Improve performance, Gowher Rizvi to public servants

Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi today called upon civil servants to improve the performance in public service, warning that people will lose trust in the government if quality of services deteriorates.

Stating that citizens evaluate the government through services delivery, Rizvi said when quality of service declines, people lose trust in the government – a situation that is “dangerous”.

“If the trust in our government is lost, the door will be open for the populists and the dictators and so forth,” he said.

He was addressing as chief guest at the regional conference on “Government Performance Management System (GPMS)” organised by the cabinet division, BRAC Institute Governance and Development, BRAC University in cooperation with The World Bank at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.

However, he said, Bangladesh government introduced GPMS to achieve the Vision 2021 since 2015 and that it will gain people’s trust.

Since 2015, secretary of each ministry signs Annual Performance Agreement (APA) with the cabinet secretary. In the agreement, the ministry sets its targets of its activities for a year and then the progress is rated at the year-end.

Its objectives include improving overall performance, transparency, accountability and effective use of resources allocated for the ministries.

Responding to a question, Gowher Rizvi said public service is the highest ideal, and anyone committed to it is not much worried about the incentives for it.

He said while all the ministries sign APA separately, they all need to work seamlessly as a team to achieve the goals Bangladesh has envisioned.