Ministry of Finance and Planning, Sri Lanka > Annual Report Cadre Management in the Public Sector

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1 Ministry of Finance and Planning, Sri Lanka > Annual Report Cadre Management in the Public Sector 413

2 10 Cadre Management in the Public Sector 10.1 Overview Public Sector Human Resource Management requires the support of a well structured cadre to deploy employees in a cost effective manner. Mahinda Chinthana Development Policy Framework emphasizes a pivotal role by the public sector in country s social and economic development with the special recognition in uplifting rural economy, developing human resources and improving public service delivery to the people. In keeping with this overall policy emphasis and thrust, the actual public service cadre at national level as well as provincial and local level devolved administration and district, divisional and village level decentralized administration has been increased from 1,146,000 in 2006 to 1,279,849 in The cadre composition comes under public sector which consists of ministries, departments, institutions, state enterprises including banks and financial institutions, provincial and local authority level establishments and security forces is given below. level, secondary and primary levels. This classification is based on the government sector salary structure revised by the Presidential Commission on Salaries and Cadres implemented in 2006 with the Public Administration Circular No.06/2006 following the recognition of the proposal to introduce a new salary structure in government services. Employees performing basic functions in janitorial, electrical, transportation, communication systems, etc. to facilitate the carrying out of activities of the government agencies are brought under the category of primary level. The employees who facilitate and assist the administrative and managerial and a wide range of service deliveries come under the secondary level. They include development officers, management assistants, teachers, Table 10.1 > Public Sector Cadre Composition Approved Actual Administrative Level Cadre Cadre National 956, ,916 Provincial 334, ,652 Local Authorities 50, ,281 Total 1, 341, 571 1,279,849 Chart 10.1 > Classification of Cadre of Public Sector by Service Level Primary Level 22% Senior Level 4% Tertiary Level 4% The actual utilization of the approved cadre was 95.4 percent due to retirement about 40,000 during 2011 and 2012 and delay in recruitment, promotion and appointment due to procedural reasons. This suggests better planning in the overall cadre management Service Level Distribution Public service is provided under four main levels of staff comprising senior level, tertiary Secondary Level 70% nurses, police officers, etc. Administrative officers, and other supervisory grades, etc. are in tertiary level. The senior level comprised Secretaries, Head of the Departments, other executives, judicial and law officers as well as medical officers. 414

3 Ministry of Finance and Planning, Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2012 Table 10.2 > Public Sector Cadre Composition by Service Level Administrative Level Service Level Senior Tertiary Secondary Primary Actual Cadre National 35,771 35, , , ,916 Provincial 13,675 15, ,553 60, ,652 Local Authorities ,606 31,945 49,281 Total 50,442 52, , ,537 1,279,849 The secondary level represents 70 percent of the total public sector workforce considering the nature of public services and public policy which recognize equal access to education and health services for the population throughout the country and significant level of grassroot level operations targeting poverty reduction, agriculture extension, environmental conservation, wildlife and forestry, etc. Prolonged terorist threat in selected parts in the country has also contributed to strengthen national security cadres majority of whom fall within this level to provide security and stability in the country. Twenty two percent are engaged in primary level to assist next layers of public service.reflecting a geographically well distributed administrative network throughout the country, the balance is engaged in administrative, supervisory and managerial positions captured in tertiary and senior level of administration each of which represent four percent of public service. Primary level category represents a higher percentage of 65 percent of the total cadre of local authorities which provides essential and community based services to the public such as street cleaning, waste management and provision of other common amenities. Primary level comprises three groups as unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled based on the competence level. Unskilled employees represent the major share of the entire primary level employees. Chart 10.2 > Classification of Primary Level Employees PL 2- Semi-Skilled 24% PL 3 - Skilled 9% As per the above classification, the highest share of national and provincial council level is denoted by the secondary level staff representing devolved and decentralized administration of education, health, agriculture, irrigation, postal and social services. PL 1 - Unskilled 67% 415

