to executive agencies, management was devolved from Whitehall to front line managers, performance related pay was introduced, responsibility to managers was delegated and there was a concentration on results. However, an explicit consideration of values of public administration had not been at the centrepiece of any of these concerns, though perhaps they may have been tangential to them. Values were expected to emerge, their insertion was not to be managed.
The command economy and its enemies have drawn the stark contrast between self interest and community, symbolised in market and non-market relationships. Policies and institutions which are now supported are those which extol self-interest, not community. Public administration has had a long history as an instrumental approach to managing the functional concerns of a society while it has had a rich pedigree of irradiating a society with a sense of community. It is the embodiment of non-market approaches. The current challenges, lying in the slip stream of self interest attacking concepts of community, threaten to unravel society itself. Public administration which had been at the forefront of weaving various strands to form a society, has now the task of retaining the best of the concepts which prevailed, and engineering fresh ones to fit emerging realities. Public administration as a discipline and profession will survive. The challenge that has now to be faced is not of abolishing public administration but that of re-inventing it in a socially desirable form. This is the third wave of public administration. In this effort public administration has an advantage of having the legitimacy of the political process since it is an honoured part. The rest of the paper will be devoted to discussing how this could be achieved in a valuedriven manner.
9. Public Administration within a Societal Model
Public administration is embedded in society and operates within it. Private sector activity on the other hand operates within a society, but is not an organic part of it. A private sector firm can go bankrupt but not a public administration agency. Since public administration is an organic component of society, it is part of societal structure and

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 219
societal culture. Its model would appear as follows:
He (A) (B)<– Societal Structure de-e Societal Culture
~ کسے
Behaviour Patterns of Public Administration - World View
Values - Attitudes - Ethics
(D) کسے ~പു (E)
Public Administration Structure Public Administration Process
>トイ
Public Administration Culture
(G) Public Administration Eficiency Effectiveness
Public Administration in Society
(1) A and B influence C, D, E, F, G (2) C influences D and E (3) D and E influence F which in turn influences C (4) F influences G (5) G closes the loop by influencing A and B.
DIAGRAM 8.2
A discussion of societal structure (A) and societal culture (B) is outside the ambit of this paper. Ethics will be discussed later in the paper.
10. Public Administration Structure
Traditional bureaucracy dealt with a static environment. It was concerned with inputs and devised increasingly surreal procedures to
safeguard their use. Weber (1947) spelt out the characteristics of anideal bureaucracy. These were

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(1) A rational efficient method of organisation concentrating on control.
(2) A transparent structure of rules and regulations meant to eliminate an arbitrary exercise of power. -
(3) An inner coherence in the structure, where the hierarchy reflected increasing expertise and continuous gradation of authority. The structure was equivalent to the assembly line in a factory.
(4) A task orientation to work. (5) A rational definition of functional boundaries. (6) Employees had a career path based on hierarchical advance and the office was the primary location of the incumbent.
(7) Selection of bureaucrats was on merit. (8) Hierarchical authority and functional specialisation enabled the undertaking of large complex tasks to be fulfilled efficiently.
The Weberian model mimicked the Newtonian clockwork structure. Work in a bureaucratic organisation was done mechanically and impersonally. The head of the organisation was selected because of his seniority. Seniority had enabled him to accumulate precedents which could be drawn on when similar problems arose. No new problems, outside what had already arisen, were envisaged because this model dealt with a static environment. The head was a heroleader who led because of his accumulation of knowledge. Activity as a cultural or Social function was not envisaged since it was undertaken by the atomised individual.
Public administration inherited by Sri Lanka at the time of independence was derived from British traditions. As already noted the modern British public service saw its emergence from the NorthcoteTrevalyan reforms of the mid-19th century, which sought to develop an administrative class to provide the government and ministers with an elite corps of generalist administrators. They were committed to a Service than to any set of policies. They functioned to support political masters and assist in implementation. A premium was placed on the overall service. The values extolled were those of incorruptibility, equity and administrative professionalism. They were not of innovativeness and a search for economy, efficiency and effectivity.
11. The New Paradigm-Public Administration Structure
The nature of paradigms was discussed earlier in this paper.

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 221
Schwartz and Ogilvy in a study conducted in 1979 indicated that paradigm shifts were taking place in almost all fields, from art and cosmology to religion studies, quantum mechanics and Zoology. Public administration is not immune to this paradigm shift. The traditional public administration paradigm resembled the mechanistic formulations of Newton, that reality could be broken down into smaller and ever smaller parts and reassembled using these parts. An example is the hierarchical pattern of a public administration department with its downward flowing boxes and lines. Knowledge about the organisation was to be gained by studying each of the parts. Traditional public administration was control based where it was assumed that if enough information were gathered present behaviour could be understood and future behaviour predicted. The traditional paradigm assumes that all events are knowable and happen in Sequential fashion. The assumption was that a scientific approach would lead to objective results. An example of its application was the "scientific' management principles of Frederick Taylor. The emerging new paradigm, influenced by Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics in contrast to Newtonian mechanics underpinning the earlier paradigm, recognises that subdivision into simpler parts will change the relationships between the units and make them less understandable. A tabular representation of the traditional paradigm and the emerging new one in respect of public administration is as follows:
11.2 Paradigm Shift-Bureaucracy to Management/Entrepreneur
ship
One of the telling points, repeatedly emphasised by the World Bank approach on governance, is that public administration is bureaucratic in behaviour and it should become managerial/entrepreneurial. To become managerial, it is necessary to determine the market, its needs, produce services efficiently to meet these needs and distribute them effectively. Public administration in Sri Lanka has no such orientation. From the time of the Magna Carta, public administration in the British tradition has been concerned with safeguarding the input of money and ensuring a clean accountability of the Minister to Parliament. If the World Bank recommendations were to be implemented a paradigmatic shift is required. Given below is a

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The Third Wave
TABLE 8.2
Traditional Paradigm
Emerging Paradigm
1. Organisation is simple, i.e., it is composed of boxes and lines which could be analysed as separate pieces. An example is the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
2. Hierarchy, i.e., people and ideas can be organised in pyramids with the top point being occupied by the most knowledgeable and the most competent.
3. Mechanistic, i.e., following rules and regulations irrespective of the circumstances. This is appropriate for static situations where there is no change.
4. Determinate, i.e., where behaviour and actions are laid down beforehand and there is only one possible solution. An example is education where, who will be educated (students), where they will be educated (schools), the content of education (curriculum), the deliverers of education (teachers), the quality control of education (examinations) and the certification (Diplomas, etc.) are all laid down by the Ministry.
5. Sequential, i.e., where events and causes, are directly linked e.g., the need for a birth certificate for a 5-year child is directly linked to the child's entry to school.
1. Organisation is complex with complicated inter-relationships which if attempted to dissect will distort the character of the organisation. An example is the Medical Research Institute.
2. Heterarchy, i.e., there are multiple structures even within an organisation. One part can function like a hierarchy while another as a matrix and third as a project team, etc. An example is a Ministry of government.
3. Organic, i.e., where each organisation finds different ways of doing things though each institution has the same information as the others. The metaphor that would clarify is that of a hologram. Divisional Secretariats would be examples of a hologram.
4. Indeterminate, i.e., where many solutions are possible, each one of them a “best”. An example is poverty alleviation where the earlier determinate approach of paying charity allowances is now replaced with many approaches e.g., food stamps, cushioning, entrepreneurship development, affirmative action, etc.
5. Discontinuous, i.e., where the link between cause and effect may not be all that evident, e.g., the need for a housemaid to go to the Middle East may be because of economic circumstances but could be for other reasons, to get away from a romantic failure.

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics
6. Assembly line, i.e., where work steps are laid down from point to point. Arumugam in his paper in this volume bases his costing approach on an assembly line model.
7. Leadership is individual based that of a hero-leader.
8. Bureaucratic approach, i.e., being concerned with inputs, processes and procedures.
223
6. Creating new forms which are different from the originating components. For example, the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) is the staff college for training and consultancy of public servants. But it was actively involved in institution building of Divisional Secretariats and Provincial Management Development and Training Units. The technical term is Morphogenesis. A physical example is that of extracting butter from milk.
7. Leadership is cultural and social, i.e., where activity is managed by groups and team-centred.
8. (a) Managerial approach, i.e., looking at markets, developing services, producing these services efficiently and effectively and constantly reviewing progress.
8. (b) Entrepreneurial approach, i.e., being constantly on the look out for opportunities to respond to the needs of different groups of the public.
comparison of bureaucracy and management that would enable such a paradigm change to be initiated and also a suggested approach to moving towards entrepreneurship in public administration.
11.2.2 Entrepreneurship
The concept of entrepreneurship has recently acquired a manage
rial interpretation. Traditionally, it was an economic interpretation, that of a shifting activity which had a lower return on capital to an activity which offered a higher return, the opportunity cost concept. Schumpeter (1934) introduced the managerial concept of entrepreneurship. It included finding new markets, new sources of human resources and capital, producing outputs in novel ways, introducing new technology, and even developing new and appropriate organi

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11.2.1. Comparison of Bureaucracy and Management
TABLE 8.3
Item for comparison
Bureaucracy
Management
1. Objectives
2. Success criteria
3. Use of Resources
4. Organisation Structure
5. Organisation Atmosphere
6. Desired Behaviour
7. Performance Roles
8.1 Attitudes (General)
8.2 Attitudes (Time)
1. In general objectives not laid down 2. Even if objectives were present, they are infrequently reviewed or changed
Avoiding mistakes
Secondary concern
1. Long hierarchies 2. Limited delegation 3. Roles defined in terms of responsibility
Formal
1. Strictly follow rules 2. Explicit obedience 3. Unquestioned loyalty to authority
Arbitrator
I. Passive 2. Workload determined
Time insensitive
1. Broad strategic aims are laid down and they are supported by detailed goals 2. Targets are frequently reviewed
Seeking success even by making mistakes
Primary concern
1. Flexible organisational structures 2. Maximum deconcentration 3. Roles defined in terms of task
Relaxed, informal and
easy camaraderie
1. Rules are guides not determinants 2. Implicit obedience 3. Loyalty to performance and output
1. Protagonist 2. Proactive
1. Active 2. Seeking to influence
environment
Time Sensitive

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 225
Item for comparison
Виreаисracy
Management
8.3 Attitudes (Risk)
9. Use of Personnel
10. Rewards
11. Emphasis
12. Skills
Risk Averse
Best people are used to solve problems
1. Regular promotion 2. Approved fringe benefits
1. Procedures 2. Unquestioned conformity 3. National standardse.g., FR, Estacode
1. Legal and quasilegal 2. Literary
Accepting risks but minimising them
Best people are used to find and exploit opportunities
1. Payment by results 2. Create fringe benefits
1. Results 2. The need for conformity has to be regularly proven 3. Local, decentralised experiments
1. Economics and socioeconomics 2. Numerate
sational forms. Each one of these are relevant to public administration. David Osborne and Ted Gaebler in their book (1991) Reinventing Government offer numerous examples of how the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming public administration in the United States. The chapter headings of their book offer possibilities for application in Sri Lanka.
1. Government: Steering rather than rowing 2. Community-owned Government: Empowering rather than serv
1ng
3. Competitive Government: Injecting competition in service de
livery
4. Mission-driven Government: Transforming rule driven
organisations
5. Results-oriented Government: Funding outcomes not inputs 6. Customer-driven Government: Meeting the need of the cus
tomer not the bureaucracy

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7. Enterprising Government: Earning rather than spending
Anticipating Government: Prevention rather than cure 9. Decentralised Government: From hierarchy to participation
and teamwork 10. Market-oriented Government: Leveraging change through the
market.
8.
Public administration is a mosaic of institutions. All of them cannot abandon the comfortable solace of the old paradigm and shift abruptly to the new. Concepts of governance of the World Bank would have to be applied selectively and in a phased manner depending on their relevance and stage of transition of each public administration agency. This can only be done through a systematic Organisation Development (OD) exercise, painstakingly conducted for each agency, even parts of an agency.
12. Public Administration Culture
12.1. Culture
Culture, as a resource for an organisation, was discovered by the developed countries following on the insights of Peters and Waterman (1982)' in their best selling The Search of Excellence. The point was made that individuals have unique capabilities and the organisation would benefit substantially if it could provide a suitable environment for them to blossom.
The literature is full of definitions of culture, almost each author offering his individual one. The definition of Hofstede (1980) appears quite appropriate. His definition is that "culture is a programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one category of people from those of others." In Sri Lanka the public service is one such cultural entity. It clearly has a cachet not shared by employees in the private sector or even the public corporation sector. Within the public service, there are different organisations having separate mandates, roles and responsibilities. Each of them have their sub-cultures. The employees themselves belong to service groups, either exclusive to the agency or cutting across agencies like the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS). These service groups too have their own sub-cultures. Whatever their sub-culture, it is within the overall

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 227
public service culture.
Culture is not inborn but acquired from the environment in which the person is located. For example a new born baby or an employee newly recruited to an organisation acquires culture. Cultural development is a process that continues throughout stay in the environment. Values are the elements which keep the culture of an individual intact. To borrow a cosmological metaphor, values are the gluons (quarks) which transmit the strong cultural force to keep the organisation together. Governance agendas which do not recognise the powerful resource of culture in managing change suffer from a major handicap.
Attempts have been made to measure culture. Based on the IBM culture data (1979) and Rokeach value survey (1983) four dimensions are noted. These are relevant to Sri Lankan public administration. They are
12. I. I. Power Distance Dinension
Power distance is the acceptance of unequal distribution of power by those affected by it. Large power distance is accepted in the traditional paradigm, since the Sri Lankan public service is very hierarchical. However in terms of the new paradigm that is emerging, large power distance will not be acceptable. As such the new requirement is for a consultative democrat to replace hero-leaders.
12.1.2. Individualist/Collectivist Dimension
This dimension indicates the extent to which individuals are incorporated into groups. An example of an application to an individualist culture is of providing financial rewards as part of motivation. The individualistic approach is in keeping with the World Bank's model of governance extolling individual incentives, etc. However, there is an alternative dimension, the collectivist. Public administration has always been part of the collectivist heritage and if the new paradigm were to be applied, it has to be through collectivist approaches, like participation, where there are psychic rewards and group incentives rather than where there are individual financial rewards.
12.1.3. Masculinity/Femininity Dimension
Masculine values are aggressive, assertive and competitive, while

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femininity values are nurturing and relationships-oriented. (They are adjectives not nouns.) The former will be relevant to the traditional paradigm while the latter to the emerging one.
12. I.4. Uncertainty Avoidance Dimension
This dimension indicates the extent to which members are comfortable with uncertainty. The traditional paradigm places a premium on certainty. Consequently public administration in Sri Lanka is risk averse and uncertainty avoiding. One reason for the dominance of political decision making in Sri Lanka is that its public administration is very uncomfortable with uncertainty and consequently invites the politicians to give it directions. The corollary is that entrepreneurial public servants in the 90s, unlike in the 50s, have no place. If the new paradigm were to prevail, uncomfortable uncertainty avoidance should be minimised, which means that public servants have to be judged on performance and indicators developed to do so.
12.2. Rites, Rituals, Ceremonials
Like in societal culture, organisational culture is expressed in rites, rituals and ceremonies. A rite consolidates various forms of cultural expression into one event. A ritual is an established or prescribed procedure to carry out a rite. A ceremonial is a collection of several rites expressed on one occasion.
Rites are very important for public administration. Under the British there were a variety of rites, but because of the lack of a sociological/anthropological understanding of management among the Sri Lankan successors, these rites had been allowed to lapse into desuetude. Some rites relevant to public administration are
TABLE 8.4
Type of Rite Examples
1. Passage 1. - Induction Program
- Basic training for new employees - Oath taking or swearing-in
2. Degradation 2. - Actively finding alternative em
ployment for surplus staff

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 229
- Termination of employment – Demotion - Lateral transfer to a less status
job, position or location - Shift office table to a less presti
gious position
3. Enhancement 3. - Promotion
- Prizes, merit awards - Scholarships - Foreign travel
4. Renewal 4. - Organisation Development (OD)
- Team building - Quality Circles (QC) - Work Improvement Teams (WIT) - Productivity improvement
5. Conflict Resolution 5. - Management/Union Negotiations
- Arbitration - Joint consultative meetings - Third party interventions
6. Integration 6. - Pilgrimages
- Social events - End year celebrations - Creches for employees' children
Rites of passage provide assistance for a person's transition to a new role status within the organisation. An important rite of passage is induction into the public service on first appointment. For example, the CCS underwent a thorough initiation into the public service. -Mircea Eliade states that “initiation is equivalent to a basic change in existential conditions, the novice emerges from his ordeal endowed with a totally different being from that which he possessed before his initiation. He has become another.' Initiation is a rite of passage easing the transition from one environmental condition to another. Initiation is practised in all societies. The initiation training of the CCS emphasised that a member was an eternal apprentice. Rites of degradation help dissolve a person's organisational identity and power. Rites of renewal are very effective in refurbishing organisational structures and processes. This leads to their continued economical,

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efficient and effective functioning. Rites of conflict resolution reduce conflict and aggression among organisation members, while rites of integration help, encourage and revive common socio-organisational relational feelings. These integrative factors bind organisation members together, and thereby enhance other levels of attachment, thus improving the performance of the individual, other individuals and the organisation as a whole.
It is vital that initiation programs be provided for all recruits to the
public service. This is more so if the new values of public administration were to be mainlined into them. India has taken this aspect seriously. The major All India Services are provided a 3-year initiation at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy in Mussouri. The Indian Administration Service continues to be provided training by this academy during its full career period after the other recruits leave to join their respective services.
This section emphasises that organisational culture should be considered a resource. The World Bank and OECD viewpoints on governance regrettably did not consider this aspect too seriously. To ensure the dissemination of the new paradigm of public administration, the effective management of organisational rites, rituals and ceremonials must ensure that it produces a culture that possesses three vital characteristics. The first is that it should support and reinforce economic viability. This means that each public administration agency should function economically, efficiently and effectively. The second characteristic is that the particular public administration agency should be unique in order to distinguish it from other agencies, whether in the public sector or private sector. This means the striking of a mission statement for each public administration agency. The third characteristic is that it should enable public administration entrepreneurship to flourish. The active utilisation of culture as a resource will help substantially in moving public administration towards this new paradigm.
13. Ethics
Ethics are the behaviourial aspects of values particularly concerned with applying the morality component. Mankind can be distinguished from animals by its self-awareness. Man could be considered civilized only when he is denoted an Homo Ethicus. Ethics deal

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 23
with human conduct and is concerned with questions about good and bad, virtue and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice. As the behaviourial part of values it covers a humane person's duties and obligations.
As against the concept of Homo Ethicus, the viewpoint of the World Bank and the OECD extols the concept of Homo Economicus that is that ethics is embedded in economic transactions, the optimising of individual economic welfare. The intellectual justification is given in the Public Choice School of Economics. While the acquisitive nature of man is immanent, the effort made by all great religions and philosophies was to change and channel these acquisitive instincts into social and ethical behaviours. The first explicit support for developing acquisitive instincts was in the 19th century. It was part of the ideological sustenance of the industrial revolution initiated by Adam Smith in the mid-18th century with his Wealth of Nations. Adam Smith proclaimed an ideology to end all ideologies, for he abolished the moral problem despite holding the professorial chair of Moral philosophy. The acquisitive spirit was worshipped as a virtue in itself. It is the economists dharma. The emergence of Social Darwinism gave a naturalist justification to this view. Public administration is built on different lines. It cannot consider the acquisitive instinct or its stimulation as an virtue immanent. In fact, the newly emerging concerns for business ethics in the private sector indicate worrisome reservations about unethical practices. On the other hand, public administration, having always been part of the community, considers virtue or dharma as an objective fact not for sale or negotiation. However, recent unethical events, revealed particularly in Korea and India, have given public administration a battering, supporting the Chinese saying that "when a man is appointed a government official his wife, children, domestics, cats, dogs and even chickens fly to heaven.” But corrective measures have to be set in train, with the difference that in the private sector virtue has to be induced, in public administration it has to be rediscovered. In India, an ex-prime minister had been arraigned, in Sri Lanka a number of commissions are sitting over specific probity issues and in Korea two former Presidents have been sentenced. In Pakistan a corruption law has been passed.
In the search for public administration ethics, four approaches are possible. They are the classical, legal, environmental and decision

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making approaches.
1. The classical approach. This draws on the philosophical and cultural traditions of a nation e.g., laws of Manu and the Vedic tradition in India, Lao-tze and the Confucian tradition in China, the Koranic traditions in Islamic countries, the Buddhist tradition, and the Judeo-Christian tradition of the Western countries. The classical approach builds on moral cognitive capability. It is essentially a conservative approach where traditional texts require to be interpreted to suit modern conditions. There is a danger that the classical approach could lead to fundamentalism and the worship of rituals.
2. The legal approach. This focuses on laws, rules, regulations and the imposition of constraints on the discretion used by individuals in exercising administrative power and autonomy. The United States passed an ethics law under President Carter in 1977 and the Malaysian government published two books (1991) relating to the subject, the first entitled Values and Ethics in Public Service and the other The Twelve Pillars: The Assimilation of Values, Norms and Ethics in the Public Service. The legal approach would centre on issues which include ethical dilemmas arising out of the use and abuse of the power of the state, legal rights of citizens and of the public service, political rights and the secrecy of government, conflict of interest and accountability. In the legal approach, the legality of administrative action and its moral dimensions are emphasised. The legal approach would offer heavy support for the issue of codes of conduct for public servants. The World Bank and OECD concepts of governance would commend the legal approach. According to both institutions the legal approach, if transparent, would spell out the rights and obligations of all parties and minimise discretion.
3. Environmental approach. In this approach, a public servant is considered a trustee of the public good. He has a higher responsibility to safeguard this good even to the extent of going against the wilfulness of the politician who is his temporary master. The public servant . is very much akin to Plato's Philosopher-King and the Chinese Mandarin. The latter was a scholar-administrator deeply imbued with rectitude and consequently the fount of ethics.
4. Decision-making approach. This is based on the view that public administration agencies, like other artificially created

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 233
organisations, are oriented to achieving objectives. Consequently they are decision-making systems. To achieve results trade offs are required, probably even between moral concepts and tangible outputs. Thus conflicts would arise. Ethics are the means to resolve these conflicts. This approach could be called instrumental. While World Bank and OECD views on governance do not explicitly deal with this subject, they are strong on governance achieving results economically, efficiently and effectively. Consequently they would give support for any instrumental approach that would achieve these ends.
14. Character
The SLAS has not been able to emulate the position of the CCS. The SLAS is accepted merely as another of the management services. Since its abolition, the CCS has gained a reputation of mythic proportions. There are a number of reasons for the pre-eminence of the CCS, one of them being character. Character was built from induction and reinforced till retirement. Seniors and peers were rolemodels concerned with building and improving the service. Where service matters were concerned no compromises were accepted. The same devotion to service and loyalty is not evident in the SLAS. The example of the induction training where three insurgent cadets with political support were able to terrorise senior SLAS officers into stymieing their vital training despite it being obligatory, is a case in point. In the CCS they would have had short shrift. In the SLAS they flourish. The case study in Chapter One is not all too rare an occurrence. The CCS had a gospel of uplift, the SLAS one of downgrade. The SLAS has excellent officers, some of them at Secretary level, but the numbers are far too small to re-generate public administration in terms of the new paradigm. Urgent attention has to be given to a new management service. The earlier this were done the better, since it will take at last 10 years to form a cadre of about 100 excellent officers. This has now been done opening public positions to the best managers in the country. As repeatedly mentioned, in Britain the modern civil service was created by the Northcote-Trevalyan reforms of the mid-19th century. Sri Lanka followed in its slip stream. The objective conditions are now ready for Sri Lanka to develop her own post-independence public service. This public service has to be built on a fresh restatement of values and ethics.

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15. Values Revisited
As has been argued in this paper, values or dharma are central to an individual's activity. Public administration values, inherited by Sri Lanka are from the British tradition of public administration, found in its source code of the Northcote-Trevalyan reforms of the mid-19th century. It had three central values, incorruptibility, merit in appointment and allegiance to a service, not policies. The new paradigm of public administration is different, but should benefit from the best features of the traditional paradigm. A paradigm shift essentially means the striking of fresh values, while retaining existing ones relevant to the new paradigm. Malaysia has indicated 12 values that should animate her public service. They are: (1) Value of time; (2) The success of perseverance; (3) The pleasure of working; (4) The dignity of simplicity; (5) The worth of character; (6) The power of kindness; (7) The influence of example; (8) The obligation of duty; (9) The wisdom of economy; (10) The virtue of patience; (11) The improvement of talent; (12) The joy of originating. Many of these could be considered attitudes.
As already been mentioned one component of the new paradigm is to become managerial. Fox (1993)' identifies professional management values as being economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity. Rosenbloom (1984) who had earlier attributed these values as underpinning the emergence of the civil service in the United States, includes the new values of responsiveness, accountability, safeguarding rights and liberties, and equal protection. Waldo (1980) splits these values into two categories-the hard and soft values. Hard values represent the difficult choices of work like calculation, negotiation, dealing with situations under scarcity. Values of efficiency, effectivity and economy would be hard values. The soft values deal with nurturing of building culture, giving leadership, etc. This demarcation may coincide with Cooper's (1987) distinction between external and internal goods. External goods are those where gain to one leads to a loss for others. It is a zero sum game. Examples of external goods are money, power, status, etc. Internal goods are the soft issues of public interest, social justice, liberty, etc.
It is necessary to craft out a set of fresh values, or reinforce the existing ones, in keeping with the emerging new paradigm of public administration. Some suggested values are

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 235
15.1. Virtue or Dharma
This is a value that is non negotiable and has to pervade all aspects of public administration and management. No action can or will have validity unless it passes the test of virtue or dharma. Action cannot be taken by a public administrator, even under orders, if such action lacks virtue. The senior public administrators who gave substantive appointments to the cadets of the 1992 batch, without them completing their initiation-training as required in the SLAS minute, were not only doing something illegal but also lacked virtue. It was an act of adharma. Similarly, passing the accountants, as indicated in the casestudy, is an act of adharma.
15.2. Political leadership
Public administration is the instrument through which the people of the country get their expectations fulfilled. The leadership to carry out those expectations is given by politicians, consecrated through the democratic process of free and fair elections. Public administration has to work under political leadership, the elected public servants, but be imbued with virtue or dharma. Unfortunately in Sri Lanka, politicians often actively egged by public servants, not only deal with politics but also governance. This means negative political decision-making for partisan purposes. Such decisions cannot be carried out by public administration, nor can decisions which go against the public good be implemented. The argument that public, servants were merely carrying out orders, if they lacked virtue, cannot be accepted.
15.3. Professional leadership
Public administrators are professionals. While they work under political leadership they have to safeguard their professional ethos and their responsibility to safeguard the public good. This again draws attention to virtue or dharma.
15.4. Responsiveness
The market that a public administrator serves is the people. While
the politicians represent this market, public administrators too have a
trustee responsibility of serving it with virtue or dharma.

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15.5. Equity, Economy, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Entrepreneurship
(5Es)
15.5.1. Equity. Public administration decisions are not merely transactional, based on cost-benefit ratios. Every decision should be equitable, if not such a decision cannot stand.This is the element that distinguishes public administration from private sector management.
15.5.2. Economy, Efficiency and Effectivity. These are the managerial values of the new paradigm. Public administration has no divine right to exist except by practising these managerial values.
15.5.3. Entrepreneurship. This is the developmental component of the new paradigm.
15.6. Accountability. The responsibility to answer, to those who are entitled to seek answers, about actions taken.
15.7 Incorruptibility. Take decisions and actions solely within the legal infrastructure and the merits of the case. Incorruptibility goes beyond financial transactions and covers moral issues.
16. Conclusion
Public administration is not the same as private sector management though they may share common features. Public administration is the operating machinery of the state. Consequently it should be pervaded by virtue or dharma. Virtue or dharma is not transactional, manipulatable or negotiable. With independence, public administration became pioneers of change. Half a century later it has become the relic of it. But there is a new paradigm emerging about public administration, governance being one component. Values, culture, attitudes and ethics have to be newly crafted or existing areas reinterpreted in keeping with the new paradigm. They are part of the operating system, the software of public administration. This area has not been given its important location in the World Bank, OECD, suggestions on governance. It may be because of the overly technicist approach adopted therein. This software will make efforts towards public administration reform all the more implementable. In public administration, while the consecrated politicians are the leaders, the

Public Administration Paradigm-Culture, Values, Ethics 237
public servants are not their organic extension. But both are coworkers fulfilling designated and accountable but different responsibilities. Public administration virtue or dharma cannot be traded off for political electoral advantage. Public servants who connive with it are not virtuous, but merely maximising their private benefits. It is immoral and concerned with self advancement. It is adharma. Public servants too have a pastoral function of looking after the public. The subtle interplay of politician and bureaucrat needs further study. What is exciting however is that with all this ferment, public administration is now entering into a new and dramatically different phase in its evolution. This is the third wave in public administration.
N. O. T E S
1. Plato (ed.) (1945), The Republic, Oxford University Press. 2. Cuber, John F. (1971), The World Book Encyclopaedia, Vol. 10, Field Enterprises Education Corporation.
3. Hawkins, Stephen (1988), A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, Bantam.
4. Nishkanen (1977), Bureaucracy and Representative Government, Aldine Atherton.
5. Cooper, Terry (1982), The Responsible Administration: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role, Kennikat Press.
6. Aucoin, P. (1990), Administrative Reform in Public Management: Paradigms, Principles, Paradoxes, Pendulums, Governance 3.
7. Kernaghan, K. (1993), "Reshaping Government: The Post-Bureaucratic Paradigm”, Canadian Public Administration 36.
8. Osborne, David and Gaebler, Ted (1991), Reinventing Government, AddisonWesley Publishing Co.
9. Hood, C. (1991), "A Public Management for All Seasons", Public Administration 69. میر 10. Herman, W. (1988), "Global Mind Change: The Promise of the Last Years of the Twentieth Century", Knowledge Systems.
11. Kuhn, T. (1970), The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago,
12. Northcote-Trevalyan, (1854), "Report on the Organisation of the Permanent Civil Service', London.
13. White Paper on Civil Service (1994), "The Civil Service: Continuity and Change”, CMD 2627.
14. Caiden, G.S. (1994), “Administrative Reform: American Style”, Public Administration Review, 54.
15. Weber, Max (1947), The Theory of Social and Economic Organisations,

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edited by Talcott Parsons: Free Press.
16. Schwartz, P. and Ogilvy, J. (1979), "The Emergent Paradigm: Changing Patterns of Thought and Beliefs', Sri International.
17. Hologram, A Laser hologram is developed by using light from a laser to record a scene on photographic film. Once this hologram is produced it could be viewed as a 3-D diagram using special apparatus. Its interesting feature is that each part contains the whole picture.
18. Schumpeter Joseph, A. (1934), A Theory of Economic Development:An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest and the Business Cycle, Harvard University Press.
19. Peters, Thomas and Robert H., Waterman (1982), The Search for Excellence, Harper and Row.
20. Hofstede, Geert (1980), Cultures, Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values, Sage.
21. Eliade Mircea (1992), Quoted in Views from the Male World, edited by Keith Thompson: Harper Williams.
22. Fox, Siegrun (1993), "Professional Norms and Actual Practices in Local Personnel Administration", Review of Public Personnel Administration, Vol. 13, No. 2.
23. Rosenbloom, D.H. (1984), “Public Administrative Professionalism and Public Service Law'', State and Local Governmenf Review 16.
24. Waldo, Dwight (1980), The Enterprise of Public Administration, Chandler and Sharp.
25. Op. cit.

9
Evolution of Administrative Reforms
S. Nadarajah
"I am not a politician by choice. I pursue the objective of institution building as an essential component of the reconstruction of the nation."
-Hanan Ashrawi, This Side of Peace.
"Seek ye first the political heaven and then all else will follow."
-Kwame Nkrumah
1. Governance in Colonial Times
HE Maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka (Ceylon as she was called upto 1972) were taken over by the British from the Dutch in 1796, who then proceeded to capture the land locked Kandyan Kingdom, thus bringing the whole of Sri Lanka under one rule. The administrative system followed by the Dutch was to retain the local arrangements of governance with a superstructure of higher level Dutch officials. The British followed the same tradition but extending it to their newly acquired Kandyan Kingdom. However in the 1830s, following on the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms, significant changes were introduced. The main points were, a higher civil service composed of expatriate officials supported by locally recruited officials, an open economy which resulted in attracting foreign capital, foreign labour, and foreign management, and the modernising of the judicial system to provide the legal infrastructure to an emerging capitalist system. If World Bank concepts of governance were prevalent during this time, the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms would have been considered to have made a clear separation between the public and private domains and thereby prevented a misapplication of public resources for private gain, introduced laws

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which are predictable thus preventing arbitrariness in decision-making, laid down priorities which were considered vital for development thus preventing a misallocation of resources. The ColebrookeCameron changes are reminiscent of the adjustment travails of the new nations now emerging from the breakup of the Soviet Union. These reforms changed a feudal based society to a capitalist based society. In comparison the recent reforms in the Soviet Union attempt to change a socialist society to a capitalist one.
The emerging public administration in Sri Lanka was locked into imperial concerns of governance. The higher civil service was the steel frame and its primary responsibility was to ensure law and order. The Colonial Office in Westminster formulated macro-economic policy geared to the well being of Britain. The implementation of this policy with fidelity was the responsibility of the higher civil service in Sri Lanka. Therefore policy and operations were clearly separated at this stage. The higher civil service had at its head, the Governor appointed by the Colonial Office. The Governor had senior expatriates to support him in Colombo and junior expatriates in the provinces and districts. The point of contact of the Colombo based officials with the region was the Government Agent (GA) in the province, under whom all other officials worked. He was like the District Collector in India and Prefect in France. Below him, the division and village levels were manned by locally appointed officials called a Division officer (his designation kept on changing) and a Village Headman respectively. While the British officials composing the higher civil service were subsequently appointed on the basis of the Northcote-Trevalyan reforms of the mid-1850s, the local officials were mainly selected from important families in the areas of their operation. An idealised representation of this arrangement was as on the following page.
The systematic application of the economic aspects of the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms led to further impoverishment of the already marginalised rural peasantry. Like in governance reforms of the present day, the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms initially dealt with the content of change but later the context compelled a fresh, less ideologically motivated, look at social costs. The expatriate civil servants, who now formed the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS), appointed to provinces and districts, tried to adopt developmental

Evolution of Administrative Reforms 241
TABLE 9.1 LEVELS OFFICIALS
Britain Colonial Secretary Sri Lanka
Colombo Governor
Department Heads
Province Expatriates Government Agent (GA)
District Assistant Government
)Art (AGA کسے Division Local selectees Division Officer
Village ༄།། Village Headman
policies with a human face. Consequently medical, educational, irrigation, welfare policies were introduced. These policies were now implemented by departmental heads in the province. Their subordinates functioned under their departmental heads. They had representation in division and occasionally in the village. The GA, in addition to his direct responsibility to the centre, now developed a coordinating responsibility at the provincial level bringing together officials of those differentiated agencies. The structure now appeared as on the following page.
Some significant elements could be delineated in these governance arrangements.
(a) The Colonial Secretary was totally responsible for effective governance of Sri Lanka. While he retained the responsibility for appointing senior officials and the formulation of strategic direction and policies, their implementation was vested with the Governor. The Governor was accountable to the Colonial Secretary for effective governance within Sri Lanka.
(b) The Governor and Heads of Department were responsible

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Level Officials
TABLE 9.2
Britain Colonial Secretary
Sri Lanka Governor
Colombo Heads of Department
W کس سے\^/_
T Province Local Govt., Education, Health, GA
Irrigation, Police, Survey
District Assistants AGA
Division Divisional Officers Division Officer
Village Village Officers Village Headman
for policy management, that is converting strategic directions into implementable categories, and reviewing implementation.
(c) Government Agents, (GAs), working in their offices called a kachcheri, were the fulcrum of public administration under the British. He was the direct representative of the Governor in the province, the functionaries of the District, Division and Village being subordinated to him. He was also responsible for coordinating the independent agencies in the province.
(d) The Assistant Government Agents (AGAs), the Divisional Officers and Village Headmen were strictly operational officers, each of them having some activities which were at the interface with the public. However most of the retailing of public services was at the division and village level. Governance operations were to deconcentrate discretionary decision making powers, in carefully modulated diminishing doses, from the Colonial Office down to the level of AGA. This level was the cut off point for the recruitment of expatriates. At this level, manned exclusively by Sri Lankan officials, discretionary decision making

Evolution of Administrative Reforms 243
stopped. This lower level merely implemented orders. Any variation required the approval of at least the Assistant Government Agent. Thus Sri Lankans were outside the information loop.
This system continued inessence upto 1931, when the Donoughmore reforms were introduced. Upto then some minor incremental changes were made. Sri Lankans were co-opted in small numbers into the Civil Service, though administrative decision making powers were not much deconcentrated. The powers of the legislature were increased, though election was not by universal suffrage. The governance arrangements were much the same and within the framework though some sophistication was evident in practice for accommodating the wishes of the non-represented Sri Lankans whom the British could safely consider their own. The whole approach was not to rock the British governance boat. The present World Bank concept of governance would have been relevant in this anachronistic scenario.
The Donoughmore reforms introduced dimensional changes in governance. They lay mainly in introducing universal adult franchise, and devolving internal self-rule from Westminster to Colombo. This set in motion the insertion of political decision making into governance arrangements. It also brought into the playing field the political element, which the World Bank view of governance considers negative. The World Bank does not give recognition to the importance of political leadership in introducing change as part of the process of democratisation. These were the critical issues which the Sri Lanka public administration had to deal from now on.
Internal self-rule meant the establishment of two lists, the first list comprised powers controlled by the Colonial Office, primarily for Finance, Home Affairs and Defence. The public service was under Finance. A devolved list was under the political direction of Sri Lankan ministers. The traumas revealed half a century later, of adjusting to a politicised administration at the sub-regional level did not become too evident in the Donoughmore period, because the public service was firmly controlled by the British. But in the meanwhile, since public administration was now involved in matters other than law and order, it gained considerable experience in Some regulative functions. Regulative functions encompass law and order, macroeconomic management and the institutional framework for managing market economies. The latter two however did not loom too large. In

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addition, the Donoughmore public service gained experience in redistribution functions, tackling absolute poverty and severe inequality. But the over-concentration on the redistributive function was at the cost of ignoring the management of market economies.
2. Public Administration since Independence
Sri Lanka gained her independence from Britain in 1948, and the first necessary step taken for governance was the ministerialisation of public administration. Each ministry headed by a political head called the Minister, was supported by an administrative head called a Secretary (He was called a Permanent Secretary upto the 1972 Constitution). The Minister was an elected public official and the Secretary was a selected public official. The Secretary was appointed by the executive head of the state but worked under the direction and control of the Minister. The Secretary was responsible for the performance of the institutions of the Ministry. Parliamentary control of finance was ensured by appointing the Secretary as the Chief Accounting Officer of the Ministry. The relationship of the Minister to Secretary was expected to be harmonious, but on occasion becomes quite fraught. In the initial years, the Secretary was able to substantially influence policy and make the political half of the relationship concentrate on the long term. However, over time the short term tended to dominate. Politicians concentrated on what to them was the most pressing, that of acquiring and managing power, the Secretaries declined from being administrators to politickers. Consequently public administration acquiesced to increasing untargetted welfare provision. Thus Sri Lanka engaged in "champagne living on a toddy income' in the telling phrase of Joan Robinson. Another major initiative of public administration was the establishment and management of State Owned Enterprises (SOE) called public corporations. Details are given elsewhere in the volume by Jayasinghe “Privatisation”.
Public administration is the intermingling of politics and administration. Sri Lanka developed a vibrant political tradition, which saw periodic changes of government, all carried out through the electoral process. There were two main parties, who in association with a number of smaller parties, alternated in power. They were the United National Party (UNP), and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The parties which formed governments were as follows:

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1948 (Independence) UNP 1952 UNP 1956 SLFP 1960 (March) UNP 1960 (July) SLFP 1965 UNP 1970 SLFP 1977 W UNP 1982 o UNP 1987 UNP 1994 SLFP
While generalisations tend to be over simplistic, it would be fair to state that the UNP emphasises a private sector mode of development, is outward looking, production-oriented and westernised. The SLFP on the other hand, emphasises the corporate route of development using state-owned agencies, inward looking, distribution-oriented, drawing strength from indigenous sources. Public administration in Sri Lanka, inherited from the British, followed the principles laid down by the Northcote-Trevelyan reforms of the mid-nineteenth century. One of the mainstays of this model of public administration was to provide Ministers and government with an elite corps of generalist administrators committed to the service rather than to any set of policies. With 180 degree changes in ideology, following every change of government, public service in Sri Lanka had a trying time adjusting to the periodic changes in political masters.
From the time of independence, the parties in power supported a positive state. But Secretaries of ministries, had neither experience nor special skills in economic or financial management, since the higher levels, mostly expatriate, who had gained this knowledge and experience in the hatchery of the Donoughmore Constitution retired with independence. It was to take almost 10 years for the concepts of managing resources to optimise output and the vital necessity of training personnel for these new tasks gained currency. In the meanwhile, the Secretaries, without the benefit of trained staff to support them in policy formulation, or in the coordination or evaluation of the work of the departments in their charge, were unable to provide leadership and guidance to their subordinate officials, who in large measure functioned without supervision from the Secretary. It must

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however be emphasised that the Northcote-Trevalyan model did not emphasise too highly the managerial concepts of public administration, concentrating mainly on the policy formulation aspects. It is to the credit pf the World Bank initiatives on governance that these have now beef emphasised.
The inadequacies of public administration became apparent quite early. The first attempt since independence, to improve the performance of public administration was made in 1951, when a team of UK Treasury Officials was invited to advise the government on
1. The general principles underlying the organisation and methods (O&M) approach to efficient administration.
2. The organisation required to give effect to O&M principles in Sri Lanka.
3. The recruitment and training of O&M staff. 4. The proposed programme of work for the O&M Division. That approach was consistent with the present World Bank view on public sector reform in the governance framework, which emphasises efficiency of the public service. Efficiency concepts were not too strong in the Northcote-Trevalyan model.
The team recommended that1. A central O&M unit on the British pattern be established in the public service.
2. This unit be located in the Treasury Division of the Ministry of Finance.
The report was accepted by the government and the O&M Division was set up in the Treasury in 1951, charged with the responsibility of investigating the organisation and operation methods of government departments and recommending improvements. The role of the O&M division was purely advisory. It lacked both the political backing and the administrative support of the Treasury hierarchy, who it was claimed, were busy officials and had more immediate and pressing responsibilities. But this could be considered only a partial explanation. With independence there was a spate of worldwide O&M approaches to public administration reform. This was predicated on the principle that public administration was a value free activity and the urgent necessity should be to improve the machinery through O&M approaches. It was the Taylorian principle of management operating in public administration. The failure of this O&M, initiative, partially prefigured the failure of administrative reform in

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the '90s and for the same reason, that public administration was considered a value free activity.
The O&M induced improvements soon fizzled out, primarily because such improvements should have been undertaken in the larger context of total public administration change. India realised this early and since similar initiatives in that country did not bear fruit, invited a distinguished public administration academic of the United States, Appleby, to offer a comprehensive approach. Sri Lanka on the other hand continued the process of tinkering, which continued throughout the 1980s.
Tinkering resulted in two major structural changes in the administrative system taking place in 1963. One lay at the level of the superstructure, in the abolition of the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS), and the second lay at the other end, the replacement of the Village Headmen system. The CCS inherited at independence the senior most posts which were normally held by expatriates. Its selection was through a stiff competitive examination, from graduates in the age group of 22-24. A well devised career development programme ensured that these officers were placed on the fast track and encouraged to perform well. The CCS could be considered the equivalent of the Chinese Mandarin system of scholar-administrators. The 1956 election victory of the SLFP placed egalitarianism in the forefront. The CCS which symbolised elitism was abolished. The World Bank governance initiative deals with providing a professional public service with its own ethos which is an urgent imperative now. The Village Headmen system however was based on another principle. Selection to its cadre was from prestigious families which tended to entrench privilege and position in the village. Village Headman could be considered a Brahmin caste. They were replaced by village officers who were selected bureaucrats. These two changes did not emerge out of a well thought out programme of public administration reform, but were ad hoc in nature responding to purely politicking concerns.
Despite these changes there was increasing unease about the performance of the public service. The then Secretary to the Treasury, D. Rajendra stated
"Permanent Secretaries and senior administrators, who failed in their responsibility to assist ministers in formulating sound social and economic policies, again failed in their responsibility when

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they carried out ministerial wishes, without analysing and pointing out the financial and economic implications of the policies which were being adopted. The consequences were not immediately apparent, as the government had adequate resources accumulated during war time. The boom that followed the Korea War in the . early '50s enabled the government to sustain and improve these generous policies.
During the recession that followed, the newly created Central Bank produced an analysis of the economic implications of the policies that had been adopted. It caused alarm. An effort to reverse these policies suddenly, by the withdrawal of the subsidies on food caused grave social unrest. The subsidies were gradually reintroduced. The experience demonstrated that in a developing country which had genuinely democratic institutions, welfare services once introduced, could not be withdrawn without provoking social unrest. Sri Lanka had paid a heavy price for policies that were adopted in the early years after independence as a consequence of having an administration that was inadequately trained for the new responsibilities. When the period of prosperity ended and our export prices declined, the Government experienced great difficulty in maintaining these welfare services. Resources urgently required for capital development had to be devoted to consumption.”
For the first time, the principle was articulated that public administration was not a value free activity but closely associated with politically based initiatives, yet that public administration had a distinct role to play, if it was not to become the baggage boys of politicians. w
The UNP which came to power in 1965, created a number of institutions at the ministry level. Among them were a "Plan Implementation Committee', "Foreign Exchange Committee", etc. consisting of Secretaries of relevant ministries. For the first time the more general responsibility of Secretaries of ministries to coordinate, monitor, review and evaluate the performance of departments under their charge, was formally recognised. It also highlighted the deficiencies in the performance of the public service which led to the appointment of a Committee of Secretaries, chaired by the Secretary to the Treasury (ST), to report on
(a) Administrative Reforms

