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Use of Government Transports in Bangladesh

Making Government work

by analyst
The present mess in the use of government transports may be cleared by curtailing private use of government transports to the maximum, privatisation ofgovernment transports. expansion of public transports in the pri-vote sector, and finally, improvement of traffic management in the city area.THERE is hardly anything right in the manner in which government transports are being presently used in Bangladesh. It has nothing to do with this or that government. This situation has evolved over a period of time from baci to worse. Let us focus on the Secretariat to illustrate this point. It is well known that the Central Transport Pool under the Establishment Ministry is a hot bed of inefficiency. waste and corruption, fuelled by unhealthy trade unionism and vested interests. Officers entitled to full-time use of transports are virtually at the mercy of the drivers, mainly because as employees of the Central Transport Pool they are not under the direct “control of ihe officers they sire working for. Many unhappy incidents have taken plate over the years on this account, and this state of affairs stiH persists. Misuse and theft of fuel is quite rampant, despite various checks and balances on paper. Similarly, maintenance is extremely poor, and vehicle parts are being pilfered and sold al) the time. And yet. every year, a considerable number of transports is being acquired under the auspices of the Central Transport Pool, eh ther as replacements or additions.
There are al^o other gross violations of the rules regarding the use of government transports. Firstly, many high-ups would use transports in addition to the one they are entitled to for full-time use. Secondly, many mid-level and junior officers, entitled to use government transports for official purposes only, are using them full-time, which, obviously includes private use. Both these wrongdoings are generally fuelled by pressure from the family. Besides setting the worst possible examples, such practices are also robbing Them of (heir moral right to discijiline drivers and other petty officials involved in cor-
ruption. inefficiency and highhandedness in the use of gov eminent transports. There are also problems with the rules themselves. For example, the payment rale for private use of government transports is so nominal that jt is not sufficient even to cover normal maintenance. Similarly, the overtime rate lor drivers is a pittance which has remained unrevised, for many wars.
It seems to me that at a time when the whole world is supporting privatisation and downsizing of government, we are still languishing in the false complacency of yesteryears. Indeed, we can ill afford to have such a huge number of transports at the disposal of the government, particularly when we have demonstrated our utter inability to manage these. It is from this perspective that we have to take a number of urgent steps to Improve the existing situation. Firstly, fulltime use of government transports by officers should be discontinued from a specified date. But before that all those officers enjoying this facility should be provided with loans on easy terms to purchase personal cares. At the same time, they should be given a cash equivalent of the rulp they are now provided with. Free driver services shpuld also be given, but the driver should be placed at the disposal of the Ministry of the Officer, rather than retained with the Central Transport Pool as is the present practice. This will, to some jextent. ensure the driver's accountability which is now very lax. It will also break up the unhealthy trade unionism in the Central Pool. In the second phase, loan facilities on easy terms for purchase of cars of a smaller capacity should be extended to mid-level officers, but without
any entitlement of free fuel and driver. Below that level, officers should be given loans on easy terms for purchase of motor cycles. The magnitude of proposed loans should be realistic in relation to the market prices of vehicles. In the short run. the loans may pose a burden but In the loan term these should lead to a satisfactory situation for all parties.
Secondly, the government should forthwith stop purchase of transports, with a moratorium for a period of at least five years, after which the situation may be reviewed. A small number of cars of the Central Pool should be distributed among various Ministries for use by foreign dignitaries and for other official work according to clearly laid down procedures. In other words, the Central Pool should be broken up into a number of small transport pools under the Ministries. The smallness of the pool should enable its strict supervision and monitoring by the Chief Accounting Officer of the Ministry.
Thirdly, there should also be a ban on the fresh recruitment of drivers, and those _ drivers retiring should not be replaced. However, their overtime rate should be substantially increased, and particularly those drivers serving VIPs should be given priority in housing allotment. Fourthly, the ' remaining cars of the Central Pool, that is. after distribution among the Ministries, should be sold out in open auction to members of the public. The Central Poo)
should ultimately be winded up and its officers and staff should be absorbed in other Ministries. Fifthly, the existing rules regarding private use of government transports will have,to be more stringently applied but this can be done only yvhen people at the top are not themselves violators of the rule. A fresh circular from the government on this issue, followed by wide publicity, ex-
emplary punishment for repeated violations, addressing of officials by Ministers and Secretaries on this subject, explaining the new circular in training classes, etc. are some of the many measures that government may take to implement the rule in letter and spirit. The existing payment rate for private use of government transports will also have to be substantially raised to cover the costs of fuel and normal maintenance.
Finally, all-out efforts have to be made for an Increased provision of safe and timely public transports at reasonable rates in the private sector, particularly for those routes which are used most frequently by office goers. This would entail not only an increase in the supply of buses, coasters and tempos in general and during peak hours in particular, through various incentives and regulatory mechanisms. but also much better traffic management. We cannot do away with rickshaws overnight, although efforts will have to be initiated right now. At the same time, constructing more roads and bridges will take time, even If funds can be
arranged now. so in the short term, the problem of traffic jams and congestion (adversely affecting the movement of office goers) will have to be remedied by gearing up traffic management in terms of batter service by the traffic police (including use of volunteers on an honorarium basis) so that they can ensure stricter adherence to traffic rules by drivers and members of the public, proper registration of vehicles and issuance of driving licenses, etc. These measures are such that they can be implemented here and now, provided the government Vx-
ercises its political will.
To sum up, the present mess in the use of government transports may be cleared by curtailing private use of government transports to the maximum, privatisation of government transports, expansion of public transports in the private sector, and finally, improvement of traffic management in the city area. Vested interests are likely to resist,>in particular, the first two measures. but since these will also benefit a large number of people. the support of the latter may. if necessary, be harnessed to offset the machinations by forces resisting change. In any case, the government will have to be bold enough to initiate any substantive reform.