4 10 Cadre Management in the Public Sector Unskilled employees are not required to possess any vocational training or tradesmanship of any nature in performing their duties as an entry qualification. Functions such as Carpentry, Masonery, Painting etc. which require industrial skills, fall into the category of functions performed by semi-skilled personnel. Personnel who perform functions which required to obtain a certificate having followed an industrial training course are considered as skilled personnel. As observed in chart 10.2, the percentage of unskilled labourers is 67 as against the 9 percent skilled personnel. Primary level unskilled category consists of sanitary labourers, watchers and office aides who perform supportive services to the entire public service. Employees in senior level are recruited through a Scheme of Recruitment, while their transfers, promotions and diciplinary inquiries are governed under the Public Service Commission. Appointments to the senior level Heads of Department positions are made by the Cabinet of Ministers while Secretaries are appointed by the President in terms of obligations of the constitution, respectively Sectoral Distribution The sectoral distribution of employment of the public service depends on the government policy, priorities and role of the service facilitation. As shown in Table 10.3, the largest share of 33 percent of public sector employment is engaged in the security, law and order services to fulfill the primary responsibility of the government to ensure national security as well as a stable and orderly society for economic and social progress. The education Mahinda Chinthana Development Policy Framework emphasizes a pivotal role by the public sector in country s social and economic development with the special recognition in uplifting rural economy, developing human resources and improving public service delivery to the people. sector represents 23 percent and health sector represents 10 percent reflecting the government commitment to promote free education and health services throughout the country to ensure access to education and healthcare services. The employment rate of the health sector in central government is 47 percent as against 53 percent in the Provincial Councils and Local Authorities. As there is a development in teaching hospitals with specialized facilities to provincial needs, the central government has a considerably high share in health sector. 416

5 Ministry of Finance and Planning, Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2012 Table 10.3 > Classification of Cadre by Sectors Sector Central Government 1 Provincial Councils Security, Law & Order Civil Administration Public Service Semi Government Commercial Entities Local Authorities Total Percentage 41,9918 2,028 2, , ,754 4,345 1,917 28,712 16,977 98,705 8 Education 37,477 30, , , Health 60, ,618 60,190 9, , Social Development 12,302 3,356-2,607 7,000 25,265 2 Agriculture 34,468 7,993 6,367 9, ,844 4 Industry & Commerce 7,540 7,846 8,627 1,765-25,778 2 Infrastructure 49,974 49,832 82,947 3,778 15, , Banking , ,042 2 Total 668, , , ,652 49,281 1,279, In the education sector, the share of employment in the Provincial Councils and Local Authorities is 77 percent as against 23 percent in the central government. The central government employment in the education sector consists of principals and teachers in national schools, university staff, staff of colleges of education, staff of vocational training institutes, and staff of Teacher Training Schools. Since the government development policy framework considers the integrated infrastructure development as the key to promote regionally balanced development and reduce poverty, 91 percent of the cadre in infrastructure sector is employed under the central government Professions Human resources profile of public sector includes several professional service categories such as Medical, Legal, Accountancy, Engineering and Technical. During the last decade, a gradual increase in these categories has been made in support of development activities and broadening multi disciplinary skills in public services. 1 Central government consists of pensionable public service, semi government i.e. universities, budgetary funded corporations and statutory boards; and government owned business enterprises including state banks. 417