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(b) New Financial Regulations (c) Tender Procedures (d) Procedural and Organisational Changes required in the context of development programs. The Committee in its report pointed out
(1) The absence of systematic progress control in the public sector. (2) The absence of evaluation mechanisms to assess whether the results anticipated originally were being achieved.
(3) A lack of an objective evaluation of individual performance and the consequential reliance on seniority rather than merit in making promotions.
It emphasised that administrative reforms were a continuous process, and Surveys and reporting had to be undertaken systematically to meet the changing needs of the nation. The committee made 15 recommendations, the significant ones being
. (1) Create a Standing Committee on Administrative Reforms consisting of a few Secretaries and two representatives from the professignal services of government to continuously review the machinery of government and make recommendations on administrative changes.
(2) Reorganise the structure of Ministries and Departments by their integration.
(3) Emphasised the importance of induction and in-service training, by the establishment of a Staff College. This recommendation had already been made by the Wilmot A. Perera Salaries Committee of 1961.
(4) Undertake active career management. (5) Retrain all accountants in public service. (6) Undertake a wider delegation of financial authority. The following were implemented
(1) Establishing a Standing Committee on Administrative Re form.
(2) Establishing a Staff College called the Academy of Administrative Studies. It was to provide public service induction and inservice training on all aspects of administration and management and undertake management consultancy.
(3) The publication of the revised Financial Regulations in which authority was widely delegated. The spirit of the new Financial Regulations is embodied in the introduction which stated

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“These regulations are rules laid down by government for the orderly expenditure for government funds. They are not intended to obstruct the carrying out of the government programme of work. If any head of department feels that a regulation is an hindrance to the carrying out of the government program of work, and he feels that a deviation from such regulations is necessary in the public interest, he may do so and justify himself.”
(4) In respect of the proposal to integrate the departments with the ministry, the Secretary to the Treasury said
“The proposed integration of Ministry and department has been carried out in a few ministries with some measure of success, particularly where ministries and departments are located in the same premises or in close proximity to each other. In other ministries, departmental heads had not welcomed the proposals and ministers have not been inclined to implement them.'
The Secretary to the Treasury candidly reviewed the implementation of this report. He commented
"It is useful to review briefly how these recommendations were implemented and the measure of success they achieved in improving the quality of the administration. The Standing Committee on Administrative Reforms has functioned from 1966 to 1969. Having been its Chairman, I must confess it has little achievement to its credit. The members were all senior officials pre-occupied with heavy departmental responsibilities. Often they were unable to attend meetings. Most of them were so senior and so used to the existing institutions, that they had ceased to be critical. When a problem was brought up for consideration, the inclination was to reminisce rather than critically analyse. The arrangements for servicing of the committee were also inadequate. Administrative reforms, not having been assigned to any minister as a special responsibility, did not come under any ministerial supervision or direction. A circular sent out to the public service explaining why

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the committee was appointed arid inviting suggestions for administrative changes evoked little interest and very few suggestions emanated from the entire public service.”
In 1969, a 7-man task force consisting of 4 Sri Lankans and 3 United Nations funded specialists in public administration was appointed by the Minister of Finance, with the concurrence of the Prime Minister, to assist the government.
1. In identifying aspects of the administration which are in need of major reform.
2. Recommending priorities. 3. In the creation of a permanent agency to undertake study and implementation of administrative reform.
This task force was a non-starter since the government changed in 1970.
The new government undertook a major structural change in that a separate Ministry of Public Administration was created with a new location, building, Minister and Secretary. The public service which so far functioned under the Ministry of Finance, was brought under this ministry. The existing Establishment Division and the Combined Services Division were to be the nucleus of this Ministry supported by the Staff College. It was to give new direction to the public service. In this it signally failed. It merely continued being in its comfortable finance ministry induced groove for the next 20 years. It was the Somnambulist phase of public administration in Sri Lanka where much was expected and little happened. The somnambulist phase covered both the SLFP and UNP governments.
3. Planning Initiatives and Governance
Efforts at reform, spasmodic though they were, were based on a model that considered public administration a machine. Consequently administrative reform efforts were to improve the functioning of this machine. The fact that governance in a democratic state introduced a totally new player into the scenario, that of the politician, was not taken note. Neither was the interplay of interests which wished to capture the state for their own interests recognised. However, planning as a discipline seems to have stumbled on to these important dimensions.
Since independence, Sri Lanka was influenced by the worldwide

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movement, particularly in socialist countries, for planning economic activities. The discipline of planning was based on the intellectual foundation that is was a rational activity and it offered stock of knowledge that led to the understanding of why social events occurred. Since it was a technical activity, vouchsafed to few, a specialist cadre had to be developed. The full authority of the state had to be marshalled for it to be successful. The 1948-1956 UNP government did not place much faith in planning except to set up a National Planning Secretariat (NPS) in 1953. The NPS was ineffective. Planning proper started with the socialistoriented SLFP government, which took power in 1956. A National Planning Council Act was passed. Under this act a National Planning Council (NPC) was set up with the Prime Minister as Chairman, the Minister of Finance as Deputy Chairman and a Council of 15 members nominated by the Prime Minister. It was to be serviced by the existing NPS. The task of the NPC was to identify long-term perspectives and prepare a comprehensive 10-year national plan. In June 1959 the NPC came up with its much acclaimed 10-year development plan prepared with advice from a galaxy of internationally well known economists from Joan Robinson, Nicholas Kaldor to John K. Galbraith. But this plan could not be proceeded with because of the assassination of the Prime Minister later in the year. The 1960 July elections saw the return to power of the SLFP. The NPC was dissolved and a Cabinet sub-committee on planning was set up, chaired by the Prime Minister, and consisting of a few ministers directly involved with development programs. The well constructed and sectorally interlinked 10-year plan was abandoned and replaced by a short-term implementation programme (1961-64). This plan was given professional support by a Department of National Planning (DNP), which replaced the NPS. This department was originally under the Ministry of Finance and subsequently came under the Prime Minister. It was also given the clear responsibility of coordinating development programs and undertaking progress review. There were two significant aspects of the planning process, first the involvement of the political heads in the process and second that it was a techno-economic activity. But building institutional capability in public administration agencies for implementing planning initiatives did not loom large in the planning process. Institution building only took place at the superstructure level at the head office of the DNP.
At the elections held in 1965, the UNP was returned to power,

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after an effective lapse of 9 years. One of the Ministries set up was the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs (M/P&EA). It reported to the Cabinet Planning Committee. The Ministry eventually consisted of 5 Divisions, those of Perspective Planning, Plan Implementation, External Resources, Private Sector Affairs and General Economic Affairs. Two important functions, hitherto carried out in the Ministry of Finance viz. the formulation of the capital budget and the formulation of the foreign exchange budget were transferred to the Plan Implementation Division and External Resources Division respectively of the new ministry. Two committees, one for plan implementation and the other for foreign exchange, consisting of Secretaries of relevant ministries were set up. The Implementation Committee was meant to regularly review progress of all government programs and advise the Cabinet Planning Sub-Committee on progress and the remedial action needed. The Foreign Exchange Committee was to formulate guidelines for the preparation of the annual foreign exchange budget and thereafter approve the annual foreign exchange budget for submission to the Cabinet Planning Sub-Committee. Slowly but surely the planning responsibilities of the Secretaries were emerging. In 1970 there was a change of government with the SLFP taking power. The M/P&EA was reconstituted as the Ministry of Planning and Employment, with divisions for Employment, Regional Development, National Planning, Progress Control and General Resources. The importance of progress control and review of projects continued to gain emphasis. During these years, because of under-expenditure under the capital budget and deficiencies and delays in implementation, a new Ministry of Plan Implementation (MPI) was established in 1974. In addition, three further steps were taken to strengthen the plan implementation process. The first was that the Cabinet Planning Committee was replaced by a ministerial National Planning Council (NPC), with the Secretary to the Cabinet functioning as its Secretary. The Secretaries of M/P&E and M/PI too participated in these meetings. Second, nine sectoral committees of the NPC were created, each consisting of Secretaries to relevant ministries and chaired by a Cabinet Minister. Finally a coordinating secretariat was established in the Prime Minister's Office, to coordinate the implementation of government policies with authority to issue directions to any ministry or public officer, to resolve any disputes which arose among different ministries or departments in the implementation of programs. Slowly

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but surely, the political direction was becoming explicit in respect of planning superstructure arrangements.
The managerial segment of planning, with its concern for monitoring and review was strengthened by the introduction of a Planning, Programming, Budgeting System (PPBS) in 1974 in the Ministry of Finance. The annual budget of the government at the time of independence in 1948, was primarily a statement of revenue and expenditure, the objective being to ensure that the country was not living beyond its means. The structure of the budget was by line, indicating items of expenditure. Control was therefore by input. This budget was a document for regularity accounting. The concerns of an elected government of an independent country are different. Its goals were social and economic development of the country, and the welfare and well-being of the people. Consequently the budget should be an instrument through which their initiatives could be achieved. It should ideally convert a plan into financing categories, enable the programming of expenditure and facilitate review. The PPBS initiated in 1974 attempted these ambitious tasks. It was a document for performance accountability.
The election of 1977 saw the return to power of the UNP. A new Ministry of Finance and Planning (M/F&P) was created combining the former ministries of Finance, Planning and Plan Implementation. This led to closer coordination and integration of these vital functions of government and restored the traditional dominance of the Finance Ministry and emphasised Treasury control of financial management. The position given to planning as a rational activity was downplayed. A Committee of Development Secretaries chaired by the Secretary, Cabinet was set up, to advise ministers on various policy issues, scrutinise and clear proposals and projects for cabinet approval and in general be a trouble shooter at the highest level of the administration. The objective of the Committee of Development Secretaries was not to apply abstract intelligence guided by technical knowledge, but to function in a collegiate manner, tapping well-springs of wisdom and humane understanding. It met weekly. The SLFP government that came to power in 1994 has retained this structure.
4. Regional Administration
Table 9.2 gives the structure of the administration coming down from London to the remotest village in the island. Independence in

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1948 eliminated the British layer. But independence was gained not to continue existing structures, systems, policies and strategies. One, of the main expectations of independence was that government should take positive action to ensure economic development. If economic development were to make headway, regional administration had to be revamped. In 1953 the first faltering steps to deconcentrate public administration took place. The unit of regional administration, which hitherto was the province with the GA at its head, now became the district. The district AGAs were all made GAs. The provincial level was eliminated. In 1954, District Coordinating Committees (DCCs) were set up in each district. This consisted of members of Parliament of the district, local heads of department as well as other public sector agencies. The GA chaired this committee. The task of this committee was to identify district level priorities, coordinate and assist in the implementation of development programmes by trouble shooting and ensuring progress control. A District Agricultural Committee (DAC) was created with a similar membership. It specifically concentrated on the planning, coordination and progress control of agricultural development in the district. Where necessary, District Fisheries Committees (DFCs) were set up, again for the same purposes but in respect of the fisheries sector. Two things followed on this change. Regional development as a concept came into vogue and relatively backward areas like Moneragala and Mullaitivu were made into districts thus giving the development process a fillip. Secondly, members of Parliament were given a participatory role in development. In the absence of effective local government and the lack of countervailing non-governmental institutions, members of Parliament, as the recognised representatives of the people, began influencing decision making at the implementation level. Thus two processes of politicisation, which had an enormous impact on governance, were now simultaneously at work. The first was the ministerialisation process referred to earlier, which took place at the centre and the second was the political influence wielded at the implementation level starting at the district.
The attempt at deconcentration enabled the GA to coordinate, in a fashion, the implementation of development programmes and ensure some progress control. But it was not possible for him to effectively integrate and direct the activities of different departments operating in the district. As shown in Table 9.2, the GA reports to the Home

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Ministry, while local heads of different departments operating in the district were accountable to their own heads of department at the centre under different ministries. The decision-making process was fragmented and there was no authoritative focal point in district administration. An attempt was made to remedy this situation by making the GA, the deputy head at district level for some departments like Cooperatives, Agriculture and Agrarian Services. But important departments like Irrigation, Public Works were left out. The independent departments continued to function on their own, in the absence of any political inclination to change the system. The GAS role was restricted to progress control but where he had a significant personality, he was able to undertake trouble shooting. Public administration reform confined itself to appointment changes but not behaviourial changes like adopting acceptable ways of conduct.
The district coordinating mechanism, the DCC, continued as it was established in the 1950s till 1970. The SLFP-led government in 1970 went a step further and established District Development Councils (DDCs). This too was chaired by the GA and had, as its members the members of Parliament whose electorates were within the district, local heads of department and divisional officers. The DDC was responsible for implementing the district component of the national plan. Divisional Development Councils too were set up at divisional levels chaired by Assistant Government Agents (AGAS) who were the divisional heads. They had the same composition as the DDC, but at the division. The Divisional Development Councils were to oversee the divisional level implementation of the national plan.
In 1973 a significant step of enormous import for governance took place. Upto now the decision makers in regional administration were the permanent selected public servants. Politicians, the elected public servants played only a consultative and participatory role. Public servants could be influenced by the political cadres but responsibility lay vested with public servants. In 1973, senior party members of Parliament, belonging to the governing party, were appointed as the District Political Authority (DPA) of each district. He was responsible to the Prime Minister for the implementation of government policies in the district and liaising between the district administration and the political authorities. ln short, the politicisation which took place with ministerialisation in 1948 had now come down a level lower to the District. But it should be noted that this step had no legal

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basis. It was an administrative arrangement. The increasing dominance of this political input became more emphasised, when each member of Parliament was given an allocation of Rs. 2.5 million to be used on capital works undertaken on his individual decision. The 1977 UNP government took the process a step further in politicisation. The administrative DPA system was superseded by legally constituted District Ministers (DM), with the rank of a non-Cabinet Minister. He was appointed by the President. The DM chaired DDC meetings and the GA was appointed Secretary to the DM. The GA was thus given a new role, similar to that of a Secretary to a ministry. The politicisation of district administration was now legally recognised. The DM was responsible for the supervision of departmental activities in the district, the formulation of the district development plan and of monitoring and evaluating programs of implementation. He reported to the President. In 1980 the District Development Councils Act was passed which provided for two additional categories of members. They were members of Parliament who fell within the district and members elected by the people in the district. The rationale was that this would encourage people's participation and also create more local employment. The DDCs were meant to fill the gap between macro and micro institutes. They also provided a politicallyled leadership though this leadership was not fully elected. The first faltering steps in the change of governance had now been institutionalised. One significant feature in this change should be noted. The thinking for this change came from the politicians. The public servants were only concerned with safeguarding turf and ensuring that salaries and perquisites were not disturbed.
5. Personnel Policies in Public Administration
The personnel policies followed in respect of the public service too underwent a dimensional change clearly reflecting the political input. Three constitutions defined and redefined the status of the public service.
1948 UNP developed constitution lasted upto 1972. 1972 SLFP developed constitution lasted upto 1977. 1977 UNP developed constitution is prevailing. 1995 SLFP has put forward proposals for further change. The Northcote-Trevalyan heritage inherited by Sri Lanka was based on the principle that public officers were committed to a service and

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not to a political party or a set of policies. As such, an independent public service, capable of servicing any party which legitimately forms the government is a foundation stone of democracy. Accordingly, the public service was placed under the 1948 constitution under an independent Public Service Commission (PSC). All authority for appointment, transfer and discipline of the public service was Vested in it. This was considered a guarantee for a competent and impartial public administration, recruited on merit without any political or other extraneous considerations. To help in career development, a curriculum vitae of decision making public servants called a “Civil List" was published every year indicating the significant career highlights of each of them. But in the rush for egalitarianism this "Civil List' was abolished in the mid-1960s.
It is conceded that by and large, the 1948 PSC succeeded in achieving expectations, that of building a public service of quality based on equity and using objective criteria for decision making. However, increasing reservations were expressed about whether it was becoming responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people it served, which was to be a new dimension for public servant's concerns. The politicisation of the public service was meant to achieve this responsiveness. But mostly politicisation meant politicking. The whole Northcote-Trevalyan approach was questioned as early as 1970s. As very often happens, Sri Lanka seemed to be in the forefront of anticipating these changes. In the 1980s Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister wanted a public service devoted to commitment, a code word for following party policy. The 1972 Constitution reflected these principles. The administrative system came directly under the control and direction of the Cabinet of Ministers, in which was vested the authority for appointments, transfers, dismissals and disciplinary control of all public officers. This change was strongly supported by the left leaning trade unions. The clinching argument apparently was that the government which was responsible to parliament for its policies and operations should have full control of the public officers who were required to implement them. The 1948 PSC was replaced by a State Services Advisory Board and a State Services Disciplinary Board, to provide purely advisory services to the Cabinet of Ministers. The constitution also provided that the decisions of the Cabinet, and of individual ministers who acted under delegated authority from the Cabinet and the two Boards,

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could not be questioned in a court of law. The subordination of the public service to a political authority, whose decisions could not even be reviewed by the normal judicial institutions, was complete. The linear advance from an independent public service to apparatchik was triumphantly achieved.
The consequences of the new principles introduced in 1972 were soon apparent. It was not practicable for a Cabinet of about 25 Ministers, who had pressing matters of national importance to discuss, to give close or indeed any significant attention to personnel policies proposed by individual ministers. The newly established Ministry of Public Administration abandoned any pretence that it was safeguarding the public service. Since personnel matters were not of critical general interest, the tendency was for ministers not to scrutinise the proposals of their colleagues. The politicians were quick to grasp the potentialities inherent in the new system for patronage, giving employment, arranging transfers and even interfering in disciplinary proceedings. The emergence of the notorious “Pool" in the Ministry of Public Administration was a case in point. It is filled with senior officials who had either fallen foul of their political superiors, or even worse, lost out in the struggle to keep their positions to their bureaucratic colleagues who coveted them. Soon it became the norm to canvass for postings and public officers who did not have the good fortune of having worked with ministers or being known to them, were disadvantaged. In the 1977 constitution proclaimed by the UNP government, the powers of the Cabinet in respect of the public service remained, except that a new Public Service Commission replaced the two State Advisory Boards. This 1977 PSC was an appellate body as the two advisory boards it replaced. However there was a chapter on "Fundamental Rights" in this constitution. Some relief was given to public servants by the courts under these sections from blatant acts of wrongdoing. The left leaning trade unions too lost faith in these changes and have now called for a rapid return to the independent PSC of the first constitution. The 1994 SLFP government has promised to restore it.
6. The Administrative Reform Committee (ARC) and
Restructuring Management Unit (RMU) In the mid-1980s two events took place which had seismic effects
on public administration. The first was the establishment of Provin

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cial Councils and the other the setting up of the ARC and RMU. Provincial Councils were an act of devolution where legislative powers were vested with 8 sub-national agencies. In July 1986 a Presidential Administrative Reforms Committee (ARC) was constituted with the following terms of reference
"Examine and report on reforms required in ministries and departments of government with particular reference to
l. (a) Policies related to cadres.
(b) Broad principles and guidelines for determination of sala
ries in the public service. 2. Training and management development. 3. Decentralisation of administration including the structures of District Administration and Local Government.
4. Schemes and procedures for recruitment, promotions and transfers.
5. Financial management systems, procedures and practices. 6. Administrative work systems and procedures. 7. Distribution of subjects and functions among ministries and departments.”
The ARC presented its recommendations in ten published reports and an eleventh unpublished one. Its overall approach was to introduce rationality as part of public administration which approach was itself found wanting in respect of planning initiatives undertaken earlier. The political element in public administration was wished away. At most it had a Subordinate Supporting role.
The government accepted the recommendations of the ARC by Cabinet decision of 15th February, 1990. A Policy Division was established in the Ministry of Public Administration, headed by an officer of Additional Secretary level, to implement the recommendations. From the beginning the policy division was stymied by lack of the cadres recommended by the ARC for the implementation of its report. At the super structure four Additional Secretaries were recommended, but the Ministry of Finance and Planning, approved only one. While the hobbled Policy Division was engaged in gearing up to fulfil its task, the Ministry of Finance and Planning without consulting the Ministry of Public Administration or obtaining approval of

Evolution of Administrative Reforms 261
government, invited the Management Development Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to mount a mission to cover similar areas as covered by the ARC, the recommendations of which were now being implemented by the Policy Division. The mission was composed of expatriates, none of them specialists in public administration. It submitted its report in three weeks. It will be noted that the ARC was composed entirely of Sri Lankan individuals with outstanding public administration expertise. It submitted its report after intense study conducted over a period of three years. Based on the Mission's report a US$1.3 million project was formulated by the UNDP, despite criticisms of a fundamental nature by the United Nations Development Administration Division (UNDAD) in New York and the Ministry of Public Administration. This project was accepted by government on the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance and Planning. A Restructuring Management Unit (RMU) was set up in the Ministry of Finance and Planning though the function legally belonged to the Ministry of Public Administration. Consequently the Policy Division of the Ministry of Public Administration withered away after a briefflickering of activity. In this brief period of one year the Ministry
1. Formulated and issued a National Policy on Training. 2. Formulated the policy for establishing new sub-national institutions called Management Development and Training Units. 3. Developed a new policy for recruitment based on merit, based entirely through examinations, thus replacing the patronage system which prevailed upto now. 4. Undertook a rationalisation of cadres of ministries and depart
IInCntS. ܗܝ 5. Re-engineered the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) to play a vital role in public administration change through training and consultancy.
The RMU manned by a visiting expatriate and non-governmental personnel existed for four years. It found little credibility and acceptance in the Public Service. A review conducted on it four years later, by a specially constituted UNDP team, recommended its termination. It probably offers a lesson for governance and institution building

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that it is best if institution building efforts were based on indigenous capability both in human resources and funding.
7. Conclusion
The administrative reform initiatives of government currently rest at this point. Recently the government offered a package of further devolution, which if they are to be implemented would require institutional capacity building of a completely different type at different levels and intensity. But as could be seen, upto now attempts at reform had been isolated, were on an ad hoc and piecemeal basis. What is lacking in reform efforts is a holistic approach systematically followed in a phased manner. The administrative system of a country is a human organisation that has evolved over the years. As a human organisation, public administration also has stakeholders and vested interests. Very often they are comfortable in their niches and resist attempts at change or reform. It is not practical to scrap a complex multi-layered system like public administration and start de novo. If administrative reform efforts, so crucial for effective governance, are to have any chance of success it would be wise to look at the failures of the past with unblinkered eyes, profit from the lessons, promote and encourage structural, systemic, attitudinal and uehaviourial changes in public administration and carry out a campaign for instilling such change. What is now required is skill and knowledge that will lead to understanding and wisdom, which should be pragmatically applied to change processes. This would lead to a new public administration.

10
Market Oriented Public Administration: An Application to Divisional Secretariats
W.A. Jayasundara
“Our cusómers are not outsiders to our business, they are part of it. Our customers are not cold statistics, they are flesh and blood humans like us, with feelings, emotions, biases and prejudices. Our customers are persons who bring in their wants. It is our job to handle them profitably, profitably to both customer and ourselves.' —Mahatma Gandhi
"All observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of any service.' —Charles Darwin
1. Governance f
T first sight it might appear strange that concepts of market
ing are attributed to public administration. But this should
not be so. All organisations, including those in public administration, are created to serve purposes and customers, an example may be where citizens wait for a birth certificate. As such, marketing is at the heart of the discussion on governance. Good governance has become a significant element of public administration reform. Great Britain has taken the lead in implementing measures for improving public administration like the Financial Management Initiative (FMI) and the Next Steps Programme. The World Bank too has undertaken considerable work on governance but mostly confined to improving bureaucratic processes. The Development Administrative Committee of the OECD published an orientations paper which consider conceptions on good governance. It covers civil institutions and citizens' rights. The funding for this research was provided by a generous grant from the British Council.

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Market orientation of public administration was first attempted in Britain. There are a number of reasons why public administration agencies could not orient themselves as market agencies upto now. They are monopolies, given a legal sanction to be the sole purveyors of services in a territorial or a population market. There was no compelling need for public administration agencies to therefore be overconcerned with markets. This tendency was reinforced by these markets also being natural monopolies. Thus there were natural, physical or economic barriers to the entry of competitors. Being monopolies serving a public purpose, there were also barriers to exit, an example being the supply of water. However, technology has now changed as much as economic concepts. The purchaser/provider split has enabled novel ways of introducing competition. The concept of the internal market too has extended the parameters. While the surge towards market orientation has been positive, public administration has nevertheless continued to be stymied by its inheritance.
Public administration, as it has now evolved, has an origin in the Magna Carta, when the principle of an executive getting approval for its financial activities from those who pay for them was first laid down. This origin evolved into the legislature approving appropriations and holding the executive to account for its expenditure. But the concept of ministerial responsibility to parliament meant that integrity and compliance for inputs was uppermost. Thus public administration was accountable to the minister not the market.
In the last two decades the importance of the market for public administration had been recognised. If public administration were to survive, citizens have to be considered as consumers of public services. As Samuel Paul put it "since the users of services are at the receiving end, their assessment of the quality, efficiency and adequacy of public service and the problems they face in their transactions with public agencies can provide significant inputs to anyone interested in improving service delivery and the management of the agencies involved'.
In Sri Lanka, an ambitious effort was made to give a market orientation to public administration with the establishment of Divisional Secretariats (DS) on 1 January, 1993. The DSs had as their main objective that of taking the administration to the people and involving their participation in planning and plan implementation.

Market Oriented Public Administration 265
Unlike the Assistant Government Agent's office which proceeded it, the Divisional Secretariat was entrusted with much of the work done by line ministries, departments, government agencies and Provincial Councils. Act No. 42 of 1992 provided the necessary authority for the Divisional Secretary to take decisions on matters entrusted to him at the divisional level.
In the marketing of the exercise, SLIDA which was given responsibility for it, positioned the DS in the mind of the public as a customer friendly government services delivery institution, conveniently located as a retailer and delivering services without delay. On many occasions, Divisional Secretariats were described as a "supermarket” for the delivery of government services.
To undertake these extended responsibilities, the DS was provided additional manpower and physical resources. Eventually the DS became the most important government institution within the division compared to other line divisional offices, in terms of status, authority, responsibility and resources.
Much information was disseminated to educate the public, prior to introduction, about the DS services now available to the public and its efficiency of delivery in terms of time and money. The present research, was aimed to solicit the customer's view about how they regard the functioning of different aspects of DS.
2. The Divisional Secretariat
Divisional Secretariats are the lowest executive decision making point in the administration of Sri Lanka. The DS is at an interesting point in its evolution, being at the convergence of two tendencies of decentralisation, one of deconcentration and the other of devolution. Deconcentration has by far the longer history, where national policies were implemented at the divisional level through this office. This office underwent a number of name changes the Ratemahatmaya in colonial times changed to Divisional Revenue Officer (DRO) during Donoughmore times (1938), and Assistant Government Agent (AGA) in the '70S.
The second part of decentralisation was devolution. Devolution is of more recent origin, introduced in 1989. Legislation making and implementation for specified subjects were vested with councils set up at provincial level. Many of their implementation activities were

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carried out by the Divisional Secretariats. In fact 70 per cent of the activities of the Divisional Secretariats are those devolved to Provincial Councils. Thus the Divisional Secretariat implemented two responsibilities, one flowing from central government and its agencies, and the other from the Provincial Councils.
The Divisional Secretariat is considered the supermarket for the supply of government and Provincial Council services to consumers of public services. These services can be grouped under six activities
Activity Group 1. Document Group: Issue of Certificates,
Permits, etc. Activity Group 2. Service Group: Provision of direct economic benefits to the people. Activity Group 3. Development Group: Development work and
infrastructure. Activity Group 4. Social Group: Provision of services relating
to culture and social aspects. Activity Group 5. Agency Group: Recommendations/Informa
tion to other government agencies. Activity Group 6. Internal Management: Administration and
Finances. It will be noticed that Activity Groups 1-5 deal directly with clients and consumers (the outside world) while Activity Group 6 (inside world) covers the machinery which provides these services.
3. The Mirigama Divisional Secretariat
Mirigama Divisional Secretariat was chosen for this case study. It is a DS situated 30 miles from Colombo at the periphery of the urbanrural fringe of the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is a division of the Gampaha district and covers an area of 19,080 sq km or about 69,000 acres. About 25,000 acres are under coconut, 2,500 acres under rubber, 4,800 acres under paddy and 33,000 under home gardening. There is a forest reservation covering 4,000 acres.
The total population of the division is 1,47,415 of which 1,42,175 are Sinhalese, 4,800 Muslims and 440 Tamils. Density of population is 1367 per square mile. Further classification of the population in terms of age shows that two-thirds of the population is under the age of 18 years. 96.4 per cent of the total population live in rural areas.

Market Oriented Public Administration - 267
Only Mirigama is visible as the main town, but at places like Pallewela, Kaleliya, Pasyala and Kandalama shopping streets show their potential for becoming fast developing areas. The Mirigama Divisional Secretariat is divided into 149 Grama Niladhari (Village Officers) Divisions.
Administratively, is by a well established network of government agencies covering law and order, health, education, justice and also a set of local authorities in this division. In terms of Parliamentary electoral arrangements, this Secretariat falls within the polling district of Mirigama in the electoral district of Gampaha, which was formerly the Mirigama Electorate.
It should be noted that this study is not a random sample of the public administration, its public services or Divisional Secretariats of Sri Lanka. It should also be noted that the Mirigama Divisional Secretariat was reorganized by a reallocation of work among its staff, about six months before the commencement of this study. As such the conclusions drawn by this study cannot be considered typical for a DS, since almost none of the other DSs benefitted from such a reallocation: Nevertheless, this case study is intended to focus on problems which arise from the application of new forms of public administration in Sri Lanka. The case study will also take an in-depth look at some of the vital processes in public service which are constraints to customersatisfaction. A cost-benefit study of the present and past system is not attempted here, although there is a widespread public perception that costs of administration have increased considerably after the introduction of Provincial Councils and Divisional Secretariats.
4. Framework and Methodology
4.1. Background
Sri Lanka has established 273 Divisional Secretariats by Iyyut. Eventually there will be 304 for the whole island. In many cases the DS Division coincides with elected rural local authority, the Pradeshiya Sabha area. The purpose of the study was to obtain a people's viewpoint of the performance of the newly established DS. But due to costs and constraints, it was decided to choose only one division and make it a case study. The exercise was meant to garner lessons

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but not to obtain insights which could be generalised. Firstly, it was decided to pick a division from the Western Province as it was densely populated and provided a variety of Services appropriate to a DS. In selecting the DS from the Western Province it was decided to choose one which was neither very rural or very urban. A DS reflecting semi-urban characteristics was considered the best. The other reason for choosing Mirigama, was that a consultancy was undertaken a year ago by staff of the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) including the present author. The division, the services it provided, the area and people were familiar to the survey team. The author was conscious of a possible bias arising out of this familiarity but consciously guarded against it.
Mirigama is the largest DS division in the Western Province with 149 GN divisions. The division is situated at one end of the province with boundaries abutting the Sabaragamuwa and North-Western Provinces. The total population of the division in 1994 was estimated to be about 147,415 with 31,932 households. In order to reflect variations within the division, the sample divided the division into five geographical divisions. It was decided to have a tolerated error of 5 per cent and confidence limit of 95 per cent. However, in order to compensate for no responses, as well as for the need to look at some disaggregated data the sample was fixed at the upper level of 500 household heads. The 500 households were proportionately divided into five regions, based on the total population of the five regions and was dealt with on a random numbered basis.
Data was gathered through a structured questionnaire with some open ended questions. About fifteen households outside the division were utilized to pilot test the questionnaire. After the pilot test the questionnaire was reformulated. The questionnaire consisted of twentyone comprehensive questions. Fifteen interviewers were selected and trained to conduct it. In addition, trained supervisors were employed to undertake live field checks. The supervisors back checked 30 per cent of the questionnaires in the field. The questionnaire was administered in the field during July and August 1995. The questionnaire was coded and data entered and re-checked for consistency by two trained computer specialists. The raw data was further edited for accuracy with given ranges for the items entered.

Market Oriented Public Administration 269
4.2. Limitations of the Study
The findings of this study may overestimate the performance of the DSs in the country for three reasons
(1) The office was reorganized and some measure of efficiency introduced in 1994.
(2) This division is near Colombo and there is a tendency for better and senior officers to fill posts in such a DS.
(3) The workload in the truly rural areas may be more specialized, be in larger volumes and in greater variety than in the Mirigama DS.
4.3. Conceptual Background
The conceptual model under which the study was formulated is given on the following page.
The left three boxes of the model show the present status of the DS office. It reveals that the DS office is not market driven and is accountable mostly for the day-to-day activities concerning the delivery of services. Since the DS office is not market driven, the top management is concerned with administrative decisions and is normally risk averse. Within the Secretariat itself intra-divisional dynamics show signs of conflicts and lack of efficient co-ordination and networking. The organizational systems of the DS office are highly bureaucratic, formal and departmentalized. The reward systems are not based on merit. Decision making, even on small matters, is highly centralized within the office. As a result a highly market unfriendly atmosphere prevails with formality, hidden, unresponsive behaviour towards customers. This was supplemented with the limited literature available in the press, TV and radio newscasts, which have portrayed employees as not being customer oriented, pervaded with colonial bureaucratic attitudes and apathetic. The three boxes on the right show that the environment is non-competitive and monopolistic. It is power-driven, behaving as if public servants are the sole owners of the organisation, providing services as a favour. The lack of proper training in modern office skills has led to out-dated office management systems. The customer presently sees the environment of the DS, its employee behaviour and organizational system and divisional dynamics as leading to defensive and unresponsive behaviour. To test this hypothesis, the study was oriented to find out the customer's satisfaction, employer behaviour and the office environment.

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MODEL
TOP MANAGEMENT EMPLOYEES * Risk Aversion * Apathetic
* Mission Driven 1e- Attitudes
* Not customer
oriented
INTRA DIVISIONAL LACKING MARKET ENVIRONMENT DYNAMICS ORIENTATION * Non competitive * Conflict * Information * Power Driven * Poor Networking * Customer Friendly * Not Technology
* Responsive Driven
ORGANISATIONAL CUSTOMERS SYSTEM Present view on * Forma performance * Departmentalization * Weak Reward System Expected view of * Centralized decision making performance
5. Major Findings of the Survey
A profile of the respondents in the sample survey is given below. For survey purposes, Mirigama Division was divided into 5 blocks based on population and Grama Niladhari Divisions.
The total number of respondents was 496 of which 41 per cent were female.
TABLE 10.1 Gender by Blocks Gender Block A Block B Block C Block D Block E Total
Male 73 32 57 71 61 294 59% Female 31 61 42 34 34 202 41%
Total 104 93 99 105 95 496 100%

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Of this sample 62 per cent had also visited the AGA Office which was later replaced by the Divisional Secretariat, while 38 percent had not visited it. 62 per cent could compare both these institutions.
The distribution of households in terms of income, education and age distribution is shown below. ۔
5. I. Income
The income distribution of the respondents is fairly even, considering the country as a whole. Only 28 per cent have an income of Rs.1000 or less, whereas about 50 per cent of the Sri Lankan population is eligible for poverty subsidies in the country. It should be noted that 36 per cent have an income of above Rs. 5000 which is more than five times that of the lowest group. The division could be considered relatively affluent.
TABLE 10.2 Household Income
Household Income (Rs.) Number Percentage 1000 and less than 1000 138 27.8 1001 - 1500 68 13.7 1501 - 2000 33 6.6 12.9 64 2500 سس 2001 2501 - 3000 66 13.3 3001 - 4000 50 10.0 4001 - 5000 22 4.4 500 - 6000 19 3.8 6001 - 8000 15 3.0 8001 - 10000 13 2.7 10001 - 08 1.7
496 100
5.2. Education
As the DS division is situated near the capital city of Colombo in the Western Province the level of education, as could be expected, is fairly high. 63 percent had passed the GCE (O/L) examination, 2 per cent were illiterate and only 20 per cent had schooling of less than 5 years. The responses of those in this sample could be considered to be more discerning.

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TABLE 10.3 Levels of Education
Number Percentage Illiterate 10 2.0 Upto grade 5 92 18.5 O/Level 307 61.9 A/Level 78 15.7 Graduate/Professional 09 1.8
496 00
5.3. Age Distribution
The age distribution shows that 13 per cent are below 30 years. Age was evenly spread from 30–55 years with each of the five year age groups having between l l per cent and 13 per cent of the respondents. However the mode was 25 per cent and consists of respondents over 55 years of age. Geographically Block A, which is near the Mirigama main city, has older respondents while Block B had younger respondents.
TABLE 10.4 Age Distribution of the Respondents
Age Group Number Total Percentage (years) Male Female Number
15 - 19 04 O2 06 1.2 20 - 24 12 08 20 4.0 25 - 29 20 2 41 8.2 30 - 34 24 33 57 11.5 35 - 39 30 25 55 1.1 40 - 44 34 28 62 12.5 45 - 49 42 26 68 13.7 50 - 54 39 23 62 12.5 55 + 90 35 125 25.3
295 201 496 100
5.4. Customer Satisfaction with the Divisional Secretariat
5.4. II. A wareness
The survey was aimed at ascertaining customersatisfaction of the delivery system of the Mirigama Divisional Secretariat. Since the

Market Oriented Public Administration 273
Divisional Secretariat system is relatively new, a question was asked about awareness of the existence of the Divisional Secretariat. 94 per cent of the respondents replied in the affirmative. A few who were not aware came from the older and uneducated respondents.
5.4.2. Knowledge of Functions
The respondents were asked what they know about the Divisional Secretariat functions. Their responses, in terms of priority, were licensing activities (28 per cent), obtaining of certificates (23 per cent), social welfare activities (15 per cent) and general development activities (10 per cent). Others such as land matters, administrative activities, loans schemes, etc. received less than 8 per cent.
It may be concluded that the citizen/customers remember the Divisional Secretariat for delivering social welfare and licensing/ certifying functions, both of which depend on efficient delivery systems. This shows that the Divisional Secretariat yet continues to bear the core responsibilities of the AGA office, which it replaced but was expected to broaden.
5.4.3. Location
Most of the respondents were satisfied with the location of the office in the Mirigama town. Only 3 per cent complained that neighbouring Divisional Secretariats were closer to them. These respondents live closer to other DS offices such as Divulapitiya, Alawwa, Attangalle and Warakapola. Thus Mirigama can be considered a convenient hub with short spokes to its other population
CentreS. -
5.4.4. Number of Visits to Transact an Item of Business
A question was asked to ascertain the number of visits made to the Mirigama Divisional Secretariat and how recent the visit was. 411 respondents out of 496 had visited Mirigama DS and 8 respondents had visited the adjoining DS of Attanagalla and a further 2 had gone to Divulapitiya DS. 87 per cent respondents had visited the Mirigama DS during a period of less than one year. It could be concluded that the sample was very comprehensive in covering active respondents.

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TABLE 10.5 Number of Visits to Divisional Secretariat How recent the visit 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ Total
years years years years years No. per cent 1 year or <1 year 21 75 88 94 78 356 86.6 Above 1 

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50 per cent were satisfied with the existing work performance and transparency of work, about 27 per cent were not satisfied with the present administrative transparency and thought there was no fair play at all. 41 per cent of responses stated that they did not know or they could not say whether the pay in/pay out procedure was easy or user friendly. About 44 percent thought it was easy and user-friendly.
5.4. I0. Negative Responses Analysed
The negative responses about staff behaviour and process were further analyzed. Some respondents (19 per cent) felt that they had to go to more than one place or person in the office to get things done. 15 per cent felt they were harassed by being asked to wait idling for a long time. Another 13 per cent found it difficult to understand the processes involved in delivering expected Services. 10 percent thought that the relevant officers did not know the correct procedure and processes. Another 8 percent thought that it was necessary to fill a lot of unnecessary forms to get things done. There were many other reasons given, though of lesser importance, among them were work delays due to long queues, officers being insensitive to the difficulties of the people, many superfluous routines and rigid processes, no proper acting arrangements for officers on leave and wrong directions.
Those who answered negatively for transparency and fairplay gave a variety of reasons for this phenomenon. In order of importance they thought things can be got done quickly only if there were friends in the DS office. 40 percent of responses showed that having a friend in the office is a must for getting things done quickly. Second in importance (14 per cent) was officers not discharging duties fairly. They were not in their seats during the working hours. The third group (11 per cent) felt a bribe was necessary to expedite work. Next in importance was apathy of the officers and officers not seeming to be interested in their work.
Among the minor responses were political discrimination, rich people receiving special treatment, delays, timber merchants getting special treatment, bribery being common in timber permit division, and officers working according to their whims rather than following government rules and regulations.
The negative responses to payment procedures showed that re

Market Oriented Public Administration 277
spondents had to wait long hours ((20 per cent) and that one shroff was not sufficient to handle all the payments (14 per cent). Some responses showed (12 per cent) that it is very difficult to get back payments made mistakenly.
5.4. II. Layout
The responses for customer friendliness of the layout showed that 81 per cent thought that the layout of the office was satisfactory or very satisfactory. Of those who responded negatively to the question of layout, 25 percent felt that there was no proper system in locating sections while another 21 per cent stated that there were no name boards for sections and officers. 15 per cent thought that there were insufficient rooms for some sections while another 13 per cent stated that they had to ask directions from too many people. Among other reasons offered were different topics being dealt in one location and the building being old.
Of those who responded negatively to the question of reception and information provision, 38 percent stated that some officers were not very communicative, 15 per cent stated that the information provided was incomplete, 13 per cent stated that help or guidance were not provided in filling forms. Among minor reasons were nonavailability of anyone to receive the public who visit the Divisional Secretariat, officers not being friendly, most of the notices being outdated and no proper arrangements being made for meeting offic
e.S.
5.4.12. Satisfaction
Almost all (98 per cent) felt that the Divisional Secretariat was conveniently located. 85 per cent thought that the DS office was directed and managed well. A question was asked to elicit the overall satisfaction of the Mirigama DS office. 82 per cent were satisfied to some extent while 9 per cent were highly satisfied. Only 5 per cent were dissatisfied to some extent or highly dissatisfied.
5.4.13. Comparison of DS Office with AGA Office
In order to find out the preference for the DS system compared
with the AGA system, respondents who had visited both (275) were
asked for their preference of either system. 72 per cent strongly


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preferred the DS to the AGA system while, another 17 per cent somewhat preferred the DS to the AGA system. Only 2 per cent preferred the former AGA system.9 percent had no preference at all.
5.4. 14. Suggestions for Improvement
When the respondents were asked to suggest ways and means of improving the performance of the DS office the responses showed that 23 per cent wanted more room for all sections in the office. They thought that each section/officer should be provided with name boards. 15 per cent wanted more physical benefits being made available to the public who visited the DS office. Another 10 per cent felt that the staff should be increased. Other suggestions included construction of waiting rooms, provision of a reception centre, appointing a public relations officer, constructing a new building, providing a sales centre for stationery, photocopy, etc. for the public, keeping an eye on the activities of Grama Niladharis, establishing a separate section to collect revenue and providing a vehicle park for the public who visit the DS office.
6. Next Steps
The exercise of trying to get views about services provided by a government agency using marketing approaches, was the first ever undertaken in Sri Lanka. It therefore suffers from the disability of a pioneer to foresee all eventualities. Yet, it is the pioneer who sets out the vision and crafts the path which would be trod by numerous followers. - The sole approach adopted in this study was that of a random sample survey of households. This needs to be supplemented in Subsequent studies, with focused group discussions, minicase studies of selected respondents, documentation of information provided to the public by service providers themselves, and interviews with a sample of lower level staff of the Divisional Secretariat. In addition to widening the methodology, the scope too should be broadened. The study concentrated on receiving information about only two activity groups of the DS. In future all six activity groups should be covered. This would require a substantial increase in funding.
The new public administration has to funetion in an environment of reduced funding in real terms. This means that costs have to be

Market Oriented Public Administration 279
pared to the minimum. But a concern with costs should not concentrate only on resources used internally for generating output. There is a much larger area of cost, which is of concern for citizen/customers. These are the transaction costs e.g., delays, bribes, etc. which are a cost to the country. This whole area of costs should be incorporated into the methodology when deepening similar later exercises.
7. Conclusion
Governance is concerned with the ultimate bottom line, satisfying the citizens. Public administration agencies, most often being monopolies, offer barriers to entry and exit by their mere presence. It leads them to behaviourial forms which even prevent voice being given to the customers who they are supposed to serve.
Unlike past studies, the present one focuses on the performance of the DS office from the customer's point of view i.e., the users of the DS office. The survey confirmed that a majority of the population is satisfied with the performance of the Mirigama DS office. This may be partly due to the reorganization and training received by DS staff just prior to the survey but independent of it. From a citizen/customer perspective, the expectation from a public agency is for a speedy delivery of services mainly licensing, certification, social welfare and poor relief. Awareness of the DS office as a catalyst for development work is not a priority area at the moment for the majority of the customers of the DS office. Therefore the positioning of DS office in. the minds of the users is yet as a public service delivery institution rather than an agency of planning, development and an entrepreneurial institution improving the quality of life of the people within the division. Consequently some services of the DS office are underutilized, partly because people are unaware of the wider mission, goals and objectives of the DS office. , From the citizen/customer point of view, the delivery of services was satisfactory. In fact licensing, certification and poor relief account for almost 80 per cent of the services expected by the surveyed population. Since the DS is a monopoly supplier the respondents may have been afraid to be candid and thereby annoy the relevant officers, for they may have thought that their requests will never be met in future. Every effort was made by the survey to reassure respondents about confidentiality. But surveys of this nature are yet in their


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infancy in Sri Lanka and may not yet have built the necessary credibility.
By integrating many services and decentralizing decision making power to the Divisional Secretary, the public definitely feel that services could be obtained speedily. The conceptual model was confirmed and most of the elements of the model, as revealed by literature and media, seem to be true.
Geographical origin, income levels, education background and age groups were not found to be discriminated in the performance of the Divisional Secretariat. However many felt that the presence of a friend or a known person speeded service delivery.
The other major finding that emerged from the study was about the attitude of the staff. Many felt that the attitudes were not appropriate and the ones expected from committed public servants. This is a troublesome finding, because the vast majority of the staff were from with the division itself and it could have been expected that there would be greater responsiveness. As far as bribery and corruption is concerned, although the level was low, it seemed to be concentrated in the timber permit division.
The public felt that they should be treated better by providing adequate reception facilities, information and waiting space. The other complaint was the long idling time they had to undergo in getting things done.
The present system occupies much of time of the senior officers at the DS office. They receive all the customers irrespective of the importance of the subject. A priority should be re-established. The personal skills of contact officers have to be enhanced exposing them to social marketing practices. Market segmentation and the importance of understanding the demand profile of different customer groups have not received due place. The senior officers at the DS have yet to understand the nature of the customer who comes to a DS and analyze and try to understand his demands for different types of services. It is suggested that customer service identification surveys be conducted at regular intervals. These kinds of simple studies could easily be done at the DS office by using their own staff such as Samurdhi Managers and Assistant Directors of Planning. The most important lesson from this kind of study, is to keep relevant officers informed about treating a visitor to the DS as a customer and to

Market Oriented Public Administration 281
empathise with the customers' needs and provide performance. It will be helpful if a register to record the purpose of the visit of citizen/ customer and staff were maintained for monitoring and improvement of work performance.
It should be repeated that most of the Mirigama Divisional Secretariat Staff are from the same area. One of the favourable effects of this situation is that they personally know some of the customers who come to the DS office. Hence attending to their work would naturally be a positive factor. On the other hand, some of these officers think that they are rulers, therefore, their duties should be discharged in a bureaucratic manner. It was shown in the survey, that personal attention to known people is an unsatisfactory aspect of behaviour of the DS staff. If the entire staff of the DS office accept the concept of treating the customer as the centre piece of these concerns, the public irritation at DS officers can be minimized. While the Divisional Secretariat was set up as a market oriented institution, its behaviour has not fully conformed to this expectation. However only three years have passed since the DSs were established. With constant encouragement to change, there is much hope that the market oriented tendencies inserted into the public administration system of the Divisional Secretariat, will eventually make it a customer-oriented institution. i
REFERENCES
1. Butlim, N.G. (1986), "Trends in Public/Private relations-1901-75” in B.W. Head (ed.) State & Economy in Australia, University of Queensland Press. 2. Bouin, O., and Ch.A. Michalet (1991), "Replanning the Public and Private Sectors: Developing Country Experience", Paris.
3. Kohli, A.K., and B.J. Gaworski (1990), “Market Orientation: The Construct, Research Proposition and Managerial Implications”, Journal of Markettпg.
4. Hilma, E.G. (1993), National Competition Policy, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
5. Osborne D. and Gaebler, T. (1992), Reinventing Government, AddisonWesley Pub. Co.
6. Paul Samuel, "A Report Card on Public Services in Indian Cities: A View from Below", PAC Research Paper, No. 4.
7. Putuam, R. (1993) "Making Democracy Work", University Press. 8. Sturgess, G., Thirty Different Government Report of the inquiring into red tape, Sydney Press Dept.


