Govt service delivery improved, but its accountability dipped

A study has found that the government delivery of services to the people improved last year while living standards, business confidence, and investment dropped compared to the records of 2006.
The government's accountability also saw a decline while the executive branch wielded greater power.
The study report titled 'The State of Governance in Bangladesh 2007', and released by the Institute of Governance Studies (IGS) yesterday, also revealed that politicians were the least trusted professionals in the country last year, with the police and local government representatives making up the bottom three.
Teachers were the most trusted professionals, followed by the military, local benefactors, and journalists.
"Governance suffered a setback as the political, albeit non-partisan, power was further concentrated by the executive and the accountability mechanisms further weakened," the report found, which was released at Brac Centre Inn by eminent economist Prof Rehman Sobhan.
Speaking as the chief guest of the ceremony, Rehman Sobhan said, "In our country if the findings of a study goes against someone's interest, usually questions are raised about the study's motive."
Later talking to journalists he said, "The government has to come to a settlement with political parties regarding the crisis surrounding the ongoing dialogues."
When asked whether a resolution to the current political crisis is possible keeping the two detained chiefs of the two major political parties out of the process, he said, "Nothing will be possible without the involvement of political leaders."
Regarding the demand for release of AL chief Sheikh Hasina and BNP chief Khaleda Zia, he said, "They are still the party chiefs!"
The report of IGS said the country is going through a paradox where a centralised and unaccountable government is trying to design and build a decentralised system to make future governments more accountable.
The report also found a general decline in living standards compared to 2006, and low degree of public trust in institutions and individuals perceived as political.
Power, police, and customs were perceived as the most corrupt sectors while the education sector was perceived as the least corrupt.
The report also revealed that the business sector is 'suffering from instability and uncertainty -- adding pressure to the declining state of economy'.
"Political regime change and the anti-corruption drive led to a breakdown of the politics-business nexus and had an adverse impact on national economic activity," the report stated, later adding, "Certain steps by the caretaker government have led to an erosion of business confidence and investment."
But, the report went on to say that 2007 is a 'year of change that may become formative in shaping a new paradigm for governance in the country'.
"The political will of the executor of change, the caretaker government, as is manifested in its anti-corruption initiatives and its direction of reforms, provide reasonable promise for better governance in the future," the report stated.
The report found positive opinion of government reforms, better access to justice, and improvement in service delivery in the sectors of education, law and order, and the judiciary.
IGS expects the institutional reforms undertaken by the government to 'bring a massive and badly needed improvement to governance', and the report is 'cautiously optimistic' despite the fact that 'the impact of these initiatives cannot yet be assessed'.
The report found that the public support for the government's initiatives is stemming from low level of public trust in state institutions. But, it warned that implementing the reforms and running the government 'may be difficult' without the support of bureaucracy.
IGS cited its own survey to reveal that respondents said the government 'made considerable efforts to clean up elements of bad government'.
The report stated the emergency declared on January 11, 2007 halted the 'worsening state crisis and resolved the political impasse', and the Emergency Power Rules allowed the new 'army-supported government' to start its anti-corruption and institutional reform process.
IGS observed, since democracy was restored last time in 1991, the parties in power governed through a 'winner-takes-all' system, and they took advantage of their position to capture and strengthen their partisan hold on the state.
"The vicious alternation of power between the two major parties ensured that no real change would ensue," the report observed adding, a bi-partisan consensus over the game-rules of politics continued with outbursts of violence and turmoil.
On NGO governance, the report found that there is a lack of public information on NGO regulations and the NGOs themselves are not interested in making their accountability mechanisms transparent to their beneficiaries or to the public.
The report cited another survey revealing high crime rates in urban slums, and 'high levels of insecurity' among ethnic and religious minority groups. But it also found that community-level security arrangements 'play a significant role in reducing crime and insecurity'.