6 10 Cadre Management in the Public Sector Table 10.4 > Classification of Cadre of Public Sector by Professions Profession National Provincial Local Authorities Total Engineer 3, ,101 Technical Officer 3, ,333 4,725 Doctor 9,628 6, ,109 Nurse 19,891 10, ,214 Public Health Inspector 134 1, ,654 Family Health Officer (Midwife) 1,094 7, ,703 Veterinary Surgeon Lecturer 6, ,454 Teacher 31, , ,788 Administrator 3, ,545 Accountant 1, ,826 Management Assistant 16,677 9,658 5,857 32,192 Karyala Karya Sahayaka 103,626 2,377 1, ,865 Since all the schools, except national schools, are coming under the purview of Provincial Councils, 86 percent of the total number of teachers is administered by Provincial Councils. Teacher recruitments have increased to provide wider range of subjects in Mathematics, Science, English and Information Technology. Teacher student ratio has also improved from 1:19 in 2006 to 1:18 in In the backdrop of post conflict development and restoration of services in the conflict affected areas targeting the expansion of health services at district level there has been an upward trend in the recruitment of doctors and other service personnel. Accordingly, population served by a doctor has decreased to 1,187 persons to a doctor in 2012 from 2,104 in Similarly, the number of nursing personnel has also increased while the facilities in hospital services have improved. Hence, the number of persons to a nurse has progressively reduced to 680 in 2012 from 813 in With a view to strengthen the preventive healthcare and maternal and child healthcare, action has been taken to double the number of Family Health Officers (Midwives) to 8,703 in 2012 from 4,819 in Further the number of Public Health Inspectors has increased to 1,654 by the year 2012, indicating that the health sector has been able to improve the quality of its service delivery, especially at community level. Most of the agricultural and veterinary officers who scattered throughout the country deliver services under provincial level as well as under central government and implement extension programmes at grassroots level. In addition to the services performed by the Provincial Councils and Local Authorities, there are officers engaged by the government in decentralized services at divisional and village level to provide basic administrative services in livelihood and poverty reduction programmes. The operational cadre engaged in such services at the end of 2012 is given in Table Accordingly, there are four officers who are assigned to provide key services at village level and at the same time eight officers are mainly engaged in extension and awareness at divisional level. 418

7 Ministry of Finance and Planning, Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2012 Table 10.5 > Field Officers at Village and Divisional Levels Officers at Village Level Officers at Divisional Level Officer Group Operational Cadre-2012 Grama Niladari 10,671 Samurdhi Development Officer 12,192 Agriculture Research and Production Assistant 8,849 Family Health Officer (Midwife) 5,378 Sub Total 37,090 Coconut Development Officer 196 Rubber Development Officer 114 Tea Inspector 182 Agriculture Instructor 984 Veterinary Surgeon 465 Livestock Development Instructor 625 Social Service Officer 514 Child Rights Promotion Assistant 279 Sub Total 3,359 Total 40, Creation of New Posts and Filling of Vacancies during 2012 The creation of new posts and permission to fill vacancies in the approved cadre is done having given due regards to exigencies of services, emerging demands in new areas of work and budgetary implications as it connects with the permanent cost unlike contract jobs which work in accordance with sunset principle. Uneven distribution of public servants between urban and rural areas and difficulties in implementing a systematic deployment and transfer system also a matter of concern when requests for the creation of new posts and filling of vacancies are made. Considering the service requirements in government agencies to fill skills gaps, almost 50,000 new posts were created in 2012 based on need assessments carried out by the Department of Management Services on each of such requests in consultation with ministries, departments and Provincial Councils. These requests were primarily for teachers on specific subjects and specific geographical areas, nursing, labour relations, agrarian development, technical categories and languages and prevailing cadre limitations in terms of service demand. 419