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11
Cost Based Performance Indicators for Public Administration: An Application to Divisional Secretariats
E. Arumugam
"The age of chivalry is gone. That of sophists, economists and calculators has succeeded." -Edmund Burke
"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome.' -Samuel Johnson
1. Governance
HE World Bank definition of governance placed heavy emphasis on public administration organisational reform in all its aspects. However, much of the work done by the World Bank has been on personnel systems, viz. recruitment, staffing, rationalization of cadres, etc. Productivity, that is the better use of available resources, has been referred by the World Bank but not given its due emphasis, though performance evaluation has been. Any organisation whether in the private or public sectors, consumes resources. They may be substantive like personnel, supplies, machinery, etc. These however could be reduced to a common denominator that of finance. Costing is an exercise which attempts to understand the behaviour of different aspects of an organisation, in terms of the consumption of resources. Such an understanding will help enormously in the formulation of programmes for productivity improve
ment.
Public administration up to now, had not been considered a candidate for a full-fledged application of costing principles. This is partly

Cost Based Performance Indicators for Public Administration 283
because its outputs were intangible and its accounting systems did not follow accrual principles. In addition, its concern is compliance and integrity in the use of inputs. Its accounting systems reflect this orientation. But there is no inherent reason why costing principles cannot be applied since public administration agencies do incur costs. By doing so a bonus will be gained that of the evolution of a particular set of performance indicators based on costs. This paper tries to explain how costing principles were attempted to be applied to a specific institution in public administration, that of the Divisional Secretariat. No claim is being made for its comprehensiveness, though principles applied are valid.
2. Divisional Secretariats
The structure, role and responsibilities of Divisional Secretariats are referred to in another paper in this volume, that of Sampath Dassanayake on “Administrative Arrangements at the Provincial, District and Divisional Levels.' A Divisional Secretariat has been called a supermarket where many government and provincial services are retailed to the public. Thus its activities are varied and multifaceted. A typical Divisional Secretariat will be staffed by a minimum of four executive grade officers, the Divisional Secretary who is in charge, an Additional Divisional Secretary, an Assistant Directors Planning and an Accountant. In the office itself there are support staff and various technical officers. The total staff in a Divisional Secretariat is on the average about 40, which excludes village officers (Grama Niladhari) who are appointed for every 350 families or so. A Divisional Secretariat has an average population of 30,000-60,000. A Divisional Secretariat processes documents. Thus it could be considered to add value to each relevant document at every stage of the assembly line in its work flow. A Divisional Secretariat could be considered a value-adding organisation very much like a manufacturing organization which adds value at every point of its assembly line.
3. Costing Methodology
The costing methodology adopted is based on unit costing principles. It has two major aspects, one of work measurement and the other of cost measurement.


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3. I Work Measurement
3. I. I. Activity Groups
Almost all items of work of a Divisional Secretariat have been classified under six activity groups. They are
Activity Group A: Document Group: Issue of certificates and
permits. Activity Group B: Service Group: Provision of direct economic
benefits to the people. Activity Group C: Development Group: Development work and,
infrastructure. Activity Group D: Social Group: Provision of services relating
to cultural and social aspects. Activity Group E: Agency Group: Recommendations/ Informa
tion to other government agencies. Activity Group F: Internal Management: Administration and
finance.
3.1.2. Unit Values
Each activity group or atom will have a number of transactions/ items of work of its elementary particles. It is vital that common unit values be determined for each of the elementary particles i.e., each transaction/ item of work. Multiplying the number of elementary particles by the unit values will give Equivalent Units. The need for Equivalent Units arises because of problems of comparability e.g., 10 issues of Janasaviya cards cannot be added to 05 issues of revenue licences because they are different genres of activity. The Equivalent Unit reduces these varying genres to one standard and links them.
A Divisional Secretariat is a labour-intensive activity. In order to demarcate unit values for each item of work/transaction, and relate the measured work to associated items of cost, the personnel function of a Divisional Secretariat was divided under the following five categories:
3.1.2. I. Managerial and Supervisory -
Divisional Secretary, Addl. Divisional Secretary, Accountant, Assistant Director Planning, Administrative Officer, Chief Clerk and Financial Assistant.

Cost Based Performance Indicators for Public Administration 285
3.1.2.2. Technical
Planning Officers, Technical Officers, Social Service Officers and Co-operative Inspectors.
3.1.2.3. Support
Clerical and Typists.
3.1.2.4. Operational
Grama Sevakas.
3.1.2.5 Subordinate Services
Drivers, KKSs and other Casual Employees. For the determination of unit values, the following factors were taken into account:
Factor 1: Number of sub-activities and workload among activi
ties. Factor 2: Workloads of Staff. Factor 3: Workloads of residual factors. The items which were considered for this determination were(a) Average time to complete the job. (b) No. of entries made, copies taken, etc. (c) Responsibility. (d) Degree of cash transactions involved. (e) Work pressure, urgency, equipment usage, etc. On the above basis, a work sheet was developed to decide unit values by assigning weightage points on a scale 0-9.
3.2. Cost Measurement
The format for cost measurement was developed under the same categories which form the present basis of allocation of funds to the Divisional Secretariats.
3.2.1. Personnel emoluments.
3.2.2. Travelling.
3.2.3. Supplies and requisites. 3.2.4. Repairs and maintenance of capital assets. 3.2.5. Transportation, communications, utility and other services.


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4. The Approach
Six Divisional Secretariats were chosen as pilots, where this approach could be tried out. The initial step was to discuss with officials of the different Divisional Secretariats the processes and elements involved in each work item/transaction. The second stage was to mark the numbers on the work sheet to decide unit values. The third stage was to obtain the number of work items/transactions for a chosen period from the registers, statements, books of accounts and other relevant records of the Divisional Secretariats. Certain work items/transactions had no proper records and in other cases the records were not uptodate. When this happened the determination of these work items/transactions had inevitably to be on a judgmental basis. It is vital therefore, when similar exercises are undertaken, that experienced personnel should be allocated this task.
5. Processing of Data
In the first stage of processing, the unit values of all work items/ transactions were obtained by calculating relevant weighted averages. The weighted averages were calculated by using the factors mentioned in para 3.1.2. These unit values were then multiplied either by the number of transactions or the man hours of work for items/activities of the selected time period, and these output values were considered Equivalent Units. Totals for each of the six activity groups are then calculated. Finally, an overall total of the Equivalent Units is obtained. In the case of the Divisional Secretariat I, this overall total Equivalent Unit is 3,102,868. The breakdown among the six activity groups is as follows
Equivalent Units
A. Document Group 270,153 B. Service Group 2,015,784 C. Development Group 342,463 D. Social Group 133,900 E. Agency Group 70,960 F. Internal Management 269,608 Total 3,102,868
The second stage of processing is to obtain the total cost of the Secretariat for the selected time period. The total cost of Divisional Secretariat I for activity groups A-E is Rs. 1,354,045. Activity group F is an overhead. In order to account for this overhead, for the

Cost Based Performance Indicators for Public Administration 287
services provided by the Head Office and other relevant government agencies, a charge of 10 per cent was added to this cost. As such the total cost for Divisional Secretariat I is Rs. 1489,450.
In the third stage of processing, as an apportionment exercise, this total cost of Rs. 1,489,450 is divided among the six activity groups on the following basis of apportionment.
Activity (in per cent) Cost Elements A B C D E F Total
1. (a) Managerial and 10 60 10 10 5 5 OO
Supervisory (b) Technical O 50 40 10 O O 100 (c) Operational 20 50 15 10 5 O 100 (d) Clerical 20 35 10 10 10 15 100 (e) Support Service 15 45 5 5 10 20 100
2. Travelling Expenses (a) Managerial and 5 40 20 25 5 5 OO
Supervisory (b) Technical O 40 40 10 10 0 100 (c) Operational 10 35 25 25 5 O 100 (d) Clerical 5 35 10. 10 10 30 100 (e) Support Service 5 25 2O 20 O 30 100
3. Supplies and Requisites 10 15 O 10 20 35 100 4. Repairs and Maintenance
of Capital Assets 10 30 20 15 15 10 100 5. Transportation,
Communications, Utility
and Other Services 15 30 20 15 O 10 100
The percentages were determined using another work sheet, assigning weightage points on a scale 0-9 for each work item of activity groups to reflect workload of each category of staff, the application of other cost elements such as Supplies and requisites, repairs and maintenance, etc. Finally, the percentages were rounded to the nearest 5 to make them standards.
On this basis, the costs of the six groups of Divisional Secretariat I could be determined as follows:


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Costs (Rs.)
A. Document Group 207471 B. Service Group 671, 182 C. Development Group 262,095 D. Social Group 149,118 E. Agency Group 94,713 F. Internal Management 104,871 1489,450
By dividing total costs in this manner, a crude averaging of costs among all the activities/transactions of the Divisional Secretariat is avoided. Averaging is a far inferior method than the procedure now adopted. Now, if the work of an activity group is at a very low level, it would be identified by its high cost per unit of the group. Similarly if the work of an activity group were at a higher level, it would be reflected in a lower cost per unit of activities.
For the fourth stage of processing, each activity group cost is divided by relevant total Equivalent Units and multiplied by the Equivalent Unit of relevant work items. These values are placed in respective cells of the column "Direct Cost-Total Cost”. These total costs are then divided by the respective number of items/transactions in order to get "Direct Cost-Cost per Unit”.
In the fifth stage of processing the total costs related to the administration and finance functions of the Internal Management of the Secretariat (for Divisional Secretariat I, this value is Rs.104,871) are re-apportioned to work groups based on the proportions of respective Equivalent Unit.
The apportionment of internal management cost of Divisional Secretariat I, among the five activity groups is as follows:
Equ. Units Int. Mgt. Cost
apportioned
A. Document Group 270,153 10,000 B. Service Group 2,015,784 74,613 C. Development Group 342,463 23,676 D. Social Group 133,900 4,956 E. Agency Group - 70,960 2,627 2,833,260 104.871
Internal management costs attributed to each activity group are apportioned using relevant Equivalent Units and divided by the respective number of items/transactions to get the "Internal management cost-Apportioned cost per unit”.

Cost Based Performance Indicators for Public Administration 289,
Finally, by Summing up the direct cost and apportioned internal management cost, the total cost of each item of work, and the cost per unit of each item of work are obtained.
As mentioned earlier, this exercise was undertaken for six pilo Divisional Secretariats. Even though certain drawbacks are clearly identified in this study and discussed in para 8, a comparative cost statement can now be prepared for selected items of work. This is shown in Table 11.1.
6. Unit Costs as Performance Indicators
This approach now adopted is a promising beginning for the development of cost based performance indicators. Refinements could be introduced as the concepts clarify. The tremendous value of this approach is that there is now at least a set of indicators by which the performance of the Divisional Secretariat can be judged intrinsically, and also in comparison with other Divisional Secretariats.
In addition to the cost per unit of work items/transactions, other performance indicators such as equivalent units per employee for each activity group and total cost of personnel emoluments per employee per quarter, cost of Supplies and office requisites per employee per quarter, etc. could be obtained. They are also useful performance indicators for performance evaluation and monitoring purposes. Some possible indicators for the pilot six Divisional Secretariats are shown in Table 11.2. In reviewing the performance of the Divisional Secretary, the cost approach will be significant particularly if incentive payments for good performance are considered.
TABLE 1.1.1 Cost per Unit as Performance Indicators Divisional DS DS DS DS DS DS MEA SD
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
Rs... Rs. Rs. R$. Rs. Rs... Rs. Rs.
Activity Group A: (a) Issue of Revenue
Licence 28.9 19.88 27.03 34.01 27.03 39.34 29.3 6.08 (b) Issue of Certificates
of Income 29.7 20.43 27.78 34.95 27.78 40.43 30.1 6.25
(c) Issue of Permits to . . .
Cut Down Jack 28.1 1932 26.28 33.06. 26.28 38.2428.5 5.91


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(2) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (d) Issue of Birth
Certificates 28.9 19.88 27.03 34.0, 27.03 39.34 29.3 6.08
Activity Group B: (a) Distribution of Mid
day Meal Stamps 14.8 8.56 1443 11.50 17.87 9.12 14.3 3.58 (b) Distribution of Food
Stamps 13.3 7.71 2.98 10.35 16.08 17.21 12.9 3.22 (c) Public Assistance for
Disabled Persons 13.3 7.7 12.98 0.35 16.08 17.21 12.9 3.22 (d) Payment of Pensions 15.9 9.21 15.51 12.36 19.21 20.55 5.4 3.85
Activity Group C: (a) Rural Development
Society 30.4 37.49 32.59 40.08 20.78 40.83 33.7 6.88 (b) Coordination with
Agricultural Dept. 24.0 29.59 25.73 31.64 16.41 32.24 26.6 5.43 (c) Vocational Training 32.0 39.46 34.31 42.18 21.88 42.98 35.4 7.24 (d) Land Settlement 28.8 35.51 30.88 37.97 19.69 38.68 31.9 6.52
Activity Group D: (a) Registration of Cultu
ral and Art Centres 31.0 32.66 32.01 41.27 26.92 35.94 33.3 4.44 (b) Educating Women 34.5 36.28 35.57 45.86 29.91 39.93 37.0 4.93 (c) NISCO Loan
Programme 35.6 37.49 36.76 47.39 30.91 41.26 38.2 5.10 (d) Activity relating to
sports 39.1 41.1 2 40.31 51.97 33.90 45.26 41.9 5.59
Activity Group E. (a) Monthly return to
Registrar General 48.0 33.64. 36.76 60.80 54.52 36.93 45.1 10.0 (b) Appointing JP 39.7 27.87 30.46 50.38 45.17 30.60 37.3 8.36 (c) Forwarding NIC
Applications 41.1 28.83 31.51 52.12 46.73 31.65 38.6 8.65 (d) Forwarding Passport
Applications 26.0 18.26 19.95 33.01 29.60 20.0524.4 5.48
Activity Group F: (a) Registration &
Distrin. of Regd.
Letters 12.8 15.92 12.20 15.32 13.39 17.36 14.5 1.83 (b) Issue of Railway
Warrants 9.72 12.06 9.24 11.61 1 0.14 13.15 10.9 1.39 (c) Maintenance of
Postage Account 11.2 13.99 10.72 13.47 11.76 15.26 12.7 1.6

Cost Based Performance Indicators for Public Administration 291
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
(d) Reconciliation of
Bank Balances 14.3 17.85 13.68 17.18 15.01 1946 16.2 2.05
Note: The pilot study covered a total of 85 work items/activities. Selected ones are taken in the table above.
TABLE 1 1.2 Other Possible Performance Indicators
Divisional Performance Indicators I II III IV V VI
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
1. Number of Employees 102 61 98 93 84 77 2. Equivalent Units:
(per Qtr) (a) Activity Group A 270,153 278,738 287,799 262,830 240,225 197,249 (b) Activity Group B 201,578 256,421 181,905 265,454 133,954 138,061 (c) Activity Group C 342,463 194,130 260,710 217,580 392,992 209,205 (d) Activity Group D 133,900 99.390 126,340 105,304 130,138 113,490 (e) Activity Group E 70,960 90,360 102,350 66,990 55,684 103,460 (f) Activity Group F 269,608 212,436 287,089 275,827 223,493 2 15,722
Total 3,102,863,439,262,883,343,583,07 2,382,07 22, 19,73 3. Costs: (Rs. per
Qtr.) (a) Personnel
Emoluments 1,203,09 787,880 1,103,371,146,33 931,220 1,002,73 (b) Travelling
Expenses 47,365 59,880 35,534 36.465 46,272 46,176 (c) Supplies &
Requisites 67,428 83,541 81,675 89,417 68,058 70,756 (d) Repairs &
maintenance 7,078 27,890 18,677 15,040 29,778 66,447 (e) Transp'n &
Comm'n 29,078 42,125 29,393 92,950 24,920 50,652
Total 1,354.04 1,001,31 1,268,651,380.20 1,100,24 1,236,76
RATIOS: 1. Equivalent Units. (a) Actv. Gr. A
per Employee 2,649 2,733 2,822 2,577 2,355 1934 (b) Actv. Gr. B
per Employee 19,763 25,139 17,834 26,025 13,133 13,535 (c) Actv. Gr. C
per Employee 3,357 1903, 2,556 2,133 3,853 2,051 (d) Actv. Gr. D
1,313 974 1,239 1,032 1276 1,113
per Employee


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(1) (2) (3り (4) (5) (6) (7)
(e) Actv. Gr. E
per Employee 696 886 1,003 657 546 1,014 (f) Actv. Gr. F
per Employee 2,643 2,083 2,815 2,704 2,191 2,115
Total Eq. Units
per Emp. 30,420 33,718 28,268 35,128 23,354 21,762
2. Costs. (Rs.) (a) Person. Emol.
per Emp. 11,795 7,724 10,817 11,239 9,130 9,831 (b) Travelling. Exp.
per Emp. 464 587 348 358 454 453 (c) Supp. & Requi.
per Emp. 66 819 801 877 667 694 (d) Repairs & Main.
per Emp. 69 273 83 147 292 65 (e) Trp'n., Comn., etc.
per Emp. 285 413 288 9. 244 497 Total Cost
per Employee 13,275 9,817 12,438 13,531 10,787 12,125
7. Interpretation of Unit Costs and Ratios
A careful analysis of values and ratios of Table 11.1 and 11.2 reveal the following:
7.1. Divisional Secretariat II has the lowest cost per unit for activity groups A, B and F. This is mainly due to higher total equivalent units per employee and lower total cost per employee.
7.2. Divisional Secretariat IV has very high cost for activity group E compared to other secretariats. This is due to both lower equivalent units per employee for this group and the highest total cost per employee.
7.3. Even though, Divisional Secretariat V has the lowest equivalent units per employee for activity group E, the costs per unit of activity of this group are not the highest, due to lower total cost per employee of this secretariat.
7.4. Not only due to the nature of the work items/transactions but also due to measurement difficulties, the variability of costs of certain activities is exceptionally high. For example, the activity monthly

Cost Based Performance Indicators for Public Administration 293
return made to the Registrar General is significant for its high value of standard deviation.
7.5. The lowest cost per employee per quarter of Rs. 9,817 for Divisional Secretariat II creates an element of doubt about the accuracy of data.
These are indicative interpretations. Management has now the tool to undertake a variety of analysis based on its requirements.
8. Shortcomings and Possible Remedies
The application of costing concepts to public administration is at an early stage of implementation. Consequently there will be shortcomings. These were recognized during the process of the study and are inevitable. Some of the shortcomings are
8.1. The content of the measurement, particularly under Group C (Development Group) and Group D (Social Group), in respect of work items/transactions could be better identified and worded. This should be refined through continuous discussions with relevant officials.
8.2. The work items under each group could be divided into “routine items' and "non-routine' or "ad hoc items'.
8.3. Taking into account the work content of each work item/transaction, a suitable number of items/activities for a "package of work', (e.g., 100 issues of mid-day meal cards = 1 No. etc.) could be decided.
8.4. The unit values of each work item/transaction could be better derived by a team of specialists in relevant fields e.g., Organisation and Methods (O&M). These unit values could be used for comparison to arrive at the best set.
8.5. Standardized documentation and recording procedures for most of the work items/transactions should be introduced and implemented in all secretariats.
9. Next Steps ܀
The calculation of cost indicators would have been a tedious task for an earlier generation. But with computers being available a sophisticated spread sheet could be used, it is no longer a chore, However, there are a number of refinements possible. They are


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9.1. As already mentioned, O&M skills should also be used to Supplement financial workload analysis.
9.2. The shortcomings mentioned in Sect. 8 should be attended to.
9.3. By extending the sample for homogenous groups of Divisional Secretariats e.g., fisheries Divisional Secretariats, plantation Divisional Secretariats, it will be possible to develop unit costs for each work item/transaction and derive a standard cost for each of these comparable sets.
9.4. The suggested approach should eventually lead to standard costing. Thus the Divisional Secretariat would lend itself to evaluating through budgetary control and variance analysis based on standard costing.
9.5. The output of the performance evaluation and unit costing system should permit aggregation into district, provincial and national levels. They will eventually provide a strong statistical foundation for micro and macro-economic planning.
10. Conclusion
Achieving efficiency in public administration is a major expectation of the World Bank definition of governance. Efficiency is an engineering concept of relating input to output. Efficiency was not a concept about which public administration had so far been overconcerned. So far public administration was only preoccupied with compliance and integrity of inputs. Public administration agencies were also mostly monopolies. Consequently there was no urgent need for them to search for efficiency. The emerging new public administration is managerialist in orientation. World Bank concerns with governance will certainly encourage them to go on in this direction. This means, among others, a constant search for efficiency. The cost route in achieving efficiency is a promising approach. The concept of a Public Administrtion Agency as a value-adding organisation is a new one. The cost route would provide the means of achieving it. This is a significant deepening of the concept of public administration.

12
Career Assurance and the Integrity of the Public Service
Somapala Gunadheera
1. Colonial Despotism
Y father once related to me an experience he had in the then MEë district of Hambantota in the second decade of this century. The famous colonial Assistant Government Agent (AGA) of Hambantota, Mr. Leonard Woolf, was on circuit on horse-back. Arriving at Dabarella, then a hamlet in the wilderness, he called upon the ageing Vidane (Village Headman) of the place to run ahead of his horse to show the way through the jungle. The old man ran as far as he could but fell down halfway in sheer exhaustion. Mr. Woolf nonchalantly galloped his horse over the prostrate body and found his way to the school at USwewa.
My father was an adolescent trainee teacher in that school. At the time the AGA arrived, he was taking classes, as the only other teacher, the headmaster, was down with a serious attack of malaria. Mr. Woolf watched the youth at work, oblivious to the importance of the visitor. Impressed by his momentary observation, the AGA of fered to him in situ, the post of Vidane Arachchi of Dabarella!
This little anecdote is a vivid illustration of the criteria applied to dismissals and appointments in colonial times. The Vidane was sacked without the slightest chance to explain himself and the substitute was to be the next person upon whom the official chanced to set his omniscient eyes. The pukka sahibs of the public service were possessed of both unlimited power and unfettered discretion.


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2. Service at the Pleasure of the Crown
Public servants are a critical group in the labour market of any developing country. Generally they are highly educated and more often than not, the best skilled. The World Bank definition of governance underscores the importance of proper procedures in dealing with public servants. Discretion of a public servant is minimized and where applicable, it must be exercised within acceptable parameters. These concepts of governance did not prevail during colonial times. AGA Woolf served in Sri Lanka at the height of British colonialism. Even at that time, the Northcote-Trevalyan reforms of the previous century were meant to eliminate arbitrariness in decision-making. But the reforms did not result in legislation to prescribe parameters governing appointments and promotions in the public service, for public servants were presumed to hold office at the pleasure of the Crown.
“... servants of the Crown hold office only during the pleasure of the Crown, except in cases where it is otherwise provided by statute. ... A contract to employ a servant of the Crown for a fixed period would be against the public interest and unconstitutional. It is not competent for the Crown to tie its hands by such a contract.” Dunn v. The Queen [1896) 1 KB 178
The English concept of service at the pleasure of the Crown has been held to apply to the public service in Sri Lanka. In the words of Lord Diplock in Kodees waran v. Attorney General, 1972 NLR 337, [1970), AC 1111. w
"It is now well established in British constitutional theory, at any rate as it has developed since the eighteenth century, that any appointment as a Crown servant, however subordinate, is terminable at will unless it is expressly otherwise provided by legislation; . . . . In their Lordships' view if long established judicial authority for a proposition of law not inconsistent with the British constitutional concept of the exercise of sovereign authority by the Crown can be found in the decisions of the Ceylon courts themselves, there is no need to go back to see whether any precedent can be found for it in the jurisprudence of the United Provinces or

Career Assurance and the Integrity of the Public Service 297.
the doctrine of the Roman-Dutch jurists of the eighteenth century.”
Even the 1978 Constitution has implicitly accepted the proposition that public servants hold office at the pleasure of the State. Article 55 (5) of the Constitution reads:
“Subject to the jurisdiction conferred on the Supreme Court under paragraph.(1) of Article 126 no court or tribunal shall have the power or jurisdiction to inquire into, pronounce upon or in any manner call in question, any order or decision of the Cabinet of Ministers, a Minister, the Public Service Commission, a committee of the Public Service Commission or of a public officer, in regard to any matter concerning the appointment, transfer, dismissal or disciplinary control of a public officer.”
It may be noted that this provision applies only to the public service that comes under the purview of the Public Service Commission (PSC). The corporation sector is exempt from this limitation and employees placed thereunder can seek redress under the Industrial Disputes Act. Appointments and dismissals in the public Service are governed by rules made by the PSC and appeals are directed to the Cabinet of Ministers.
The only avenue of judicial review available to the public service proper is to petition the Supreme Court for violation of the Fundamental Right to Equality under Article 126. This explains the multiplicity of such petitions and the attempt to strain the limits of that right to accommodate a plethora of grievances. This aspect will be dealt with in due course.
3. Post-Independence Liberalism
After independence, the situation in respect of appointments and promotions changed remarkably. Guidelines were offered by establishment and disciplinary rules, codified in the Establishment Code and Public Service Commission Rules. The following rules applied to appointments and promotions:


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"Chapter 11. Establishment Code 2.1. For every post in the Public Service ... there should be a Scheme of Recruitment which specifies the salary scale of the post, the qualifications required, age limits and other relevant particulars. . . .
5.4.1. The Appointing Authority will take action to fill vacancies, as provided for in the approved Scheme of Recruitment.
5.4.2. The Appointing Authority will . . . arrange for the applicants to be interviewed by a Selection Board appointed by him.
5.4.4. On receipt of the recommendations of the Selection Board, the 'Appointing Authority will make the appointment."
The skeletal nature of these rules is obvious at first glance. The Code does not lay down any objective criteria for the selectors. Much is left to their honesty, conscience and freedom of election. Perhaps, these rules did not need elaboration, strict definition and limitation, at the time they were first laid down. As heirs and trustees of a noble tradition, public servants were deeply conscious of their obligations. The political climate and traditions deeply ingrained in the decisionmakers over the years, guaranteed fair and equitable selection and promotions in the public service, which was a proud entity at the advent of independence. h−
4. Administration Slanted to Parochial Benefit
In my own experience, my decisions in regard to appointment and promotion were not influenced unfairly upto the end of the sixties. Arm-twisting began with the beginning of the next decade. The intrusion was considerably facilitated by two seismic events. In 1963 the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) was abolished. The CCS was an elite service which selected the cream of the university products of the year. The selectees in the prime of their youth (between 22 and 24) were placed on a fast track and supported by intensive training. They were the proud inheritors of an administration based on service traditions. Unfortunately, the successor to the CCS, the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS), did not benefit from the traditions of its predecessor.
The second event was the abolition of the independent Public Service Commission introduced by the 1948 Independence Constitu

Career Assurance and the Integrity of the Public Service 299
tion. It was replaced by a PSC subject to political direction, under the 1972 Constitution. I must hasten to add that even under the new Setup, interference did not come from those at the helm of affairs. The reason, I believe, was that they had been brought up in the best traditions of Westminster. The intervention began lower down, from a newly emerging generation that was fighting for a place in the sun. Much as I understand their motivations, the breakdown of traditional values under such pressure needs must be recorded.
At the time of independence, the rule was to select appointees from a priority list maintained at the Employment Exchange. May it be mentioned that even this list was not beyond suspicion as reservations were expressed as regards undue influence brought to bear on its formulation and maintenance. The suspects, however, were not the politicians but the officials. Yet there was overall societal acceptance of the objectivity of this mechanism.
In this connection, I recall an incident from my own experience. The Department of Small Industries, of which I was the Director in the seventies, was establishing Power-loom Workshops in various parts of the island. Arrangements were being made to recruit weavers as usual from the Employment Exchange out of those who had the requisite qualifications. Then came an order prohibiting recruitment from the Exchange and directing that selections be made from lists submitted by Members of Parliament (MP). The MPs were to forward lists of preferred candidates containing double the number of names as there were vacancies. There was no assurance that the MPs' nominees had the necessary qualifications.
The Department was to select by interview, the requisite number of workers. The selection did not end there. The list of selectees was to be sent to the MP concerned for approval. When the list came back, many names had been substituted with those rejected at the interview. In fact, on occasion, names not found in the original list recommended for interview, were also included. Both the aggrieved and the officials had no remedy or right of review.
In dismay, I asked the father of the new scheme, why we could not be given the list of appointees straightaway without all that ado. His candid reply was, “You officials don't have to face the voters at the next election!” The new method of selection, caused severe frustration not only to those who failed to get into the original list and those


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who were jettisoned from the selected list, but also to the officials who had no choice but to acquiesce with the farce.
Shameful to admit, but some officials used the opportunity to barter with the politicians to include some of their own nominees in the final list. Thus started a politician-bureaucrat coalition, structured to feather each other's nests. The result was curious. The politicians lost at the next election but the time-serving bureaucrats survived, thanks to service tenure. They established fresh coalitions with the new political power brokers. It was a far worse scenario than that of Woolf. At least Woolfgot no personal benefit from the appointments he made.
This narration of the transition in selection procedures, would not be complete without recording one of its shocking consequences. A spinster who had been selected as a weaving teacher under the new "scheme of recruitment', was found with child a few months after her appointment. Allegations and counter-allegations were made against various people responsible for her elevation to the public service, but disciplinary procedure demanded that her sojourn in that service be short-lived.
5. Fundamental Rights-The Rudder
The above incidents have been recounted not for their anecdotal value but as a foreword to a discussion on the applicability of fundamental rights to schemes of recruitment, including promotions. In the background just described, promulgation of the Fundamental Right to Equality in the 1978 Constitution has had a far-reaching and salutary effect on appointments and promotions in the public sector.
The Article reads: 12 (1) All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law.
(2) No citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any one of such grounds.
These principles have been the guiding star in several decisions of the judiciary here and abroad. Pronouncements underscoring the rationale behind the stipulations and laying down the limits within

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which they should operate, are quoted below with reference to some of the most relevant authorities.
6. Manifestations of the Rule of Law
“The principle of equality before the law embodied in Article 12 is a necessary corollary to the high concept of the Rule of Law underlying the Constitution." Per Sharvananda CJ in Elmore Perera v. Major Montague Jayawickrama (1985) 1 Sri LR 285 at 321.
"In this context it is important to emphasize that absence of arbitrary power is the first essential of the rule of law upon which our whole constitutional system is based. In a system governed by rule of law, discretion, when conferred on the executive authorities, must be confined within clearly defined limits. The rule of law from this point of view means that decisions should be made by application of known principles and rules, and in general, such decisions should be predictable and the citizen should know where he stands. If a decision is taken without any principle or without any rule, it is unpredictable and such a decision is the antithesis of a decision taken in accordance with the rule of law.” Ramaswami J in Jaisighani v. Union of India AIR 1967 SC 1427 at 1434.
7. Permissible Classification
"The concept of equality in the matter of promotion can be predicated only when the promotees are drawn from the same source. If the preferential treatment of one source in relation to the other is based on the differences between the said two sources, and the said differences have a reasonable relation to the nature of the office or offices to which recruitment is made, the said recruitment can legitimately be sustained on the basis of a valid classification' Jaisinghani at 1431. ... '
"In order, however, to pass the test of permissible classification, two conditions must be fulfilled, namely, (1) that the classification must be founded on an intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from others left out of the group and (2) that differentia must have a rational relation to the object sought to be achieved...” Budhan Choudhry v. State of Bihar AIR 1955 SC 191 at 193.
"... inequality of opportunity of promotion, ... must be justified


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on the strength of rational criteria co-related to the object for which the difference is made. In the case of Government servants, the object of such a difference must be presumed to be the selection of the most competent from amongst those possessing qualifications and backgrounds entitling them to be members of one class. In some cases, quotas may have to be fixed between what are different classes or sources for promotion on grounds of public policy. If, on the facts of a particular case, the classes to be considered are really different, inequality of opportunity in promotional chances may be justifiable. On the contrary, if the facts of a particular case disclose no such rational distinction between members of what is found to be really a single class, no class distinction can be made in selecting the best..." State of Mysore v. Krishnamurty 1973) 2 SCR 575 at 580.
The judicial use of the word "class' above must be distinguished from the meaning attached to it in common parlance as a "stratum of society'. What is implied by class here is two or more persons who are equal, in the sense that they conform to one and the same specification. In that sense, "classification' is nothing more than grouping of persons under relevant criteria.
8. Relativity of Equality
The law does not enjoin that all persons be always treated alike; nor does it require unequal-persons to be given equal treatment. Only equals must be treated equally and if it is proposed to differentiate between two persons, it is imperative that (1) an intelligible reason for that differentiation is given and that (2) such a reason is justified by the "object sought to be achieved'.
The above imperatives have a corollary governed by natural justice that intelligible and reasonable differentia applicable to a post, are made known to the aspirants for that post, sufficiently in advance, so that they may adjust their course accordingly. Criteria hidden under official files, that rattle the hapless interviewee across the table, are not a part of a civilized process.
9. The Ten Golden Rules
The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has laid down in concise and
specific terms rules that should serve as a guiding star, if promotions
in the public service are to be made without violation of the Funda

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mental Right to Equality. They are tabulated below, extracted verbatim, as far as possible, from the judgements of Mark Fernando J and Kulatunga J, in Perera v. Cyril Ranatunga 1993 1 Sri LR 39, Gunaratna v. Sri Lanka Telecom 1993 1 Sri LR 109, Perera v. Peoples Bank SC Applications 339/93, 340/93 decided on 4 August, 1995 and Ariyadasa Malawara Arachchi v. Paskaralingam SC Applications 64/91, 81/91 decided on 30 July, 1992.
R1. It is very desirable that all the criteria relevant to promotion should be published in advance so that all candidates have equal opportunities of advancing their claims; the more complex the scheme, the greater the need for such publicity.
R2. The scheme should be based on reasonable criteria. R3. If the scheme is discriminatory, it can be challenged even before the occasion to apply it arises.
R4. In making promotions, consideration of merit is legitimate but sufficient weightage should be given to seniority.
R5. Less weight may legitimately be given to seniority where the post involves onerous responsibilities and requires special skills and aptitudes and correspondingly, greater weightage given to positive merit and the candidate's skills and aptitudes.
R6. The principle of "seniority and merit” implies that seniority will be given more or less equal consideration as merit, unless there was very good reason for giving significantly higher weightage for “merit'.
R7. If senior officers are affected by some disqualification, junior officers who are not so affected and possessing the requisite qualifications, competence or aptitudes, may be preferred to their seniors.
R8. Normally the test for selection should be the existence of minimum competence in a candidate to discharge the duties of the higher post.
10. Rules Governing Subjectivity
To these may be added two more rules recently accepted impliedly, consequent to citations of Indian authorities. Although superficially, they may appear to be incompatible with the dictates of equality, a closer examination of them, would reveal their admissibility. The rules are:


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R9. In making appointments, to top level posts, it is permissible, in the interests of the service, to promote the most junior over the most Senior officer.
The two cases cited (Sant Ram Sharma v. State of Rajastan AIR 1967 SC 1910 and Dachan v. State of Jammu and Kashmir AIR 1970 JK 170) pertain to the appointment of an Inspector General of Police and a Deputy Inspector General of Police. This would appear to be an extension of rule 5 above and a concession to "grounds of public policy'. However it is submitted that the guiding principle here is not the level of elevation of the post concerned, but the imperatives of the public policy involved. One can imagine the embarrassment of the Indian Judiciary, if the constables who were Indira Gandhi's bodyguards had been selected under their intervention.
R10. The appointing authority is the judge of merit and ability and Court cannot substitute its judgement to that of the appointing authority (Gopi Nath Kaul v. State of Jammu and Kashmir AIR 1957 JK31). This rule has to be understood in the context of the foregoing rules and applied restrictively. As "judge of merit and ability", a public servant has to perform two functions. First, he fixes the parameters of "merit and ability” and this function must necessarily be governed by the above rules. Next is the function of evaluating the applicant across the table under the parameters already fixed. It is to this second function that subjectivity has some relevance. But it is submitted that even here, subjective assessment may be permitted only where objective data are not available and certainly, not in spite of them. "
To cite a simple illustration, if a scheme of promotion for the post of time-keeper stipulates that applicants should be experts at Somersaulting, it may be struck down as irrelevant to the "object sought to be achieved”. Punctuality may certainly, be accepted as applicable and it is normally the prerogative of the "Boss' to determine whether his subordinate has actually been punctual. Even here the freedom of selection has to be limited by available data. The "Boss' cannot overrule the clocking machine if it says that his favourite has been late every day. It is only in the absence of such quantitative material, that the subjectivity of the Boss can come into play.
11. Fair Play in Theory and Practice
Appointment to the public service has always been a much sought

i
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after cachet. It was the prime target of the upwardly mobile, more particularly, under colonial rule, the attractions being, security of tenure, non-contributory pension and of course, Social power and prestige.
With the subordination of the PSC to the political process referred to above, the public service became a lucrative bartering ground for political patronage." No doubt there were objectively formulated Schemes of Recruitment but their application could be tendentious depending on how much pressure politicians could exert on Boards of Interview. The degree to which a public servant could resist such pressure was minimal. It would appear that a public servant has two roles in the area of political influence. In the normal context, he is the victim of such influence but at higher levels, he is liable to be made its instrument. -
This was in sharp contrast to the days when the system ensured the independence and the integrity of the public service. In this connection, I recall an incident that took place when I was Government Agent in Trincomalee in the sixties. A complaint had been received that an illicit butcher who possessed a licensed gun at Rotawewa, was shooting cattle at the neighbouring hanlet of Gomarankadawala and the local Divisional Revenue Officer (DRO) had suspended his license. An appeal was made to me on the ground that the appellant was the only member of the political party in power, living in the area and the suspension was an act of discrimination on the part of the DRO who was the nephew of a leading light in the opposition. I cancelled the license altogether. A few days later came a directive from the Minister. Written in characteristic purple ink, it read, "G.A., I order you to restore the gun license to . . . of Rotawewa." I replied, "I am the licensing authority under the Firearms Ordinance and I shall not use that power to grant a gun license to a cattle thief." That was the end of the story. I dread to guess what my fate would be if I gave that reply today. The "Pool” which is an euphemism for the Siberia of the public service, in which public servants are humiliated out of the Service, was not existent then.
12. Post-Insurgency Reforms after 1989
The insidious corruption in the public service emanating from the collapse of treasured values is now all too evident. Those who were


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considered to be supporters of the opposition were shut out of the service and if already in, they were side-tracked. The result was frustration and fierce resentment which was presumably responsible largely, for the violence that ensued.
Consequent to the findings of the Youth Commission, Public Administration Circular 15/90 was issued in 1990, prescribing procedure for appointments and promotions. The document called the "Merit Circular” laid down some far-reaching principles in selection for first appointment. The promotion aspects of the Circular were however laid in abeyance. The "Merit Circular” was animated by two cardinal principles.
1. All recruitment was to be made only through an examination. There was debate about whether some of those selected may not be suitable since there was the possibility that they had undesirable personality quirks which could only be spotted at an interview. However the conclusion was that there will be less unsuitable candidates selected through an objective examination than through an interview, because of the undue influence to which an interview was exposed. The scheme has been in operation for the last five years and complaints about unsuitable candidates being selected are rarely heard, if at all.
2. Quotas were assigned territorially and ethnically to the different racial and religious groups. The quotas were based on population proportions. This was affirmative action to offer the under-represented a chance. From one point of view it was unfair, in that a more populous region or racial/religious group having a higher cut off point would be denied appointment to candidates with comparatively higher marks. But on the balance, the fairness was accepted by and large.
Interestingly, the wisdom of the "Merit Circular' was called in question in a newspaper article recently. The implementation of the circular was alleged to be one of the main reasons for the fall of the "Premadasa Regime". It was vigorously argued that the local job market was not large enough to accommodate all aspirants for jobs. In any case, a large majority of them had to be disappointed. In this scenario, the writer argued, it was unwise to alienate the sympathies of those who would have stood by the ruling political party, through thick and thin, with this attempt to grant fairness to a microscopic minority. Evidently this argument involves value considerations based

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on the whole question of the eternal conflict of interest between the individual and the State and the role of a party in the governance equation.
13. Evaluation of Performance and Output
There is danger in over-simplifying rules applicable to promotions. Static organizations which can be evaluated on the basis to which integrity and compliance has been fulfilled, are more amenable to rules of the thumb. In dynamic organizations concerned with output, efficiency and effectiveness, performance needs to be recognized and rewarded. Such organizations need must promote their personnel on criteria wider than mere integrity and compliance. This dichotomy throws up a challenge and that is, by differentiation, to make the "Golden Rules' more sophisticated.
Roughly, public administration consists of three broad areas. 1. Policy Formulation. It is the Secretary to the Ministry who is in sole charge of policy formulation. He has a special place under the constitution. In terms of Article 55 of the Constitution, his appointment and removal is at the sole discretion of the President. Although he was once called the "Permanent Secretary” his post is the most impermanent. This is just as it should be, since being the link between the political and administrative processes, he holds a position most crucial to the success of government. There is no question of promoting a Secretary because he is already at the top. However his appointment and removal cannot be subject to basic rules governing equality. 2. Policy Management. Posts in this area are held by senior career officers. They are less vulnerable than the Secretaries. Nevertheless their posts are crucial to those in power. This is an area in which the prospects of the government have to be critically balanced with the prospects of the individual and if they are in conflict, public interest demands that the former takes precedence.
In Sant Ram, Ramaswami J. refers with approval to the following observations of Leonard D. White:
"The principal object of a promotion system is to secure the best possible incumbents for the higher positions, while maintaining the morale of the whole organization. The main interest to be served is the public interest, not the personal interest of members


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of the official group concerned. The public interest is best secured when reasonable opportunities for promotion exist for all qualified employees, when really superior civil servants are enabled to move as rapidly up the promotion ladder as their merits deserve and as vacancies occur, and when selection for promotion is made on the sole basis of merit. . . .'
3. Policy Implementation. There are two grades of officers in this category, the executives (staff officers) and the subordinate staff. The latter are further classified as unskilled and skilled. As a group, these officers are the least vulnerable to policy considerations. Even within the group, certain characteristics have to be differentiated.
In respect of the unskilled, promotions have to be based purely on seniority in the absence of established fault. Skilled officers come under three broad categories, technical, human and conceptual. Technical skills involve methods, processes and procedures. They are concerned with working with things. Human skills involve abilities to work in a group and deal with relating to people. Both these sets of skills could be quantified. Conceptual skills are judgmental and deal with viewing the organization as a whole.
In the area of skills, promotions should be based on objective criteria. In respect of the staff grades in this operational area, the available performance evaluation techniques have to be further developed. Arumugam, in his paper in this volume, has indicated how costing techniques can be applied to develop performance indicators. Unless and until such indicators are adequately developed, staff officers in the operational areas can be evaluated for promotion only on their compliance and integrity records.
The above attempt to broadly distinguish the different sectors of the public service, is meant to show that rules of equality do not admit of universal application. The Golden Rules enumerated above do not exclude such differentiation. The admitted concessions to policy and reasonable classification leave room for objective sophistication.
It is the Executive that has to take the blame for the obstacles in the way of relating fairness to level of performance. No objective criteria have yet been laid down to enable reasonable classification, with the result that Courts have to wade through scrappy bits of information in moth-eaten files to satisfy themselves as far as possible, that their decisions are based on objective criteria.

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14. Facilitating Review
An individual's freedom to canvass an appointment or promotion is circumscribed in many ways. These decisions are governed by PSC rules which are not substantive law. A public servant does not have access to the Ombudsman. In this respect he is in no worse position than his counterpart in Britain. But unlike in his case, the British public servant can now take his case to courts under the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act, 1978. However such judicial review is confined to dismissals, and the virtual relief is compensation, though restatement is ordered as a formal alternative. The public servant in Sri Lanka is debarred from access to Courts but with the promulgation of fundamental rights under the 1978 Constitution he can now seek redress directly from the highest Court in the land and such judicial review is not limited only to dismissals. This relaxation has prompted a tendency to rush to the Supreme Court at the slightest presumed violation of a public servant's rights, be it in the area of appointment, dismissal, promotion, retirement or any other provocation. Situations are strained beyond measure, to squeeze them into the only available ventilation hole for review that of violation of the Fundamental Right to Equality.
If the sacrosanctity of a State decision can be questioned summarily at the highest Tribunal in the land at Such cost of time and expense, one wonders why procedures cannot be laid down more conveniently down the ladder for the same purpose. One way out may be to strengthen the PSC by restoring its former independence. The greatest challenge, however, is to restructure the backbone of the Executive by ensuring to it, greater job security and adequate compensation, if policy considerations demand the parting of ways. In a country where the job market is so limited at the higher levels, those at the top of the Executive would be well advised to equip themselves honourably with expertise and professional qualifications that would stand in good stead, if they wish to retain their self-respect in making bold decisions, irrespective of personal considerations.
15. Conclusion
The general assumption is that the public service does not involve
a contractual relationship that is justiciable. However, basic justice
demands that it is not treated entirely in an arbitrary and capricious


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manner; nor can performance be divorced from pre-requisites for promotions in the Service. A balance has to be struck, a line drawn.
No doubt, public servants at the very top, have to work at pleasure, but the operational staff have to be guarded by legal safeguards. The scope and manner of intervention needs substantial analysis and research. At the moment, redress is confined within the narrow gates of the Fundamental Right to Equality.
The prolific expansion of the public service in Sri Lanka and its variegated ramifications in response to the demands of development, underscore the need for a more Sophisticated, coordinated and adequate response to rebuild professionalism and independence in the public service. An urgent and effective effort in this direction will be in the best interests of the government, the public servant and the citizen.
R E F E R E N C E S
. Dunn v. The Queen, [1896) 1 KB 178. . Kodeswaran v. Attorney General, 1972 NLR 337, 1970] AC 1111. . Buddhan Choudhry v. State of Bihar, AIR 1955 S.C. 191.
Ram Krishna Dalmia v. Justice Tendolkar, AIR 1958 S.C. 538. . Jaisinghani v. Union of India, AIR 1967 S.C. 1427. . State of Mysore v. S.R. Jayaram, AIR 1968 S.C. 349. . State of Mysore v. Krishna Murthy, AIR 1973). 2 S.C.R. 575. . Sant Ram Sharma v. State of Rajasthan, 1967 AIR S.C. 1910.
Dachan v. The State of Jammu & Kashmir, 1970 AIR S.C. 170. 10. Gobinath Kaul v. State of Jammu & Kashmir, (1957) AIR J&K 31. 1 l. Elmore Perera v. Jayawickrema, (1985) 1 Sri L.R. 285. 12. Eheliyagoda v. J.E.D. B., F.R.D. Vol. 1, 243. 13. Perera v. Cyril Ranatunga, (1993) 1 Sri L.R. 39. 14. P. Gunaratne v. Sri Lanka Telecom, (1993) 1 Sri L.R. 109. 15. Malawara Arachchi v. Paskaralingam, SC Application No. 64/91. Decided on July 30, 1992.
16. Perera v. The People's Bank, SC Application No. 339/93. Decided on August 4, 1995.

