বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ তৃতীয় পত্র
The problems of the administrative personnel and administrative organizations will have to be thought of in the light of the problems stated above. The question is: What kind of Administration are we going to evolve in Bangladesh? What shall be the main features of this administration?
I.
Democratic Administration.
The Awami League is committed to a democratic administration. “The existing administrative machinery was designed to discharge the functions of a colonial Government. It needs to be radically re-structured in order to serve the needs of a dynamic, democratic society", so states the Awami League Manifesto. What is a democratic administration? What are the criteria by which we can judge whether an administration is democratic or not? We must seek to discover the methods by which administration can be made, or kept, democratic.
Professor C. H. Hyneman begins by stating four assumptions. First, the conviction that the bureaucracy must be judged by the way it uses its power, and not by its size and cost. Second, all those who exercise governmental authority should exercise their power within the limits that are acceptable to the nation as a whole. Third, the belief that the powers which the modern bureaucracy possesses can be turned towards ends that are not acceptable to the people as a whole, and may be turned towards them if proper direction and control over administration are not provided. Fourth, we must chiefly rely on elective officials-ministers and politicians to carry out the task of control and direction. Fifth, to be considered democratic, and administration must be open in the sense of having wide contacts with the people. It must not operate in the interest of the ruler or of a directing class. It must be recruited without discrimination from a very wide social strata. It must reflect the cross-sections of the society. Sixth, the administration. Monsien Pujet rightly points, must be controlled not only by an official hierarchy or the jurisdictional power but also by public opinion and public liberties. The people and their representatives must be free to discuss and to criticise the administration. Seventh, administrative power must be subordinate and submissive. Administrative power should not exist independently of political power. On the other hand, the civil servants must not be completely subordinate and the administration must be independent of interference by political patties. A political party in power should not try to monopolies all the jobs or to exercise, pressure on responsible civil servants. The principle of the continuity of administration must be maintained. Ministers are of course entitled to exercise authority over civil servants; what is deprecated is any form of direct pressure by a political party on public officials. Eighth, Professor Aron thinks that the essential criteria of democracy in administration include decentralization; the subordination of administration to policies which reflect the desires of the people; and a friendly attitude on the part of officials towards the governed. Avoidance of arrogance and the cultivation of a friendly attitude towards the public are the outward manifestation of a democratic spirit in administration. “It is the presence of such qualities which bridges the gulf between 'we' and 'they' that often separates the governors from the governed. The existence of such a gulf is opposed both to the interests of good administration and of democracy", rightly observes Professor Robson.
