Saving public resources
Unnecessary
public works like building again and again road dividers, footpaths, road markers, etc., cause waste
of resources running
into billions of
taka every year
Several small ministries can be amalgamated into one and such a step will save substantial resources. There are government departments the existence of which contribute little or nothing to services delivery to members of the public. It should be sensible to close them down. The employees in them can be said good-bye after paying in full their terminal benefits but the one time payment will prove more worthwhile with the ending of the longer term drain of resources on paying their salaries and other benefits regularly, plus resources squandered on running the rather useless departments. There are also departments rendering similar services but located physically at different places. Such departments can be merged under one roof and the services of the excess employees in them should be terminated after the settlement of their dues.
The governments transportation wings or the vehicles pools can be sources of great waste. Vehicles from the governments transport pools are sometimes found in use by members of the family of the civil servants for shopping and running errands. Exaggerated fuel bills, huge maintenance costs and unearned overtime by drivers are different forms of misuse of resources which have become the integral part of the governments transportation wings. Substantial saving of resources can be achieved by properly running the transport pools. Unnecessary public works like building again and again road dividers, footpaths, road markers, etc., cause waste of resources running into billions of taka every year. The holding of the endless seminars and the like -- the positive results of which in most cases are little or none at all-- is another example of the irrationality in government expenditures.
A great deal of resources are also wasted on the foreign travels of government officials. The travels are, of course, shown to be in the public interest. But careful scrutiny could prove that most of the time the travels contribute little or nothing towards promoting the countrys interests.
The above and many other areas where cuts in spending would be justified should be attempted by the government-- promptly and unsparingly-- to attain efficiency in the utilization of resources. The donors are also rightly pressing the government to go for such cost cutting measures. Government has no way of ignoring such donors prescription for the same are dictated critically in the interest of good governance.