13
Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants
Mahinda Gammampila
"Did I solicit you from darkness to promote me?”
-John Milton, Paradise Lost
"We know how to teach, but are less sure about how to learn.'
-Michael Knowles
1. Governance and Public Administration
HE World Bank definition of governance is “the use of political authority and exercise of control in a Society in relation to the management of its resources for social and economic development. This encompasses the role of public authorities in establishing the environment in which economic operators function and in determining the distribution of benefits as well as the nature of the relationship between the rule and the ruled.' The form of government that exists, the processes by which the authority is exercised in the management of economic and Social resources of the country, and the capacity of the government to formulate and implement policies are some of the fundamental questions needing to be addressed in order to understand governance. Relating public administration to governance is a difficult task. According to a recent working definition "Public Administration is a business activity that Serves the public purpose and, as such, has always been an integral part of the institutions supporting governance and community.' In the current fervour for public administration change, there is the fundamental question about the degree of state involvement, in eco


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nomic production. This is one of the major policy considerations of governments in both the developed and developing countries.
In a functioning democracy like Sri Lanka, the leadership for societal change is given by personnel, who have been delegated this responsibility at periodic elections. An elected public servant is considered to be a person chosen by the franchise at an election to be a member of any governing body of the state. They are usually called "politicians' in the Sri Lankan context, whereas the selected or appointed public servants are called "bureaucrats'. The governing bodies include Parliament, Provincial Councils (PCs) and Local Authorities (LAs). All of them are duly established under the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The members elected to these bodies include the Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of Provincial Councils (PC Members) and Members of Local Authorities (LA Members). They are elected through mechanisms prescribed in the Constitution, other legal enactments and related rules and regulations. Elections, held regularly, to choose members for these governing bodies are of paramount importance if a country were to be considered a democracy. As Wolfgang Adrian States "elections constitute the principal activity through which the will of the people manifests itself and through which, at the same time, a government is authorised to exercise power in the state." The electoral process in Sri Lanka guarantees the principle of political equality which itself is based on universal adult franchise and characterised by a 'one person one vote, one vote one value' criteria. It is also a system of majority rule. The political parties in Sri Lanka, play a vital role in the election of members to the governing bodies.
Sri Lanka is a representative democracy where the elected representatives are expected to act for, or on behalf of, the people who elect them. A representative democracy, as Heywood argues "allows politicians to think for themselves, allegedly in the interests of their electors. In this case, politicians constitute an elite group, wiser, more experienced or better educated than the voters themselves.” This implies that the elected members are a distinct group as against the electors who elected them to power. Hence, Heywood goes on to argue that the "elections allow the public to express its views and opinions, while leaving decision-making to experts, professional politicians. In that sense, representative democracy merely applies

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the need for specialisation and a division of labour to the organisation of political life.' But however politicians are not guardians, who possess superior knowledge, the knowledge of the "Royal Science' of government as Plato believed. Politicians may be professionals, in the sense that they are devoted full time to their job but they are not professionals, in the sense that a long period of study had preceded their involvement in politics. In the British tradition of politics, which Sri Lanka had inherited, a politician was an amateur in the best sense of the word. There is no scheme of recruitment for a politician based on qualifications or experience. In fact the two areas where no prior knowledge, skill or capability need be shown, are those of the politician and parenting. Granted the amateur background of politicians, elected public servants, have to be provided the knowledge, skills, attitudes and competences in the art of governing. This is meant to enable the elected public servant to perform their roles and functions better, particularly in the present context of good governance and public administration change.
The World Bank's definition of governance does not incorporate concerns appertaining to making elected public servants work better. The definition covers only how the selected public servants could improve the functioning of the machinery of public administration. The World Bank definition is therefore limited. This inquiry will widen it, to cover the stakeholder group of elected public servants thus bringing them within the frame of reference of good governance.
2. Decentralisation
2. I. Privatisation
The degree of state intervention in the economy and society, is . central to the current public administration change and renewed emphasis on good governance. In this respect, there are two broad policy streams. One is the privatisation of economic activity and the other is the devolution of power. These are the two most dominant forms of decentralization in political and public administration systems in the present day world. For the purpose of the argument, privatisation is meant to reduce the level of state intervention in the economic activity. The underlying assumption here is that the 'market-led growth will ensure economic recovery in the short run and


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would lead to sustainable economic development in the long term. The policy statement of the People's Alliance Government has reemphasised its stand on it by declaring that "the objective of the government is to build a strong national economy within a market framework. In the accomplishment of this task, an important role will be assigned to the local and foreign private sector. In this task technology, scientific expertise and financial and material resources, local as well as foreign, will be utilized fully.” The government considers the private sector as the "engine of economic growth'. In this context, the primary tasks of the government in the economic sphere, as Wanasinghe' has summarised, will be, to
(a) formulate and operationalise national policy regimes which would guide the economy in the desired directions and keep it within the parameters of social goals;
(b) ensure the availability of the facilitating and enabling insti
tutions and of measures which would support the growth of eco
nomic activity; and
(c) provide the necessary regulatory safeguards for the protection of public interest vis-a-vis the operation of economic enterpr1SeS.
This implies that, in the future, the government will be playing a more catalytic role than the role of an implementor. Implementation leads to 'rowing' rather than 'steering.'
2.2. Devolution
Devolution is expected to increase the opportunities for the people to take an active part in governance while reducing the level of domination of the centre. The underlying assumption here is that by devolving the power to the regions, the problems of development could be addressed better while the regional disparities and imbalances of development could be taken cognisance. Devolution helps mobilization of local resources and increases accountability. Finally, it will be instrumental in empowering the people-the citizens-and strengthening the human and institutional capacity which will help to promote sustainable development. The government of Sri Lanka has made its commitment known, to the devolution of power. The gov

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 315
ernment is committed to building new administrative units, having regard to geographical, economic and social factors, in order to arrive at a durable solution of problems relating to the ethnic issue and the devolution of power. Today in Sri Lanka, devolution (political decentralization) has become a sensitive subject because of the ethnic issue, but is of critical concern to governance and public administration of this country. Wanasinha states that "though devolution has become a highly sensitive issue, through its being enmeshed in the confused debate on the current ethnic tensions, it has to be recognized as a must for its own sake"."
2.3. Different Roles for National Agencies
The World Bank definition of governance does not discuss democracy, or participatory forms of behaviour. This is another major limitation since these are essential aspects of governance. Wanasinha discussing participatory democracy states that “if participatory democracy is to be a reality, devolution must, necessarily, be its definitive character. The road to a participatory democracy point inexorably towards-a devolutionary system, in the polity to the regional and local levels, in the economy to the enterprise level, and in the community to the management of social infrastructure.'
As Wanasinghe argues, this would mean that the government at the centre, in the future, needs to be dealing with national policy making while performing certain fundamental tasks such as national and sovereign responsibilities, national security and foreign relations, trans-regional programmes and the generation and mobilization of financial resources that are basically of a 'national nature' like import levies, taxes on income and excise duty and external borrowings. The actual operational activities pertaining to economic and social development will be taking place at the regional and local levels of the government, at the enterprise level of the private sector and at the community level of the social structure, where the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), which represent the community, will be playing a vital role. In this scenario each actor, namely the government at all three levels, the private sector, and the NGO sector, will have a greater social responsibility for performing their respective tasks. Each actor should not only be responsible, but also be accountable to the activities he or she undertakes. It is expected that such


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activities are performed in a transparent manner, and all parties concerned are given an equal opportunity to take part in such activities. It is further expected that the objectives of such activities are made clear to everybody at all times and the impact of those activities are measurable to the extent possible. In managing such affairs, it is expected that the efficiency criteria be adhered, like in business where the cost effectiveness is a guiding principle.
3. Role and Responsibilities of Elected Public Servants
3.1. Background
It is in the aforesaid background that the different roles, responsibilities and functions for elected public servants have to be demarcated to enable them to perform better. Role is a "set of expectations for one's behaviour.” The organized society has different expectations from the individuals who play different roles depending on the functions they perform. Functions include various activities that are to be undertaken in order to fulfil different role responsibilities.
In Sri Lanka, an elected public servant is expected to undertake a vast variety of functions ranging from public policy making to finding solutions to personal problems of his constituents such as employment and poor relief. This varied spectrum of functions could be broadly grouped into following--
(a) Policy making,
(b) Implementation of policies,
(c) Reviewing policies and their implementation (programmes
and projects).
3.2. Policy Making
Elected public servants have a mandate to enact and implement the policies they advocated during the election campaign. In terms of . the British tradition, policy making is considered to be in the domain of elected public servants though selected public servants, because they have access to strategic information, provide substantial inputs to making public policies.'
Policy making involves the elected public servants in making choices among different policy options which are available in a given time. Traditionally, in the Sri Lankan context, it was supposed to be

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 317
the political party, or more precisely the leadership of the political party, which gives direction to its popularly elected ordinary members in policy matters. Regrettably not much discussion takes place between their members and the leadership.
Two policy issues which have assumed significance are privatisation and devolution in the context of the present public administration change. It appears that there is a general consensus, at least among major political parties, regarding privatisation and devolution. But there is no clear consensus regarding the level and form, i.e., the extent to which privatisation and devolution should take place. The differences are not only among different political parties but also within the parties themselves. For instance, on devolution, it is common knowledge that there are differences of opinion even among the members of the Cabinet of Ministers. This is common to both the present and the past regimes. The same could be said regarding privatisation although it may not be of the same magnitude. Differences of opinion on major issues of national importance are a healthy sign in a democracy, provided such opinions lead to general consensus, which once achieved should be maintained. For this, it is necessary to have in depth dialogues within and among political parties. To facilitate it, opportunities have to be provided for the elected public servants to become themselves knowledgeable in, and conversant with, different dimensions of each of these issues.
As regards privatisation, this may include the knowledge in, and familiarity with, the global issues of economic development, macroeconomic considerations that are related to the national economy and social implications of such considerations, and the broader issue of sustainability of the development efforts which are now being undertaken. As regards devolution, this may include the knowledge of and familiarity with, the implications of different forms of decentralisation, issues related to regional imbalances in terms of economic, political and social development and national integrity among other things. At regional and local levels, the issues related to both the privatisation and devolution will have to be looked at from a micro-perspective but not losing track of the broader macro-framework. The impact of the new technological advancements on all these issues is another critical area for which a greater awareness needs to be created. All these will help to shape the present perceptions of the concerned elected public


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servants and consequently broaden the future horizons and the destinations of the nation.
The speed of change in the present day world, precludes individuals from being informed through their private and individual efforts unless a continuous programme of education is built into the system. Neither could any one individual become an expert in a vast spectrum of specialisations which are required by a policy maker. This explains, at least partially, as to why the deliberations of the US Congressional Committees, which consist of knowledgeable members in . respective disciplines, have become so important in making policy decisions in the United States of America. The same is true in the case of Some of the committees of the local authorities in Western democracies where the expert knowledge of individual members is considered as most important in appointing them for such committees. This does not suggest that all elected members be given specialised training in selected disciplines. But it is imperative that they be given an opportunity to acquire necessary knowledge and skills which help them to perform their jobs better. Such an education programme should necessarily be one which cuts across a vast range of specialisations. An inter-disciplinary approach will be more appropriate than any approach based on traditional disciplines. This . needs to be a continuous exercise conducted in a sandwich manner. It should be a built-in element to the system itself. Such a built-in mechanism of continuous education will greatly facilitate the policy making process at all three levels of government.
3.3. Policy Implementation s
Policy implementation involves a series of management activities following on policy making. In theory, policy implementation is considered to be the domain of appointed or selected public seryants who are career professionals, although the executive arm of the government is headed by elected public servants. Conventionally, the selected public servants are responsible for the translation of policies made by the elected public servants. Once directives are given by the respective elected heads, it is the responsibility of the selected public servants, to manage programmes and projects. But, in practice the elected public servants, particularly during the last two decades in Sri Lanka, have made their presence felt in the area of policy implemen

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 319
tation, which amounts to leaning on administrative processes. "Political control of administrative processes was seen to be necessary because political leaders are directly answerable to the people in day to day affairs of government, particularly in matters of development and welfare. Over the years, notably prior to the introduction of the system of proportional representation within the framework of 'electoral districts', Members of Parliament took on the role of Ombudsman' in their respective electorates. They regarded this as a legitimate extension of their public role since they were often called upon to provide solutions to immediate problems, settle grievances and act as intermediaries between the people and the bureaucracy.” This transition took place in a gradual manner over an extended period of time but ultimately has resulted in widening the role of an elected public servant from policy making to policy implementation. It has to be emphasised that this shift was almost forced on them because of the failure of performance of the legitimate policy implementorsthe selected public servants. The takeover of executive implementation responsibilities by elected public servants was thus inevitable.
In consequence, numerous grey areas have surfaced in the implementation of public policies, those of role conflicts and contradictions between the elected and selected public servants. Examples are the application of undue political influence in programme management, where political leadership is misused not only for the legitimate reason of clearing bureaucratic bottlenecks and red tapism but for dysfunctional reasons of distorting objective managerial processes. Both these affect programme performance. Each party will have to interact with the other, but with a clear understanding of each other's limits and responsibilities. This requires, on the part of the elected public servants, not only a greater understanding of the limits of their role in programme implementation, but also a knowledge of the systems and procedures through which programmes are implemented. These may include a general understanding of resource allocation and budgetary processes, procurement and tender procedures and even knowledge of engineering and technical aspects of work programmes in addition to the art of management as to how elements are put together and results achieved. Such an understanding and knowledge will help to soften some of the abrasive implementation problems, ultimately ensuring the implementation function being


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Oe efficient and effective.
3.4. Review of Implementation
The review function involves the accountability issue. Accountability refers to "the obligation of a person to offer satisfactory explanations to those who have a right to determine its content and demand such explanations". The elected public servants take part in the review function at the sittings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Committee of Public Enterprises (COPE) and Budget Debates of the Parliament. Similar reviews take place at the Provincial Council and Local Authority levels in different forms and in different magnitudes. In addition to sittings in these formal and legal committees, they also participate in various administrative review meetings most of which are connected to programme implementation. To strengthen the hands of the elected public servants, it will be necessary to help them to understand different dimensions of public accountability. With the changing role of the government, elected public servants need to see that not only the government agencies but also the private sector and the non-governmental sector perform their functions with a sense of social responsibility and accountability to the public. This may cover not only the implementation of policy, but also the formulation of the policy itself. Ultimately it will be the elected public servants who alone are accountable to the constituents at the elections.
4. Managerial Activities of Elected Public Servants
In performing the above functions, that of policy making, implementation, and review, an elected public servant will be engaged in Several managerial activities.
4.1. Decision Making m
Decision making comes first in this set of managerial activities because it is fundamental to any performer who holds a responsible position. The manner of making decisions is critical. A decision is a choice among possible alternatives available. The decision situations, which elected public servants are often confronted with, are most complex and ambiguous. Routine decision rules or techniques are rarely applicable in dealing with such situations. Problems are

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 321
difficult to define and are largely unstructured. The concept of 'bounded rationality' and the 'satisficing principle developed by Herbert A. Simon in his "Administrative Model of Decision Making,” could offer enlightenment as to how decisions are made in such situations. No decision maker will have the time or the capacity to process all the information that is required to make a decision. This single factor invariably limits the level of rationality of the decisions taken, particularly in complex and ambiguous situations. The concept of 'bounded rationality explains the limitations of normally accepted concepts of the rational in decision making. 'Satisficing principle describes how decision makers tend to choose "the first solution alternative that satisfies minimal decision criteria'. An exposure to different dimensions of the decision making function in actual life situations, will help the elected public servants to make a greater contribution to the decision making process at all levels of the.government and consequently be less dissatisfied.
4.2. Managing Conflict
Managing conflict is another managerial activity that the elected public servants are compelled to attend. This is more or less a builtin hazard of the life of elected public servants. They often work with competing groups, probably all being his Supporters. Competing interests of different individuals or groups lead to conflict. Conflict refers to "antagonistic interaction in which one party attempts to block the intentions or goals of another'.' Establishing super ordinate goals where achievement requires the cooperation of the conflicting parties is one of the ways of resolving conflict. Negotiation between the conflicting parties in a business like manner is another. onflict resolution may require skilled negotiators. Mediation of a hird party is another strategy. Adequate information can facilitate onflicting parties to develop accurate perceptions among them.elves. Knowledge and understanding in resolving conflicts will help the elected public servants in performing their jobs better.
4.3. Group Dynamics
A better understanding of group dynamics will mature the under
standing of the elected public servant. An elected public servant is
always involved in group dynamics acquired through concrete expe


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riences in life. What is required is to provide him with facility to reflect on it. Learning how constant interactions open discussion, mutual understanding, shared goals and values among the members of a group, could be instrumental in promoting group cohesiveness, and would help elected members to improve their capacity in the leadership roles that they play particularly where the bureaucrats opt out of playing these roles. Examining the behaviourial characteristics of effective leaders within given historical contexts will be an exercise which would change perceptions and bring new inspirations and insights to them.
4.4. Managing Time
Managing time is one of the biggest problems faced by elected public servants in Sri Lanka today. At a workshop held at the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) for the Private Secretaries and Coordinating Officers to the Ministers, it was revealed that time is the rarest of commodities available to Ministers. The workload, handled by an average MP needs to be re-examined in terms of the time spent on each activity on a given day. Time wasters need to be identified and eliminated. Prioritisation of work in terms of time availability needs to be done. The same is true and appropriate in the case of PC and LA members. Time is a non-renewable resource. Time is not only money but everything. Hence, relieving elected members from the pressure on time and helping them in using this resource more profitably will be a contribution that will be much appreciated. Bastiampillai in his paper in this volume has explained how a well functioning Ombudsman will relieve MPs, PC and LA members from spending time on individual cases caused by failure of public institution.
4.5. Stress
The problem of stress experienced by elected public servants needs careful consideration. It affects their work performance in the short run but in the long run it affects their personal health. Most of them appear to be "workaholic'. The low value attributed to leisure in Sri Lankan culture can also have some bearing. The relief of stress is a question that needs to be addressed by the experts in that particular discipline. But an awareness of the ill-effects of the stress and an

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 323
exposure as to how it could be minimised by using simple methods will be helpful in increasing the present productivity levels of the job performance of elected public servants.
5. A Justification for Learning Programmes
The changed role responsibilities and associated managerial activities of elected public servants warrant a change in their behaviour and outlook. This amounts to a change in their attitudes, skills and knowledge. Adjusting and adapting to change is a difficult task and also time consuming. The political and public administration System in Sri Lanka, a legacy of the colonial past, is highly centralized in its decision making processes and is well integrated into a hierarchybased authoritative command structure. Administratively, important decisions are controlled by the centre. Even some of the powers which are vested with the democratically established institutions located at sub-national levels are controlled through administrative mechanisms from the centre. The economy of the country has been subject to central planning mechanisms and regulatory controls for several decades. It will be hard to quickly internalise concepts such as devolution and privatisation emerging in such a background. However, the internalisation of both these concepts has become a political reality today, subject to reservations various parties and individuals may have on the extent and form. This is a marked change in the thinking in the polity, compared to that of a decade ago. The change will have a definite influence on the behaviour and the role performance of the elected public servants. But left to itself this change would be a result of serendipity rather than through systematic learning. It is doubtful whether issues of such critical importance should simply be left to be resolved by mere time and circumstance. Carefully prepared learning opportunities, if made available in times may lead to a more comprehensive understanding of these issues. In such an event, a different approach may have to be adopted than in the past. To these two may be added similar issues of national importance, which may remain without proper attention and due consideration being given because of ignorance. To name a few, they are the accessibility of the public to services provided by government agencies, the customer (public) satisfaction of the delivery of government services, the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the government


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programmes, the transparency of government business, and the public accountability at all levels of the government, the private sector and the non-governmental sector. Deeper consideration would be given to each of these issues if more and better learning opportunities were provided to the members of the elected community.
6. Learning Methodologies
Training content deals with the "what that has to be learned, training methodology deals with the ‘how’. Methodology "involves the overall philosophy or approach to the way a course is presented and taught and, more importantly, the way the students can most effectively learn'. In adult learning referred to as andragogy, the learners used their own knowledge and experience, unlike children, to interpret what is being said or taught in these sessions. As Anup K. Singh and P.K. Raghupathi describe, “In contrast to children, adults are more active, accept assumptions based on evidence, have extensive and varied experience, and want immediate application of the learning imbibed. The adult learners are not only interested in the 'what of learning, but also in the 'why', as they are inquisitive and do not accept postulates automatically.' t
In its earlier stages research on learning aspects looked at both cognitive and behaviour theories. Cognitive approaches emphasised the acquisition, control, and use of abstract symbols while behaviourial approaches considered knowledge as an accumulation of information and habits, created in response to different situations. Chris Argyris and David Kolb adopted a different approach. For them learning was based on experience. As such it was an interpersonal process drawing on the links of the individual's internal activities to the environment. This concept is particularly important for elected public servants, whose learning is experiential, since very few come into this activity pre-equipped. As such, an exchange between the Society and himself is critical in contrast to an unreconstructed selected public servant being content to working only within the parameters of the public service. In the experiential model the world is his oyster, the sequential stages of perception, reflection, generalisation and action being the categories of the learning process. Kolb has done. considerable work on andragogic learning. For him knowledge is. created through the interaction of two processes, one of acquisition of

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 325
experience and the other in its transformation into knowledge. This insight is particularly relevant to public administration since public administration by its nature is experiential. Experience may be acquired either by activity in the field or through models for study. The next stage is to convert this knowledge for use. This could be done by subjectively reflecting on it, adding to already existing perspectives and objectives, and applying it to the work situation. According to Kolb, experiential learning covers four stags. They are
(1) Concrete experience where information of the world is gained by action.
(2) Reflective observation where meaning is attached to the data. (3) Abstract conceptualisation where generalisations are built. (4) Active experimentation where the results of these three stages are transformed into new behaviours and new concrete experience.
The new experience gained restarts the whole process. Kolb's four stage Experiential Learning Cycle, as Leslie Stephen describes, is where "learning begins with a concrete experience which is the basis for observation and reflection. Observation and reflection lead to the development or reinforcement of a "theory' that
PERCEPTION
EXPERIENCE
ACTION TESTING IMPLICATIONS OBSERVATION REFLECTION
OF CONCEPTS IN AND REFLECTION
NEW SITUATIONS /
FORMATION OF ABSTRACT CONCEPTS
GENERALISATION
Kolb' Learning Model
DLAGRAM 13.1


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suggests certain actions or behaviours, thereby creating a concrete experience-and so on.' "Kolb's model appeals to many adult learners because it explains how people learn not only in 'educational situations but also in the broader sense of adaptation to life. Understanding his model allows you to see learning as a "central life task', one that can expand the scope of your personal and professional development planning process.' Kolb's model appears most suited to apply to the particular case of offering learning approaches to elected public servants.
In experience based learning situations, the learner becomes the centre of activity where he facilitates or plays a secondary role. Lewis B. Dzimbiri states that "the learner-centred approach would involve a shift of balance between the tutor and the learner. The tutor would probably be more guiding, listening, receiving and observing than leading, telling and directing. The learner will be more involved, selfmotivated, self-generating, discovering and responsible for his/her learning than being passive, driven, shown, controlled and being taught.' This would require a drastic reduction of the time allotted for learning in training sessions and an increase of the time allowed for learners to discover for themselves. According to Professor Revans, "learning has two components, programmed instruction and questioning insight'. Programmed instruction refers to 'something known already to somebody else being communicated in an orderly and authoritative manner' for which Revans given the symbol P (programme instruction) in his learning equation. "Questioning insight, which Revans calls Q, refers to learning by self-questioning, by intuition, by contemplation, by trial and error, or even by something suddenly crossing the mind.' According to Revans, learning . (L) is a combination of programmed instructions and questioning insights as given in his learning equation (L = P+Q).’ In learnercentred training, a greater weight should be given to stimulating questioning insights as against programmed instruction. This would demand, as Dzimbiri states "constant use of experiential methods Such as group projects, case studies, role plays, action learning and outdoor games'. To manage such programmes of learning, the facilitators should possess "a multitude of skills, patience, flexibility an emotional muscle needed to handle effectively a high degree of emotional impact and stress". It is with this understanding that the

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 327
learning content, identified broadly in the preceding sections of this paper, be presented to the elected public servants.
The elected public servants in Sri Lanka are a group of well experienced adults who come from diverse backgrounds with a high degree of political maturity. Their learning processes are not confined to conventional educational situations. They are not only interested in the 'what of learning but also of the 'how' of learning. The "how' of training will provide more learning opportunities where they can undertake reflective reasoning on what they have experienced as peers, analyse these experiences critically and objectively. The facilitators help to conceptualize the situations and understand the problems holistically. Learning participants tend to be guided by what is learned when dealing with new situations. Facilitators need to identify those specific situations and isolate the nature of the explicit and implicit processes of learning of identified groups of elected public servants (as trainees of a learning community), before appropriate learning curricula are developed. The proper mix of learning content, learning method relating to the learning community will depend on the facilitator's ability to understand these specifics. This calls for professional facilitation of high calibre possessing a substantial degree of maturity and experience.
7. Learning Opportunities Available
There are a few learning opportunities available for the elected. public servants. In the first place, they could look to their seniors and peers. This is the apprentice mode of learning. But unfortunately seniors are very busy and so are the peers. The next is learning by doing. This is the most popular option. It requires a fair deal of experimentation where a trial and error strategy becomes dominant. In the '50s and '60s, elected public servants had the tremendous advantage of being guided by competent selected public servants. Their inter-relationship was itself a learning experience for the elected public servants. A number of papers in this volume (Nadarajah, Gunadheera, Somasundram) have emphasised the regrettable fact that level of competence of many existing senior public servants has waned. Thus elected public servants find very little to learn from them nor indeed to respect them for their capability to offer learning insights. While learning by doing is a noble principle, it is yet very


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costly unless it were done in a proper learning context which is presently lacking. There is also very little opportunity, if at all, for the elected community to learn from the experts and academics. Academia seems to have distanced itself from the operational aspects of governIecht.
Several efforts have been made by different institutions, from time to time, to provide learning inputs to help elected public servants perform their jobs better. In this respect, the local government sector is well ahead. The Provincial Councils and the national government institutions fall behind the local government institutions in the business of providing learning inputs to their elected members. This also seems to be the shared experience in other countries of the South Asian region and even in Western democracies.
In Sri Lanka, the Local Government Training and Research Institute (LGTRI) served the local authorities in meeting their learning needs for several decades until it was incorporated in the International Centre for Training of Rural Leaders (ICTRL) established in 1985. Providing learning opportunities for local government personnel, including the elected members of the local authorities had been accepted as a policy of the government from early days and an annual budgetary allocation was provided to this institution. Elected members had a special place. The LGTRI in particular had a mobile district programme, to reach elected members in distant rural areas. However, the content covered in these programmes was mainly confined to explaining statutory laws which governed the local authorities, the bye-laws passed by the Councils and the administrative and financial rules and regulations which are to be followed. Little or no attention was paid to aspects of management. In early days, when the focus was on law enforcement rather than on development the role of the elected members was a limited one. But when the role changed in the 1970s, the content needed to be expanded to cover new budgeting concepts and financial procedures with a view to enhancing the institutional capacity of these organizations. The content lay mostly in the transfer of information, therefore they were training programmes in the classical sense. The overall effect of these training programmes fell short of expectations of the elected members.
The Urban Programme Unit (UPU), the organization which was

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 329
responsible for the implementation of the Municipal Management Project of the World Bank, has been able to adopt a more comprehensive and methodical approach. It has given substantial coverage to the needs of the elected members of these bodies. Initially it covered the Urban Local Authorities (ULAs) which consist of Municipal Councils (MCs) and Urban Councils (UCs). Later its reach was extended to cover all rural local authorities which are called Pradeshiya Sabhas (PSs).
The UPU addressed four main problems encountered by the LAs. They are
(a) Poor standards of the service provided by the LAs. (b) Operating budgets of the LAs characterised by deficits in most of the cases.
(c) High dependency on outside finances. (d) Outdated and inefficient systems and procedures used by the LAs.
The purpose of the project was to help LAs to develop their own identity as elected bodies of government through which citizens exercise their democratic rights, fortify self-government, strengthen the capacity of the LAs to make them self-financed and become independent public institutions which could guarantee an efficient service to the public. Under this project, the UPU provided the LAs with an on site technical assistance programme, a human resource development training programme, and assistance to develop a policy package. The learning programme included separate courses for policy makers (elected) and training programmes for executives and others (selected). It also provided some joint sessions for both. The learning of policy makers was focused on public policy and broad issues of management, while the executives training covered the managerial, technical and procedural aspects of programme management. Training has been the principle mechanism of skills transfer in the UPU project.
A close examination of the learning and training packages of the final phase of this project gives a good idea of the extent of coverage of and the prominence that has been given to the elected members. A total of 688 programmes amounting to 931 days had been provided during the final phase of the project (June 1993-May 1995). The number of personnel covered during this period amounted to 18,394


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out of which 2,394 (13 percent) were elected public servants consisting of the Chairmen and councillors. Several opportunities have also been provided for learning abroad at reputed institutes such as the Institute of Local Government of the University of Birmingham and other local government training and research institutions in India, Malaysia and Philippines. Five Chairmen of local authorities have undergone a three-week training programmes on "Local Authority Management and Administration' in 1994 at the All India Institute for Local Self Government in Madras. The expatriate consultants of the project included two university professors from Birmingham who were closely associated with the designing of the programmes. Before these programmes were designed, an initial base line survey was conducted to identify needs. This was followed by interviews with elected and selected members of the LAs. A number of workshops were held to validate the results.
The contents of the familiarization programme organized by the UPU in March 1994, for the newly elected Municipal Councillors and members of Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas in the Eastern Province and Vavuniya Urban Council provide a general idea of the comprehensiveness of the subject areas. They dealt broadly with powers and functions vested with the local authorities, the inter/relationships with other government and non-governmental agencies, the role and function of the Chief Executive and other elected members, role and function of selected members, the role of the audit and the management of different programmes.
Evaluations done by the UPU have revealed that the programmes of the project have been able to yield positive results. The responses of the chairpersons of the LAS who participated in these programmes have indicated that the inputs provided have been able to broaden their knowledge and understanding in local government laws, management techniques and their own roles and functions in the management of LAs. -
Complementary to these learning courses, the UPU has developed several manuals of instruction and procedures which include a model handbook for the members of LAs. This handbook helps them to understand not only the objectives, functions, structures and systems of the local government institutions but also to understand their own roles and functions as the elected members of these institutions.

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 331
Three other UPU manuals covering major managerial areas namely the general management, financial management and the management of engineering activities, were of immense use and widely consulted. During 1993 a joint effort was made by the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA), Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI), UPU and several line agencies of the government to strengthen the inter-agency coordination (horizontal coordination) at the divisional level. A series of programmes was conducted for the elected and selected public servants. This was a challenging experience. The present writer was also a senior consultant to this programme. A committee of resource persons representing government agencies, PSs and NGOs reviewed all aspects of learning needs identification, content, methodology and management related issues prior to the implementation of the programme. The unit for concentration of this horizontal coordination training programme was the Divisional Secretariat (DS) area which is coterminous with the PS. Some DS areas included both the PSs and UCs. Participants from three DS Divisions were invited per workshop totalling 20–25 on an average. These DS areas were selected on a representative basis, considering varied factors such as geographical and climatic conditions, economic activities and even social and political configurations of those areas. These learning workshops were conducted in Colombo on a residential basis. PC Members, the Chairman and leaders of Opposition of the LAS, the Divisional Secretaries, Divisional Directors of Health, Divisional Directors of Education, Divisional Engineers and the Senior police officers took part in these two-day workshops. The content included understanding institutional arrangements at the divisional level, the role and responsibilities of each organization, its relationship with other organisations, different dimensions of human and group behaviour, the advantages of working as a cohesive group and, planning and mobilization of resources for development. Kolb's model of the experiential learning cycle underpinned concepts of the programme.
Several significant features of this experience deserve to be noted. It became evident during the sessions that the elected officials played a key role in the division. They were instrumental in placing the problems and issues in broader politico-administrative perspective. They always tended to take the leadership role in the discussions and


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given the slightest opportunity tried to dominate others. However, they had a high regard for the expert knowledge of the selected officials who represented different government agencies and were ready to objectively consider the facts and figures presented by these selected officials. Differences of political opinion among the elected members themselves were not a hindrance in arriving at a common programme of work except in extreme situations. Even then, there was still room for agreement, provided that the technical arguments of the selected public servants were sufficiently persuasive. This implies that the deep and wider knowledge of the elected public servants, covering complex situations could help them to perform their jobs better and be sympathetic to concerns of selected public Ser VantS.
At the evaluation sessions of the training programme both the elected and selected officials acknowledged the usefulness of such joint programmes, where both groups had an opportunity to sit together and learn. The mutual understanding and group coherence that was promoted by the learning course and the holistic viewpoint that emerged when looking at the problems of development were much valued. It was a rewarding experience for the organisers, who had been listening to partial viewpoints of either the elected or selected public servants upto now. At the end of every workshop, a common request made by the participants was to conduct similar workshops at the divisional level with a broader representation of the agencies which operate within the division. In Bandarawela, a divisional workshop was conducted on a trial basis. There was participation of even some private and non-governmental groups.
There were number of problems encountered by the organizers of these workshops. One of them was a major one, that of the inability to attract MPs. This certainly was a drawback. It was revealed at the discussions that some of the basic problems of divisional level planning were rooted in the differences of opinion between the MPs and provincial and local authority members. The animosity of those who belonged within the same political party some times was worse than the differences of opinion between the members of the governing party and members of opposing political parties. This was because the electoral arrangements provided for competition even within the same party. Whatever the reasons for the absence of the MPs, it was

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 333
evident that the workshops would have been enriched if they were present. From a facilitation point of view, this is an imbalance in the composition of the learning community. It is also important to note that these workshops did not provide an opportunity for participants to go into details of their respective functions since the focus of the workshop was on inter-agency coordination. Most of the elected members were of the opinion that it would have been useful if more time were allotted to discuss the respective functions even within the broader framework of inter-agency coordination. This need indicated the wide market requiring to be filled.
These programmes, where both elected and selected public servants sat and worked together on the problems of local development offered promising possibilities of co-operation. They need to be continued and expanded. But a prerequisite is that a competent cadre of learning facilitators be built up.
There are two post graduate Diploma courses on Local Govern
ment Studies of one year duration. One is conducted by the Univer
sity of Colombo and the other by the Post Graduate Institute of Management. Both are useful and important but they are confined to the training of selected local government officials. These programmes are more concerned with the enhancement of knowledge of local government than with the development of the skills required for day to day administration of local government institutions. While continuing with these two important programmes, it is necessary to explore the possibilities of mounting short term sandwich programmes by the universities focused on the needs of the elected members of the local government institutions.
Looking at the international experience the training of local government officials is a well established function in Britain and other countries. The Institute of Local Government Studies of the University of Birmingham has three streams of training, one for the British local government officials, another for the officials who come from other countries called the international programme, and a third for officials from the European Community. Different programmes are conducted for elected members as well as selected members of local authorities. The programmes conducted for elected members cover a vast range of functions from policy making to programme implementation. Urban Councils in Britain have their own training units with
ベ


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separate training budgets. These training units are responsible for the training of elected representatives as well as the council officers who belong to the selected group. In addition, there are professional bodies in Britain which bear the responsibility of training the local government officials. The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives is one such organization. The Local Government Training Board is another of the main bodies responsible for the training of the elected representatives of the LAs in Britain.
In other parts of the world, the local authorities are supported by various training and research institutions. In India, the All India Institute for Local Self Government is one such institution which provides training for urban local authorities, while the National Institute of Rural Development in Hyderabad is another which provides training for rural institutions. In the Philippines, the Local Government Training Board has a countrywide network. The Local Government Training Board of Japan is one of the principal organizations which provides the training facilities to the local government institutions. The Australian International Training Institute in Sydney caters to the training needs of the local authorities in Australia and other countries of the world.
Mention must be made of the need to institutionalize learning by providing substantial budgets for establishing training units in the LAS. It is also necessary to establish a central agency or a national institution exclusively for local government training. Developing a local government training policy, which is comprehensive enough to cover both the internal and external elements which affect the functioning of local government institutions has also become a matter of priority concern. As regards both these needs, the Ministry of Provincial Councils, has a prime responsibility. Professional bodies associated with local government functions also need to make their contribution in the promotion of training activity.
When compared with the training opportunities available to the elected members of the LAs the formal opportunities available to the PC members are very limited both in number and scope. Every Provincial Council has a Management Development and Training Unit (MDTU), but adequate attention has not been given by them to the learning needs of the elected members of the councils except in a few instances. One such instance is the one and a half day workshops

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conducted by the International Institute of Strategic Management in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on "Effective Management' for the elected Provincial Council members. In 1994, several workshops were conducted in the Western, North-Western, North-Central and Southern provinces. The content dealt with common management topics such as leadership, problem identification, decision making and time management. Every element of the content was treated with great care so as to ensure that it was focused on the strategic aspects of management, which was the basic need of the clientele. The programme began with a session on "Applicability of management skills in a political setting” and then moved on to an exercise on "Crafting a political strategy'. As spelt out in an introductory note, the programme was intended to assist the elected public servants to develop a political strategy which would help them to secure and improve the political advantages they enjoy at present in a highly competitive and complex setting. In this sense, the programme is unique among popular training courses on management. Its approach was andragogic.
The immediate response of the workshop participants was encouraging. An impact interview held recently by the present writer with several members of the North Western Provincial Council (NWPC) who had participated in this workshop confirmed it. Both the Chief Minister and the Chairman of the NWPC were appreciative of the programme particularly on account of the accent it placed on aspects of strategic management. According to them, this is the type of management orientation required by the individuals who have to give political leadership to the development efforts at the provincial level. The Chief Minister also suggested that the Provincial Council members should be exposed to further training in areas like conflict resolution, negotiation skills and team building. Among the PC members, there is a general enthusiasm and an acceptance of the value of learning as a means by which they could be helped to perform their jobs better. This was confirmed by selected public servants from NWP and other provinces as well.
However, it is important and relevant to record here that the learning needs of the elected members of the PCs have not been addressed to in a systematic manner. Unless a well coordinated and comprehensive programme of learning is introduced early, the enthu


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siasm that exists on the part of the recipients may be lost on the one hand, and on the other it will affect their performance. This is a need that each PC should address.
Offering learning opportunities to Parliamentarians is a delicate subject. The MPs are considered an elite group when compared with the members of PCs and local authorities. They are members of the highest law making body of the land. With the exception of the President, Parliament exercises the power to review executive action. The nature of the work of the MPs is more complex than of the other two groups of elected members. Particularly in the context of the current public administration change and the renewed emphasis on good governance, the knowledge and skills required to perform duties of an MP have become more critical than ever before. But examination shows that MPs among the elected community are the least provided with learning opportunities, to get themselves acquainted with the necessary knowledge and skills. Unlike the LA members, the MPs are not supported by a custom built training institute. Neither the parliamentary secretariat nor the secretariats of the respective political parties to which they belong, have institutional arrangements to provide the training support to the MPs on any regular basis, although a beginning has been made with the establishment of the Ranjan Wijeratne Institute. It is not suggested that there be a staff college for parliamentarians but there should be an institutional arrangement built-in to the system, preferably at the parliamentary secretariat, which is capable of scanning learning needs and guiding the administration. The role expected of such an organizational unit should exclusively be catalytic and not that of a provider. Learning facilitation and delivery should be a function assigned to outside consulting agencies who will be working closely with senior and experienced parliamentarians as resource persons.
The parliamentary secretariat recently conducted some programmes. The constitution, sovereignty of parliament, the provisions made in the "Parliamentary Powers and Privilege Act" and related procedures were covered in general. The contributions made by the senior parliamentarians and senior staff of the parliamentary secretariat at these sessions as resource persons were very valuable. Such experience can hardly be obtained from any outside source. These orientation seminars should be conducted as early as possible once a new parlia

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ment is assembled, if maximum results are to be achieved. It is also necessary to ensure the presence of all members at these sessions, which is not always an easy task.
In addition to the orientation seminars, several seminars and discussions have been conducted from time to time on various issues which have a current value and common interest. A Successful Seminar was held recently on "Relationships between the Constitution and Parliament'. There are a number of resource persons among the MPs themselves, being experts in various disciplines, whose services could be obtained for training seminars and workshops. Seminars on more general issues such as "Devolution of Power” and "Privatisation” or topics of general interest such as "Good Governance', etc. may also be useful.
A seminar was organized by the Presidential Secretariat recently to apprise MPs of the government group. It was held on the eve of the presentation of the budget. It could be considered an opportunity provided for learning, although its immediate objective seemed to offer a briefing on the thinking behind the forthcoming budget. Similar discussions among the members of the opposition parties were reported to have been conducted from time to time. These efforts need to be made from a learning point of view and they need to be further expanded. There is a general acceptance among parliamentarians, when their views were sought on the subject of learning, that they need more opportunities by way of attending seminars and discussions. This was confirmed by the selected public servants who were interviewed.
There are a few opportunities available to parliamentarians to gain international experience through inter-parliamentary associations such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. The exposure to international situations were of immense use from a learning view point. Such opportunities need to be expanded.
8. Conclusion
An effort was made to review the implications of good governance and public administration change on the role and performance of elected public servants, inquire how the elected public servants adjust and adopt to change, assess the learning opportunities available to them in managing the adjustment and adaptation process, and, by


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reflecting on them to identify ways and means of providing further learning opportunities. The objective is to help elected public servants in performing their role and functions in a more effective and efficient manner. To do so, two broad issues were discussed, namely, why learning was needed and how learning could be better provided. An inventory of learning opportunities which are now available to the elected public servants confirmed that they are inadequate. Learning opportunities need to be provided on a wide, but subject specific basis, addressing their own needs carried by a methodology which is necessarily androgogical. This is what best speeds learning processes of the respective individuals and groups. To do so, a high degree of professionalism on the part of the facilitators and commitment on the part of the government are required. Only then would a conducive environment for offering learning opportunities emerge supported by the necessary institutional mechanisms.
N. O. T E S
1. Participatory Development and Good Governance (Paris: OECD, 1995), p. 14.
2. M. Somasundram, "The Role of Ideology, Culture, Beliefs, Values, Attitudes, Ethics in the New Public Administration' in Mohammed Ja'far Ekram Ja'fari (et.. al) (eds.), Public Administration and Sustainable Development, (Tehran: EROPA, 1994), p. 50.
3. Wolfgang Adrian, "Importance of electoral systems for the functioning of democracy" in Victor Gunewardena and D. Wesumperuma (eds.), Electoral Systems, (Colombo: Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, 1987), p. 3.
4. Andrew Heywood, Political Ideologies: An Introduction, (London: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1992), p. 277.
5. Ibid., p. 278. 6. For a discussion on Guardianship, see Robert A. Dahl, Democracy and Its Critics, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989), pp. 52-79.
7. For a detailed discussion on Decentralization, see D.A. Rondinelli and G.S. Cheema (eds.), Decentralization and Development: Policy Implementation in Developing Countries, (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1983).
B.C. Smith, Decentralization: The Territorial Dimension of the State, (London: Allen and Unwin, 1985).
Brian Smith (ed.), The Changing Role of Government. Management of Social and Economic Activities, (London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 1991).
8. Manifesto of People's Alliance Government, (Colombo: Government Information Department, 1994), p. 17.
9. Shelton Wanasinghe, "Towards a participatory democracy in Sri Lanka

Learning Opportunities for Elected Public Servants 339
(The Institutional Underpinning)” in Bradman Weerakoon and Shelton Wanasinghe, Reflections on Governance, (Colombo: Marga Publications, 1994), p. 64.
10. For an interesting discussion on the role of Government, see David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, Reinventing Government, (Reading: Addison-Wesley, 1992).
11. Government Information Department (1994), op. cit, p. 17. 12. Shelton Wanasinghe (1994), op. cit, p. 65. 13. Ibid. 14. Richard L. Daft, Management, (Orlando: The Dryden Press, 1991), p. 20. 15. For a discussion on the relationship between the elected and selected public servants in public policy making, see B. Guy Peters, "Politicians and Bureaucrats in the politics of policy-making' in Jan Erik Lane (ed.), Bureaucracy and Public Choice, (London: Sage Publications, 1987), pp. 256-79.
16. See K.M. de Silva (ed.), Sri Lanka: Problems of Governance, (Delhi: Konark Publishers, 1993), p. 90.
17. M. Somasundram, "Issues of Accountability', (Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration, Discussion paper).
18. Richard L. Daft (1991), op. cit., p. 186. 19. Stephen Robbins, Managing Organizational Conflict: A Non-traditional Approach, (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1974), as quoted by Richard L. Daft (1991), op. cit, p. 477.
20. Wyn Reilly and Ronald Clarke, Training for Public Management: A Handbook for Management Development, (London: Human Resources Development Group, Commonwealth Secretariat, 1990), p. 84.
21. For a discussion on adult learning, see Malcom Knowles, The Modern Practice of Adult Education: From Pedagogy to Andragogy, (New York: Follett, 1970).
22. Anup K. Singh and P.K. Raghupathi, "Handling participants in the classroom: A Conceptual Framework', Indian Journal of Training and Development, September-December, 1990, p. 46.
23. See D.A. Kolb, M. Rubin and J. McIntyre, Organizational Psychology: An Experiential Approach, (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1974).
24. Leslie Stephen, "Assessing Your Learning Style" in Ray Bard (et al), The Trainer's Professional Development Handbook, (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1987), p. 43.
25. Ibid., p. 44. 26. Lewis B. Zimbiri, "The Learner-Centred Approach Revisited', Teaching Public Administration, Vol. XXIII, No. 1, Spring 1993, p. 29.
27. R.W. Revans, "Education and Third World Development', Sri Lanka Journal of Development Administration, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1989, p. 8.
28. Ibid., p. 8. 29. Wyn Reilly and Ronald Clarke (1990), op. cit., p. 85. 30. Lewis B. Zimbiri (1993), op. cit, p. 29. 31. Ibid., p. 29.


