80% of people feel public administration system not people-friendly: Survey

Highlights:

• Survey conducted by Public Administration Reform Commission
• Opinions from 1,05,000 citizens collected online
• 56% believe political interference main obstacle to making public administration more people-friendly
• 96% experienced lack of transparency, accountability in public administration

A survey on public administration reform has found 80% of people think that the public administration system is not people-friendly

The Public Administration Reform Commission conducted the survey by collecting opinions from 1,05,000 citizens online.

At the same time, 56% of people believe political interference is the main obstacle to making public administration more people-friendly, while 42% consider corruption to be the primary barrier.

Participants also had the opportunity to share their opinions freely beyond the set questions.

The Cabinet Division released the commission's full report yesterday, where these findings were highlighted.

The survey results indicated that 84.4% of citizens believed that reforms are needed in the country's public administration.

Moreover, 68.8% of citizens believed that there has been a lack of neutrality in public administration over the past 15 years.

According to the survey, 52% of respondents believed that ensuring accountability should be the primary goal of public administration reform, while 36% thought that eliminating corruption is the main objective.

Nearly 96% of respondents have experienced a lack of transparency and accountability in public administration.

Additionally, 66.4% of citizens felt that government employees behave like rulers towards the public, and among them, 31% believed they are discourteous in their interactions.

The report stated that 52% of respondents mentioned that it is impossible to receive any service without paying a bribe, and 46% reported having faced harassment when seeking services.

Nearly 76% of respondents believed that strengthening the existing upazila system could lead to better services, while 68% believed the current district council system is completely ineffective.

Furthermore, 47% of respondents thought that strengthening the existing union councils and municipalities could help integrate them with public administration.

The report stated that 57% of respondents believed that strict laws should be enacted to prevent government employees from being influenced by political pressure.

Only 23% of respondents thought that the widespread use of digital methods in public administration could help provide equitable services.

Furthermore, only 4% of citizens believed that increasing salaries and benefits could reduce bribery and corruption.