However, the commission has decided to sit on the proposal as the commission’s tenure would soon end
The Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) has completed all research and required studies and come up with a proposal, which the commission says will be a game changer. It will lead to flexibility in rules, do away with centralization, and empower executives and agencies on the civil–servant–citizen ratio, headcount, and the utilization of budget.
However, the RCSC has decided not to put up the proposal to the government or do anything further as the RCSC members’ tenure would soon end. Further, it will still require discussions with several stakeholders. Everything will be ready and kept for the next commission to implement.
“The proposal has been studied and the commission has done many research and presentations internally where calculation and projections have been done. We have decided to sit on the proposal as the tenure of the current RCSC members is about to end,” an official from the commission said.
With the manpower management framework, there will be many advantages such as the last five years’ pay and endowment of an employer will be given to the executive with certain adjusted inflations where the executive can manage the employer and can even decide on how many support stuff the executive needs.
The other advantage is that the framework will look through the civil servant-to-citizen ratio where the different agencies will keep head counts and will have to manage the head counts and decide whether to recruit personnel on contract or regular basis, as per their needs.
“Headcounts, civil service citizen ratio and budget ceiling will be in the hands of executives. So there will be that type of flexibility given to the management,” the official said.
However, with the end of the current commission’s tenure, the proposal will be kept ready for the new commission since the current commission doesn’t have the time to implement the proposal as it will need many stakeholders to approve the proposal.
The official from the commission said, “The manpower management system will need government support. Since we really don’t know whether we will be able to push it through or not and it involves other government stake holders and will have to pass through the parliament.”
Meanwhile, the current serving commission will keep everything ready including studying on how to implement the proposal and keep everything ready when the next commission comes.
“Since, the current commission’s term will end this year and with very limited time, it is very challenging to implement the proposal. But it will be kept ready for the upcoming new commission,” the official said.
He added that with developmental activities in the country, today’s youths explore opportunities to move abroad, increasing the attrition rate in the country. He said that it is important to do the best that the commission can do with the circumstances.
Meanwhile, if the government and the MoF support the proposal, the official said that it will be a game changer for the commission since the manpower management framework will empower the management.
However, according to the official, it is a little bit too early to say that the proposal will be implemented because there will be a lot of stakeholders discussions required.
Sherab Dorji from Thimphu
