Elusive efficiency

LAYERS of administration do not make for an efficient system. The government’s move to introduce Jana Sabas to oversee development work may end up adding more red tape rather than improving effectiveness of projects.

It was reported over the weekend that legislation to establish Jana Sabhas countrywide to monitor development work will be presented in Parliament next month. These Sabhas will come under the purview of the Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

Under the new move Jana Sabas will have powers to draw up their own budgets, development plans and seek financial allocations from the Central Government. The Sabhas will also have multi-ethnic representation. In addition, school principals, religious leaders and others who have an insight on the needs of their respective areas would also be included.

Any project of the Provincial Council or the respective local authority would need to have the approval of the Jana Sabha in the area. Failing to gain such approval would mean that they cannot go ahead with the project. The Jana Sabhas would also have control on how the decentralised budget for MPs, meant for development in the area, would be spent. The Jana Sabha would have the authority to monitor projects of the Provincial Council or the respective local council and take action to stop such projects which are not being carried out in a proper way.

Each Jana Sabha would cover an area of three to four local councils and the head of it would be one of the members elected to the councils. A graduate would be appointed as the secretary, and an advisory committee comprising representatives of the villages would be set up to advice on development work. The respective Divisional Secretaries would also be members of the Jana Sabhas.

Clearly these Jana Sabas could duplicate the work that should be carried out by the Local Authorities, Provincial Councils and Divisional Secretariats. What is the need for reappointing these same individuals to Jana Sabas to oversee projects that they are already involved in? Surely collaborating with different officials and community members can be done in a less cumbersome way. Moreover the extra employees needed to run the Jana Sabas countrywide will also result in more public expenditure.

Lacklustre voting at the local government polls have shown what little faith the people have of these politicians being able to carry out development work that will directly benefit the people in a transparent and accountable manner. Adding yet another layer to the public service will only make the process arduous with approval having to be obtained from one more committee. How will businesses be encouraged to operate when they have to spend more money getting approval and face untold delays in the process? How will the money that they are granted be accounted for? At what point do they directly answer to the people?

For Sri Lanka to really achieve a competent governance system the entire machinery needs to be simplified with each party knowing their precise duty and have the ability to carry it out without running from pillar to post. Adding yet another string of red tape surely will only delay the development process and give more people the chance to make a “cut” from it. Community leaders may seem like the perfect whistle blowers but often they are either too scared, unconcerned or hand in glove with the perpetrators. Empowering these people to spearhead development in their area will be an uphill task at best.

The already confused grass root level governance system will only be made more cumbersome by this move unless the government can infuse it with much needed efficiency.