Lately a slogan in the form of graffiti (wall writing) on some streets in Dhaka city has caught public attention. The slogan translated from Bangla somewhat reads like this: If it is terrorism to extort money by pointing a pistol at you. a similar crime is committed when an office file is held back for making illegal gain. Since normally, the walls of city streets bear mostly slogans of political nature. this particular slogan seemed somewhat different in character and. therefore, caused curiosity and some measure of discussion.

In the eyes of some observers. the slogan contains some elements of truth. Judging from the present scenario in administration. While a terrorist extorts money openly with the threat of force, the picture Is different with a public functionary who realise money In secret by holding back a file of necessary papers. The slogan seems to convey the message that the later category of persons may also be regarded as mastans (musclemen) wearing a "white collar".

The prevailing idea which carries some elements of grievance is that if you have any business to get done at any government ministry or department, you need to have a lot of patience and perseverance, besides the capacity for cajoling and flattery. In the common view, the all-important factor Is greasing the palms of the persons concerned. Lack of responsibility and accountability is alleged to be the causative factor for this stay of affairs.

It is gathered that In the Secretariat Instructions. It is laid down that an Assistant Secretary can hold a file for 72 hours for examination and noting, a Deputy Secretary for 48 hours for his views and the higher level for 2 hours for decision. There was also a system for submitting periodic returns of pending flies to higher authorities. All this seems to have been lost in limbo.

These instructions. frame-

d in earlier times, may app ear unrealistic in the present state of things in view of the enormous increase of wor kload in many offices. In this context need may be felt for revising such Instructions. But none can deny that the existing trend seems to give unfettered latitude to (he dealing officials af various levels to hold back a file for as long as he < hooses. unless pressured by quarters at higher levels to set it moving or there is a quid pro quo ar rangement to facilitate its movement.

Observers feel that, in view of the large-scale public complaints of excessive delay in disposal of files at different levels, a revised time-frame in the light of present-day realities should be drawn up. specifying the time-limit for dealing with a file at each level of hierarchy. Once that time-frame is adopted, the supervising officials should make it a point to strictly en force it. If under any exceptional circumstances, a de parture from the prescribed time-limit becomes necessary. a periodic list of such pending cases should be regularly placed before the head of the office, so that it may be possible to keep track of them for their expeditious disposal at a later stage. Some observers believe that In this way there are hopes of checking the present ominous trend of delay, either intentionally caused or otherwise, in the disposal of government business.

Any visitor to the Secretariat can find in a ministry or department stacks of files occupying a large part of office space. There are exl sting instructions for consigning the old important files to the Secretariat Record Room and for destroying the unimportant ones at specified Intervals. Apparently from the glut of office files which can be seen in many offices in the Secretariat, it appears that those instructions are never followed. A Se<«< ’ iriat source confirms

this. This has led one obser ver to comment caustically that most of these files are fit for consignment to (he Buriganga

The chaotic situation has raised a vital issue. The accumulation of such large vol times of office files is not only Inconsistenl with our need for fast pace In technological advancement in the present age. but also detrimental to the cause of economic progress of our country. When the present ethos of slow processing and disposal of official business Joins with forces of chaos and confusion created In the wilderness of accumulated office tiles, there Is cause for anxiety that the development of the conn try in many sectors is likely Io suffer.

In this context, the ques tlon of time economics arises If the filing system is computerised, the task of tracing out a file could have been accomplished in a Jiffy. Since in our case, the question of affordability is involved. the answer is a phased Introduction of that system, initially covering the more important ministries and departments. As we stand on the threshold of the 21st century, there is no doubt that the vast technological prowess of computers is destined to become one of the fundamental requirements of man. as they will be the most helpful tools to meet the increasing demands for more productive use of time.

Against this background, the need for Introducing computerised filing system network in the Secretariat offices even in a phased manner is felt to be very urgent by information technologists. If we look at the developed countries, we find even a grocery equipped with a computer, so. to meet the demands of time economics, it is in national interest to effect change in our outlook in the matter of efficient management of office records as early as possible.