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Sri Lanka Administrative Service
M. Somasundram
"Today the situation has nosedived to such dismal levels, where a Class One officer of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service cannot draft ten sentences for another individual to understand, whether in English or Sinhala.'
-President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (Speech reported in the Island, 18th November, 1996)
“ ”Tis a chequer-board of nights and days, Where the bureaupath, with SLAS, for pieces plays, Transfers, interdicts, harasses and schemes To humiliate, and in the Pool lays." (with apologies)
—Omar Khayyam, The Rubbaiyat
"Public servants have the amazing ability to find a difficulty in every good solution." —Lord Samuels
"Yogah karnassu kaushalam.' (Skill in action is the ultimate achievement.) -Motto, Indian Administrative Service
1. The Ceylon Civil Service
public service dealing with administration is the steel frame of any state, whether that state is under colonial rule or has independence. 1st May, 1963 saw a proclamation which was a suicide note of a nation. A Gazette notification of that date saw the birth of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) and the abolition of the Ceylon Civil Service (CCS). The CCS, composed of a cadre of 130, ended a proud history of 165 years. A comparison could be with India. The Provincial Chief Ministers met at a conference on 21 October, 1946 where the question of replacing the Indian Civil

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Service was discussed once independence was achieved. Sardar Patel, who later became the Home Minister, strongly objected. Only its name was changed to that of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Today India has a cadre of 1,800 in the IAS, while the SLAS too has 1,800, of which over 600 are in Class I alone. India has a population of 900 million while Sri Lanka has 17 million.
Thirty-three years after the creation of the SLAS, a draft Memorandum of Understanding between the Minister of Public Administration and the Asian Development Bank dated 26th November, 1995 Stated:
"At one point Sri Lanka had a strong and effective Civil Service. When the country became independent, the administrative system had to diversify away from the essential functions of maintaining law and order and takeover more complex developmental tasks. In doing so, however, the Civil Service preserved its high professional tradition (e.g., entry through competitive examinations) and therefore was well respected. A career in the public service retained a cachet it had enjoyed earlier and continued to attract talented persons. Unfortunately, though, in time the independence of the bureaucracy was undermined, its strength sapped by inter-service rivalries and differences, and its quality eroded by a steady lowering of entry standards. Many of its members are also inadequately trained for new responsibilities. As a result, the Sr Lanka public service today is not well equipped to perform its role.’’ -
The CCS, even in its lifetime, had an unquestioned position, both in the public service and society in Sri Lanka. Every service, including the professional services, deferred to the CCS. In District Administration it was pre-eminent. The Government Agent of a district (equivalent of the Collector in India and Prefect in France) though not always given line responsibility over all the different agencies in the district, was yet able to undertake a co-ordinating responsibility with acceptance. There were a number of reasons for this pre-eminence. First was the mode of selection. The yearly intake into the CCS was limited to 5-8 graduates in the age group 22-24, selected after a highly competitive examination held within six months of the


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university final examination followed up by a rigorous interview. After the intake, the CCS cadets were subject to a systematic induction into the service. From the beginning, the fact that they were eternal apprentices was dinned into them. This initiation was necessary, particularly because CCS cadets had no work experience whatsoever, having spent their time thus far following academic pursuits, very often embedded in their parents field of energy particularly that of the mother. As Berne would say it is a shift from a child ego state to an adult ego state. A child is irresponsible and manipulates from a position of weakness where its needs have to be filled by others who are made to feel responsible. An adult gathers information, generates options, makes choices, takes risks and responsibility and renders accountability. On entry into the CCS, they were faced with the wrenching experience of having to work within an organisation and becoming adult. Being placed on the fast track, they were groomed by systematic career development to assume leadership positions by the mid or late twenties. The training started with teaching how to row ending with how to steer. In this process they would have gone through work experience in the district, ministry, department, and for a bonus, in a public enterprise. Through initiation and career development the old life was terminated and a new life begun. It was an emotional rebirth within the same physical life. After induction was over further career development was carefully mapped out. A series of graded assignments gave an opportunity for the cadets to be associated with their CCS colleagues then their seniors. A senior was attached to each cadet as a mentor. Constant interaction provided the moistening myths, which kept the service within a single cultural frame, for example any Civil Servant coming to Colombo, even on a private visit, had to pay a social call on the head of the public service, the Secretary to the Treasury.
2. The Sri Lanka Administrative Service
The creation of the SLAS changed the situation dramatically. The SLAS found itself overwhelmed by its genetic inheritance of birth. First, the argument adduced for abolition of the CCS, primarily by hopeful candidates expecting an easy way to join its successor, was deeply emotional, the most cerebral being that the CCS was a colonial service and Civil Servants were Brahmins. Second, every single

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Executive and semi-executive in administrative positions got absorbed into the SLAS without a review of their capabilities. Their seniority in the SLAS was determined by the antiquity of their first appointment. Thus large numbers of undeserving Executives infested the higher echelons of the SLAS from the start, an heritage the younger direct recruits of the SLAS were never able to rid of. Third, large numbers were recruited in each batch, often in the hundreds, from age groups going upto 28 years. Since examinations, after the SLAS came into being, were held erratically, recruits tended to be over 30 years of age on the average. An example is the 1995 intake, where 103 graduates were recruited from those who sat the final university examination in 1989. On recruitment day their average age was 31. The result was that these new SLAS recruits were not fresh from the University but jaded. Most of them were already holding subordinate jobs, set in their ways, familiar with the mores of these lower level jobs when they joined the SLAS. In addition, the best graduates did not find the SLAS attractive. The worst was that a systematic induction training was abandoned except for few batches. The nadif was reached with the 1992 SLAS intake. Three unrepresentative cadets protested, after two months through induction and made representations directly to the Minister, without going through the Director or Secretary to the Ministry, that the balance period of ten months induction training was not necessary. These three cadets were not even born when the Director first joined the public service. The protest was politically heeded, even to the extent of the three cadets visiting the Minister's house and persuading the Minister to give directions, in their presence, over the phone to the Director. The CCS Director refused to compromise but the senior SLAS decision-makers acquiesced. All the cadets were given substantive appointments, despite the SLAS minute laying down that training was part of their career development. There was no whimper from the SLAS trade union. All were in pursuit of careerism. If a Management Service were to recapture the capabilities of the CCS, an important route would be to reintroduce a systematically planned initiation training program, which has to be professionally carried out without political interference and SLAS public servant's obsequiousՈՇSS
This indifference to SLAS induction training can be compared


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with India. India has taken induction training seriously. The major all India Services are provided a three-year initiation at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy in Mussoorie. The Director of the Academy has complete control over program. Neither the Minister nor the Secretary were even known to interfere in the details of operations.
3. The Baroque Phase of Public Administration
Three waves in public administration have been identified, the first, the pre-British wave the second, the present wave and the third, the wave which is yet to break. In the present wave there are two phases, the Renaissance phase and the Baroque phase. Public administration had been at its most creative in the Renaissance stage. Somasundram (1995) has called this phase the “Greening of the Public Sector'. Public administration managed the first open economy following the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms, then proceeded to provide safety sets through District Administration, later worked closely with the new level of locally elected decision makers under the Donoughmore Constitution, to inaugurate the major breakthroughs in human resources development which now go into the Quality of Life indices, and undertook entrepreneurial activity through public enterprises in the immediate aftermath of independence. Then came the abolition of the CCS with the concurrent creation of the SLAS, followed by the abolition of the independent PSC. It introduced the Baroque phase in Sri Lanka's public administration and the SLAS became its symbol, very much the Dinosaurs symbolising the Jurassic geological phase.
At the time of independence, Sri Lanka could have been considered to have a permanent public service, where supplanting the incumbent was through due process, either at retirement, legitimate transfer, for lack of performance or for disciplinary reasons. This was considered the civilised way by the traditionalists, particularly the CCS. However the process got rapidly undermined, starting with the change of the status of Permanent Secretary, the administrative head of the ministry and the progressive rise of SLAS personnel in the service. The 1972 constitution designated him a mere Secretary. This change was not nominal but symbolised a radical alteration in the relationship of the administration to the politician. The Secretary is the Chief Accounting Officer in the ministry, independently respon

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sible to the Ministry of Finance, for financial stewardship, and directly accountable to the Public Accounts Committee. Though he was to work under the direction and control of the Minister, he was an independent financial personality. Yet the Secretary found it increasingly expedient to compromise. The material which formed the SLAS at the beginning, its initial condition, spurted the decline. Since all officers in executive positions were absorbed irrespective of their quality, when they started to assume higher responsibilities to positions which would not have been their's if the CCS had remained, their quality showed and showed badly.
The political heads considered officers of the CCS as colleagues in public administration whose views and advice were listened with deference. Over a long period of holding increasingly responsible positions they developed a discerning judgement, a wisdom about desirability, capability and acceptability of a particular course of action. It was unstintingly shared with political decision-makers. Most of the SLAS personnel, being journeymen, did not possess the same discerning qualities of the CCS. Thus the political heads considered SLAS officers as servile subordinates, mere baggage masters to carry out their will. To use an analogy from astronomy, the SLAS became a Brown Dwarf, a failed star which could not generate sufficient thermo-nuclear processes to become one. While the CCS shone in all its splendour, the SLAS could not quite make it to this stellar level. It had to be content with being a satellite orbiting round its own star, the politician. When their turn came to fill posts at higher levels, in the aftermath of the 1972 constitution, the relationship of the Minister to his officials got debased. Instead of the higher officials offering unpalatable advice, if need be, and supervising and ensuring the work output of junior officials, they found it expedient and rewarding to engage in building coalition relationships with a Minister exercising patronage, thus gaining some ephemeral benefits like allowances, travel abroad, etc. Politicians were meant to be propitiated, by offering beguiling justifications for their pet schemes, and then later cynically taken advantage. Leadership was replaced by dealership. With this toxic combination of a politicking Minister and politicking senior public servants the principle of contestability, referred in the Chapter on "Public Administration Change', came to have tragic connotations. Bureaupaths who wished to depose public


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servants working according to the traditional ethos, were supplanted by individuals who got along with the Minister by merely going along. Many in the SLAS had to fear their politicking colleagues. They faced threats not only because they held desired posts, but also because they were far superior in ability to their bureaupath heads. It must be emphasised that very often these decisions are inspired by politicking public servants themselves to gain their own ends, who conveniently foisted them on Ministers and comfortably attributed them to political interference. World Bank principles of governance in respect of contestability, could not have led to more unlikely results. It is the nuclear option gone awry. The consequences, after thirty-three years of the abolition of the CCS, are now only too visible, in a thoroughly demoralised SLAS. But the SLAS must blame itself for their predicament. A professional group would not have allowed its members to behave the way they did.
This demoralisation is seen at its worst in the "Pool' maintained at the Ministry of Public Administration. This is where unwanted officers of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) are side-lined, to enable them to draw their salaries, although no work is given them. They are unwanted not because of poor performance or have breached disciplinary rules, but because the politician objects to them or they have fallen foul of their bureaupath heads. The term "Pool” is in the same genre as the Chinese term Laogai. Laogai means the humiliation imposed on intellectuals by being forced into menial labour for no pay. The "Pool" is also a form of Chinese torture, where unending days of half life, of paid no work, is meant to leech the dignity of the hapless SLAS officer. The suffering inflicted on the SLAS officer is more exquisite since it lacerates his soul. The sojourn in the "Pool" is meant to "educate' the SLAS officer, to make him/her pliable and malleable. It teaches' the current public administration ethos of appeasement and collaboration. The hapless SLAS officer becomes the sapless one. Both the "Pool” and the Laogai set out to achieve the same goal. Both use a new form of management control, that of humiliation. The experience in the "Pool” is the same as undergone by a slave. As Elkins states "Sambo the typical plantation slave's behaviour was full of infantile silliness and his talk inflated with childish exaggeration. His relationship with his master was one of utter dependence and childish attachment: it was indeed the childlike

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quality that was they very key of his being.' The "Pool" is meant to produce Sambos. Such goals and controls are hardly likely to develop self-confident and innovative officers. An important means of restoring dignity and capability to the management service in Sri Lanka would be to prohibit transfers other than to cadre posts. Attachment to the "Pool” should be permitted only for a month. If the period were to be in excess of one month, the affected officer should be allowed to retire, with full pay drawn upto his/her date of optional retirement. The commuted pension could be paid on this date. This will deter the Secretary, Public Administration from taking whimsical decisions and when such decisions are taken, an explanation will have to be offered to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). This aspect is discussed in the paper on "Public Administration Model and Accountability'. It should be noted that for no other service is such a humiliating mechanism maintained as an act of systematic policy. The fact that it only applies to the SLAS is an index of its decline.
4. Third Wave in Public Administration
The third wave would make public administration adapt towards a more complex knowledge based body. Thus administrative reform efforts will be to convert an interventionist and regulatory public administration to a knowledge processing public administration. The intellectual underpinnings for this change in direction come from a number of sources.
First, from the Public Choice School of Economics, particularly its institutional economics sub-division. This goes under the "New Public Management”(NPM), which has influenced the path-breaking reforms in New Zealand. Details are given in the chapter on "Public Administration Change”.
Second, from the consequences which follow from a paradigm shift in public administration, much of its deriving from the natural sciences covering Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Chaos Theory and Evolutionary Biology. The details are given in the chapter on "Public Administration Paradigm: Beliefs, Culture, Values, Ethies”. Third, from a roll back of the State thus allowing greater facility for the private sector. This would entail drawing up a framework for it to function. This would lie in developing codes of behaviour and getting them implemented. A similar exercise was put in place by the


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CCS following the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms in the 1830s.
Fourth, in managing the new areas which do not lend themselves to private sector initiatives like Environment, the ensurance of Rights (Human, Women, Children), satisfactory service delivery, etc. Fifth, in finding alternate ways of organising development. In this background the SLAS will have to undergo a major restructuring into a Management Service. Some of the areas that could be considered are
4. I. Recruitment
4. I. I. Lower Level
The SLAS is grouped in three classes, corresponding to the operative, deputy and head levels. Large numbers in each batch were recruited to the lowest level of the SLAS and, as such, the quality degenerates alarmingly within the same batch itself. In India, annual recruitment is between 70-80. The catchment is a million graduates who sit the first round of examinations. It is advisable that the maximum annual recruitment not to exceed 25-35 or 20 per cent (whichever is less), at the top of the list, should be recruited directly to the Deputy grade. This cream should be given an intensive residential training of one year at the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA). At the end of the year a suitably devised demanding examination should be held and failures reverted into the lower grade to join their colleagues. By this means, at least in 20 years, there will be an elitist cadre of 80 in the service. A similar principle applies to the moulding of a Queen Bee in a bee-hive. The cadet bee is a worker but by feeding Royal Jelly, the equivalent of training, the selected bee gets its superior position. It has to be clearly understood that what Sri Lanka is reaching towards is the building of an elite service. Those who have been selected to the operative grade should also be given an intensive induction training without any compromise. This training should be the responsibility of SLIDA and there should be no ministry interference. The ARC has given valuable suggestions on its curriculum.
4.1.2. Higher Level
Although provision is available for lateral recruitment to the highe

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grades, this had rarely been done. Reference was made in the Chapter on "Public Administration Change', to the government decision to have a cadre of a core group of managers. There had been attempts to introduce this principle in the past. The ARC recommended that a Senior Management Group (SMG) be created. It was to be composed of specially selected high officials, the selection to be based on competence not on seniority. The Policy Division of the Ministry of Public Administration drafted a policy paper in 1991, which subsequently was forwarded as a Cabinet paper, seeking approval for this proposal. The Cabinet forwarded it for consideration by the Committee of Secretaries, which was the highest level administrative body. The members of the Committee of Secretaries too would eventually be drawn from the SMG. This committee rejected the proposal fearing that they may not be selected to it. This ARC proposal was killed by public servants. Divisional Secretariats were formed in 1993, their heads, the Divisional Secretaries, being in Class I. The Policy Division recommended that this post should not be reserved for the SLAS only but be opened to all Class I offices in the public service, since all these positions were managerial. By this means the best available managerial talent would man the Divisional Secretariats. The proposal was accepted, but because of heavy lobbying by the SLAS, the decision was subsequently reversed. The opportunity to enrich public administration was lost by these two failed attempts, both due to selfish concerns.
This core group proposal may provoke resistance particularly from an apprehensive SLAS, as happened in the case of the Divisional Secretaries, since it stands to lose the most. First, the SLAS has not locus standi, since the SMG is not its career grade. Second, the creation of the SMG is a foundation for administrative reform. The ARC devoted one chapter to it. Third, the method of selection adopted, that of an examination, considerably widens the fundamental rights of higher level public servants. Upto now the selection was ad hoc based on know-who. It will now be replaced by an objective test of know-how and know-what. It is important that the results of the examination be published. If the SMG is not established Sri Lanka could well wish administrative reform goodbye. Any such resistance should be neutralised, for there should be no third failed attempt. The scheme restores the concept of an elite service composed of person


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nel drawn from the widest spectrum oftalentavailable. The CCS was such a service, and when the government abolished it, the signal given was that it was supporting the average in management and consecrating servility to the politician. Sri Lanka has paid dearly for this error. The SLAS may raise the bogey that public administration is a specialist activity, the system known only to those SLAS officers who have spent a lifetime in it. This is a chimera. The managerial skills in the non-SLAS public service are Superb and those of them opting to join the core group, after receiving an induction program of six months, will function exceptionally well. This is the experience of Singapore and Malaysia. There is no mystery or special cachet in the SLAS which cannot be understood by an exceptional public sector manager.
4.2. Job Analysis
There is no job analysis in public service. However with the circular on personal appraisal some concepts can be breathed in. It should be made obligatory, a task to be concluded in six months, for each holder of a SLAS post to undertake a job analysis of the post he is holding. If officers are unable to do so SLIDA should mount training programs to assist them. Once the job analysis is completed, all jobs should be reviewed by a group of management consultants and undertake a job restructuring that will combine jobs, develop performance indicators and possibly abolish a number of redundant posts. This would be the professional route to downsizing not the route adopted by the World Bank. Subsequently, an independently organised OD exercise could be meshed into the job analysis. In undertaking the job analysis special attention should be given to devolution and the transfer of responsibilities to Provincial Councils. No additional work was created by devolution. Therefore there cannot be a net increase in the number of posts.
4.3. Grouping of Posts
The SLAS, like the CCS, which preceded it is a generalist service. But this principle has been taken to extremes where specialist knowledge is frowned upon, the explanation being a hoary cliche, of specialists being on tap and the generalists being on top. The principle of a generalist is valid so long as he has the capacity to

Sri Lanka Administrative Service 351
understand and manage specialists with acceptance. That capability is not much in evidence in the SLAS. In India the Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC), in its report of April 1969 recommended eight areas of specialism. They are
. Economic Administration. . Industrial Administration. . Agricultural and Rural Development Administration. . Social and Educational Administration. . Personnel Administration. . Financial Administration. . Defence Administration and Internal Security. . Planning.
However this proposal was not implemented. Report 2A of the ARC of Sri Lanka (revised as at 17. 6.87) recommended six areas. They were
1. Rural Development.
2. Economic Infrastructure.
3. Social Infrastructure.
4. Trade.
5. Personnel Management and Training.
6. Planning, Finance and Budgeting.
This proposal too was not implemented. Serious consideration has to be given to developing a suitable set of specialisms for a prospective public management service.
Both the ARC's of India and Sri Lanka recommended a Personnel Service. Public administration principles are however based on the control of finance. Finance is a factor of production. The chapter on "Public Administration Model and Accountability" explains the reasons and consequences of this principle. One consequence is that the Minister of Finance appoints a Chief Accounting Officer and Accounting Office under the Financial Regulations. While they are most often non-finance executives, the finance function is managed by professional accountants. Personnel is also a factor of production but there is no concept of a Chief Personnel Officer and Personnel Officer. Neither is there a cadre of professional personnel officers. The World Bank too has to be faulted for non-recognition of its importance. Its preoccupation with accountability issues is confined


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to finance.
Human resources as a factor of production could be considered a more important factor in public administration than finance and physical resources. This is because the third wave public administration, now emerging, having shed its economically productive activities to the private sector, will concentrate on supporting the formulation of policy. It will undertake a thinking responsibility by being policy entrepreneurs. In this scenario attracting the best brains to the public service, developing and motivating them will be a major responsibility. It is suggested that a Sri Lanka Human Resource Management Service (SLHRMS) be created that will oversee the personnel function in public service, very much like the homologous Sri Lanka Accountancy Service oversees the finance function. The SLHRMS will have the same structure and salaries as the SLAS. A nett creation of posts for the SLHRMS is not required, since an equivalent number could be suppressed from the SLAS. Those in Class I of the SLHRMS will be eligible to join the envisaged core management group, very much like the accountants, planners, engineers, etc. of the public service. Members of the SLHRMS will have their own professional programs of development like those in the accountancy Service.
To make the SLHRMS a success there will have to be two requirements. First, Chief Personnel Officers (CPO) and Personnel Officers (PO) will have to be appointed by the Ministry of Public Administration, under newly incorporated powers in the Establishment Code. They will be Secretaries to Ministries and Heads of Departments respectively. CPOs and POs will have a major responsibility of ensuring that Appraisees prepare annual targets/objectives/goals and performance indicators which are to be incorporated in their personal appraisal. The second requirement is to widen the role of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The PAC now preoccupies itself with a review of the integrity of expenditure. It is slowly moving into the efficiency and effectivity of it. To do so it is guided by the AuditorGeneral in these efforts. But it does not deal with the efficient and effective utilisation of human resources. The PAC should widen its ambit to cover this area too. It should also give particular attention as to why SLAS officers are being kept in the "Pool'. Thus the creation of a SLHRMS will plug in a gap in the World Bank's coverage of

Sri Lanka Administrative Service 353
governance.
One of the first responsibilities of the SLHRMS would be to build a Human Resources Information System (HURIS) of public servants. Information is now kept at agency level with its own grades, categories, salary scales, etc. A public service wide HURIS aggregating from Grama Niladhari division through to Division, Zone, District, Province and Centre, demarcated by institution, is now possible with inexpensive personal computers. The software for HURIS is being developed by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) and should be available by end of 1997.
5. Training
The public administration of the third wave would be a knowledge body. Learning would be indispensable. Learning for the SLAS would be at entry and in-service. There is a school, of the view, that pre-trained graduates be recruited to the SLAS as in Germany. This would restrict recruitment to public administration graduates. This is undesirable. The best brains should be selected for the premier public service. The Northcote-Trevalyan (1854) views are of interest. India has followed these principles. The Kothari Committee which reported on "Recruitment Policy and Selection Methods"(1976) widened the subjects to be offered. The ARC however recommended the catchment be from Second Class (Upper Division) or higher with three groups of tests,
1. Assessment of logical capability (300 marks). 2. Knowledge and information (300 marks). 3. Personality and behaviour tests (200 marks). In the third wave of public administration subject knowledge of different disciplines will be rapidly dated and not as important as a flexible thinking capability. The three groups of tests, if well devised, would ensure a reasonably good selection. The Personality and Behavioral tests are a more objective scan than the successful CCS interview, which, in the event, proved that it was able to sieve undesirables. It is suggested that the government consider the ARC proposal.
With respect to mid-service training, the SLAS has not been overkeen to professionalise themselves. The SLAS preferred route was to progress by clambering the peak of ignorance, and at the final


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stage of reaching the summit, expect the politician-who is already there-to lend a helping hand. The mid-1970 proposal to have professional examinations was rejected by the SLAS. The result is that the SLAS has lost intellectual leadership and innovative capability. It is neither a steerer or rower but an odd-job man taking its cue from the politician. Its daring tales are not of derring-do but of derringdont. The consequence is that the SLAS has become a slum address populated by a beta management underclass, so much so that there is a strongly held viewpoint that the clerical service, inherited at the time of independence, was far superior to the present SLAS. The new management public service, now required, has to be constantly renewed, partially by training. India has developed a menu of courses, and every member of the IAS in the service group of 4-20 years has to take a minimum of one course for a year. A similar provision has to be made in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka foreign training is considered a reward and not as an effort to build an officer. This is because there is no systematic career development. The head of the SLAS is the Secretary MPA. In the twenty-six years of the existence of the MPA there has not been a single head who has had a post-graduate qualification. If Sri Lanka were serious in developing a high grade management service a top quality head of the public service has to be found. It is best that the creation of the full cadre of the Management Service be spread over a period of five years.
6. A New Management Service
The SLAS, in its thirty-three years of existence, has been unable to justify the reasons for its creation. In the meanwhile the objective conditions have changed and the necessity for a new public administration is emerging. The SLAS certainly has some excellent officers but too few to radically influence the SLAS in the dimensional new direction now required. Its negative culture is overwhelming. A new Management Service is now required. Under no circumstances should the new management service start its life by absorbing the entire SLAS. A similar approach at the beginning of its life doomed it forever.
A number of simultaneous approaches can be adopted. They are: 1. Every single post in the Management Service to have a job analysis. This has been referred earlier.

Sri Lanka Administrative Service 355
2. Every year, call applications for a few of these jobs. This is the approach adopted by New Zealand and it has shown good results.
3. Build a core group of senior officers. This was a recommendation made by the ARC. The government has accepted the recommendation and has called applications.
4. The core group of senior managers will work at the top. Simultaneously it will be necessary build a core group of junior managers at the bottom, by selecting the best few from the Management Service examination and placing them at the deputy grade.
Proposals 3 and 4 will build the Management Service both from the top and the bottom. It is now necessary to subtract from the Centre.
5. (a) A Human Resource Management Service (SLHRMS) be created to manage the personnel side of the public service. This will be homologous to the Accountancy Service. As much as a Senior Assistant Secretary manages the accountancy service from the Ministry of Finance, an officer of similar status should manage the personnel service from the Ministry of Public Administration. The cadre of the SLHRMS should be exclusively filled from the SLAS.
5.(b) An Executive Service was recommended by the ARC. This is to undertake the supervisory and office management responsibility in public service. Public service office management has collapsed. This was diagnosed by the ARC who, among others, recommended a Public Service Training Institute (PSTI). The PSTI does not seem to have had much impact. It is best this activity be restored to SLIDA. Simultaneously the Executive Service should be formed, with maximum salary scale of Class 11 Grade 11.
All those from the clerical service in the SLAS, who cannot go beyond this scale, should be absorbed into this service.
There will be a number of details to be worked out for 5(a) and 5(b) but if the principles are clear the details will be simple.
6. There will yet remain SLAS officers, particularly from Class 1, who cannot be accommodated. It is best if they were offered PA Circular 44\90 terms with a 24 month gratuity. The option should be exercised within six months. If they fail to do sthey may remain in service upto 55 years but will lose all perks like quarters, cars, etc. They will also be given second preference for posts.


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7. The management of a change process is difficult and even hazardous. It is best if the new management service be under the Presidential Secretariat. This was a recommendation of the ARC. As already mentioned the emergence of this service will take about five years. It is also best if this responsibility were given to an officer, with a contract for five years. His\Her mission will be to ensure that an excellent Sri Lanka Management Service be in operation within five years. The selected person should prepare a plan of action within one month of appointment with quantitative indicators of performance. In five years time the SLAS should be abolished.
7. Conclusion
The SLAS had not measured up to its expectations. Whether there are good reasons or not Sri Lanka has to now think in terms of a new managerial service that will function as a creative minority with the political leadership. The establishment of this managerial service should be choreographed over time. If such a decision were taken today a fully fledged Managerial Service will emerge only by 2002.
N. O. T E S
1. Potter C. David (1986), India's Political Administrators (1919-1983), Clarendon Press.
2. Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Public Administration and the Asian Development Bank, 26 November, 1995. 3. Berne, Eric (1964), Games People Play, Ballantine. 4. Somasundram M. (1995), "The Greening of the Public Sector: The Sri Lanka Experience", The Asian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 2, No. 1, Manila.
5. Elkins, Stanley M. (1959), Slavery: A Problem in American Institutions and Intellectual Life, University of Chicago.
6. Administrative Reforms Commission (1969), "Report on Personnel Administration”, Government of India.
7. Administrative Reforms Committee (1987), "Sri Lanka Administrative Service: Its Structure, Cadre and Management", Report No. 2A(mimeo).
8. Northcote-Trevalyan Report (1854). 9. Civil Services Examination (1976), “Report of the Committee on Recruitment Policy and Selection Methods', Union Public Service Commission.
10. Op. cit. v

15
Personal Appraisal
M. Somasundram
"Oh Lord, grant this day we come to no decision, Neither run into any kind of responsibility, But that all our doings may be ordered to establish New and quite unwarranted Department. O, Thou who see'st all things below Grant thy servants go slow, That they study to comply, With regulations till they die. Teach us, O Lord, to reverence Committees more than commonsense, Impress our minds to make no plan, But pass the baby when we can. And when temper seems to give, Us feelings of initiative, Or when alone we go too far, Chastise us with a circular. Thus, will they servants ever be A perfect flock of sheep to Thee." -Bureaucrat's Prayer
NE of the main points of emphasis of the World Bank is the need for personal appraisal. Every activity is a cycle which starts with preparations ending with outputs. The preparations are dealt under project evaluation. A review of whether the activity has achieved its expectations is dealt in two parts, first under performance evaluation and second under personal appraisal. Performance evaluation deals with organisational performance, personal appraisal deals with individual performance.
In Sri Lanka, personal appraisal in public administration is almost non-existent. Lacking objective personal appraisal, public servants


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are not rewarded for what they deserve, but for what they can negotiate. If the New Public Management (NPM) were to be introduced in all its rigour, personal appraisal is a pre-requisite. A difficulty in introducing personal appraisal is that public administration outputs are viewed as nebulous. This is an error. In public administration there may be a part that does not lend itself to quantification but a substantial core enables it to be done, for example the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) developed a comprehensive set of performance indicators for the varied activities of the complex organisational form of Divisional Secretariat. In this volume Ratnasundaram, in his chapter on "Taxation', has referred to a well functioning system of group incentives operating in the Internal Revenue Department. Government has recognised the importance of Personal Appraisal, for it has issued a independently developed circular dated 31 December, 1996 on it. Some of the principles included in this section have been incorporated in the circular though not all of them. It is best if personal appraisal were based on a job analysis deriving out of an Organisation Development (OD) effort. Since this would take time, the first phase of personal appraisal may be undertaken in the absence of a job analysis. In the second phase both of them could be meshed.
Given below is a draft of a personal appraisal format for the first phase, which could be used for officers of the Executive Cadre (Staff Officers). It has seven components.
1. The activities and performance indicators, by which they are to be evaluated, are spelt out by the officer to be evaluated (the Appraisee). It is prepared before the appraisal period. This will subsequently become a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Appraisee and Government.
2. The degree of his/her achievement is also indicated by the Appraisee. This is self appraisal.
3. The Appraisee indicates his/her own developmental needs. This is a vital requirement since public administration is a learning body.
4. The statement of the Appraisee is commented upon by his/ her immediate superior (the Appraiser).
5. Both these reports are commented on by an objective senior

Personal Appraisal 359
superior officer (the Reviewing Officer).
6. Specific reference is made in the appraisal, to integrity and the code of conduct. These require emphasis in public administration reviews, though they may not be important for the private sector.
7. Recommendations are made for rewards to an Appraisee for exceptional work.
This format is based on the best elements of the Malaysian, Singaporean and Indian personal appraisal systems. It should be noted that a comprehensive personal appraisal should be in the socalled 360 degree format where appraisal is undertaken by subordinates, horizontal colleagues, and superiors. The 360 degree format is too advanced for Sri Lanka. The format now suggested is confined to appraisal by Superiors.
In applying the personal appraisal form, five elements need to be emphasised. They are validation, triangulation, training, timing of implementation, and reward. Personal appraisal is not something new in public administration. In British times there was a well thought out personal appraisal. But with the drive for egalitarianism and the consequent lowering of standards, personal appraisal was considered colonial, and accordingly, allowed to wither. The same happened to the CCS. The suggested personal appraisal is not a regurgitation of the old. It deals with developing the individual. As such validation will be required since the individual should value the effort. It is fundamental that there are three parties to the process, the Appraisee, the Appraiser and the Reviewing Officer. The three parties may be drawn from the five levels suggested under Sec. 5.1 of the chapter on "Public Administration Change'. Some typical examples are given in Table 1.1.
One of the responsibilities of a Secretary to the Ministry, would be to specify the Appraiser and Reviewing Officer for each subordinate Appraisee before the beginning of the review period. ܫ The suggestions made will have to be implemented at all levels of the executive public service (Staff Officers). Each one will play one or all of the three roles. Consequently an extensive programme for training and marketing will have to be mounted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) prior to full fledged implementation. Timing is of the essence, if the system were not to


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TABLE 1.1
Appraisee Appraiser Reviewing Officer 1. Assistant Divisional District Secretary
Divisional Secretary Secretary 2. District Addl. Secretary Secretary
Secretary Home Affairs Home Affairs 3. Deputy Director Addl. Secretary
Director 4. Senior Assist. Addl. Secretary Secretary
Secretary 5. Addl. Secretary Secretary Secretary H.E. The
President 6. Secretary Hon. Minister H.E. The President
break down attracting ridicule. The following time table is suggested.
(1) End March 1997-Finalise format and validation. (2) End June 1997-Complete training programmes and marketling.
(3) July-December 1997-A dry run with a draft format. (4) January 1998-Full fledged implementation. An increment is supposed to be earned. Since there had been no personal appraisal, the payment of an increment has become automatic. There is a danger that with the introduction of the new personal appraisal, increments may be tied to it. The increment has come to be considered an entitlement. By trying to restore the stick, that of earning an increment, the highly desirable introduction of a personal appraisal itself may be placed at risk. Since personal appraisal is meant to lead to individual development, an immediate tying of the increment to personal appraisal is not recommended. However, there is provision for rewards for extraordinary performance. This may be pursued. The approach to be adopted should be to use personal appraisal as a managerial measure of motivation and upsizing, not a bureaucratic measure of punishment. However, increments tied to performance could be applied immediately to the core group of managers who are to be recruited.

Personal Appraisal 361
PERFORMANCE IN MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
PERSONAL APPRAISAL
(Please Read the Clarifications Given at the End: Where Spaces Provided are
Inadequate, Use Separate Sheets of Paper)
PART I. Personal Data (To be filled by the Administration Section)
1.
A. Surname of Officer (Appraisee):
B. Other Names:
Date of Birth:
Date of appointment to current post: Review for year/period (ending):
Leave(days) Casual Vacation Training Duty Date of Increment
Office of Appraisee
Name of Appraisee's immediate superior
PART II: To be Filled by Officer to be Appraised (Appraisee)
1. 2.
Brief description of your duties:
Indicate (where relevant) (A) Plans prepared by you for each activity under your control (B) Research undertaken prior to the preparation of the plan. Specify targets/objectives/ goals in quantitative or other terms, for each of the activities you are responsible. Each activity should be given in order of priority of critical and non-critical items. (Clarification: Item 8.) Also give your achievement as a percentage against each target (Example Target: Establish 1000 small scale private businesses. Achievement: 60 per cent).
TABLE 1.2 Targets/Objectives/ Performance Achievement Goals Indicators (as percentage of
indicators)
10.
11. Specify whether a manpower budget to fulfil the targets/objectives/goals was prepared.


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10.
Specify whether a physical resources budget to fulfil the targets/objectives/ goals was prepared. Indicate (where relevant) (A) The number of disciplinary inquiries conducted by you. (B) The age analysis of the disciplinary inquiries pending with you. (A) Highlight items in which there has been a significantly higher achievement over targets/objectives/goals and your contribution to achieving this performance: (1) (2) (3) (4) CC. (B) Highlight items in which there has been lower achievement over targets/
objectives/goals and specify constraints, if any, against each of them: (1) (2) (3) (Where relevant) (A) How many official foreign trips have you made in this period? (B) Have you submitted a report on your return at the end of each trip about the benefits you obtained and the new ideas you will implement? (C) For each of the ideas in each report what have you implemented. (A) For how many officers belonging to the staff (Executive Grades) working immediately below you, have you set targets/objectives/goals, in order of priority of critical and non-critical items? (B) For how many officers belonging to the staff (Executive Grades) working immediately below you, have you not set targets/objectives/goals? Indicate the administrative and management development requirements you have.
PART III: To be Filled by the Superior Officer (Appraiser)
1.
Nature and Quantity of work: Comment on Part II, as filled in by the Appraisee and specifically state whether you agree with the responses relating to targets/objectives/goals, their achievements and shortfalls. Also specify constraints, if any, the appraisee had in achieving targets/objectives/goals. Comment on the officer's quality of performance, having regard to the standard of work, achievement of targets/objectives/goals and constraints, if any. Knowledge:(Management of Human, Financial and Physical Resources) (A) Content of Knowledge:
Comment on the knowledge this officer brought to bear on his/her work, and whether this officer tried to equip himself/herself in this regard.

Personal Appraisal 363
(B) Level of knowledge:
Comment on the level of knowledge of this officer under, (1) Functions (2) Rules, Regulations and Circulars and their applications. 4. Skills:
(A) Analysis:
Comment on the officer's ability to plan work, analyze problems, weigh pros and cons, formulate alternatives, evaluate them and solve problems. (B) Synthesis:
Comment on the officer's ability to bring together, within a concept and framework, the analysis of a problem. (C) Communications:
Comment on the officer's ability to communicate orally and in writing, with brevity, clarity and accuracy, in each of the languages-Sinhala, Tamil and English with superiors, colleagues, subordinates and the public. (D) Initiative:
Comment on the capacity and resourcefulness of the officer in handling normal as well as unforeseen situations, finding and implementing novel and flexible solutions, prioritising work, willingness to take additional responsibilities and new areas of work, and ability to work without constant direction. 5. Attitude:
Comment how far the officer can be relied upon to fulfil his/her job requirements, the officer's sense of responsibility, the degree of the officer's dedication and motivation, and willingness to learn and systematise his/her work. 6. Motivation:
Comment on the capacity of the officer to motivate by his/her own conduct and inspire confidence in his/her subordinates to greater performance. 7. Role Model:
Comment on how the officer fulfilled his/her responsibility of being a role model, in respect of his/her (A) Subordinates. (B) Officers being coordinated. (C) Community in which he/she is living. 8. Supervisory Ability:
Comment on officer's ability to, (A) Offer guidance to his/her subordinates in the performance of tasks, setting targets and norms, developing performance standards and time frames. (B) Capacity to take decisions at own level on matters which are delegated
to him/her.


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(C) Ability to delegate work given to him/her. (D) Develop subordinates to fulfil their tasks and responsibilities. (E) Review of performance.
(F) Maintain discipline.
9. Personal Relationships:
Comment on the officer's ability to, (A) Relate to superiors, colleagues, and subordinates in a manner helpful to
the output of work and work accomplishment. (B) Listen to other's points of view and build teams. (C) Work together in teams, develop an esprit de corps and optimise the
output of work.
10. Relationships with public:
Comment on officer's accessibility to the public and responsiveness to their needs.
11. Potential:
Indicate possible lines of growth and development for this officer.
12. Training:
Offer recommendations on training for this officer, in order to further improve his/her efficiency, effectiveness, capabilities and responsiveness to the public.
13. State of Health:
14. Integrity:
(Please read item 12 in the Clarifications)
15. Code of Conduct
(Please read item 13 in the Clarifications)
16. General Assessment
Give an overall assessment of the officer, with reference to his/her strengths and shortcomings and also by drawing attention to qualities, if any, not covered by the entries above.
17. Grading:
Outstanding/Very Good/Good/Average/Below Average (An officer should not be graded outstanding unless exceptional qualities and performance have been noticed. Grounds for giving such a grading should be clearly brought out).
Signature of Appraiser Name (Block letters) Place: Designation Date:
PART IV: To be Filled by the Reviewing Officer
1.
2.
Has the Appraiser provided the necessary support to the Appraisee to enable him/her to fulfil responsibilities?
Is the Reviewing Officersatisfied that the Appraiser has made his/her report with care and attention, after the Appraiser has taken into account all the

Personal Appraisal 365
relevant information? 3. Do you agree with the assessment of the Appraisee by the Appraiser in Part III section 16? Is there anything you wish to modify'? (In case of disagreement with the assessment of the Appraiser please specify the reasons.) 4. Offer your comments about the grading made by the Appraiser in Part III
Section 17. 5. Has this Appraisee any special characteristics and/or abilities which would justify his/her selection for special assignments or out of turn promotion? If
. So, specify.
Signature of Reviewing Officer, Name (Block letters) Designation Place: Date :
Clarifications 1. Personal Appraisal is an important document. It provides the basic and vital inputs for a common assessment of performance and areas for improvement for an Appraisee who is engaged in diverse activities pertaining to heterogeneous functions in widely distributed geographical areas, and working under plural principals. 2. Performance means the accomplishment by the Appraisee of assigned work, as specified in the targets/objectives/goals set in order of priority of critical and non-critical elements. 3. There are three parties to the personal appraisal, the Appraisee, the Appraiser and the Reviewing Officer. The initiative for getting the Personal Appraisal completed should be on the Appraisee. 4. The Personal Appraisal is not a fault finding process but a tool for the development of the Appraisee. The Appraiser and Reviewing Officer should be aware that the objective of a personal appraisal is to develop an officer so that he/she realises his/her true potential. Their appraisals should have a significant impact on advancement in career. Consequently the Appraiser and Reviewing Officer should undertake the duty of filling out the form with a high sense of responsibility. They should report on both the negative and positive aspects and decidedly not shy away from reporting shortcomings in performance, attitude, or overall personality of the Appraisee. Only by knowing shortcomings could the Appraisee rectify them. 5. The Appraiser and Reviewing Officer should fill the items with care and attention after mature reflection. Any attempt to fill the report in a casual or superficial manner will easily be discernible to higher levels, and would detract from the sense of responsibility that should be shown. f5. If the Reviewing Officer is not satisfied that the Appraiser has made the report with due care and attention he/she should record it in Part IV Item 2. 7. Each Appraiser and Reviewing Officer shall at the beginning of the year,


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10.
11.
12.
13.
encourage the Appraisee to prepare targets/objectives/goals under critical and non-critical categories. In the case of an Appraisee taking up a new post in the course of a reporting year, such targets/objectives/goals shall be prepared at the time of the change.
. (A) "Critical element” means one or more duties and responsibilities which
contribute towards accomplishing targets/objectives/goals, which are of such importance that unacceptable performance of this element would result in unacceptable performance of the targets/objectives/goals.
(B) "Non-critical element" means one or more duties and responsibilities, which contribute towards accomplishing targets/objectives/goals, which do not meet the definition of a critical element, yet is of sufficient importance to warrant appraisal.
. Although personal appraisal is a year end exercise, it is better, in order that
it be a tool for human resource development, that the Appraiser should at regular intervals, review the performance of the Appraisee and take necessary corrective steps. It should be the endeavour of each Appraiser and Reviewing Officer to present the truest possible picture of the Appraisee with regard to his/her performance, conduct, behaviour and potential. The personal appraisal should only be confined to the performance of the Appraisee during the period of report. In respect of Part II item 14 "Integrity" the following may be kept in mind (Integrity deals with financial integrity): (A) If the Appraisee's integrity is beyond doubt, it may be so stated. (B) If there is any doubt or suspicion, the item should be left blank and
action taken as below (1) The Appraiser/Reviewing Officer should record the doubt or suspicion and forward it to the next superior officer. The next superior officer should take expeditious follow-up action. (2) If, as a result of the follow-up action, the doubts or suspicions are cleared, the officer's integrity should be certified. An entry should be made accordingly in the personal appraisal. (3) If, as a result of the follow-up action, the doubts or suspicions are confirmed, this fact should be recorded in the personal appraisal and duly communicated to the appraisee concerned. (4) If, as a result of the follow-up action, the doubts or suspicions are neither cleared nor confirmed, the Appraisee's conduct should be watched for a further period and action taken as indicated in 2 or 3 above. In respect of Part II item 15 "Code of Conduct" the following may be kept in mind. (A) If the Appraisee has scrupulously followed the Code of Conduct, it may
be so stated. (B) If there is any doubt or suspicion about the Appraisee not following any

Personal Appraisal 367
elements in the Code of Conduct, this item should be left blank and
action taken as below:
(l) The Appraiser/Reviewing Officer should record doubt or suspicion and forward it to the next superior officer. The next superior officer should take expeditious follow-up action.
(2) If, as a result of the follow-up action, the doubts or suspicions are cleared, the fact that the Appraisee has followed the Code of Conduct should be certified and an entry made accordingly in the personal appraisal.
(3) If, as a result of the follow-up action, the doubts or suspicions are confirmed, the fact should be recorded in the personal appraisal and duly communicated to the Appraisee concerned.
(4) If, as a result of the follow-up action, the doubts or suspicions are neither cleared nor confirmed, the Appraisee's conduct should be watched for a further period and action taken as indicated in 2 or 3 above.


