Committee to Modernize Public Sector proposals are met with mixed reactions

AMMAN — A member of the Committee to Modernize the Public Sector, speaking anonymously to Al-Rai newspaper, made known some of the committee’s proposals for dealing with the public sector administrative flaws in order to fulfill the Royal vision for the country. The proposals, as published by the newspaper, were received with mixed reactions by officials who either found them useful or dismissed them as unfounded. Former minister of public sector development Maher Madadha told Jordan News that the committee is not dealing with the issues holistically, wondering how the committee could depend on the Civil Service Bureau system “when it is defective”. The committee, Madadha said, relies on the Civil Service Bureau to nominate individuals for early retirement even though this is the prerogative of the Social Security Corporation. According to Al-Rai’s article, the committee proposals included restructuring the public sector, by relying on performance and efficiency indicators, and setting standards of good governance when appointing leadership positions, based on transparency, accountability, and monitoring performance to reduce nepotism, favoritism, and corruption; offering options for early retirement; and setting up a mechanism to merge ministries, which would lead to a new managerial system and public institutions work procedures. According to Madadha, the committee’s vision is “foggy”. “Is it targeted at public resources or human resources? Reform should be holistic, not partial,” he said, wondering how early retirement could benefit human resources in the public sector. Madadha suggested that the committee should handle the public sector reform with the economy in mind. “They should decide if the public sector’s aim is to provide services and oversee them or only to organize the private sector through new legislation.” “If the government were to shrink, it would be easier to deal with the human resources,” he added. Radi Al-Atoum, former director-general of the Institute of Public Administration, on the other hand, believes that said proposals are the answer to issues faced over the years, particularly concerning the performance and efficiency indicators of those in leading positions, “a critical issue because many people get hired without knowing why they were hired or what the goals they have to achieve during their time in public service are”.  Atoum said that the performance and efficiency indicators should be mentioned in officials’ job descriptions, adding that “there should be follow up every three months, and if by the end of the year the officials did not achieve the goals, they should be dismissed”. Atoum also believes that it makes sense to merge some ministries because many institutions have relatively similar goals or services, “so instead of having many separate departments, merge them into one department that should be managed by a board of directors and a minister”. “I encourage these proposals; it is imperative to restructure institutions,” he said. At the same time, Atoum said that giving less than six months to restructure the public sector in unrealistic, because it is a big task. Read more National news   (window.globalAmlAds = window.globalAmlAds || []).push('admixer_async_509089081')   (window.globalAmlAds = window.globalAmlAds || []).push('admixer_async_552628228') Read More Body Found in King Talal Dam After Disappearance King Emphasizes the Urgency of Ending the Israeli War on Gaza Immediately King Receives Phone Call from Iranian President