8 10 Cadre Management in the Public Sector Table 10.6 > Creation of New Posts in 2012 Institution No. of Posts Percentage Ministries 30, Departments 8, Provincial Councils 11, Total 49, Out of the total number of posts created, 61 percent of posts was created for ministries while 23 percent was created for Provincial Councils. The approval has been granted for the creation of new posts to recruit qualified staff in selected categories particularly to teaching and rural centric development programmes. Moreover, actions have been taken to recruit development officers following the compiling of Development Officers Service Minute to be deployed in areas where their services are in highly demand and to engage such recruitment from unemployed graduates in development activities. The creation of 2,700 posts of teachers and 25,201 posts of Development Officers is significant among 30,106 new posts created for ministries in The implementation of Divi Neguma programme covering almost 14,022 Grama Niladhari divisions and link that National to Divisional and District secretariats, 16,478 posts of Development Officers were created for the Ministry of Economic Development. Further, 1,610 posts for the Department of Land Commissioner General and 2,500 posts for the Department of Agrarian Development were created to facilitate the decentralized operations of the agencies at field level. During 2012, approval has been granted to fill 8,952 vacancies. In consideration of the exigencies of service, approval was granted to fill the vacancies of 526 posts of Public Management Assistant and 200 posts of Assistant Engineer for the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs and Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management, respectively. Table 10.7 > Filling of Vacancies in 2012 Institution No. of Posts Percentage Ministries 2, Departments 2, Provincial Councils 3, Total 8, With the expansion of infrastructure development initiatives in recent years in irrigation, road development, power generation and transmission, ports and airport development, housing and urban development, the number of engineers and technical officers in the public sector have increased considerably. 420

9 Ministry of Finance and Planning, Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2012 Box 10.1 Review of Provincial Councils Cadre A cadre review of Provincial Councils was carried out by the Department of Management Services in 2012 to address their cadre needs and to ensure efficient and effective service delivery to the public by Provincial Councils with the co-operation of officials of the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils, National Salaries and Cadres Commission and the Finance Commission. The review was carried out by evaluating the work load, and their relevance, recruitment systems and qualifications, relevant salary scales and designations and budgetary implications. Provincial Council Table B > Revised Cadre of the Provincial Councils Population No. of Districts No. of Div. Sec. Revised Cadre Wage Bill Rs 000 Wayamba 2,370, ,059 14,164.7 Western 5,821, ,844 20,486.6 Southern 2,464, ,445 13,393.8 Eastern 1,551, ,871 5,755.2 Northern 1,058, ,051 10,483.0 Central 2,558, ,326 14,752.2 Uva 1,259, ,195 9,073.6 Sabaragamuwa 1,918, ,691 10,299.6 North Central 1,259, ,080 7,214.4 Total 20,263, , ,623.1 During this review, number of deficiencies were revealed such as irregular deployment of officers, use of inappropriate designations, application of incorrect salary payments, absence of proper schemes of recruitments and promotions and engagement of employees without proper compliance to the cadre needs. Having recognized these deficiencies and need for a rational cadre, actions were taken to regularize salaries, designations, schemes of recruitments and service minutes followed by the revision of cadres based on population, extent and the resource profile of the province and specific service needs of the province. 421

10 10 Cadre Management in the Public Sector Since health and education services are key mandates of Provincial Councils, cadre was determined based on the social indicators such as maternal mortality and child mortality rates, school enrolment, locational issues as well as international standards and norms. For instance, students/teacher ratio, classification of schools, number of patients, classification of hospitals, number of families in each localities, use of amicable facilities, availability of teachers and service personnel in health etc. were critically analyzed in the process of cadre revision. Further, cadre requirement for revenue management and infrastructure development was emphasized with the intension of regional level upliftment. As per cadre review, some of the posts were re-categorized and rationalized based on the nature of duties and responsibilities and thereby optimum cadre was determined and excess cadre was suppressed or redesigned. Separate units for Legal Affairs, Auditing and Information Technology were recognized for each Provincial Council in order to streamline the functions of respective field and strengthen provincial administration. With a view to reinforce the fields of planning, administration and finance of Provincial Councils, cadres for key managerial positions were also created in the provinces with appropriate adjustment to existing cadre and through the creation of new positions. The new cadre was operationalized effective from as per the instructions given by the Department of Management Services. The transition issues are being addressed jointly by respective Provincial Councils, Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils, Finance Commission and the Department of Management Services Challenges in Restructuring of Salaries and Cadres A new salary structure which was formulated through a wide consultations with trade unions, experts and the government agencies was adopted in 2006 as per the 2006 budget proposal based on the recommendations of National Salaries and Cadres Commission to the government service. The new structure is based on the re-categorization of public servants within 36 salary scales as compared to 127 salary scales that prevailed prior to 2006 salary structure. In line with the 2006 salary structure, 1: 4.05 salary ratio between the lowest grade and the highest grade in public service, i.e. labourer and Secretary of a Ministry, was recognized. As proposed in 2013 budget, this structure which has been in operation for the 8th consecutive year, is expected to review again by a new Pay Commission to reformulate to suit emerging demand. A comprehensive cadre review of public institutions is now being carried out to take the cadre rationalization process commenced with Provincial Councils. Accordingly, cadre assessment of Postal Department has been commenced in order to rationalize their cadres and make use of optimum utilization of public resources. Further, cadres of Department of Police and all Divisional Secretariats are planned to be reviewed in This ongoing review has made it possible to work out on updated cadre with redeployment of employees to get their maximum contribution through sorting out most of the administrative problems inhibiting best performance of public servants and an optimum use of the approved cadre. 422