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16
Public Administration Model and Accountability
M. Somasundram
"If you wish to converse with me, define your terms." -Voltaire
1. Background s
IRECT government on the Athenian model has given way to D government by representation. Through this change, citizens have explicitly or implicitly given their consent to be governed by others. In the democratic model, government is carried out through the machinery of public administration, by elected public servants called politicians and selected public servants called officials, both groups working together. The democratic model lay in the holding of periodic elections, which provided the citizenry an opportunity to take a view about the performance of government and indirectly of the performance of public administration. If performance were wanting, the shelf life of the elected public servant will be short. In the Westminster version of the democratic model, the selected public servant will nevertheless continue in service, to serve the replaced elected public servant. Concepts of a periodic reviews are now shifting, to accepting that democracy is a continuous responsibility of the governing to the governed. "With the growing concern about democratic governance and the increasing awareness of the public of their rights and privileges within the framework of democracy, accountability has become a core issue of public administration in developing countries' (Aminuzzaman, 1994). These issues of accountability are now at the centre stage of attention in public administration, composed as they are both of a political executive

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and a permanent executive.
Many countries traversing the democratic route apply the Westminster model of governance. A number of them have, with slight amendment, soldiered with Gladstonian reforms initiated in the mid-19th century. Two recent intellectual influences have however mutated these reforms. A sub- discipline in economics has emerged called the new institutional economics. The second influence is managerialism deriving its inspiration from the concepts applicable to the private sector. The confluence of both these tendencies influenced traditional public administration concepts of accountability.
2. A Model of Public Administration
Public administration is the machinery through which the expectation of all the people are achieved. It is different from private sector organisations where only section of the public is to be satisfied. As such the private sector model of shareholders electing a Board of Directors for management is not fully applicable for public administration. The political executive is not a Board of Governors oversee ing public administration machinery. The accountability relationship of the Board to the shareholders is too simplistic and of little relevance to public administration. The model of public administration adopted in this volume is as on the following page.
The bottom line for private enterprise is to engender profits. The bottom line of the democratic process is to ensure desired outcomes for citizens. Citizens (element 1) start the process and is completed with their receipt of outcomes (element 11) which benefit them. Outcomes could be satisfied through five routes, the five Cs of Civil, Community, Customer, Consumer and Care. An elaboration of the five routes are
1. Civil: This ensures that the state provides the minimum safeguards and does not breach civic entitlements like Human Rights, Fundamental Rights, Equity, etc. The World Bank definition of governance specifically excludes this aspect though the OECD definition actively incorporates it. The World Bank has a structural problem in that its mandate prohibits it from involvement in these matters. USAID, however, has no such restriction and it


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The Third Wave TABLE 16.1
Element Categories (Element) The Public 01 Citizens (Social Systems, Ideology, e
(O1) Culture, Beliefs, Values, Ethics)
Political 02 POLITICAL STAKE HOLDERS Decision Making W
(02 and 03) 03 CORE DECISIONS
Mandate, Vision, Mission, Aims, Goals/Objectives
Inputs 04 | INPUTS
(04) FINANCE, MATERIALS,
HUMAN RESOURCES, W IDEAS, TECHNOLOGY Legal 05 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK (05) V Planning 06 POLICY ACTION (Top Level)
(06) - Elected Public Servant Accountability
- Selected Public Servant (Goes Up)
Transformation 07 MANAGEMENT ACTION
(05, 06, 07, (Middle Level) 08, 09, 10) INSTRUMENTAL/RATIONAL
08 IMPLEMENTING
Action (First Level) Responsibility (Flows Down)
Accountability (Flows up)
Programmed Decisions
O9 EMPLOYEES
W Outputs 10 OUTPUTS
(10) W Outcomes 11 OUTCOMES
(11) つ不7 `ܢܓܢܔܓ
Civil Community Customer Consumer Care

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2. Community:
3. Customer:
4. Consumer:
5. Care:
is heavily involved in political party education in Sri Lanka, as well as the Konrad Adenaur Fund (KAF). Because of its structural vaccination, the World Bank has no reservations about the countries to which it lends though they have scandalous records on Human Rights e.g., Zaire. This ensures that members functioning in groups deal with localised problems of concern. Hereto the World Bank excludes this aspect though it is at the heart of the OECD definition of governance. The USAID however has emphasised this aspect very heavily. It has invested substantial resources in its Sri Lanka project on citizen participation (CIPART). This ensures that a plurality of choices and possibilities, of goods services and institutions, is offered to each beneficiary. Both the World Bank and OECD definitions emphasise treating citizens as customers, though the World Bank is more emphatic about it. Privatisation is one means of ensuring the provision of choices. This ensures that public services are offered to beneficiaries economically, efficiently and effectively. This is the managerial part of governance, which is heavily emphasised by the World Bank. Thisensures that individuals handicapped in various ways, whether physically, mentally, Socially, economically, ethnically, etc. are supported and sustained to lead life with dignity. The World Bank definition does not touch this aspect though the OECD does so peripherally. This aspect is dealt in detail later in the paper.
Thus citizens (element 1), within their framework of social systems, ideologies, culture, beliefs, values and ethics wish to benefit from the 5Cs (element 11). Through a democratic framework they elect political stakeholders (element 2) to ensure that the 5Cs are
provided to them.


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Political stakeholders fulfil their responsibilities both through operational institutions owned by the state and through non-state institutions. The collection of state-owned institutions would constitute public administration. Unlike in the private sector, where each institution lays out its vision, mission, aims and goals/objectives, in public administration these core decisions, including the mandate should be spelt out by the political stakeholders. This has not been done, neither have public administration agencies been a surrogate for it. As such public administration agencies continue with their ancient mandates, vision and mission statements. There have been exceptions. The postal service is one of the oldest departments in Sri Lanka. Through the urging of the then Policy Division of the Ministry of Public Administration, it restated its mandate and undertook an Organisational Development (OD) programme. Recently the Sivanandan Committee, of which the author was a member, restated the mandate of the oldest department in Sri Lanka, that of the Survey Department. Both these approaches were based on meeting the emerging challenges posed by the information driven 21st century. If governance were to be effective, each agency should spell them out, through a Organisation Development (OD) programme, and get them consecrated by political stakeholders.
Public administration agencies have to transform the input of finance, human resources and materials into outputs within the regulatory framework. This is the management process which covers elements 4-10. Human resources are required at four levels. The first level is policy action, where elected public servants (politicians) and selected public servants (permanent cadre) interact and formulate policy. It covers 1-3 of the groups given in para 5.1 of Chapter 2 "Public Administration Change'. The second level is an overhead and covers four of the groups given in para 5.1. The third level is operational and covers five of the groups given in para 5.1. The fourth level is where actual work is being done. Policy action is a thinking responsibility, management action is an instrumental/rational activity where work is carried out according to laid down rules. Implementation action is at the interface with those actually doing the work.
The heart of the World Bank approach to governance and of the New Public Management (NPM) cover elements 4—10. Economical,

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Efficient, and Effective activity is heavily emphasised. These terms will be clarified later in the paper. They concentrate on producing outputs. But outputs produced by public administration agencies should have outcomes. These are not necessarily the same. A gallon of potable water may be produced efficiently, but it is of no use if it not available at the point of consumption. Many of the misunderstandings of elected public servants with selected public servants arise over this issue. Selected public servants emphasise outputs, elected public servants concentrate on outcomes. Neither the World Bank definition of governance nor that of the OECD deal with these crucial difficulties of reconciling them. One way to do so is through the OD exercise and the striking of performance indicators. To ensure full accountability to the citizens, outcome measures have to be developed.
3. Economy, Efficiency and Effectivity (3E's)
The three terms, economy, efficiency and effectivity are very often used as synonyms. This is incorrect since they stand for three different concepts
-Economy is the relationship of expected inputs to actual inputs. It covers both the acquisition of resources and the use of resources. -Efficiency is the relationship of input to output. Efficiency can be achieved either by reducing inputs for a particular level of output or increasing output for a particular level of input.
-Effectivity is the relationship of achieved output to planned output.
A tabular representation of the 3E's would appear as follows:
TABLE 16.2 Actual Input --> Actual Output
Efficiency
Economy Effectivity
Intended Input Intended Output
Relationship of Economy, Efficiency and Effectivity


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A tabular representation tying the Mandate through to Goals/ Objectives with the 3E's is as follows:
TABLE 16.3
Mandate
Vision
Mission
Aims
Goals/Objectives -e Action plans -e Resources -e Rresouces allocated
committed to an Agency in National Budget
Economy in Acquisition (Men, Money, Materials)
V
Economy in use
V
Effectivity e- Efficiency
Backward Linkages of Economy, Efficiency and Effectivity
The 3E model fulfils the expectations of the public as a consumer.
4. Public Administration Responsibility for Care
The concept of care is troublesome for economics, particularly those contributing to its Public Choice School. In economics motives are selfish, a Darwinian pressure for optimising benefits for the individual. All relationships are transactional keeping this consideration in mind. Economics is uncomfortable with altruism. British public administration originated with a minimal State. The State functions to collect revenue in order to maintain law and order. The function of care was subcontracted to missionaries. However, with the social

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disruption of the industrial revolution, a positivist approach to care was developed. Poor Law legislation initiated the process and subsequently widened to cover wider areas. The Beveridge Report, made in the aftermath of the second world war, gave the intellectual underpinning to the social view of the State. Public administration was the agency for implementing this vision for which it developed sociological approaches. However, welfare, as its detractors contemptuously called it, always had its critics. The last decade of the 20th century has seen their triumph. The World Bank, by upholding the Public Choice School, has also undermined the sociological model of public administration, expecting market forces to deal with care. This cannot happen in Sri Lanka. While every effort should be made to eliminate abuse of care supply the necessity for care to be provided by the state is unquestioned by the political processes. Consequently, care has to be built into public administration and accountability rendered for it. . - - -
5. Responsibility, Liability and Accountability
Accountability is defined as the obligation of a person to offer satisfactory explanations to those who have a right to determine its content and demand such explanations. An example of it is where political authorities, who are delegated responsibility for achieving a set of outcomes, are accountable to the people for achieving these outcomes. Another example is where the selected public officials are accountable to the elected public servants for management of the input-transformation-output process, in such a manner as to achieve the outcomes expected of them.
But the concept of accountability cannot stand on its own. It is the obverse of responsibility. As Rehman (1987) puts it "accountability is an obligation to reveal, explain and justify one's action. It is a concomitant of responsibility. Without responsibility of some sort there cannot be accountability of any sort.” Responsibility is defined as the potential condition of being bound to respond because an obligation may occur. In this context it would be useful if the concept of liability too were clarified. Liability is the actual condition of being bound to respond because an obligation has occurred. When election campaigning goes on an obligation may occur, if the politicians were to be elected to implement particular provisions in


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their manifesto. This is responsibility. If elected, the obligation has occurred to implement the election manifesto. This is their liability. At the following election, the politicians have to answer to the degree to which their responsibility and liability have been met. This is accountability. In the managerial context, after the core decisions (element 3 of model) are taken, officials are vested with responsibility. Once they are approved they have the liability of converting and implementing the core decisions to managerial ones. At the end of it they have accountability for answering for their deeds. A more homely example can be drawn from the family. Parents have responsibility for their daughters, a particular aspect is when they eventually come of marriageable age. Once they do so, parents have liability for giving them in marriage. After they do so, they are accountable for the choice of their daughter's life partner. Thus "accountability is the state or condition of being answerable. It embraces both responsibility and liability, albeit its emphasis is more on responsibility because without responsibility of some sort, there cannot be accountability of any sort. The concept of accountability is predicated on the existence of a transactional situation, where a two-way interaction takes place. One gives the other receives, one renders the other accepts. To elucidate, it can be said that the concept of accountability envisages the imposition of duties and obligations on an individual, group or institution to explain, answer, and account for conduct, behaviour, action or inaction, to the conferment of corresponding rights in the other person, group, institution to require the first party to discharge this obligation' (Quereshi, 1993). To sum up, those vested with public responsibility have to render accountability for their potential actions and those with public accountability are responsible for their actual deeds.
6. Characteristics of Accountability and Responsibility
Accountability is answerability for one's deeds. It is reactive, upward moving and covers the task environment. It cannot be delegated. Responsibility is the reverse. It is empowering, downward moving, pro-active, covers the policy environment and diffusive. It can be delegated. To adopt an analogy from neuro-science, responsibility is excitory while accountability is inhibitory. Responsibility is efferent while accountability is afferent. The schematic representa

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tion of the flows of both accountability and responsibility, is given in the Public Administration Model.
7. Categories of Accountability
There are different categories of accountability. The main, relevant for this discussion are legal, managerial, program, process and professional accountabilities.
7.I. Legal Accountability
Legal accountability is to achieve expectations within the laws, rules and regulations. The private sector may be concerned only with ends for achieving its bottom line. Public administration however has to be concerned with both means and ends and scrupulously follow national policy, for example adopting transparent tender procedures. Thus public administration has legal accountability for actions covering means and ends.
7.2. Management Accountability
Management accountability is to achieve the 3 E's of economy, efficiency, effectiveness. It deals with the managerial thinking of the New Public Management and conforms to World Bank definition of governance. Many initiatives in Great Britain and New Zealand have concentrated on developing the 3 E's, in order that managerial accountability is fully rendered. These will be critically evaluated in later sections of this paper.
7.3. Program. Accountability
Program accountability is to achieve expectations of the particular program which lies within an agency or to be achieved by a number of agencies. An example of such a multi-agency program is skills development, which is not only vested with a number of ministries but also with NGOs and private sectors. Program accountability covers both outputs and outcomes.
7.4. Process Accountability
Process accountability lies in following laid down ways of achiev
ing outputs and outcomes. This is a sub-set of legal accountability but
deepens it in a different dimension, for it goes beyond a mere juridi


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cal or legalistic approach. In the Sri Lankan context flexibility is given in the Financial Regulations to vary processes. Financial Regulations (1992) states in its authorising section.
"It should be noted that these Regulations have been laid down by the Government for carrying out its financial transactions in an orderly manner and are not intended to be an obstruction to the execution of government programme of work.
The Minister of Finance has ordered that in respect of matters such as the procurement of supplies, tender procedures and the execution of works, a Head of Department may, in appropriate circumstances, deviate from the procedures laid down, if he is satisfied that such deviation is necessary in the public interest. Full reasons for doing so should be recorded and the Head of Department should justify his action."
7.5. Professional Accountability
Professional accountability is external to the employing agency and rendered to members of one's own profession, whereas organisational accountability is upward and rendered to one's superiors. It may appear that professional accountability breaches the unitary concept of accountability. At first sight this is true. But increasingly, organisations are being manned by professionals whose loyalty is to their professional ethos, which is always safeguarded by their own councils. One of the challenges of public administration of the future is to ensure the congruence of organisational objectives with the professional ethos of its staff.
8. 1st Level of Accountability-Parliamentary Control of the
Executive The Public Administration Model indicates that the people vest responsibility for achieving outcomes in Parliament. Parliamentarians take political decisions. The executive is of two parts, the political executive and the administrative executive, the first are elected and the second are selected.
The basis of parliamentary control of the political executive, is through conventions of individual ministerial responsibility. However a firmer basis is parliamentary control of finance. This is central

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to the democratic institutions of the Westminster model. Sri Lanka too follows the same convention. The Constitution states (Constitution 1978),
Art. 148: "Parliament shall have full control over public finance. No tax, rate, or any other levy shall be imposed by any local authority or any other public authority, except by or under the authority of law passed by Parliament or by any existing law.”
Art. 150: 1. ". . . no sum shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund except under the authority of a warrant under the hand of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance. 2. No such warrant shall be issued unless the sum has by resolution of Parliament or by any law been granted for specified public services for the financial year during which the withdrawal is to take place or is otherwise lawfully charged."
Both the imposition of taxes and the incurring of expenditure require the approval of Parliament. By this means Parliament is enabled to render an account to its primary constituency, the electorate who are its electors.
The question that now has to be raised is whether, in implementation, Parliament could in fact render this account. In respect of expenditure, approval is sought by the Ministers either in the Appropriation Act or through Supplementary Estimates. The processes of decision making for allocation for different activities are taken at the Treasury and approved by the Cabinet. Keuneman (1964) a senior parliamentarian and a former Cabinet Minister said that
"It is my experience, and it is now my contention, that our Parliament has little or no control over the Budget and that Parliamentary control over the Budget is more a fiction than a fact. In a way, the only real power that our Parliament has over a Budget is its residual power to reject the budget and defeat the government. When the budget is finally presented to Parliament, the Members of Parliament are in fact presented with a fait accompli, for the


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issue is no longer the wisdom or otherwise of various projects of financial allocations but the overall question of confidence or no confidence in the government. And finally, that is in reality the question that is both debated and determined in the Budget Debate.”6
In this view, Parliament as a body has little influence over the decision implementation of the executive.
In addition to the traditional questions, adjournment motions, noconfidence motions, etc. Parliament has three special institutions dedicated to extracting accountability. The first is the Committee of Public Accounts (COPA), which is the renamed Public Accounts Committee. It started life with the Gladstonian reforms of mid-19th century. The second is the Committee of Public Enterprises (COPE), which was set up in 1982 when the author was the Director, Public Enterprises at the Treasury. This was inspired by the much more recently established Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) of the Indian Lok Sabha. The third institution is the independent Auditor-General, again deriving from the Gladstonian reforms. The COPA gets an accountability from public departments, the COPE from state-owned enterprises, which in Sri Lanka are called public corporations.
As far back as 1964, Pieter Keuneman, had some critical points to offer about the COPA
"I have been a member of the Public Accounts Committee (now renamed the COPA) ever since Parliament first introduced it, and I must say the PAC is an ornamental body, an ornament of our Parliament. It has issued many excellent reports and it has initiated certain important changes in financial procedures. But I must say this, the examinations made by the PAC are in the nature of post mortems and belated ones at that. Although the PAC has helped to close many a stable door after the horse has bolted and has been able to bring to book certain persons guilty of financial improprieties, the work of the committee is being often hampered by the fact that in one year, we are considering the accounts of two years before."

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This situation could have arisen because the COPA is dependent on the reports of the Auditor-General, which by its nature has to be done after the event. The COPE however has struck out in new directions, as enshrined in its 1st Report which laid out its credo. It attempts review in two directions, first the traditional audit review for which it is supported by the Auditor-General. The second is its review of current performance conducted on managerial lines. In this it is assisted by the Director-General of Public Enterprises of the General Treasury. But the Administrative Reforms Committee found that "even with the very significant initiatives taken by COPE, there still are considerable gaps in the effectiveness of institutional arrangements for the enforcement of public accountability, in terms of return on investment and of operational viability'(Report 10). This is because, as the COPE in its 7th report bemoans, "Judging from the material placed before the committee, we noted the unsatisfactory features reported in the committee's first report exist in the enterprises without any serious consideration being given to the proposals/ recommendations made by the Committee” (COPE 7th Report). The Administrative Reforms Committee noted with sorrow "the fact, that, for a period as long as four years, the government's own enterprises could, with no retribution ignore the strictures of the highest evaluative organ of the political system, is a clear reflection of the malaise that effects the public corporations” (Report 10).
Sec. 149 of the Constitution refers to a Consolidated Fund. However the Administrative Reforms Committee noted "with alarm,that there is a creeping tendency to set up funds over which there is no Parliamentary accountability and decisions over the use of which remain within the executive branch of the government . . . The committee considers this tendency to be an unhealthy development in public finance management, which is fraught with serious future. consequences to the doctrine of accountability to Parliament on which the stability of the polity is based" (ARC Report 8). Sandaratne takes a gloomy view of the capability of Parliament to ensure accountability. "The overall assessment is that the theoretical provisions for accountability to Parliament are of little consequence, as it is the officials, Cabinet and Government which determine the magnitudes of public expenditure. Parliamentary control, which was minimal even in the early years of independence, has become even


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weaker. While the mechanism for checks and balances through the Auditor-General, the COPA and COPE are in place, their actual effectiveness in ensuring accountability is limited owing to procedures, approach, lack of competent staff to evaluate public expenditure from the perspective of optimum utilisation of resources. Actions by Presidents and Ministers have contributed to the weakening of control. Punitive action for transgressions are late and consequently the financial discipline of governments has varied from a weak to a very weak position' (Sandaratne, 1994). In short, though the structures are present they are enfeebled by the processes.
But is this situation to be permitted? Not, if Parliamentary forms of governance are to prevail. As the Administrative Reforms Committee stated "the final accountability for public funds, on the part of those who manage such funds, is to the public itself, whilst this remains the immutable conceptual base of public accountability, it has also to be recognised that the public cannot, either individually or collectively directly enforce such accountability. This would, in today's real world be impractical. Institutional arrangements have therefore, to be provided for the political system to enable the public to enforce such accountability” (ARC - 8th Report). The requirement, therefore is for revitalised structures, redefined processes, and freshly laid out information flows.
In Britain itself not much work has been done to provide means for enhancing the accountability of Parliament. Such accountability continues on the traditional basis of individual ministerial responsibility. But the Scott inquiry and the Pergau Dam affair have shown that these conventions have got frayed. Radical steps however have been taken by New Zealand and these offer a more promising approach for adaptation by Sri Lanka. The explanation of the New Zealand system is given by McCulloch, of the New Zealand Treasury (McCulloch, 1993).5
"The pre-reform appropriation system was cash-based, with the dysfunctional characteristics of standard government financial systems. It encouraged budget maximisation, year-end spending, poor utilisation of fixed assets, and took insufficient account of future commitments and liabilities.
The new appropriation system was designed to meet the re

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quirements of parliamentary control and scrutiny, to be administratively simple and to reflect the basic accountabilities of Ministers and Chief Executives.
Appropriations reflect the varying interests the Government has in committing public resources. The three types of annual appropriations are:
Appropriation for outputs: authority for the Executive to incur a specified amount of cost (measured on an accruals basis) for the production of a specified goods or services (outputs),
Capital Contribution Appropriation: authority for the Executive to invest a specified amount of capital (a cash injection) into a specified department;
Appropriation for Grants and Benefits: these provide authority for the Executive to make payments to parties other than departments, for:
-Outputs to be produced by those parties; or -Injecting capital into a Crown-owned or a State-owned Enterprise; or
-Welfare transfer payments. The budget estimates also include, for each department, forecast financial statements (financial position, operating Statement, cash flows) and statements of projected service performance which detail the classes of outputs to be produced. The payments for outputs are treated by departments in their financial statements as revenue from the Crown.
The reforms shifted the focus of accountability and control, towards what is produced rather than what is used to produce it. Depending on the degree of output contestability, the changes enable the appropriation for output purchases to be made on the basis of a market price.”
The Sri Lanka Treasury has always been forward looking in changing financial systems. In 1974, when the author was the Director of the Budget Division, the line budget for appropriation purposes was changed into a program and output budget. In 1994 a system of cash management was introduced when K. Shanmugalingam was the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury. In 1995 a new appropriation


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format was developed. In this year too, the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) had developed software to be used on personal computers which will cover transactions of a government agency. The New Zealand experience, its State Sector Act of 1988 and the Public Finance Act of 1989 which deal with the change of relationship of the Parliament and the Executive are worth studying. These changes cover the appropriation process, the content of information on performance submitted to Parliament and the presentation formats. All these three enable Parliament to better fulfil its responsibility by extracting an accountability from public officials on achieving outcomes.
The processes of the two committees viz. COPA and COPE need attention. First, it would be useful if the public were to be permitted to attend their sessions. Second, the Committee members need regular updating through familiarisation programs. The COPE, which was established in 1982, benefited from extensive programs. The result is that it has a distinctly different and forward looking approach to dealing with accountability issues of public corporations than the COPA with public departments. Third, it is important that professional staff be recruited to serve the two committees. Fourth, the COPA should extend its deliberations to apply the 3Es to human resource development and review the transfers to the "Pool".
9. Ministerial Control over the Permanent Executive-The
New Zealand Experience Under the Constitution, each Minister is allocated his subjects and
functions, for which he is responsible to Parliament. Under Sec. 52 a
Secretary to each Ministry is appointed by the President
"The Secretary to the Ministry shall, subject to the direction and control of his Minister, exercise supervision over the departments of government or other institutions in charge of his Minister” (Sec. 52.2). o
The responsibility for administrative supervision of institutions under the Ministry is vested with the Secretary to the Ministry and the accountability for performance is rendered to the Minister. In respect of financial matters, since this function is vested with the Minister of

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Finance, special responsibility and accountability is vested with the Secretary in financial matters. The Secretary has dual accountabilities, one of management rendered to the Minister and the other of finance rendered to the Treasury. Financial Regulation 124 (2) spells out the supervisory responsibility of a Secretary to a Ministry, who is called a Chief Accounting Officer.
"It is the duty of the Minister of Finance to account to Parliament for all receipts and payments. It is necessary for him to nominate officers for the collection and disbursement of public funds on his behalf. He, therefore, appoints each Secretary to a Ministry to be the Chief Accounting Officer of the Minister and delegates to him (as Chief Accounting Officer) the responsibility for supervising departmental financial transactions subject to the directions of the Treasury."
Financial Regulation 125 further appoints the Head of each Department as Accounting Officer.
While the concept of Chief Accounting Officer and the Accounting Officer might appear to be a restrictive one, in the sense that they are appointed by the Minister of Finance, yet in practice it fortifies the position of the Secretary to the Ministry and the head of a public sector organisation. In short, they are the buckles which link the political public servant to the managerial public servant. Secretaries are responsible for policy management and operations to achieve the 5C's and are accountable upwards for this stewardship.
In this particular accountability relationship there are two aspects of the Westminster model which need further discussion first that of ministerial responsibility to Parliament and second that of public officials pre-occupation with bureaucratic approaches to performance rather than managerial ones. Britain yet strictly retains the concept of ministerial responsibility to Parliament though officials were subject to questioning from specialised committees like the PAC, Select Committee, etc. As already noted there are format weaknesses and information weaknesses which do not permit Parliament to fulfil this responsibility in a satisfactory fashion. In respect of performance public officials were concerned with inputs, processes and procedures. They concentrated on ensuring expenditure within the ambit,


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legend and amount of appropriation. If this were ensured they were considered to have achieved their responsibilities. The managerial approach is different. This is where the public official serves the market not the minister, for which he concentrates on outputs, economy, efficiency, effectiveness and outcomes. A change of the bureaucratic culture is required, if the managerial culture were to be maintained. In New Zealand this is achieved in three ways:
1. A performance agreement was struck with the Chief Executive. 2. A departmental corporate plan had to be developed. 3. A different format was drawn for the estimates to be presented to Parliament which emphasises performance elements.
Laking (1992) writes about the New Zealand experience:
"The accountability relationship between Ministers and department chief executive is a crucial element in the accountability chain linking departments, chief executives, individual minister and the government as a whole. For a Minister to hold a chief executive fully to account, the performance expected must be clearly established at the start of the period. The annual performance agreement between the Chief Executive and the Responsible Minister was introduced by the reform as an important means of achieving this.
The performance agreement should be distinguished from the chief executive's contract of employment which sets out the agreed conditions of employment between the chief executive and the State Service Committee. The standard form of contract refers to an annual performance agreement between Minister and chief executive.
The performance agreement was intended to cover three aspects of departmental performance in which the government has an interest. V
1. The goods and services (outputs) to be supplied. 2. The financial performance to be achieved. 3. The management practices to be followed. It was intended to specify performance in such a way that the minister could be confident that actual performance could later be measured and/or assessed.”

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The New Zealand experience emphasises predetermining expectation, if performance were to be evaluated. This is a vital part of the proposed Organisation Development (OD) exercise and lies in developing performance indicators to measure both organisational and individual performance.
10. Market Based Accountability-The British Experience
The managerial approach for public administration, as exemplified by the 3E's, is applied to agencies which are owned by the state. The sub-discipline of institutional economics has offered persuasive arguments for reducing the size of the state. One is to shed activities, which are competitive and commercial, to the private sector. By privatisation, the citizen who can be viewed as a customer, is now being provided a plurality of choices in a competitive milieu. The administrative accountability through Parliament and public administration agencies now shifts to the market, where a customer chooses from different offerings. In this scenario the accountability of public administration would be formulate macro-economic policies which would sustain activity and provide reasonably level playing fields where barriers to entry and exit are broadly the same.
These are market based approaches for ensuring outcomes desired by the public. However public administration agencies will continue to produce goods and services within itself. An alternate to privatising is to develop internal markets. This is the so-called purchaser/producer split. Britain has advanced the most in developing these protoprivatisation approaches. Compulsory Competitive Tendering is one such approach where an agency puts a certain service out to tender. Another is market testing. The concept of internal markets is applied extensively in the National Health Services of Great Britain which is a $ 36 billion business.
The third approach, again extensively used in Britain, is to fragment a large public administration agency into Executive Agencies. They are headed by professional managers and given negotiable budgets. Slater (1994)' states, "These managers are charged with improving the quality of service delivery and improving value for money from assets and run their offices on profit and loss accounts. Pay scales are variable and in line with the market. These agencies operate through framework documents which are periodically up


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dated. Each agency operates on an annual performance agreement to targets set by each respective chief executive. These are: (a) output targets to measure quality of service and financial performance; and (b) internal performance indicators.” In 1982 an Audit Commission was set up to monitor and evaluate the performance of these Executive Agencies.
The fourth initiative pushed particularly strongly by the former British Prime Minister John Major, is the Citizen's Charter. This is a document which lays down the expectations which a citizen could reasonably have about the services to be offered by a public administration agency. In Malaysia the Citizens Charter is called the Client's Charter. Rahman (1994) states that “the client's charter is a written commitment made by all government agencies pertaining to the delivery of outputs or services to their respective customers. It is an assurance by agencies that their outputs or services will comply with the declared quality standards that are in conformance with the expectations and requirements of the customers.” There is a difference between the charter provisions of Britain and Malaysia. In Britain financial remedies could be sought for failure, which is not so in Malaysia.
But a word of caution has to be introduced. Efforts to develop market based accountability systems, whether they are natural or induced, also assumed the existence of an adjudication machinery when there is failure. Conflict resolution on failure of contracts in its numerous forms, has to come to terms as to how the exercise of discretion can be dealt. Harden(1992) suggests the development of an entire sub field of law covering public contracts. This may be the remedy or there may be other mediating agencies that could be evolved.
10. Conclusion
Accountability lies at the heart of the public administration mal
aise. This is because the comfortable and simplistic ministerial accountability has become substantially abraded. A much more complex accountability appropriate to the third wave of public administration, has been put in place but adequate responses have not been forthcoming in Sri Lanka. This is because the public administration model that had been followed was that of Northcote-Trevalyan where

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the elected public servant and related public servant were kept hermetically sealed. In the third wave the public administration model is a seamless web, moving from citizen to their representatives, who get citizen expectations fulfilled through the machinery of public administration. Efforts for dealing with this accountability demand have been made, examples being in New Zealand, Great Britain, Malaysia, etc. Sri Lanka too could benefit from the experience of these countries while pioneering its own structures and processes. But the approach should be holistic. It will tie not merely in have new accountability formats but based on a changed paradigm, beliefs, culture, values and ethics pervading the third wave public administration.
N. O. T E S
1. Aminuzzaman, Salalhuddin (1994), "Accountability and the Promotion of Ethics and Standards of Behaviour of Public Bureaucracy in Bangladesh', EROPA Seminar “Comparative Public Sector Reform”, Canberra.
2. Justice Rehman, S. (1987), “Administrative Accountability”, Mimeo unpublished, Islamabad.
3. Quereshi, Ismail, M. (1993), “Accountability in Public Administration with special reference to Lahore Development Authority', Syndicate Report to National Institute of Public Administration, 6 Feb.-27 May 1993, Lahore.
4. Financial Regulations of the Government of Sri Lanka (1992), Department of Government Printing, Colombo.
5. Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (1978), Department of Government Printing, Colombo.
6. Keuneman Pieter (1964), Public Finance in Sri Lanka, Institute of Chartered Accountants.
7. Op. cit. 8. Committee on Public Enterprises (1981), The First Report. 9. Administrative Reforms Committee (1988), 10th Report, "The Government and Its Public Enterprises: The Structure of Non-Developmental Organisations.”
10. Committee on Public Enterprises (1987), The Seventh Report. 11. Op, cit. 12. Administrative Reforms Committee (1988), 8th Report, "Financial Management".
13. Sandaratne, Nimal (1994), "Reflections on Accountability of Public Expenditure' in Public Accountability and Role of the Citizen, Post-graduate Institute of Management.
14. Op. cit


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15. McCulloch, Brian (1993), "Accounting and Management Reform in New Zealand' in Commonwealth Portfolio of Current Good Practice, Commonwealth Secretariat.
16. Op. cit.
17. Op. cit.
18. Laking, R.G. (1992), “The New Zealand Government Management Reforms 1987-1990: A Case Study' in The Changing Role of Government Administrative Structures and Reforms, The Commonwealth Secretariat.
19. Slater, Richard (1994), "Accountability and Local Government in the UK and Sri Lanka: A Comparative Perspective", Post Graduate Institute of Manage
ent.
20. Rehman, Abdul Bin Abdul Rahman (1994), "Administrative Improvement in the Malaysian Service, Implementation of the Clients Charter', EROPA.
21. Harden, I. (1992), The Contracting State: Studies in Law and Politics, Oxford University Press.

17
The Ombudsman
Bertram Bastiampillai
"It is a law of nature, common to all mankind, which time shall neither annul or destroy, that those who have greater strength and power shall bear rule over those who have less.' —Dionysius
"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." -Lord Acton
1. Governance
UBLIC administration, carried out by both elected executives and selected public officers, entails the responsibility of formulating policies and taking decisions to implement them. To do so, public administrators are vested with authority and power. One aspect that has been given attention right through the ages is how to deal with maladministration. The worst case of maladministration is the improper exercise of power and authority to the detriment of the rights of any individual. The World Bank view of governance was restricted to only stimulating public sector reform. Those reforms covered the structure and processes of this sector. The World Bank's traditional definition did not deal with the intended beneficiaries or sufferers of the interventions of the public sector, either as consumers of its services or as citizens. Neither did the World Bank deal with how aggrieved personnel could redress their grievances. The World Bank view therefore suffers from serious limitations.
The authority of the government, elected by the citizens in a democratic state, spreads far and wide. In a number of cases it has monopolistic control, as for example in the enforcement of law and order. Because only the government can regulate certain types of activities, such as the construction of buildings, it also has monopo


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listic authority either to permit or prohibit the performance of such functions. In addition it is the government that usually provides legally mandated services and in this sense too it enjoys a monopoly. For instance, a passport or a birth certificate can only be obtained from the government. The government's tentacles reach far and the public cannot do without its services and actions.
To fulfil its responsibilities the government enjoys and exercises immense and extensive powers. It is indeed the most significant and substantial source of power in a society. The individual citizen by participating in elections does play a role in the political process. But in the actual development of and implementation of the policy of a government, the individual plays a very limited part. He has little voice and no option of exit.
Yet, both as a subject and a consumer, citizens have to put up with and contend with the implementation of the government's policy. The government wields its authority and sway over the citizen who is compelled to be dependent on it. The average citizen generally does not have the degree of expertise or experience a government could command. If the government imposes restrictions, the individual is obliged to conform. Further, the individual frequently has to depend on the proper and adequate performance of government services. If he receives benefits or grants from the government, then the individual has to rely on government financial transfers. The government commands the obedience of the individual. Consequently, the individual citizen, who by circumstances is compelled to deal with the executive organs of the government in daily life, is frequently placed at a disadvantage when unfair government actions are taken. It is in this connection that it is vital for the citizen to be able to approach someone or some office through whom or which they can initiate countervailing actions when they recognize that the government, from its advantageous position of power, has acted improperly towards them. When this happens the normal recourse of a citizen is to seek the assistance of a politician, taken as a desperate last step, by asking the politician to function as a lobbyist on his behalf. The result is that public administration lays itself open to political interference which is mainly the result of the apathy of public servants.
It would be better if the individual could have access to organisations on which they could depend for protection against the unreasonable

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conduct of government officials. Unreasonable conduct, could be manifested in diverse ways. It could be that fundamental freedoms and rights are transgressed, or the bureaucracy fails to do something it should do, or does something it should not do or government officials misuse authority for their own benefit. When this happens government’s executive branches become deficient and do not measure up to the standards of quality and efficiency expected of them by the public in their relations and transactions with citizens, even though governments are expected by their citizens to function as models of efficiency and effectiveness. One of the organisations which attempts to make public administration function in a responsive manner is the institution of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman widens the concept of governance adopted by the World Bank, for it covers redress for the citizen and, as a spin off, improves its efficiency and effectiveness, thus fulfilling the traditional definition of governance.
2. History of the Ombudsman
Elements of the Ombudsman system could be discerned in the Roman times (200 AD) and in China during the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD). In medieval Europe, the catholic church laid strong emphasis on a just society. In Islamic countries the same concept prevailed. Haroun Al-Rashid was reputed to have gone to the market place in disguise, not as a secret serviceman to spy on the people, but to find out at first hand, the deficiencies in administration in order to rectify the situation. However, the origin of the more contemporary Ombudsman is attributed to Sweden. In 1713 the Swedish King Charles XII appointed an officer to watch over the work of public officers. The objective was, like in the case of Haroun Al-Rashid, to make public administration work better, not to provide an additional mechanism for redress of grievances. In 1719 the institution of the Chancellor of Justice emerged in Sweden, but it was only by the constitution of 1809, that the Riksdag (Parliament) appointed an officer of the legislature from whom redress of grievances could be sought. Thus the two modern elements of the present Ombudsman, that he is answerable to the legislature and an instrument of redress, now emerged. Subsequently Finland (1919) and Denmark (1955) established this institution. It was Denmark's experience which stimu


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lated a rapid multiplication of the system elsewhere. The first country in the Commonwealth to establish the Ombudsman system was New Zealand (1962). Interestingly enough, New Zealand was inspired by the attendance of her Attorney-General and Deputy Secretary of Justice at the UN seminar on Human Rights held in May 1959 at the University of Sri Lanka, Peradeniya. New Zealand's experience was quickly copied by other Commonwealth countries.
The birth of the idea of an Ombudsman in Sri Lanka was at this same conference. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike followed by the Minister of Justice and the AttorneyGeneral. Prime Minister Bandaranaike stated that liberty, freedom and justice were only relative terms when the increasing power of the state was reckoned into account. The exercise of discretionary and quasi-judicial powers by administrative authorities could lead to injustices. He requested that thought could be given to remedial measures. Prime Minister Bandaranaike was obviously not satisfied with the existing remedies available to the citizen such as those of Parliament, administrative reviews, and the courts.
In respect of administrative reviews the growth and prevalence of lawful and proper government administration requires diverse types of supervision and control. The work and behaviour of officials in public service are monitored by their peers and superiors. For example, supervision and control of financial administration is provided by the Treasury, the Auditor-General and importantly, the Public Accounts Committee and other such organs. No doubt, government institutions do come under forms and instruments of control within the government body itself. But this review was intrinsic in that it meant to prevent any pathologies in the administrative body. The World Bank's traditional definition of governance is meant to cure these diseases. But these reviews did not consider whether the service to the public was rendered efficiently, effectively and with equity. There is also external supervision and ensuring quality. For instance, the legislature asserts its control on the executive and this is the principal form of external control in a democratic country. Although the role played by the legislature vis-a-vis the executive is vital, the surveillance and supervision it exercises is generally insufficient, especially when a single aggrieved citizen is in need of Support and protection. It is here that the judiciary and the Ombuds

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man play their different and respective parts. Although the roles they play are different, they are to an extent also complementary.
3. The Legislative Enactments
The ideas discussed at the Peradeniya conference matured later into the institution of an Ombudsman in Sri Lanka. The Peradeniya conference led to both a general Commonwealth wide and a particular Sri Lankan interest in the Ombudsman. After many vagaries the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, otherwise called the Ombudsman, became an official for whose appointment provision was finally made when the Constitution of 1978 was enacted in Sri Lanka. According to Chapter XIX, Article 156, the Ombudsman is ". . . charged with the duty of investigating and reporting upon complaints of allegations of the infringement of fundamental rights and other injustices by public officers and officers of public corporations, local authorities and other like institutions in accordance with and subject to the provisions of such law'.
As a sequel to the above constitutional provision, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration Act No. 17 of 1981 was enacted. It spells out the responsibilities of the office of Ombudsman, the powers, duties and functions and other particulars which enable the official to discharge his responsibilities. The authority given is wide ranging and generally any injustice caused to a member of the public by violation or infringement of a right recognized by the Constitution or by the dereliction of duties, negligence or wilfulness of a public officer or officer of a public corporation, local authority or other like institution, can be examined and remedied by the Ombudsman. However, under this law such a complaint or petition had to be presented through a member of Parliament via the Speaker of the Parliament. It was then referred to the Public Petitions Committee of the Parliament. It is this Committee that would refer the complaint to the Ombudsman. It was a three-stage process.
This three-stage requirement acted as a discouragement to the desire of the public to submit petitions. "In Sri Lanka, the single most serious problem with the system was the difficulty of access to the Ombudsman.” The principal impediment which prevented access to the Ombudsman was the condition that petitions had to be channelled through members of Parliament for this was not easy for many


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individuals.
This obstacle was removed by the enactment of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Amendment) Act, No. 26 of 1994. This amendment permitted the public to communicate directly with the Ombudsman about their grievances. Consequently, the number of complaints addressed to the Ombudsman increased remarkably. For example, while the number of petitions received in November and December 1994 were 22 and 171 respectively, no sooner amendment No. 26 of 1994 came into effect, the number of petitions received in February, March, April and May 1995 increased dramatically to 1,393; 876; 382 and 530 respectively. Generally, the number of complaints lodged with the Ombudsman exceeded those received when complaints had to be directed through members of Parliament and overcome the three-stage obstacle course.
4. Types of Complaint
The types of complaints and grievances that are often brought to the attention of the Ombudsman are those that arise from arbitrary acts of administration, indifference and negligence shown toward public requests and representations, actions that flout the rights assured to members of the public, injustice in official treatment, unreasonable use of discretion, abuse of official authority, and discrimination in meting out official treatment, unjust land and house acquisitions by corporations or authorities, payment of inadequate compensation or non-payment of it where dues have to be settled, unfair denial of promotions and increments to employees by statutory authorities, non-selection to positions or offices on discriminatory grounds, dismissal without just cause from offices and refusal to grant leave of absence without acceptable reason, and similar types of grievances caused by official actions, inactions and decisions. As a result of these actions either members of the public or employees have suffered harm, pain of mind, humiliation and damages. Even representatives of institutions sometimes have appealed for relief or redress from acts of injustice or violations of their rights. A singular case of non-payment of pension was brought to the notice of the Ombudsman by a member of Parliament. This is a telling example to illustrate that citizens have started to repose confidence in the Ombudsman in Sri Lanka, as one who could correct errors committed

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by the public administration. This confidence building public administration positively contributes to the prevalence of good government.
5. Procedures Following on Receipt of Complaint
The provisions by which normally a citizen could challenge the validity of a government's decisions or seek relief from an administrative wrong are complaints made to a member of Parliament or directly to a Minister or by formal petitions for relief directly to Parliament or by legal action in court. But none of these are an easy or adequate substitute for investigation by an Ombudsman, and there can be much uncertainty as to the outcomes. The Ombudsman system provides on the other hand easier access. To solicit his services there is hardly any expense to be incurred. In Sri Lankathere is no expense at all. The Ombudsman often becomes the most sought after mechanism to obtain redress from government machinery wrongs, to be availed of by people lacking financial resources and to those wanting quick relief, as the Ombudsman disposes of cases relatively quicker. Moreover, the Ombudsman is not so strictly concerned with questions of legality like the courts, nor of policy which is the responsibility of the ministers. But in some ways, the Ombudsman does get involved to a certain extent in these considerations. But more frequently the Ombudsman's jurisdiction is confined to acts of commission or omission of government departments and other state organisations.
When the Ombudsman is informed of the grievances suffered by a member of the public, he carefully studies the petitions. If a prima facie case of the alleged injustice caused to the complainant is clearly discernible then the Ombudsman calls for a report on matters referred to in the representation from the office or authority alleged to have caused the grievance. On receipt of the report, after scrutiny by the Ombudsman, it is referred to the complainant for observations. If the complainant finds that the explanations and clarifications offered by the office or authority appear acceptable and convincing, then he may not want any further action to be taken on the petition. But if he disagrees with the explanations and finds that they are unacceptable, then he writes again to the Ombudsman refuting the explanations given in the report. If these appear valid the Ombudsman holds an inquiry to which the petitioner and the head of the relevant office or


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authority are also called as participants. An exhaustive inquiry is instituted thereafter and conducted in camera. The Ombudsman makes whatever supplementary inquiries he considers necessary. Before the Ombudsman makes a report or recommends any action that could be adverse to any person or authority he allows such a person or authority the opportunity to provide an explanation. The procedure is so designed to ensure that at all times fairness prevails at inquiries or investigations. Practices in accordance with natural justice are followed. It will be noted that technically the Ombudsman is the prosecutor, jury and judge but he does not function in an adversarial sense nor does he advocate a cause. He is those of a mediator, not adjudicating on issues, but finding solutions.
The Ombudsman is authorised in the conduct of investigations, to call any evidence, be it written or oral. Witnesses could be required to give their evidence on oath or affirmation as in a court of law. The Ombudsman could summon any person to give evidence, or produce any document or other items in his possession or control, and to examine him as a witness. Moreover, every such examination of a witness shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding. There is adequate provision to make the Ombudsman's investigation thorough and exhaustive. In the course of the investigation, the Ombudsman in Sri Lanka tries to bring about an atmosphere of confidence and trust where representations and counter-arguments against them could be aired without inhibition. The aim is to arrive at the truth without acrimony or confrontation, free from the adversarial or even confrontational approach of the law courts.
The Ombudsman is also empowered to enter any premises or place used or occupied by any Government department, public corporation, local authority or other like institution and inspect such premises or place and anything for the time being and conduct therein any investigation that is within his jurisdiction. The Ombudsman is given ample authority to ensure that his investigations will not be hindered or thwarted. He could report any refusal by an official or authority to co-operate with him when he is conducting an investigation to Court and the punishment for such obstructive action is serious. The Ombudsman is granted protection against suit or prosecution. Therefore he could conduct his inquiries without fear or favour.

