Fully manned state effective governance

Fully manned state effective governance

The government or public sector in the country suffers from chronic problem of vacancies. Core areas of government activity-education, healthcare, police, defence and judiciary-are short-staffed by as much as 20% to 50% of their required or sanctioned strength. This is strange for a country where manpower abounds, given a population of nearly 1.3 billion, of which 31% is in the age group of 21 to 44 years, and organised sector jobs are scarce.
Filling the vacancies-ranging from primary schoolteachers to judges -will require systemic changes and innovative staffing options. Hiring must be transparent and rule-based. Political interference leads to skewed deployment of personnel, most evident in appointment of teachers and healthcare personnel, who lob by local politicians to seek transfers away from rural areas. The preferred urban and peri-urban areas are overstaffed, resulting in inefficiencies. Next, hiring must be decentralised for some of the sectors such as schools, medical centres and police. Local authorities and institutions should be encouraged to hire from the area. This will create local accountabilities, and ensuring that those employed understand the local realities and have a stake in delivering on their job. In time, it will result in responsive government institutions. Training is an issue, but in some cases, a rigorous system of on-the-job training and incentivising further education opportunities will solve the problem.
There is no one solution to the problem of shortages in core areas. The government needs to have a menu of solutions, adopting those that are best suited for the sector, and the population being addressed. Whatever the options, these must be transparent, rule-based and non-discriminatory.