11 Ministry of Finance and Planning, Sri Lanka > Annual Report 2012 It is a challenging task to make adjustments in the cadre as well as salaries and allowances of each service category to ensure efficient delivery of public services. Cadres of the public service are determined taking into consideration the evolving policy strategies, development needs and financing cost of public service. Hence, undertaking a comprehensive cadre review will enable to improve the performance of public servants and their financing effectively. However, it is necessary to recognize that effective use of the approved cadres requires a proper engagement of employees in their respective positions with assigned duties. Although Heads of Institutions are responsible to place staff in a manner that will make cost effective service delivery and motivate them to improve their performance, it is noted that, such a practice has not been commonly followed making uneven distribution of work among employees in the cadre that has been satisfied on service ground. Non implementation of transfer policy, not making placements according to skills and work involvement, lack of re-organization and reorientation in agencies and absence of on the job knowledge and skills development effectively are common weaknesses reflecting in budget discussions and cadre review process. Public servants have a challengeable task in the management of post conflict development and administration, particularly in the context of government commitment to promote food security, self-sufficiency in food production and going beyond millennium development goals and making the country free of poverty by Hence, the government remains committed to ensure remuneration, pension rights, a decent work environment, skills development and employment security. In view of this, the 2013 budget proposed a new Pay Commission to reexamine the overall salary structure of the public sector and formulate a National Wage Policy to address concerns of public sector work force. The country s public service, though appear large in terms of the cadre size, occupies a special place in country s development considering the country dynamics. The total of 239,000 employees serve in state enterprises like banks, utility enterprises engaged in promoting strategic commercial and infrastructure development activities and do not depend on national budget. They also are not eligible to non-contributory pension rights enjoyed by government servants. Further, about 300,000 employees are engaged in national security, while about 700,000 of wide range of public servants comprising civil administration, education, health, agriculture and irrigation, economic and social services. The public service as a whole has shown its institutional and managerial capacity in disaster management, resettlements, poverty reduction and provision of basic needs of the population as evident in relevant social and economic indicators. However, further improvements are necessary to make it a cost effective and client friendly service particularly in respect of addressing remaining facets of poverty, challenges in wide spreading non-communicable diseases and aging population, needs of backyard economy and SME sector development, challenges in achieving high productivity in food crop production in small holder agriculture, exploitation of business development opportunities in the private sector, transferring the education towards catering a skills and knowledge based economic activities. Taking this challenge requires changes in attitudes, institutional settings, systems and procedures, deployment of cadre, delegation of work, effective supervision and control of managerial accountability for performance. A shift from a simplistic micro compliance audit system to a performance and risk based macro approach to audit would be complementing in such a transformation. 423

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