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The Ombudsman is also empowered to examine the manner by which discretion had been exercised by officials in taking a decision or action. He also could decide whether such discretion had been exercised for an improper purpose, on irrelevant grounds, by reference to irrelevant considerations, or by failing to take account of material considerations. If the Ombudsman thinks it fit that officials should have given reasons for their actions but have failed to do so, he could reckon this lapse too in making his determination on complaints. Additionally, unreasonable delay, apathy or indifference of officials and authorities could be taken into account when the Ombudsman makes his findings.
6. Limitations on the Ombudsman
However, there also are limitations on the power vested with the Ombudsman to undertake investigations. He cannot inquire into allegations on actions which took place before the Constitution of 1978 was introduced in Sri Lanka. He cannot conduct investigations into an alleged injustice not amounting to an infringement of a fundamental right, relating to actions done in terms of the Public Security Ordinance or the law in force governing public security decisions, recommendations, acts or omissions of an attorney-at-law who had acted as legal adviser to the state, a public corporation, local authority or other similar institution. The term legal adviser would encompass the Attorney-General, Solicitor-General or any other attorney-at-law authorised to act as adviser by the Attorney-General. The Ombudsman is precluded from investigating activities of the members of the armed, police or other forces entrusted with the task of maintaining public order so long as the inquiry is connected with terms and conditions of service, any order, decision or penalty given to members of these forces. Matters concerning the institution of legal proceedings or their conduct, and decisions or recommendations that follow thereafter too cannot be inquired into. Likewise grievances relating to appointments, transfers, dismissals or disciplinary control of public officers cannot be investigated by the Ombudsman. If there are grievances connected to such matters they are expected to be reported to the Public Service Commission for inquiry. Decisions, recommendations, acts or omissions of the AuditorGeneral or of the Commissioner of Elections or of an Ombudsman or


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of any of his deputies too cannot be taken up for investigation. Another but more significant shortcoming is that the Ombudsman is not authorised by the law to communicate his determination to the petitioner. He cannot have a report conveyed directly to the complainant. This lacuna is likely to be rectified early.
Because of these restrictions limiting the authority of the Ombudsman doubts have been cast about the full effectiveness of the Ombudsman in Sri Lanka to act as an adequately competent deterrent to misgovernance or maladministration. The Ombudsman also simply cannot enforce or impose his determination. He only reports his determination along with the reasons for it, to the head of the institution wherein the wrong has been committed, and to the Minister under whom the department, public corporation or local authority or other institution concerned functions, and in addition, to the Public Petitions Committee of the Parliament. But the Ombudsman also forwards his recommendations in respect of the relief or redress that should be afforded to the victim of official injustice. He also requires the head of the institution to notify, within a stipulated time, the steps that had been taken to implement the recommendations of the Ombudsman. In these categories of actions if wrongs have been committed redress could be sought elsewhere as for instance in the Courts or Parliament. Notwithstanding the limitations on the authority of the Ombudsman to handle complaints, there still are a large number of categories of grievances which the Ombudsman could inquire into and the conduct of a large number of officials and authorities do come under his scrutiny. One may be critical of the modest powers of the Ombudsman, claiming him to be impotent but experience does not prove this proposition. With mature judgment and tact, the Ombudsman often gets his advice accepted as the Sri Lankan or the New Zealand record demonstrates. As stated earlier very few officials would enjoy defending before either a Minister, Parliament or the President decisions which are apparently unfair or arbitrary. It is best that in the early stages of the institution, the Ombudsman fulfil the responsibilities within his limited field and build credibility. Once this institution is firmly placed in the overall machinery of governance, thought could be given to enlarging his jurisdiction.

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7. Action on the Conclusion of Inquiry
On the conclusion of his investigation, the Ombudsman could determine whether there had been or was likely to be any infringement of a fundamental right or of the commission of any other injustice. Based on his findings the Ombudsman could conclude whether an official's or authority's action had been against the law, or there had been any decisions or action, based on a mistake of fact or of law. In his determination, the Ombudsman could conclude whether the decision or action taken had been unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory or otherwise wrong. He could determine too whether anything had been done by an official or authority that was in accordance with a practice that is, or may be, unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory.
8. Benefits of the Ombudsman
The Ombudsman deals with any petition complaining of a grievance caused to a citizen by a government authority or office with a demonstrable sense of independence. He acts from a position of trust and acts with the objective that his actions and decisions would promote proper governance. Thus the Ombudsman actively contributes toward enhancing the individual citizen's confidence in government. The activities of an Ombudsman entails the discharge of two interacting responsibilities. His actions endeavour to protect the individual citizen in his transactions with government consequent to which there is also a certain control of the activities of that government. Government office or officials cannot afford to act irresponsibly since their derelictions or misdemeanours would be unravelled by the Ombudsman, and corrections would be made or remedies prescribed.
A major way in which an Ombudsman fosters good governance in a country is by granting protection to citizens from arbitrary authority or actions of public offices, and also by simultaneously restricting the authoritarian actions of public authorities. The citizen's transactions or dealings with the government have to be conducted only according to prescribed rules and regulations and acceptable norms of conduct that govern official-public relations. He brings in legality and rationality. The Ombudsman maintains in his inquiries and decisions such a stand, and thereby the machinery of government is induced to


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function better and justly.
The Ombudsman works to satisfy the expectations that individual citizens have of a government when it exercises executive functions in relation to the people. The Ombudsman's efforts are directed toward promoting lawful and proper government. In this process, citizens and subjects have to be assured that the machinery of government had conformed to standards required of it and that they could repose confidence in it. The Ombudsman by his actions improves governance both by bettering its standards and its ability to provide satisfaction to individual citizens. The people rightly expect to be certain and confident that their security and other rights vis-a-vis the government machinery would be safeguarded and respected, and that the governmental machinery and its executives would behave correctly towards them in other respects too. If the governmental machinery however does not satisfy the people's expectations then recourse could be had to the Ombudsman so that corrective and remedial action would be taken. If this channel were not available and if the governmental machinery improprieties, omissions and unfairness go unchecked or uncorrected, then the foundations of good government are in peril. Governments have to function in a manner and in ways so as to earn the people's acceptance. The Ombudsman assists the government in doing so, thus placing public administration on a proper and legitimate course.
It is clear from the foregoing account that the Ombudsman could deal with a wide range of government misdemeanours and derelictions. It is to be emphasised that vesting this extensive authority tends to make the Ombudsman a deterrent authority. His very existence makes public officials, officials in public corporations, and local authorities or like establishments to act cautiously. Further, the provision that the Ombudsman could investigate and report upon any matter notwithstanding anything in other written law which provides that any decision, recommendation, act or omission shall not be called in question in any court or other tribunal by way of writ or otherwise, substantially enhances his authority.
As a result, public officials and authorities tend to act with even greater circumspection. No official or authority would look forward to an independent investigation into actions or doings and that too before an aggrieved party. The Ombudsman in acting as a brake on

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the carelessness, apathy or deliberate misdeeds of public officials and authority, helps in ensuring good governance in Sri Lanka. After all, it is the public officials or authorities who execute whatever is decided upon by a government. If prevention of the commitment of any wrong is ensured then it makes administration fairer and better. Generally the Ombudsman recommends to the head of an institution, after investigating into a complaint levelled against him, that the matter at issue be reconsidered. If any omission is noticed then the head is requested to rectify it or if a decision is unjust or wrong it is urged that it be cancelled or varied. The Ombudsman could also recommend that the practice on which an unfair decision, recommendation, act or omission had been based, be changed so that wrongs could be avoided in the future. He could also call for reasons from the head of the institution for having taken a decision or for having made a recommendation or committed an act or omission. The Ombudsman is authorised however only to recommend or suggest the provision of relief or redress or the correction of a wrong or injustice.
If in a specified time no adequate or appropriate action had been taken to the satisfaction of the Ombudsman, he could after considering any observations on his recommendations made by the head of the institution, forward a copy of his report to the President and to Parliament. To this copy will be attached a copy of the observations made by the head of the institution. It is then left to the President and to Parliament to take any further action in the matter. But it is clear that no official or institution would like such a situation to develop. The Ombudsman does lack authority in being able to compel action or exact obedience or to ask public officials or bodies to act on his determination or recommendations after investigation. He cannot therefore usually grant relief summarily or definitively. But in practice, in Sri Lanka, the Ombudsman often settles complaints through discussion, persuasion and negotiation. This is the soft approach to the grant of redress which in the culture of Sri Lanka, has more durable results. The results of a court case, based on adversarial relations and zero sum verdicts lead to heart burn on the side of the losing party. The mediatory approach of the Ombudsman avoids this trap. The perceived weakness of Ombudsman, that of being unable to impose a decision, could be viewed as its strength.


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9. Ombudsman-The Poor Man's Court
The requirement that the Ombudsman should report his determination, along with reasons for it, to heads of institutions and ministers in charge of their respective establishments, his recommendation of suitable action, his expectations that the head of the institution inform him within a fixed time of the measures taken following on the recommendations, have borne results. Consequently, injustices done by public institutions to the members of the public or to their own personnel very often have been redressed and relief has been granted. The expectations of the Ombudsman in the main have in practice been substantially effective. The Ombudsman's activities have turned out to be a corrective to negligence, insensitivity or unfairness in public administration and thus advanced the practice of good governance in respect of ensuring citizen satisfaction. In fact the 1990 Taxation Commission has recommended that a Revenue Ombudsman be set up to attend to the grievances of tax-payers.
It was hoped that the Ombudsman's office would become the poor man's court. Those unable to indulge in expensive and time consuming litigation are expected to avail themselves of the services of the Ombudsman. Yet, perhaps, owing to a lack of adequate publicity, a number of the more disadvantaged and less privileged have not sufficiently sought the assistance of the Ombudsman. But with greater marketing particularly through the media and especially the local press, the number of petitions from the people in humbler circumstances and in remoter areas have somewhat increased, thus soliciting the aid of the Ombudsman to obtain relief from injustices they had suffered at public institutions or to obtain redress from violations of their rights by public authorities.
With reports of the Ombudsman being submitted to the highest executive and legislative authority in Sri Lanka, that of the President and Parliament once a year, and these being published for distribution, a certain amount of publicity is given to the work performed by the Ombudsman. Equally importantly, it alerts public officials and other public authorities that their work would come under scrutiny thereby inducing a consciousness to work more fairly, more efficiently without being unreasonable in taking decisions or actions that affect the public.

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10. Ombudsman and Governance
The Office of Ombudsman in Sri Lanka has turned out to be an important and supplementary institution for true democracy. It emerged finally in 1982 in an institutional form when the first Ombudsman was appointed as a standard part of regular governmental machinery. It certainly had a long gestation period from the time the seed was planted in May 1959. It is now firmly established in the machinery of public administration. This is quite evident from the regular and large numbers of appeals made to the Ombudsman to rectify wrongs done to citizens in the course of public management. It is also amply borne out by the substantial success that had attended the efforts of the Ombudsman to secure justice when acts of injustice had caused suffering to members of the public. In a democratic system of governance, the Ombudsman also provides inexpensive protection to citiZens from undue interference, negligence, mistakes by callousness from government officials and establishments, and thereby the Ombudsman ensures better and responsive public administration.
By furnishing citizens, through the machinery of the Ombudsman, a right to appeal to an independent authority a most important instrument for rectifying erroneous decisions taken by public officials has been made available. This system of appeal has given to citizens a low cost and speedy opportunity to test the propriety and fairness of administrative decisions. Through this means government authority or officials can be held responsible for behaviour contrary to the nature of their service, which is to uphold equity. Public servants are therefore being pushed to becoming more accountable in a wide area of governmental administration, for they could be obliged to compensate for damage or losses caused by mistakes committed. This has naturally restrained public authorities from submitting themselves to any undue interference. Obviously it has induced them to follow accepted and proclaimed laws, rules and regulations. Arbitrariness in governance gets reduced when an independent Ombudsman is there to review and monitor governmental management of public matters. The presence of an Ombudsman helps in making the governmental machinery more transparent and ensures greater participation of the people. At times, as a result of his investigations it becomes evident that the problem is not caused by erratic individual public servants but by a systemic problem. The Ombudsman then gets


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involved in systemic analysis of administrative functions. He thus takes a positive part in improving administrative processes. The governance of the country is thereby improved because while the Ombudsman becomes an honest broker in resolving major issues of dissent between the governed and the government, he also helps out in the process of administrative reform.
The Ombudsman does make a useful and important contribution toward creating better governance in society. The Ombudsman safeguards the individual from wrongful government conduct when the individual is often left helpless against a government that neithersees nor hears him. It is because of this reason that the institution of Ombudsman is respected, as experience has made evident. Even when there was a decision not to investigate certain complaints or they were dismissed as baseless, these decisions of the Ombudsman were accepted as fair by the aggrieved party. The Ombudsman continues to ensure that the concepts of justice and fairness prevail in the process of government and in its institutions, concepts which are indispensable pre-requisites of effective governance.
11. The Independence of the Ombudsman
The Ombudsman has to be independent if he were to perform his duties objectively, impartially, with acceptance and credibility on the part of the public he serves. The public is his clientele. In Sri Lanka, the Ombudsman appointed by the President of the Republic, is not placed under any particular Ministry. His salary is decided by a resolution of Parliament and is not changeable during his tenure of office. He can be removed from office before he reaches the age of retirement only by resolution of Parliament. Thus the independence of the Ombudsman in Sri Lanka is protected through provisions entrenched in the classical western model of public administration. Being independent he could perform his functions without fear or favour. Thereby he effectively contributes toward democracy and good government in the island.
The Ombudsman is sealed from influence from any organization over which he could exercise his investigative jurisdiction. He is free from fear of the actions of the executive government and can operate without being influenced by any concurrent or subsequent action by government to circumscribe his freedom of action. Another element

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that strengthens the independence of the Ombudsman in Sri Lanka is that he would not have to look to the public service for a future career. The Ombudsman also fortifies his independence and manifests it on organisations over which he wields jurisdiction, by not being an advocate for any complainant. If an Ombudsman leans toward advocacy on behalf of the complainant, then he loses that sense of detachment which is essential to ascertain without prejudice the facts, assess them impartially, and draw fair conclusions from the data that is available. S.
Independence is needed particularly from special interest groups in society who might tend to influence issues through the Ombudsman by pressuring him to reach conclusions favourable to their own interests. The Ombudsman should free himself from any conflict of interests. There ought to be no situation engendering a conflict of interest stemming from obligations incurred through employment outside of and concurrent with that of being Ombudsman. It would be ideal, if all offices of profit be abandoned by one who is an Ombudsman. The legislation in Sri Lanka explicitly provides for this to happen. Inportantly, independence is absolutely essential because the interest and attention of an Ombudsman, along with his wisdom and experience, have to be applied freely and fairly to the responsibilities of his office without being encumbered by any commitment to other extraneous influences. It is only then could the Ombudsman be a strong force in espousing good governance in society.
12. Accountability of the Ombudsman
The Ombudsman like any other institution has to be accountable despite his independence. He should be accountable in that he should observe the law under which he assumes jurisdiction, be it the law laid out in the constitution or in statutes. Then the Ombudsman ought to be ultimately accountable to the people. The Ombudsman's conduct should be above reproach, his decisions should be supported by worthy reasons and within the enshrined terms of his office. A right provided by a statute or the constitution would be meaningless in practice if sections of the people are denied access to its exercise through ignorance of its existence. If an Ombudsman is totally independent and works without being accountable at all it would certainly not help to enhance the quality of government. Even guardians need


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to be under vigilance and guarded.
Another important task that the Ombudsman could perform to further better government is to use effectively his powers of persuasion so as to bring about salutary modifications of law, policy or practice. By relieving members of Parliament of some of these responsibilities particularly of having to be a lobbyist for an aggrieved citizen, through his investigations of injustice, etc. the Ombudsman enables the members to find more time to carry out their parliamentary duties more effectively. With the complexity and volume of the work of Parliament there is much to be done regarding Parliamentary duties. Members find little time to spare and the Ombudsman taking over this aspect offers them welcome relief. Thus indirectly too the Ombudsman assists Parliamentarians in making governance more effective. -
The Ombudsman has usually found that most complaints are of improper exercise of discretion by government departments, officials not being fully informed and thus applying wrong principles or making rulings on procedures which are highly inflexible. A common complaint also has been of unreasonable delays on the part of officials or incorrect application of the relevant legislation. Unauthorised and improper activities of departments too have been reported. In dealing with such representations, the Ombudsman builds a tradition of strong and impartial administration of government and of helpfulness to citizens in their dealings with the administration. By achieving this objective justice is better served, and efficient and humane governance is undoubtedly encouraged.
The variety of complaints, the investigations undertaken and remedying of mistakes and injustices with a relatively small staff at the Ombudsman's office, clearly show that at modest expense a considerable effort is being made to improve administration and make it fairer. The Ombudsman is a cost-effective institution. With an Ombudsman, officials strive harder to discharge their duties in such a manner as not to attract his attention. Already the existence of an Ombudsman has led to better administration. Even senior officials, responsible for policy making, have often been unaware of administrative practices outside their offices. Sometimes public officials have exceeded or abused their power, perhaps with motives which appear desirable to them. Their actions have gone unnoticed either by

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government or the press. In such circumstances, an Ombudsman becomes indispensable to make governance better.
13. Conclusion
It is quite clear that the purpose in providing an Ombudsman by a government is to improve public administration and ensure fairness in a country. The Ombudsman seeks to investigate and resolve complaints against public administration made by individual citizens. Then he identifies equitable remedies for those who had suffered from the acts or decisions of the administration. To perform his functions well, the Ombudsman consistently and constantly strives to facilitate access of aggrieved individuals to his office. As a general measure, the Ombudsman prefers a systematic approach to an individual one. In the course of his work, he furnishes advice to government departments on matters relating to the betterment of administrative actions and practices. While performing the above tasks, all of which contribute to better governance, the Ombudsman holds steadfastly on to the values of impartiality, efficiency, accessibility, professionalism, accountability and confidentiality. By so doing he becomes a strong force for improving governance in Society.
The Ombudsman serves the community by redressing grievances, by addressing issues arising from maladministration in the public sector, and through independent and impartial investigations, bringing about reforms and promoting equity in public administration. He tries to inculcate in public administration a culture of dedication, commitment and quality of service and performance.
The primary function of the Ombudsman will be to apply pressure so as to ensure that fairness, legality and rationality prevail in public administration. Specifically, he protects the rights of individual citizens who feel that they had fallen victim to unjust acts on the part of the public administration. Hence, he acts as an impartial mediator between an aggrieved individual and government.
In discharging his functions the Ombudsman sometimes deals with matters of broad public concern too. The principle focus of activity for an Ombudsman yet largely remains individual complaints against public entities or officials. Still, the Ombudsman also inescapably engages himself in a wider range of activities for protecting and promoting human rights, sometimes through educational activi


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ties and the development of information programmes while correcting violations of such rights by public authorities or officials. Diverse are the ways by which an Ombudsman helps in building good governance, diminishing misgovernance, reducing maladministration and exhorting the executive officials to be firmly committed to democratic ideals and practices, and the promotion of justice in administration. These are inescapable attributes of effective governance. All these are achieved through the cost-effective institution of the Ombudsman.

18
Honest Government: Is it an Illusive Dream?
Kanya D. Tampoe Sanders
"The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.”
-Thomas Jefferson
as newspaper headlines, radio broadcasts and television newscasts unfold one scandal after another of corruption among all ranks of government in countries from North to South and East to West. Those who were entrusted with the public welfare stand exposed before a growingly cynical public, time and time again, having peddled that trust for their personal pecuniary gain. Inimical to Jefferson's assertions, human beings have increasingly come to believe that the government is synonymous with being dishonest.
A public official is one who is entrusted with the public trust. Therefore, it is only fair to expect higher standards of conduct from such an official than is acceptable in the private sector. It is incumbent upon that official to maximize the benefit of government to all citizens. At least, a public official is expected to render honest judgment and work efficiently. Rather, they sell the public trust to the highest bidder who wants an inside tract on a public contract, to have a land re-zoned, legislation manipulated, or a charge dropped. A Substantial percentage of corrupt practices occur among civil servants, through small gifts and favours. Such petty corruption may not attract media attention, nevertheless, since they affect day-to-day public transactions, the damage to the average citizen is immense.
T HE words of Thomas Jefferson ring hollowly across the globe


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Honesty and integrity applies to the fulfilment of responsibilities at all levels of government and in all branches of government. Furthermore, a dishonest government involves not only individual corruption, conflict of interests, and the use of office for financial gain, it also applies to legislative activities and decisions where a legislator is duty bound to promote the public good and represent the legitimate interest of constituents. An honest government is created only if every public official, either elected, appointed or hired, from the chief executive of the country to the cop investigating a robbery, performs his or her duties with honesty and integrity. The incidents of corruption the world over bring home the unfortunate truth that corruption will continue when the right opportunity is presented to the right personality, and that one cannot rely on the moral standards alone of public officials.
Good government is not unidirectional but a continuum. Corruption among the country's leadership seduces those in the lower ranks of government as well as the citizenry into corruption. On the other hand, the standard of the people would influence public officials for the better, if such standards are antithetical to corruption and are articulated into political force. In this respect, the citizenry has the responsibility to demand and receive the type of government they Want.
More often the consequences of corruption are waste and inefficiency caused by the divergence of resources, unfairness, shortsightedness, and, just simply, third-rate government. The most serious consequence of corruption is the erosion of public confidence in the institutions of government. Erosion of confidence between people and government is a dangerous situation in a democracy where the government is supposed to operate with the consent of the governed. Citizens would become disgruntled and disillusioned with the system of government when there is large scale abuse of power with impunity. Such disillusionment would translate to destructive force if segments of Society resort to undemocratic means to change the corrupt system.
An unfortunate trend in several countries, including Sri Lanka, is for charges of corruption to become politicized with one party targeting members of another but never one among their own ranks. In addition, investigations of corruption and abuse of power are carried

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out by a newly elected government against past government officials or members of the opposition. It is extremely rare for officials of the ruling party to be investigated or charged for unethical conduct or corruption. The challenge then is to find ways to enforce high standards and hold public servants accountable without making every violation of the public trust a partisan issue.
The Way to counter the seducing power of corruption, is to formulate effective and assertive mechanisms which reduce or block the opportunities to be corrupted or make it painful if corrupted, without respect of persons. The goal is to prevent the exploitation of public office for private gain and to develop and protect public confidence in the integrity of government by avoiding even the appearance of impropriety.
This paper will examine the areas which are susceptible to corruption, the causes and consequences of corruption, and examine appropriate responses, including legislative and non-legislative means, to combat corruption and promote integrity among public officials. The paper will focus on the common experiences of other countries to explain and respond to corruption in Sri Lanka.
1. The Sociological Factors Associated with Corruption
Most societies seem susceptible to corruption in varying degrees. Even the most affluent countries in the world Such as the United States and Japan, are not immune to this vice. Countries such as Great Britain and Singapore however stand out as the least infected by the malady. According to Douglas, the rise of Methodism and evangelical Christianity with their emphasis upon personal virtue and the influence of Queen Victoria contributed to the improvement of moral standards in English society. Singapore through its laws and mechanisms has little tolerance for the abuse of public office.
Political analyst Neil R. Pierce, having done a survey of the propensity for corruption of various state governments in the United States, found that some states had a natural propensity for corruption while others did not. In some states he attributes the high level of honesty to a high level of personal morality such as the Yankee probity in Vermont and Maine, and the standards of the old aristocracy in Virginia and South Carolina. In others, it is the "open” and "progressive" tone of government or their liberal social philoso


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phies.
Corruption seems to have a higher tendency to exist wherever there is extensive development activity, for example, regulatory decision-making by government in the areas of Zoning, building permits and so on, plus large scale government purchasing and contracting. More often the environment for corruption and ethical difficulties are created where an individual or corporation stands to make a fortune by governmental decision. This provides the incentive to those competing interests in the market place to corrupt government in order to influence the decisions in their favour.
Another factor which seems to have a correlation to increase in corruption are wars. Douglas observes a relapse in political morals in the wake of great wars. He attributes this to the disillusionment experienced by those who see war profiteers make a fortune while others sacrifice their lives. These sharp contrasts within society, as well as the illusiveness of the declared idealistic goals of the war, combine to disillusion women and men and make them despair of the life of virtue. In the meantime, the profiteers and speculators who have waxed fat during the war continue their corrupt course.
Another important factor which contributed to creating the environment for corruption is the quality of personnel serving in government and the methodology used to hire public officials. Politicisation of the recruitment to public service not only allows for unqualified individuals being in positions of responsibility but also makes them extremely vulnerable to political manipulation. Since the staff serve at the pleasure of elected officials, exercising independent judgment becomes very difficult for employees who wish to keep their jobs or receive promotions. Civil service employees should be able to work without fear of direct or indirect political retribution.
The existence of one or more of the factors described above create the right soil upon which the destructive weed of corruption thrives, depleting the nation of its valuable resources while choking the life out of everything that is useful and valuable around it. Most of the factors which create the environment for corruption to thrive pervades Sri Lankan public life. Firstly, the mad rush towards the attainment of the status of a Newly Industrialised Country (NIC) and the transition towards increased privatization have provided unprecedented opportunities for corruption which neither the corruptors nor

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the corruptees fight shy of exploiting. Secondly, the politicization of public recruitment has crippled the Sri Lankan civil service for decades, being the primary cause for inefficiency and waste in the public sector. Thirdly, the 13-year old civil war has had its attendant profiteers who have not hesitated to thrive on the misery of others.
2. Corruption-prone Sectors in Governmental Administration
In addition to the sociological factors which create the environment for corruption, certain areas of governmental transactions are more prone to corruption than others. These are areas where most financial decisions of the government are made. In making these decisions, public officials enjoy broad discretion and the process is fraught with secrecy and uncertainty.
A government's economic decision-making, such as in the areas of customs and procurement involving government contracts, including military spending, and land development, are areas most prone to corruption. The bidding process and negotiations involved with governmental contract lend themselves to illegal manipulation. Public officials are given wide latitude in the exercise of discretion in selecting the supplier and setting the price. The secrecy involved in the bidding process lends itself to be misused and manipulated to achieve a predetermined result.
The experience of most countries illustrate that areas where public officials are afforded the most discretion are the areas most susceptible to corruption. It is the exercise of discretion that creates the opportunity for officials to use their public positions to further their own financial interests. Nevertheless, governments cannot operate without it. According to Davis, "Discretion is our principle source of creativeness in government and law," however, "discretion is a tool only when properly used; like an axe, it can be a weapon for mayhem and murder." Discretion is abused when decisions are made arbitrarily in order to advance one's financial interest in one way or another. Sometimes, an official's exercise of discretion is influenced through the payment of bribes. At other times it may involve a venture in which the official has a financial interest. In both instances, the decision is not merit based, but is rather influenced by the official's desire to improve his personal financial situation. In such a situation the decision would be made to give a government


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contract for military hardware, or planes for the national airline, not to the lowest bidder, or to best quality equipment, but to the corporation which pays the biggest bribe.
Closed door decision making also provides the opportunity for corruption. For this provides ample opportunity for the corrupt officials to make decisions without having to provide any rationale for their decisions. It is because so many decisions with national implications are made behind closed doors, the abuse of discretion is rampant with the resultant waste of resources and destruction of public confidence in the fairness and impartiality of government decision making.
Opportunity to err is also presented when the public official is called upon to make a decision on a subject in which the official has a financial interest. In addition, there would be situations where the official does not directly accrue a benefit, but a relative or friend of the official stands to gain or lose a benefit as a result of the decision made by the official in his or her official capacity. Temptation to err and the willingness to err will be intense in such circumstances. In such a situation, even if the official made a merit based decision, if the decision benefited a concern in which the official, a relative, or friend has a financial stake, it will have the appearance of corruption.
Thus, dishonesty thrives wherever an official is afforded ample discretion to be exercised in secrecy, and the official stands to profit in one way or another from the decision he/she is called upon to make. Such decisions are immediately suspect and is deemed dishonest regardless of the truth.
3. Destructive Course of Corruption
Corruption and the appearance of corruption erodes not only public confidence and creates its attendant dangers, it also obstructs social and economic development. The depletion of public resources result in poor or no social programs. Corruption in government has a discouraging effect on much needed bilateral and multilateral aid and foreign investments.
Corruption in government also tends to drive away good and honest business from working with the government, thus leaving the government to do business with the corrupt individual or corporation. The results are government buildings which are death traps, poor

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quality or faulty equipment, inferior and unreliable services, etc. with the average citizen suffering the most as a consequence of government corruption. -
An atmosphere of corruption also hinders good people seeking government office. Those who entered public services with high ideals soon become discouraged and leave. Government loses its best talent and people of integrity. As a result, the quality of government goes from bad to worse and public dissatisfaction mounts in equal measure creating dangerous social tensions.
Disillusionment among the youth was unleashed in destructive force during the '70s and '80s in Sri Lanka, threatening the very fabric of Sri Lankan life. The Commission on Youth Unrest, formed to investigate the underlying causes found that the youth representatives testifying before them frequently cited governmental abuse of power in the areas of recruitment to public service, granting of public contracts and licenses, and political interference and manipulation of the judiciary and public administration as the reasons for the disillusionment with governmental authority which spurred the violent revolt.
4. How Do We Combat Corruption and Instill Virtue in Public
Service? Many argue that poor monetary compensation paid to public officials is what makes them susceptible to temptation. If public officials are grossly underpaid they will be under pressure to supplement their salaries by other means. Therefore, many would prescribe better pay for public officials as a means to combat corruption. Although this argument has credit as far as it applies to public officials in the mid and lower ranks of government, it fails to explain corruption among highly paid officials. It is not only the under-paid civil servant who succumbs to corruption. Highly paid public officials in the world's most affluent countries also chose to add to their coffers by corrupt means. It is not only the lack of money that engenders corruption but greed; for money and power. It infects the lowliest public official to the highest. As Douglas explains "Men will not be saved from temptation merely by being paid more money. Desire always outruns income. As income rises, desires will increase with equal or greater rapidity, so that the disparity between the two


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will remain and the old tensions and temptations will continue.” Nevertheless, integrity and honesty could be helped along by improved salaries at the mid and lower tiers of public service, but not in the higher echelons.
As Martin Luther King, Jr., stated while arguing for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, "Morality can't be legislated, but behaviour can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless." Corruption must be combatted by a comprehensive strategy, comprised of a system of laws, procedures, monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, and institutional reform. Amick declares that "there is no broad spectrum of anti-corruption agent which could immunize the body politic. The predators filter through every gap in the defences.” He recommends closing the gaps systematically and laboriously. At the very least, the system should be so structured that the honest citizen who wants nothing more from government than a fair share can get it.'
Countries which have effectively combatted corruption have employed a combination of procedural mechanisms, legislative prohibitions and sanctions, and institutional mechanisms for evaluations, investigations, and enforcement. Anti-bribery laws alone are not sufficient to combat corruption. Laws and procedures which control the day-to-day operation of the governmental machinery are necessary to enable a government to operate impartially by making it extremely difficult, not only for the corrupt official to cheat the public, but also for the private entity to corrupt the official. Legislative and institutional mechanisms have sought not only to prohibit and punish corrupt behaviour but also to avoid even the appearance of corruption. In addition, a program of ethics education and training of employees have been instituted not only in public service but in other professions such as law and medicine.
5. Procedural Mechanisms to Combat Corruption
Wherever a public servant is given the discretion to act, there lies the danger of opportunity. Procedural mechanisms so designed to avoid arbitrariness in decision making would go a long way towards limiting the opportunities for corruption. Procedural guidelines should require that any exercise of power be based on reasons that are applied consistently, fairly and impartially. In administrative or quasi

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judicial decision making, the establishment of criteria for the decision and the requirement to show compliance with the established eriteria substantially eliminates the power of individual officials to make arbitrary decisions. For example, in the government procurement process, documentation could be required for every step of the process, from how the specifications are to be established, to how the final contract is to be performed.
There is the concern, however, that statutory and procedural safeguards may make it harder for the honest official to exercise sound judgment. As stated earlier, discretion is a source of creativeness which can be used to further the public good through progressive social policies. Discretion, therefore, cannot and should not be eliminated. However, one needs to prevent such discretion from being used to advance private interest rather than the public good. The areas in which discretion is applied can be limited and the test of reasonableness applied. In addition, the discretion allowed to public officials can be restricted within a framework of purposes, policies and principles. For any system to work properly it must strike a balance between overly restrictive procedures and overly flexible ones. One way to do this is to increase transparency in governmental decision making.
As Justice Brandeis of the US Supreme Court stated, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” Every contract that is awarded or regulatory decision made must be accompanied by a full public report that includes the rationale for the decisions. When governmental processes are open to public scrutiny, it provides those concerned, with the opportunity to examine the decisions made and challenge any decision that violates established procedure or is not in conformity with stated policies and principles. Public disclosure serves to prevent dishonest behaviour and helps to create public confidence in the integrity of governmental actions and policies. Transparency is an important method by which to avoid even the appearance of flawed decision making. If the government's economic decision making is unexamined and uncontestable, the dangers of corruption and diversion of public resources increase. According to the World Bank, "transparency is not a sufficient condition to control corruption but a necessary one.”


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6. Legislative Responses to Corruption
Legislative responses to corruption have taken the form of prohibition and punishment. These include anti-bribery laws, conflict-ofinterestlaws, and ethics-in-government laws. Countries have utilized such laws in their attempt to prescribe guidelines for official conduct, ensure the application of independent judgment and avoid even the appearance of financial interest.
These laws, however, should recognize that there are direct and indirect favours which would influence a public officials exercise of discretion and should seek to eliminate conflicts wherever possible. These laws either prohibit outside interests or any official action in a case in which the official's outside interests are involved. Direct conflicts of interests are situations in which the official personally stands to gain from the decision made in his or her official capacity. Indirect conflicts occur when an official's close friends or relatives receive a favour from the business, benefiting from a decision made by a government official in his or her official capacity. According to Cody and Lynn, "Either the chance of subconscious influence or the appearance of impropriety is a sufficient reason to forbid all avoidable conflicts of interest.' These include direct as well as indirect conflicts of interest.
Furthermore, laws should take account of the corruptor as well as the corrupted and the enticer as well as the enticed, aid deter and punish both. The laws which prohibit and sanction unethical practice on the part of the public official must apply with equal force and severity to the entity which seeks to entice the favour of government. No amount of sophisticated laws on the books, however, will be useful without proper enforcement. Laws, and a legal system, require effective administration. Law should not simply be a set of rules but include sufficient mechanisms and institutions for implementing these rules. These mechanisms could include periodic audits of governmental transactions to monitor compliance with procedure and policy, and institutions which receive and investigate complaints, resolve disputes and bring criminal charges. If these are lacking, laws most likely will be in force only on paper and the corrupt official will continue with impunity with the resultant detrimental effect on public confidence. This is where accountability of public officials has a crucial role to play.

Honest Government: Is it an Illusive Dream? 42
7. Accountability
The term accountability has two relevant meanings in this context. One is to be subject to the requirement to explain, report, or justify, and the other is to be subject to sanctions for aberrations in official conduct. Accountability of public officials is of paramount importance to avoid corruption and gain the public's confidence in govern
ent.
In Sri Lanka, for example, the Bribery Act has remained in the statute book for four decades, and has been amended eight times. The offence of bribery included in the Penal Code even predates the Act. Nevertheless, corruption in Sri Lankan public life has thrived, giving rise to increasing public dissatisfaction with the lack of effective measures to control it. Not only was the Bribery Act inadequate to combat the many ugly forms it takes in governmental administration, but the enforcement mechanism also was seriously flawed. One obvious drawback was that the Bribery Commissioner, who had the responsibility to investigate and enforce the law was not independent of governmental control, but rather had to effectively function as an arm of the government. The body endowed with the responsibility of monitoring government and ensuring its proper function was in fact controlled by the very same entity it has to monitor. In such situations it does not come as a surprise when such a body is reluctant to pursue allegations of corruption, especially when they involve high level officials. As Donahue observes, agencies given the responsibility to investigate and enforce ethics laws are generally reluctant to follow through on allegations of misconduct by high level employees. These institutions which are supposed to be watchdogs were rather "toothless terriers on valium”. Institutions which have the responsibility to enforce the laws, including the police and the judiciary, should be able to operate independent of political or other influence or interference. In addition, these institutions should be sufficiently trained and strengthened with adequate resources and qualified personnel.
Prosecutors are sometimes granted far too much discretion in who to charge, what charges to bring, and which investigations to pursue. Such discretion is more often employed rather liberally when cases of political corruption or those concerned with persons with high-profiles are involved. According to Upendra Baxi, "The idea that legal


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rules are binding upon all sections of society has been rejected in practice by the governing elite of the country (India).' The reason being the governing elite either buy off the prosecutor's discretion, or the prosecutor is deterred by fear of political retribution if such investigation or charge is pursued. It is a truism that discretion must be exercised with a sense of both justice and mercy, but not be influenced by how the prosecutor's career is affected. The Attorney General plays a crucial role in increasing the public's confidence in the government's bona fide in fighting corruption at all levels of government. Therefore, ensuring the Attorney General's freedom from political influence is essential to gain the public's confidence in his/her office. Laws should be applied to everyone without discrimination or favour.
In the United States, the Ethics in Government Act was intended to restore public confidence in government through objective investigations of allegations of wrong-doing among high-level government officials. But this did not happen due to a lack of confidence in the impartiality of the institutions responsible for investigating allegations and enforcing the law, such as the Department of Justice, the office of government ethics, and other agencies and departments. Rather, a call for the appointment of an independent counsel followed every allegation of impropriety. The independent counsel, also known as special prosecutors, were called to investigate criminal misconduct by executive branch officials, including the President, Vice-President, Cabinet-level officials, senior White House aides and top Justice Department officials.
Institutions charged with the responsibility to enforce accountability, must not only take heed to apply them without respect of persons, but also take heed that the principles of fairness and justice are not compromised. These institutions must be diligent not only in enforcing the law, but also in adhering to the principles of due process, and fair trial.
8. Additional Means of Combating Corruption-Ethics
Education The Presidential Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform
(United States) found that: "training and education concerning ethi
cal requirements is important to achieve maximum compliance and to

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minimize the need for sanctions.” Effective ethics training, it is Suggested, will help increase the employees' ethical awareness. Strategies developed by the Josephine Institute, an ethics foundation in Los Angeles, California, includes, increasing the ethical consciousness of public officials by suggesting the ways in which ethical issues arise and how they ought to be decided. Ethical competence can also be increased by discussing real or hypothetical examples that cause employees to think step-by-step through ethical dilemmas and identify the advantages and disadvantages of various choices.
9. The Role of the Citizen
The citizenry also bears some responsibility in holding public officials accountable. If government is wide-open and nobody watches, it might as well be closed. According to Aaron Kohn, once the managing director of the Metropolitan Crime Commission of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, "It is a certain rule that unwatched government is likely to be bad government.'" As Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam pointed out in his debate on the Bribery Commission Act in 1995, "Informed domestic public opinion is the ultimate safeguard against the abuse of power.”
The average citizen has neither the time nor the resources to Scrutinize the workings of government. This is where citizen watchdog bodies have an important role to play by agitating for greater transparency and accountability in government. Such organizations should be totally independent of governmental support or party affiliation in order to preserve their objectivity and integrity. Local watchdog bodies can liaise with international counterparts, such as Transparency International to derive strength from their affiliation and bolster their effectiveness. In addition to agitating for greater transparency and accountability, these organizations should also concentrate on informing, and educating the public, and organizing the public in articulating their views into political force.
Honesty and integrity in government are an integral part of good governance. Political ability, social harmony and economic development depend in great measure on the extent to which public resources are utilised to transfer the maximum benefit to the public. Myriads of factors combine to seduce the public official into depriving the public which he serves from its fair share of government. Human nature


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being what it is, a combination of mechanisms are necessitated to preserve the public trust. James Madison aptly summarised the need to ensure integrity in government thus, "It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuse of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest reflections of human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal control on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the greater difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” It is also incumbent upon the citizen from whom the government derives its power to govern to ensure that it governs justly through all democratic means at its disposal. If the citizen slumbers, the government will play.
N. O. T E S
1. "Draft of Instructions to the Virginia Delegates in the Continental Congress”, August 1774.
2. Paul H. Douglas, Ethics in Government (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1952), p. 12.
3. George Amick, The American Way of Graft (A Report by the Centre for Analysis of Public Issues, Princeton, NJ, 1976), p. 6, 7.
4. Amick, p. 8. 5. Douglas, p. 18. 6. Amick, p. 76. 7. Douglas, pp. 59-60. 8. Political Quotations (Baker, ed., 1990), p. 174. 9. Amick, p. 1. 10. Amick, p. 207. 11. Anne Marie Donahue, ed., Ethics in Politics & Government, p. 108. 12. W.J. Michael Cody, Richardson R. Lynn, Honest Government: An Ethics Guide for Public Service, p. 51.
13. Donahue, p. 84. 14. Upendra Baxi, Crisis in the Indian Legal System, (Vikas Publishing House, 1982).
15. Cody and Lynn, p. 136. 16. Cody and Lynn, p. 81. 17. Amick, p. 219. 18. The Federalist, No. 51.

19
Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Governance
Jeevan Thiagarajah
“Where the Court finds, on being moved by an aggrieved party or by any public spirited individual or social action group, that the executive is remiss in discharging its obligations under the Constitution or the law, so that the poor and the underprivileged continue to be subject to exploitation and injustice or are deprived of their social and economic entitlements or that social legislation enacted for their benefit is not being implemented thus depriving them of the rights and benefits conferred upon them, the Court certainly can and must intervene and compel the Executive to carry out its constitutional and legal obligations and ensure that the deprived and vulnerable sections of the community are no longer subjected to exploitation or injustice and they are able to realise their social and economic rights. When the Court passes any orders in public interest litigation, the Court does so not with a view to mocking at legislative or executive authority or in a spirit of confrontation but with a view to enforcing the Constitution and the law, because it is vital for the maintenance of the rule of law that the obligations which are laid upon the executive by the Constitution and the law should be carried out faithfully and no one should go away with a feeling that the Constitution and the law are meant only for the benefit of a fortunate few and have no meaning for the large numbers of half-clad, half-hungry people of this country. This is a feeling which should never be allowed to grow. But at the same time the Court cannot usurp the functions assigned to the Executive and the Legislature under the Constitution and it cannot even indirectly require the Executive to introduce a particular legislation or the Legislature to pass it or assume to itself a supervisory role over the law making activities of the Executive and the Legislature.”
-Justice P.N. Bhagwati, "State of HP, AIR 1985, SC 910, p. 914"


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Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India on 11th April 1985, allowing a special leave application of the Chief Secretary of
the Government of Himachal Pradesh. It encapsulates the essence and spirit of Public Interest Litigation (PIL), as envisaged by one of its principal proponents in India. Its relevance to many developing societies, as found in Sri Lanka and her neighbours, troubled as they are by many stresses and strains brought about by competitive demands for social justice and development, is the lethargy of the State in responding to secular demands. With PIL, the third arm of the State-the Judiciary-has not confined itself to the traditional function of adjudicating between contending parties, but taken on a positivist function of ensuring that obligations are fulfilled. The Judiciary has become an organic part of Governance, unforeseen either by the World Bank or OECD definitions of it.
PIL has developed in India for just over a decade and a half. This paper is intended to provide examples of the evolution and workings of PIL, by way of cases which have been heard and determined in Indian Courts. Subsequently, the situations in Sri Lanka and Pakistan are also discussed.
In J.M. Desai AIR 1976 SC 578, a dispute over the issuance of a cinema licence was brought before the Supreme Court(SC), to quash the order of the Bombay High Court, which had dismissed the writ petition of the petitioner on the grounds that he was not an 'aggrieved person' having a locus standi in the matter. The SC before dismissing the petitioner's application commented on the concept of "an aggrieved person". The SC noted that, it was elastic and to an extent an elusive concept. The scope and meaning depended on diverse variable factors such as the content and intent of the statute, of which contravention is alleged, the specific circumstances of the case, the nature and extent of the petitioner's interest and the nature and extent of the prejudice or injury suffered by him. The court further classified applicants, in the context of locus standi in writ applications, into three categories:
1. Person aggrieved
2. Stranger
3. Busybody or meddlesome interloper Order was delivered, on behalf of a five-member bench, by Justice
T HE above quotation is from an order delivered by Justice P.N.

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Governance 427
Sarkaria on 19th December 1975.
Ratlam Municipality AIR 1980 SC 1622 is an order by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer on a special leave application, petitioned by the Ratlam Municipal Corporation in the State of Madhya Pradesh on 29 July, 1980. It originated as a result of a group of residents who moved the Magistrate, under whose purview Ratlam Municipality was situated, under Sec. 133 of Criminal Procedure Code, to order the Municipality to do its duty to the public to eradicate the stench emanating from open drains and excrement from slums. The Magistrate ordered the Municipality to do so within six months. In appeal, the Sessions judge reversed the order. The High Court restored the order and it was appealed to the SC. The SC held with the Magistrate's order. During the course of the order, the Court-in particular Justice Iyer-recognised the shift in interpretation on the question of standing, in the context of changing social demands in India. He said "if the centre of gravity of justice is to shift, as the preamble to the Constitution mandates, from the traditional individualism of locus standi to the community orientation of public interest litigation, these issues must be considered'. In that sense, the case between the Ratlam Municipality and the citizens of a ward, is a path finder in the field of people's involvement in the justiciary process, sans which as Prof. Sikes points out, the system may “crumble under the burden of its own insensitivity'. The key question that has to be answered is whether, by affirmative action, a court can compel a statutory body to carry out its duty to the community by constructing a sanitation facility on a time bound basis. At issue is the coming of age of that branch of public law, bearing on community actions, and the court's power to force public bodies under public duty to implement specific plans in response to public grievances. In delivering the order the Court considered three schemes for which estimates had been submitted to the Magistrate by the Municipality and selected one of them, fixed a time limit of an year to execute it, ordered work to begin within two months from the date of the order and requested the Magistrate to inspect progress every three months. In addition, the Municipality was ordered to stop effluents from an alcohol plant from flowing into the street, the State government to stop the pollution, the Municipal Council to construct latrines for men and women, provide Water supply and scavenging Service morning and evening,


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the Health Officer of the Municipality to submit a report at the end of six months on the work completed, the State government to give special instructions to the malaria eradication wing to stop mosquito breeding in the ward of the petitioner, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to direct the officer concerned to file a report within a reasonable time on the work done and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to prosecute officers who have failed to comply with direction of the Court. It was a path finding order, from a judge who had a very sensitive understanding of social needs in India. Justice Chinnappa Reddy was also a member of the bench which heard the appeal.
In what is known as the 'Judge Transfer Case', S.P. Gupta vs Union of India Supp. SCC 87 at para 17, Justice P.N. Bhagwati who was to lay down some of the basic doctrines of PIL had this to say:
"... where a legal wrong or a legal injury is caused to a person or to a determinate class of persons by reason of violation of any constitutional or legal right or any burden is imposed in contravention of any constitution or legal provision or without authority of law or any such legal wrong or legal injury or illegal burden is threatened and such person or determinate class of persons is by reason of poverty, helplessness or disability or socially or economically disadvantaged position, unable to approach the court for relief, any member of the public can maintain an application for appropriate direction, order or writ in the High Court under Article 226 and in case of breach of any fundamental right of such person or determinate class of persons, in this Court under Article 32 seek judicial redress for the legal wrong or injury caused to such person or determinate class of persons.” (Emphasis added)
Ibid.:
“Where the weaker sections of the community are concerned, such as under-trial prisoners languishing in jails without a trial... who are helpless victims of an exploitative society and who do not have easy access to justice, this Court will not insist on a regular writ petition to be filed by the public-spirited individual espousing their cause and seeking relief for them... This Court will readily respond even to a letter addressed by such individual acting pro bono publico . . . The Court would therefore unhesitatingly and

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Governance 429
without the slightest qualms of conscience cast aside the technical rules of procedure in the exercise of its dispensing power and treat the letter of the public-minded individual as a writ petition and act upon it.”
Ibid., p. 215:
"... in public interest litigation-litigation undertaken for the purpose of redressing public injury, enforcing public duty, protecting social, collective, diffused rights and interests or vindicating public interest, any citizen who is acting bona fide and who has sufficient interest has to be accorded standing.' (Emphasis added)
By this decision the concept of "locus standi' received further expansion and elasticity, whilst epistolary jurisdiction or letter petitions were recognised for conversion into writ petitions, thereby opening wide the doors of the judiciary and the courts to individuals who otherwise would not have been able to seek justice from the judiciary.
The major issues in summary of this case pertains to(a) Locus Standi of lawyers to file writ petitions through PIL. (b) Independence of the judiciary. (c) Validity of Union Law Minister's circular dated 18 March, 1981.
(d) Procedures and power to appoint and transfer High Court judges, consent of concerned judges and consultation with constitutional functionaries.
(e) Validity of transfer of judges from one High Court to another in respect of public interest, personal inconveniences, regional language, consent of judges, and
(f) Constitutional conventions, interpretation of the constitution and privileged documents.
In PUDR AIR 1982 SC 1473, a writ petition, also known as the "Asian Games Case', heard by Justice P.N. Baghwati and Justice Baharul Islam, delivered on 18 September, 1982, by an organisation formed for protection of democratic rights, sent a letter based on the report of three social scientists, to a judge of the Supreme Court alleging violation of labour laws in respect of workers engaged in


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constructing the infrastructure for the Asian Games. The letter was treated as a writ petition and it was held that workers' rights had been violated, the organisation which sent the letter had locus standi, since the workers were poor, ignorant and illiterate humans who were unable to approach the courts. During the course of argument, the preliminary objection raised by respondents was on the question of locus standi of the petitioners. The opinion of the court was that any member of the public, acting bona fide, and not out of any extraneous motivation may move the court for judicial redress of the legal injury or wrong suffered by such person or class of persons and the judicial process may be set in motion by any public-spirited individual or institution even by addressing a letter to Court. This was a further amplification of locus standi and epistolary jurisdiction from the 'Judges Transfer Case.' The Court appointed three Ombudsmen to periodically inspect construction sites to ascertain whether labour laws were being followed and benefits due to them were being provided. The Court was willing to give further directions if necessary.
Sheela Barse AIR 1983 SC 378, relates to a writ petition arising from a letter addressed by Sheela Barse, a journalist, complaining of custodial violence to women prisoners whilst in police custody in Bombay City. The Court noticed a number of individuals to show cause as to why the petitions should not be allowed. In addition, the Court, requested the Director of a Social Work College to visit the places in which the women were held in custody in Bombay to submit a detailed report on problems faced by women prisoners. In addition to providing legal assistance to women prisoners, directions were given to file legal assistance to all prisoners lodged in jails in Maharashtra. The Court directed the Inspector-General of Prisons in Maharashtra, requiring all Superintendents of Police in Maharashtra to give a list of all under-trial prisoners to the Legal Aid Committee, with locations of jails and date of entry to such jails, and if possible offences, with separate lists for men and women, to furnish to the relevant District Legal Aid Committees lists with particulars of person held under Section 41 of Criminal Procedure Code jailed over a period of 15 days, to provide access to prisoners for lawyers nominated by District Legal Aid Committees, to provide adequate information to such lawyers in respect of the prisoners, to advertise the

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Governance 431
visits of such lawyers in places of detention for the benefit of other prisoners, and to provide adequate infrastructure to such lawyers to meet with prisoners. The Maharashtra State Board of Legal Aid was to instruct District Legal Aid Committees to nominate lawyers to visit jails to ascertain whether the directions of the Supreme Court were being followed. The Bench also highlighted the successful functioning of such a scheme in Tamil Nadu State. A further set of detailed orders was made in respect of protection of women prison
CS.
Veena Sethi AID 1983 SC339, heard on 11 May, 1982 by Justice Bhagwati and Justice D.A. Desai, relates to a petition by the Free Legal Aid Committee, Hazaribagh, Bihar in relation to prisoners who were detained from periods ranging from 19 to 37 years. Some were declared insane at the time of trial, some were jailed pending halfyearly medical reports, others convicted, acquitted pending final determination. Court noticed the State of Bihar and having scrutinised counter-affidavits ordered release of some prisoners with travel allowance and maintenance allowance for one week. The writ petition was adjourned pending another hearing to scrutinise cases pertaining to other prisoners mentioned in the petition.
Rudul Shah AIR 1983 SC 1086, pertains to a petition by prisoner acquitted on 3 June, 1968, who was released on 16 October, 1982, seeking rehabilitation, reimbursement of medical expenses for treatment and compensation for illegal incarceration. This was heard by a three-member Bench on 1 August, 1983. The petitioners appeal was allowed. The State of Bihar was ordered, as a interim measure, to pay Rs. 30,000 in addition Rs. 5,000 already paid by it. The Court further held that the order did not preclude the petitioner from suing the state and officials for damages.
Bandhua Mukti Morcha AIR 1984 SC 802, pertains to a petition heard on 16 December, 1983, by a three-member Bench headed by Justice P.N. Bhagwati, filed by an organisation dedicated to the course of release of bonded labourers. It was alleged in the petition that a substantial number of labourers from Maharashtra, Madya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were working under inhuman and intolerable conditions in stone quarries situated in Faridabad District of State of Haryana and that some of them were bonded labourers. The Court on receipt of a letter petition, appointed two


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advocates to interview persons named in the petition as well as a cross section of workers in the stone quarries. The advocates found sufficient reasons to state that workers were living and working under very difficult conditions. Copies of their reports were given to all the mine lessees and stone crushers, whilst the court appointed a person to undertake a socio-legal investigation. The cost of work was borne by the State of Haryana.
The Court having considered the socio-legal report and arguments presented, allowed the petition and made 21 detailed observations and orders on a range of issues pertaining to working and living conditions of workmen referred to in the petition. The Court appointed the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Labour of the Government of India to visit and enquire into eight different areas of rights pertaining to the workers in stone crushing quarries in its Faridabad District, which was the subject-matter of the petition and to report to court in two months. The issues to be inquired included compliance with the direction of the Court by the mine lessees and stone crusher owners. Justice Bhagwati, in the course of his order, stated that PIL was not in the nature of adversary litigation and was an opportunity for the government and its officers to make social and economic justice a reality to the deprived and vulnerable sections of society. The Court whilst taking cognisance of practices introduced in PIL cases, introduced Commissions of Inquiry and the technique of 'rolling review”.
In the same case, Justice Pathak whilst agreeing with Justices Bhagwati and A.N. Sen adumbrated a few points of caution, particularly against crossing into the terrain of the Legislature or the Executive and the need to adhere to legal principles and not pure emotion. Maharishi Avadesh AIR 1991 AII52, is a writ petition by Maharishi Avadesh. It pertains to 19 separate requests contained in individual prayers in his petition, concerning the State of Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India, including the dismissal of a Minister, the Prime Minister, public servants and appointment of a Commission. The petition was dismissed due to the matter raised being either political or administrative in nature and not within the jurisdiction of a court. To summarise PIL and identify how this litigation differs from traditional private law litigation, Abraham Chayes in the Harvard Law Review (1975-76) states

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Governance 433
1. The scope of the lawsuit is not limited by a specific historical event, such as a breach of contract or personal injury, but is consciously shaped by the court and parties.
2. The party structure is not limited to individual adversaries but is sprawling and amorphous.
3. The fact inquiry is not a simple investigation of past historical events but rather resembles the kind of inquiry into current problems undertaken by legislative bodies.
4. Relief is not limited to compensate for a past wrong; instead it is often prospective, flexible and remedial having broad impact on many persons not party to the lawsuit.
5. The relief is often negotiated by the parties rather than imposed by the court.
6. The judgement does not end the courts involvement but requires a continuing administrative judicial role.
7. The judge is not passive but takes an active role in organising and shaping the litigation.
8. The subject-matter of the lawsuit is not a private dispute but rather a grievance about public policy.
Whilst India has embraced PIL and even the highest individuals are brought under the scrutiny of the courts, for example the Jain Hawala' case brought before the court politicians from many parties, the Supreme Court in November 1996 ordered 43,000 illegal and polluting factories out of Delhi. In February 1996 the Supreme Court heard a case and ordered filing of income tax returns by all political parties in conformity with regulations. The list of PIL interventions is long.
Sri Lanka has not moved as vigorously on PIL as by media. Yet in 1990 the Chief Justice received a letter, supposed to have been signed by a 1,000 detainees of Boosa detention camp, alleging illegal detention and praying for early trial or release. The Court ordered the Secretary, Ministry of Defense, to provide facilities to detainees to enable affidavits and documents to be tendered to court. Subsequently, Supreme Court Rules (SCR) of 1990 came into being. Particular Section 44(7)(a)(b) is relevant and is re-produced below:
(7)(a) Where any alleged infringement, or imminent infringe


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ment, of any fundamental right or language right by executive or administrative action is brought to the notice of the Supreme Court, or any Judge thereof, in writing, such matter may be referred by the Chief Justice, in accordance with such directions as may be given by him from time to time, to a single judge sitting in Chambers.
(b) If it appears to such Judge that such complaint disclose, prima facie an infringement, or imminent infringement, of a fundamental right or language right of any person, whether such person be the complainant or not, he may, in his discretion, direct that such complaint be treated as a petition in writing under and in terms of Article 126(2), notwithstanding non-compliance with any of the foregoing provisions of this rule, if he is satisfied that
(i) such person does not, or may not have the means to pursue such complaint in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this rule; and (ii) such person has suffered, or may suffer, substantial prejudice by reason of such infringement, or imminent infringement, and may further direct the Registrar to refer such complaint to the Legal Aid Commission, or to any Attorney-at-Law who is a member of any panel or organisation established for such purpose, for the purpose of enabling the preparation and submission of an amended petition, affidavits, documents, written submissions, and other material in clarification and support of such complaint. Such complaint shall thereupon be deemed to be a petition filed in the Supreme Court on the date on which such complaint was received, and shall be dealt with under and in terms of rule 45, in like manner as other applications under and in terms of Article 126(2) of the Constitution.
Provided that where the complainant is not himself the person aggrieved, the Court may direct the Registrar to ascertain from the person to whom such complaint relates whether he desires that action be taken in respect of such complaint. If such person notifies the Court at any time that he does not desire that any action be taken in respect of such complaint, all proceedings in respect thereof shall forthwith stand terminated.
(c) The provisions of this sub-rule shall come into operation on

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Governance 435
such day as the Chief Justice may direct.
As a result of this action the number of applications received by His Lordship The Chief Justice were:
Year Number of Number Finished Pending
Applications V
1993 541 473 68
1994 346 305 41
1995 54 38 16
1996 247 86 161
1997 77
Source: Registry of the Supreme Court.
Similarly, the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, No. 15 of 1979, in Sections 98(1) and 104(1), provision has been made for removal or abatement in cases of public nuisances. The Supreme Court has begun entertaining letter petitions, in particular complaints alleging violations of fundamental rights and has granted leave to proceed with them and environmental issues have been addressed by Court. Further, the Bill setting up the Human Rights Commission, in Section 13 provides locus standi for persons to move the Commission on behalf of aggrieved persons.
Unlike in the Indian example, Sri Lanka is yet to make significant progress on issues which can be construed as in the larger public interest. For example the Ceylon Daily News of 3 October, 1996 reported that thirty-three parliamentarians belonging to the Government had sought an extension to Presidential Commission of Inquiry looking into sudden disappearances, citing the fact that only 8,000 out of 32,000 cases recorded so far have been investigated. Similarly, the Island of 8 October, 1996 reported overcrowding in prisons and backlog of cases in courts. Recently, the Institute of Human Rights petitioned the Chief Justice invoking Section 44(7) of SCR 1990, seeking inquiry into violation of equal protection guaranteed under the Sri Lankan Constitution caused by a large number of persons reported missing and/or unaccounted for in government controlled areas of Jaffna peninsula. A reply to it is still awaited. In the Boosa case cited earlier, the Court addressed its mind to early trial or release. The question of payment for damage caused by long unde


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served detention remains unanswered. Similarly, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act many individuals are released only after long periods of detention and without being charged. 32,000 cases of disappearances have been reported. Recently, Shell Company was supposed to have violated their agreement with Public Enterprises Reform Committee (PERC). The issue at stake was a gas price increase. This is very relevant to the public interest. At present there are many Commissions of Inquiry looking into disappearances, corruption and/ormalpractices, assassinations, etc. In thẹ.Injian context, they would have all fallen within the ambit of PIL. The examples cited from India, show how PIL can address issues which are of relevance to the public, addressing issues faced by the ordinary citizenry.
In a country like Sri Lanka, which faced twin insurgencies in the North and South of Sri Lanka, with militant youth participating, the courts are the last resort for social injustice. It is most important that this institution answers the call.
In Pakistan too, the courts have recognised the concept of PIL. In 1988, the co-chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Ms. Benazir Bhutto in PLD 1988 SC 416, filed a petition under Article 184 of the Constitution which provided for the SC to made orders if a question of public importance was raised relating to the enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. The petition questioned the validity of an amendment to the Political Parties Act, which entailed political parties having to register themselves with the Election Commission after fulfilling certain conditions. The petition contended that it violated Art. 17 of the Constitution, guaranteeing right of association which they felt was a 'continuing right'. The court held with this argument. The State in defense, contended that the petitioner was not an aggrieved party, hence did not have locus standi. The court pronounced that the exercise of the courts power under Art. 184(3) was not dependent only at the instance of an aggrieved party. It held that in cases of violation of Fundamental Rights of a class or group of persons who are unable to seek redress from a court, the traditional rule of locus standi can be dispensed with and procedure available in PIL can be made use of, if it is brought to the Court by the person acting bona fide. The Chief Justice who wrote the judgement held that traditional litigation and

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Governance 437
concepts of standing, limited proceedings to parties concerned and made the rule of law selective to give protection to the affluent or to serve in aid of maintaining the status quo of vested interests. This they held was destructive of the principle of law, found in Art. 4 of the Constitution. They felt that relaxation of rules of standing provides access to justice to all and provides for broad-based remedy against violation of human rights. It was also emphasised that interpretation of the Constitution must be done through provisions which "saturate' and "invigorate' provide for socio-economic justice and lead to the establishment for a egalitarian society.
In considering the legal framework for PIL in Pakistan, Part II, Chapter 2 of the Constitution spells out the Principles of PÖicy. And Art. 29–40 set out the fundamental rules which govern the various state organs when they make rules and implement them. For example, Art. 31 envisages an Islamic way of life, Art. 32 promotes local government institutions, Art. 33 discourages parochial prejudices, Art. 34 encourages participation of womenin national life, Art. 35 espouses protection of family, Art. 36 provides for protection of minorities, Art. 37 for promotion of social justice and eradication of social evils and Art. 38 provides for social and economic well-being of people. Though the Principles of Policy are not enforceable by law, a creative interpretation of the Constitution was espoused in Nizam Khan vs Addl. District Judge, Lyallpur (PLD) 1976 Lah. 930.
"the judiciary which is not included in the definition of the State cannot direct the organs, authorities, and persons included in the definition of the State to act in accordance with the Principles of Policy. But this does not mean that the Superior Judiciary would not be able, on account of the said bar, either: (i) to set down a rule for itself to follow the Principles of Policy: or (ii) to declare it for the subordinate judiciary to act in accordance therewith . . . '
In the Benazir Bhutto case cited earlier, the SC had declared that Art. 3 which seeks elimination of exploitation, Art. 37 which promotes social justice and Art. 38 which looks at social and economic well-being, juxtapose each other and advance the cause of social economic principles, and become in an indirect sense enforceable by


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law, bringing about a co-relation between Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy.
Chief Justice Haleem in the same case observed that
"This approach is in tune with the era of progress and is meant to establish that the Constitution is not merely an imprisonment of the past, but is also alive to the unfolding of the future. It would thus be futile to insist on the ceremonious interpretative approach to constitutional interpretation as hitherto undertaken-which only served to limit the controversies between the State and the individual without extending benefits of the liberties and the Principles of Policy to all the segments of population."
It was held that PIL was in consonance with the "meaningful protection of the rule of law” which was in Art. 4 and which reads as:
4(1) To enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with law is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and every other person for the time being within Pakistan.
Matters of public importance' can set in motion a process of the SC under Art. 184 (3), which are of interest or affect the whole body of people or an entire community. The SC in the same case declared that in handling of PIL cases the High Courts have a broader scope under Art. 199, even if it not a matter of public importance.
Chief Justice Hamood-ul-Rahman in the Asma Jalani case of 1972 (PLD) 1972 SC 139 at p. 149) declared:
"In spite of the Judge's fondness for the written word and his normal inclination to adhere to prior precedents one cannot fail to recognize that it is equally important to remember that there is need for flexibility in the application of this rule, for law cannot stand still nor can the judges become mere slaves of precedents. The rule of stare decis does not apply with the same strictness in criminal, fiscal and constitutional matters where the liberty of the subjects is involved or some other grave injustice is likely to occur by strict adherence to the rule."

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Governance 439
In another case, Justice Kaikaus in a SC judgement in Imtiaz Ahmed vs Ghulan Ali, PLD SC 382 at p. 399, declared:
"... the proper place of procedure in any system of the administration of justice is to help and not to thwart the grant to the people of their rights. All technicalities have to be avoided unless it be essential to comply with them on grounds of public policy... Any system which by giving effect to the form and not to the substance defeats substantive rights (and) is defective to that extent.'
Issues which have been taken up earlier by the Courts under PIL include bonded labour cases, juvenile detention, stoveburst deaths, illegal detention of women in police stations, misuse of public funds by authorities. In a case involving bonded labourers, freed by the Lahore High Court, subsequently abducted by the former owner, a telegram was sent to the Chief Justice on behalf of 21 of the labourers. It was entertained as a petition (PLD 1996 SC 513) and proceeded to act to prevent bonded labour in the "brick kiln industry' and "gave directions for devising long term measures'. In a stove blast case (PLD 1991 Lahore 224) Justice Munir Khan who had read in the newspaper about a death, took suo moto action and observed:
"The whole episode though of persistent frequency had remained unobserved, unchecked and uncontrolled by the authorities concerned, so I felt persuaded to assume suo moto jurisdiction in order to find out actual background of this episode and lay down liability."
He declared that when information comes to the knowledge of the court from any source, the court does not require even a formal application from a individual or a group to direct preliminary investigation into the matter, by an agency or officer other than the one concerned and order or pass consequential relief on the basis of the preliminary investigation. He even said that when in an emergency or a threat to life or violation of a fundamental right, a petition can be presented to the Chief Justice, or in his absence any senior Justice of the High Court at his residence even at midnight. He further ob


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served:
"So it becomes clear that the High Court remains open all the time though its building or office is closed after Court hours or during the holidays.”
As can be seen in the description of the use of PIL in Pakistan, the powers exercised by court seem very similar to India.
Some may argue that PIL unnecessarily drags people into court, without adhering to procedures. Whilst it is true that an element of risk is inherent in the process leading to abuse of the process by individuals who may wish to embarrass persons holding high office, the threat of such action contributes to good governance. In particular, in situations where the Legislature or Executive have not been able to find solutions, to pressing problems of its citizenry the courts are the only recourse to justice, apart from resorting to militancy and violence. The Courts, through the PIL mechanism have a major role to play in governance.

Index
Acton, 391 Administration,
slanted to parochial benefit, 298300 Administrative reforms, evolution of,
239 Administrative Reforms Committee (ARC), 31, 259-62,351,353, 355, 381-82 Adrian, Wolfgang, 312 Al-Rashid, Haroun, 393 All India Institute for Local Self Gov
ernment, Madras, 330 Amal Silva v. Kodituwakku, 78 Aminuzzaman, Salahuddin, 368 Aquinas, 21 1 Argyris, Chris, 324 Aristotle, 210 ゾ。 Ariyadasa Malawara Arachchi v.
Paskaralingam, 303 Arumugam, E., 282 Ashrawi, Hanan, 239 Asian Development Bank (ADB), 6,
9, 11, 341 Asian Games case, 429 Asma Jalani case, 438 Assistant Government Agent (AGA), 242-43, 255-56, 265,271, 277-78, 296 office and D S office, 277-78 Association of Management Development Institutes in South Asia
(AMDISA), 10 Attapattu, S.A. 54 Attitudes, and public administration,
216-17 Aucoin, P., 214 Augustine, 211 Avadesh, Maharishi, 432
Bagchi, A., 181 Bandaranaike, Felix Dias, 6 Bandaranaike, S.W.R.D., 394 Bandhua Mukti Morcha case, 431 Banjan Wijeratne Institute, 336 Barse, Sheela, 430 Bastiampillai, Bertram, 39 l Bastian, Sunil, 89 Baxi, Upendra, 421 Beliefs, and public administration, 21213 h− Berne, 342 Bhagwati, P.N., 425-29, 431-32 Bhutto, Benazir, 436-37 Bilateral aid, and governance, 136-38 Brandeis, 419 Bribery, 69-70 Bribery Act of 1954, 80 Bribery Commission Act, 1995, 423 Brownlie, 54 Budhan Choudhry v. State of Bihar,
30 Bureaucracy and Representative Gov
ernment, 211


Page 230
442
Bureaucracy entrepreneurship, 223-25
Bureaupathology, in SLIDA, 3-18
Burke, Edmund, 282
Business Acquisition Act, 185
Business Turnover Tax (BTT), 150
51
Butterfly Effect, 12
Caiden, 216 Carson, Edward, 3 Carter, Jimmy, 232 Ceremonies, 228-31 Ceylon Civil Service (CCS), 4-8, 23, 37, 49, 233-34, 247, 298,339-46, 359 Ceylon Daily News, 435 Change, concept of, 27-31 Chaos theory, 12 Character, and public administration,
233-34 Chayes, Abraham, 432 Civil College of Singapore, 8 Civil list, 258 Civil Rights Act, 418 Civil Service College, Sunningdale, 8 Civil society politics, and new consen
sus, 101-09, 111Cody, J. Michael, 420 Colebrooke-Cameron reforms, 239-40,
344 Commission of Inquiry Act, 190 Commission on the Elimination of
Discrimination, 77 Committee of Public Account (COPA),
380-82,384 Committee of Public Enterprises
(COPE), 380-82,384 Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management (CAPAM), 10 Computerised Integrated Government
Accounting System (CIGAS), 31 Confucius, 210 Cor kitution of Sri Lanka, 63-68, 73
The Third Wave
76, 78, 145, 297, 300,379,395 amendment Act, 67-68 article 11, 78 article 12, 75-76 article 13, 75, 78 article 14, 78 article 55, 297 article 120, 73 article 121, 73 article 122, 73 article 124, 73 article 126, 297 article 130, 74 article 141, 74 article 144, 74 article 148, 145, 379 article 150, 379 artiele 156, 395 Constitutional Council, 70-71 Control-based organisations, 33-36 Convention Against Torture Act 1994,
79, 82 Cooper, Terry, 214, 235 Copernicus, 214 Corruption, 69-70, 413-22
accountability, 421-22 combatting, 417-20
additional means of, 422-23 how to do, 417-18 procedural mechanism, 418-19 role of citizen, 423-24 destructive course, 416-17 legislative responses to, 420 prone sectors in governmental ad
ministration, 45-16 sociological factors associated with,
413-15 Court of Appeal, jurisdiction of, 74 Crick, 6 Cuber, John F., 21 Culture, and public administration,
226-31
Dachan vs. State of Jammu & Kash

Index
- mir, 304 Darwin, Charles, 183, 215, 263 Dassanayake, Sampath, 283 Davis, 415 De Mel, Ronnie, 6 Democracy,
capitalism and, 104-06 definition of, 58 human rights and, 110-121 rule of law and, 54-83 Deng Xiaoping, 20 Dependency theorists, on new consensus on development assistance, 9899 Desai, D.A., 431 Desai, J.M., 426 Development, democratisation of, 121
26 Development Advisory Committee
(DAC), 27. Development assistance, new consen
sus on, 89-95, 131-36 civil society politics and, 101-09
capitalism and democracy, 104
06 capitalism and human agency,
101-04 retreat from state centrism, 107
09 development countries responses,
95-101 cultural relativism, 95-96 dependency theorists, 98-99 economic needs primary, 96-98 liberals, 99-101 governance and, 131-36 issues for Sri Lanka, 109-26
democracy and human rights,
109-14 democratising development,
121-26 devolution, 1 14-21 ethnic conflict, 114-21 peace, 114-24
443
with OECD, 92-95 Development NGOs, 107, 117-18, 121
24 Devolution Commission, 175 Devolution proposals, and taxation,
178 Dharma, and public administration,
210, 235 Dionysius, 391 Diplock, 296 Divestiture Committees, 197-98 Divisional Revenue Officer (DRO),
see, Divisional Secretariat Divisional Secretariat, see, Mirigama
Divisional Secretariat Donahue, Anne Marie, 42 l Donoughmore Constitution, 37, 245,
344 Douglas, Paul H., 413-14, 417 Dunn v. The Queen, 296 Dzimbiri, Lewis, B., 326
5 Es of public administration, 236-37 Economist, 7 Elected public servants,
decentralisation, 313-16
devolution, 314-15 national agencies role, 315-16 privatisation, 313-14 governance and public administra-.
tion, 311-13 learning opportunities for, 327-37 learning programmes, 323-27 managerial activities of, 320-23 decision making, 320-21 group dynamics, 321-22 managing conflict, 321 managing time, 322 stress, 322-23 role and responsibilities of, 316-20 policy implementation, 318-20 policy making, 316-18 review of implementation, 320 Elections, constitutional provisions, 64


Page 231
444
65 Elkins, 346 Elmore Perera v. Major Montague
Jayawickrama, 301 Emerging paradigm, 222-23 Employment Protection (Consolida
tion) Act 1978, 309 Entrepreneurship, 225-26 Equality, principle of, 75-76 Establishment Code and Public Service Commission Rules, 297-98 Ethics, and public administration, 231
33 Excise (Special Provisions) Act No.
13 of 1989, 152
Femininity culture, 228
Fernando, Mark, 303
Financial Management Initiative
(FMI), 217, 263
Fox, Siegrun, 235
Frazer, James, 39
Free Legal Aid Committee, Bihar, 431
Friedman, Milton, 104
Fry, G.K., 32
Gaebler, Ted, 4, 214, 226 Galbraith, John K., 252 Gammampila, Mahinda, 3 l l Gandhi, Mahatma, 263 Giddens, Anthony, 103-04 Golden Bough, 39 Golden share, concept, 203, 207 Good governance,
definition of, 56-58, 129, 138-42 development and, 139-40 in Sri Lanka, 62-71, 79-80
constitutional provisions, 63. devolution of power, 67-68 directive principles of state policy and fundamental duties, 63-64 elections, 64-65 executive presidency, 66-67
The Third Wave
institutional arrangement, 69-71 People's Alliance Government's
policy, 68-69 proposed amendments, 64 referenda, 65-66 see also, Governance Goods and Services Tax (GST) for Sri
Lanka, 177-80 design of proposal, 179 problem in administration, 179-80 Gopi Nath Kaul v. State of Jammu and
Kashmir, 304 Governance,
bilateral aid and, 136-38 concept of, 90-92, 129-30, 263-65,
282-83, 391-93 development assistance and, 131
36 good governance, 56-58, 129, 138
42 government and, 130-31 in colonial times, 239-44 leverage instruments and, 134-35 modernisation, 135-36 PIL in, 425-40 planning initiatives and, 251-54 public administration and, 217-18,
311-13 see also, Good Governance supply and demand sides of, 20-23 World Bank's concept of, 90-92,
131-33 -- Governance and Development, 21 Government Agents (GAs), 242, 255,
259 Gramsci, 107 Gunadheera, Somapala, 295, 327 Gunaratna v. Sri Lanka Telecom, 303
Habeas corpus application, 78 Haleem, 438 Hamood-ul-Rahman, 438 Han Dynasty, 393 Harden, I., 388

Index
Harman, W., 214
Harvard Law Review, 432
Hawkins, Stephen, 211
Hegel, 211
Heseltine, 29
Heywood, Andrew, 312
Hobbes, 21 1
Homo Ethicus concept, 231
Honest government, 41 I-24
Hood, C., 214
Hood, Waterman, 23, 35
Human Resources Information System
(HURIS), 353
Human rights, and democracy, 110-21
Human Rights Task Force (HRTF), 77,
81
ICCPR., 74, 81 ICRC, 1 1 1 ILO, 45-46 IMF, 131-32, 142, 147, 159-60, 165 INTAN, Malaysia, 8 Imtiaz Ahmed v. Ghulam Ali case, 439 Income Tax Code of 1932, 148 Indian Administrative Service (IAS),
30 Indian Civil Service, 340-41 Individualist culture, 228 Industrial Disputes Act, 297 Information technology, 160 Inland Revenue Act No. 28 of 1979,
151, 168-69 Inland revenue service, 160 Institute of Human Rights, 435 Institution of Local Government Stud
ies, 333 Institution for public administration
change, 44-51 Ministry of Planning, 45-47 Ministry of Public Administration,
44-45, 47-48 Presidential Secretariat, 48-49, 51 International Centre for Ethnic Stud
ies (ICES), 353
445
International Centre for Training of
Rural Leaders (ICTRL), 328
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1966, 60-61
International Institute of Strategic
Management, 334
International law standards, 58-61
Island, 435
Iyer, V.R. Krishna, 427
Jaisinghani v. Union of India, 301 Jayasinghe, Indranee S., 183, 244 Jayasundara, W.A., 263 Jefferson, Thomas, 211, 411 Jenkins, Glenn P., 157 John, King, 145 Johnson, Samuel, 282 Joy, Leonard, 45, 47 Judge Transfer case, 428,430 Judicial Service Commission, 72
Kaikaus, 439 Kaldor, Nicholas, 165, 252 Kaldor scheme, 149, 156 Kant, Immanuel, 54 Karaosmanoglu, Attila, 202 Kautilya, 210
Kernaghan, K., 214 Keuneman, Pieter, 379-80 Khan, Munir, 439 Khayyam, Omar, 340 King, Martin Luther, 418 Knowles, Michael, 311 Kodeeswaran v, Attorney General, 296 Kogan, M., 32
Kohil, Atul, 140 Kohn, Aaron, 423 Kolb, David, 324-26 Konrad Adenauer Foundation, 334 Konrad Adenaur Fund (KAF), 371 Kothari Committee, 353 Koudry, H., 45-46 Krishna Iyer, V.R., 427


Page 232
446
Kuhn, T., 214
Kulatunga, 303
Kumaratunga, Chandrika Bandara
naike, 15, 20, 29, 340
Laking, B.G., 386 Lal Bahadur Shastri Staff College,
Mussoorie, 8, 230 Lao-Tze, 210, 232 Laski, Harold, 3 Leftwich, 136 Legal Aid Commission, 434 Lenin, 211 Liberals, on new consensus, 99-101 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE), 1 15, 119 Local Government Training and Re
search Institute (LGTRI), 328 Local Government Training Board,
333-34 Locke, 211 Lynn, Richardson R., 420
Machiavelli, 20, 211 Madison, James, 424 Mahabhartha, 210 Maharashtra State Board of Legal Aid,
43 Maharishi Avadesh case, 432 Major, John, 388 Management entrepreneurship, 223-25 Management service, 354-56 Manu, 210, 232 Market oriented public administration,
263-81 Marx, 101, 210-11 Masculinity culture, 228 McCulloch, Brian, 382 Merit Circular, 306 Milton, John, 311 Ministry of Planning (MPL), 45-4 Ministry of Public Administration (MPA), 8-14, 17, 22, 44-45, 47-48, 3.54
The Third Wave
Mirigama Divisional Secretariat, 2.65
94 age distribution in, 272 cost based performer indicators for,
282-94 Customer satisfaction, 272-78
awareness, 272-73 bureaucratic attitude, 275 business transactions, 274-75 knowledge of functions of, 273 layout, 227 location, 273 negative responses analysis,
276-77 office and AGA office, 277-78 staff attitude and work proce- .
dures, 275 suggestions for improvement,
278 time allocated to attend to work,
275 visits to transaction item of busi
ness, 273-74 work process, 275-76 education level, 271-72 gender by blocks in, 270 household income, 271 next steps, 278-79 study on,
conceptual framework, 269-70 findings, 270-81 framework and methodology,
267-70 limitations, 269 Mobutu, 29 Municipal Councillors, familiarization
programme, 330 Municipal Councils (MCs), 329
Nadaraja, S., 239, 327
National Human Rights Commission,
79
National Institute of Rural Develop
ment, Hyderabad, 334

Index
National Planning Council (NPC), 252
53 New Public Management (NPM), 2327, 35, 38-39, 347, 358, 372, 377 concept, 23-25 individual and contextual issues, 27 principle of, 24-27 New World Order, 136 New World Order: Sovereignty Human Rights and SelfDetermination of People, 129 Newton, 221 Next Steps Programme, 217, 263 Nichomachean Ethics, 210 Nietzche, 33 Niskanen, W.A., 23, 211 Nizam Khan vs. Additional District
Judge, Layallpur, 437 Nkrumah, Kwame, 239 s North Western Provincial Council
(NWPC), 335 Northecote-Trevalyan reforms, 21, 28, 216, 218, 234, 240, 245-46, 258, 296,253,388
Ogilvy, J., 221 Ombudsman, 391-410
accountability, 407-09 action on conclusion of inquiry,
401 benefits of, 401-04 complaint recorded,
procedures following receipt of,
397-99 types of, 396-97 governance and, 391-93, 405-06 history of, 393-95 independence of, 406-07 legislative enactments, 395-96 limitations on, 399-400 poor man's court, 404 Operation Riviresa, 119 Organisation arrangements,
relationship, 32-33
447
structure, 33-38 Organisation for Economic Coopera
tion and Development (OECD), 27,
38,92-95, 217, 231, 233,263,369,
371, 373, 426
consensus within, 92-95 Organisational Development, strategic
capacity, 41-44 Osborne, David, 4, 214, 226 Othello, 210
Paine, 211 Parliamentary Commissioner for Ad
ministration Act of 1981, 395 Parliamentary Commissioner for Ad
ministration Act of 1994, 69-70 Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Amendment) Act of 1994, 396 Parliamentary Powers and Privilege
Act, 336 Participatory Development and Good
Governance, 89 Paul, Samuel, 264 Pay as You Earn (PAYE), 158, 161,
168 Peiris, G.L., 172 People's Alliance, 36,62, 68-69 Peoples Liberation Front, 135 Perera, N.M., 6 Perera, Wilmot A., 249 Perera v. Cyril Ranatunga, 303 Perera v. Peoples Bank, 303 Performance appraisal of public ad
ministration, approach, 286 cost based, 282-94 costing methodology, 283-85 cost measurement, 285 work measurement, 284-85 next steps, 293-94 processing of data on, 286-89 shortcomings and possible rem
edies, 293


Page 233
448
unit cost and ratios interpretation,
292-93 unit cost as performance indicators,
289-92 Permanent Commission on Bribery and
Corruption, 69 Permanent executive, ministerial
control over in New Zealand, 38487 Personal appraisal, 357-67
in public administration, 361-67 Peters, Thomas, 35, 227 Petronius, Gaius, 20 Pierce, Neil R., 413 Planning, Programming, Budgeting
System (PPBS), 254 Plato, 210, 233, 313 Policy formulating organisation, 36
38 Power distance culture, 227-28 Pradeshiya Sabhas, 329-30 Presidential Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform, U.S., 422 Presidential Commission on Privatiza
tion, 190-92 Presidential Secretariat, 48-49, 51 Prevention of Terrorism Act 1979, 80,
115 Privatisation,
approaches, 188-90
creation of subsidiaries ap
proach, 188-89 de-monopolisation approach,
189 joint venture approach, 189 limited liability company ap
proach, 188 private management contract
approach, 188 case study of, 204-08 criteria used to determined method
of, 194-97 elected public servants and, 313-14 in Sri Lanka, 199-202
The Third Wave
initiatives, 188-94 liberalisation, 201 method of, 194-97 non transactional techniques, 196
97 demonopolise, 197, 202 liquidation, 196 voucher programme, 196 steps, 190-93 stimulating competition, 200-01 transactional techniques, 194-96,
199-202 employee/management buy out.
195-96 joint venture, 196-202 lease or management contract,
196, 200 private placement, 195, 200 public offering of shares, 194
95, 199 sale of assets, 195, 200 Provincial Council and Local Autho
rity, 320 Provincial Council Turnover Taxes (Limits and Exemptions), 174, 176 Provincial Councils Act of 1992, 265 Provincial taxes, administration of,
176-77 Public Accounts Committee (PAC),
320, 347, 352, 380-82 Public administration,
Cs of, 369-73 Es of, 236-37, 373-74 accountability, 375-89
first level of, 378-84 legal, 377 management, 377 market based, 387-89 process, 377-78 professional, 378 progress, 377 application to Divisional Secretari
ats, 263-8 attitudes, 216-17

Index
Baroque phase of, 344-47 beliefs, 212-13 change, 20-51 character, 233-34 contextual change, 30 cost based performance indicators,
282-92 culture, 226-31 dharma and, 210, 235 emerging paradigm, 222-23 ethics, 231-33 fundamentalism, 210-11 governance, 217-18, 311-13 history of, 6-8 ideology, 210-11 institutions ensuring change, 44-49 liability, 375-76 market oriented, 263-81 model, 368-74 new paradigm, 221-26
organisational arrangements, 32-38
paradigm, 209-37 performance, 283-85 personal appraisal, 361-67 personnel policies in, 257-59 political leadership, 235-36 professional leadership, 236 responsibility for care, 374-77 responsiveness, 236 shifty paradigm, 214-16, 223-26 since Independence, 244-51 societal model, 218-19 structure, 219-26 tax administration and, 170-71 theory, 210-11 third wave in, 347-53 traditional paradigm, 222-23 values and, 213-14, 216-17 values revisited, 234-37 virtues in, 210, 235 world view on, 211-12
Public Choice School of Economics,
7, 11, 36, 44, 50, 231
Public Companies Act No. 23 of 1987,
449
190, 197 Public Corporations,
contracting out management of, 199 divestiture procedure, 197-98 dominance of, 183-86 governance and, 188 performance, 186-88 rationalisation of staff, 199 Public Enterprise Reform Committee
(PERC), 202-03, 436 Public Finance Act of 1989, 384 Public Interest Litigation (PIL)
in governance, 425-40 Public service,
at pleasure of Crown, 296-97 biased to parochial benefit, 298
300 career assurance and, 295-310 colonial depotism, 295 equality relativity, 302 fundamental rights, 300-01 in theory and practice, 304-05 integrity of, 295-310 nuclear option for, 39-41 performance and output evaluation,
307-08 permissible classification, 301-02 post-independence liberalism, 297
98 post-insurgency reforms, 305-07 review, 309 rule of law and, 301 subjectivity governing rules, 303
04 ten golden rules, 302-03 virtues in, 417-18 Public Service Commission, 71,258,
297-99 Public Service Training Institute
(PSTI), 47
Quereshi, Ismail M., 376
Raghupathi, P.K., 324


Page 234
450
Rahman, Abdul Bin Abdul Rahman,
388 Rajendra, D., 247 Ramaswami, 301, 307 Ramayana, 210 Random walk approach, 41-43 Ratemahatmaya, see, Mirigama Divi
sional Secretariat Ratlam Municipality case, 427 Ratnasundaram, T., 145, 358 Ratinayake, Amara Piyaseeli, 14 Ravaya, 12 Referendum, Constitutional provisions,
65-66 Regional administration, 254-57 Regional plantation companies,
privatisation of, 204-08 Registration of Deaths (Temporary
Provisions) Act, 79 Rehman, S., 375 Republic, 210 Restructuring Management Unit
(RMU), 259-62 Revans, 326 Revenue Ombudsman (UK), 163, 173 Rites, 228-31 Rituals, 228-31 Robinson, Joan, 244, 252 Rosenau, 130 Rosenbloom, D. H., 235 Rousseau, 2ll Rudul Shah case, 431 Rule of law,
case law, 78 democracy and, 54-83 institutional framework, 77 legal framework, 72-74
court of appeal jurisdiction, 74 Supreme Court jurisdiction, 73
74 manifestations of, 301 substantive law, 74-78 due process, 74-75 equality, 75-76
The Third Wave
fundamental rights and free
doms, 76 proposed amendments, 76-77 Runoongaratne, 35
SAARC Centre for Public Adminis
tration (SCPA), 10 S.P. Gupta v Union of India, 428 Samuels, 340 Sandaratne, Nimal, 382 Sanders. Kanya D. Tampoe, 41 1 Sant Ram Sharma v State of Rajasthan,
304, 307 Sarkaria, 427 Schumpeter, Joseph A., 225 Schwartz, P., 221 Search of Excellence, 227 Self-determination, concept of, 61-62 Sellers, Mortimer, 129 Sen, A.N., 432 Shaffer, Teresita, 137 Shakespeare, William, 3, 209 Shanmugalingam, K., 383 Sharbistari, 129 Sharvananda, 78, 301 Sheela Barse case, 430 Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 16 Shifty paradigm, 214-16, 223-25 Sikes, 427 Simon, Herbert, 38,321 Singh, Anup K., 324 Slater, Richard, 387 Smith, Adam, 231 Society of Local Authority Chief Ex
ecutives, 333 Socrates, 210 * Somasundram, M., 3-4, 20-21, 209,
327, 340, 344, 357, 368 Soup, Carl, 157, 181 Sri Lanka,
administrative reforms in, 239-62 devolution, l 14-24 ethnic conflict, 1 14-24 good governance in, 62-71, 79-80

Index
goods and services tax for, 178-80 judiciary in, 72-79 new consensus on development as
sistance and, l09-26 peace, 114-24 privatisation in, 199-202 public administration in, see, Pub
lic administration tax administration, 156-61, 168-70 tax reforms in, 165-66 taxation policy in, 147-56 Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS), 5, 7-9, 11–13, 18, 40, 48, 227, 233-35, 298,340-56 Baroque phase, 344-47 creation of 342-44 third wave and, 347-53 grouping of posts, 350-53 job analysis, 350 recruitment, 348-50 training, 353-54 Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), 244
45, 251-52, 254, 257 Sri Lanka Human Resource Management Service (SLHRMS), 352-53, 355 Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) 3-18, 23, 45, 47,49, 51,261,265,268,322, 348, 350,358-59, 384 bureaupathology in, 3-18 Sri Lanka Management Service, 355
56 Sri Lanka Project on Citizen Participa
tion (CIPART), 371 Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB),
189, 200-01 Stamp duty, 177 State of Mysore v Krishnamurty, 302 State Owned Enterprises (SOE), 244 Stephen, Leslie, 325 Strategic capacity, and organisational
development, 41-44 Structuration, theory of, 103
451
Sun Tzu, 209 Supreme Court, jurisdiction of, 73-74
Tagore, Rabindranath, 21 Tax administration, in Sri Lanka, 156
61, 168-70 accountability in, 171-73 effectiveness of, 168-70 evolution of, 156-61 incentive scheme, 160 information technology, 160-61 inland revenue service, 160 public administration and, 170-71 research and policy unit, 161 self assessment, 157-60 Tax base, 74-75 Tax evasion and avoidance, 166-68 Tax rates and exemptions, 176 Tax reform,
in developing countries, 163-64 in India, 164-65 in Indonesia, 164 in Singapore, 165 in Sri Lanka, 1 65-66 international experience in, 161-65 Taxation,
commission recommendation, 154
56 administration reforms, 155-56 policy decisions, 154-55 policy reforms, 155 tax structure, 154-55 devolution and, 173-78 policy in Sri Lanka, 147-56 Provincial Councils and, 173-74 Taxation Commission, 147, 154-56,
165-66, 169, 180 Taylor, Frederick, 221 Ten Golden Rules, 302-03 Thatcher, Margaret, 13, 29, 216, 258 Thiagarajah, Jeevan, 425 Tiruchelvam, Neelam, 423 Tomuschat, 57 Traditional paradigm, 222-23


Page 235
452
Turnover tax, 74
Tyree Prs. The A5 sirr afir, Walres, WaT F Ft Ard Eric fr fshe PbHC 871) 242
UN CUJITl Tmission On Human Rights,
UNDP, 8-10, 44-43, 129, 261 Uncertainly avoidance culture, 228 United National Party (UNP), 3, 18485. 244-45,248,251-52,254,257, 25g United Natios Charter, 5.9 United Nations Development Admi
is Tatia Divisio (JNI) AD)), 45
l United States Agency for III Lernational Dcyclopment (USAID), 137-38, If I, 192, 359, 371 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UDHR), 59-60 Urban Councils (UCs), 329-3) Urban Local Authorities (ULAs), 329 Urban Programme Unit (UPU), 328
Waliki, 2009)
WalLue Additi Tax (WAT), 155
LLLLLLLEE HH SYLLL LLLL teLLkS
3.
Values, and public administration, 2 13
14, 21-17
The Third Walog
Wavuniya Urban Council, 330
Weera Sethi case, 431
Wellirrt urugu v. Tre MG, 78
Wictoria, Queen, 413
Wirtue, in public administration, 210,
25
Woltaire, 21 || 358
WOII MLTid, 45
Waddlewa casc, 78 || || Waldo, Dwight, 235 Wanasingh.c. Shelton, 314-15 Warnapala, 6ó WitcIlal, Rob H. 22. Wayamba Training Centre, 14 Wealth of Nations, 231 Webcr, 219 White, Leonard D., 307, Wildawsky, Aaron, 38 Willnet A. Perera Salaries Committee
of 1961, 249 Wilson, Woodrow, 6 Woolf, Leonard, 295-96, 300 World Bank, 21-22, 30, 35,37-38, 4. 43-44, 50,56,90-92, 109,131-34, 136, 38-40, 47. 85, 88, 190. 202, 21-13, 217, 223, 225, 23031, 233,237, 239, 243,246, 263, 296, 31, 313,329,350,357,369, 371, 375, 377, 391,393, 419.426

sistent with the shift away from the Newtonian model that has dominated public administration thinking. This volume of papers is offered as a contribution to the ongoing discussion on this paradigm shift and the nature of its consequences.
M. SOMA SUNDRAM is a HOOLTS Graduate in Modern History from the University of Ceylon (1960) and subsequently obtained a Postgraduate Diplomain Business Administrationfrom the University of Birmingham (1970). He joined the higher administrative service, the Ceylon Civil Service, in 1962 and has held a number of responsible positions in public administration, provincial administration, public enterprises and the private sector. He was the Director-General of the Budget responsible for introducing the Planning, Programming and Budget System (PPBS). He established and headed the Directorate of Public Enterprises in the Treasury and the Policy Division in the Ministry of Public Administration where he was an Additional Secretary. He has extensive overseas experience having worked as Senior Adviserin Public Managementat the International Centre for Public Enterprises, Slovenia and the Consultant to the Con II onwealth Secretariat. He has offered consultancy advice to the Governments of Seychelles, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Jamaica and the Solomon Islands. He has authored a number of articles in international journals on matters pertaining to public administration.
Cover design: Dushyan Parisher
ISBN 81-220-0497-0


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