CHAPTER 4 PORTRAYAL OF CIVIL SERVICE ARCHITECTURE IN NEPAL . 58
4.9 Chapter Summary
This chapter presented the overall status of e-governance management for social prosperity in securing quality services and also in mitigation and adaptation of cybersecurity in public services. The section also elaborated reports on data collected during the research study to determine whether the objectives had been achieved. Data analysis through a conceptual framework focused on three main categories: ICT resources, and e-governance for the socio-economic transformations of the society. The socio-economic improvement of the Nepalese society was described through broad categories of data: observations of the condition of service quality and interactions including their experience and views; interviews related to service pattern; and inventories of quality digital management. These data were analyzed to identify how the resource mobilization approach was being used in the e-governance transformation of the Nepali public service system, and how e-government service improvement helped people understand civil service transformation. Findings from both the observation and field notes indicated that to some extent, the e-government management approach was implemented successfully.
The next chapter focuses on the discussion over the themes generated from the results presented so far, perceiving people’s views on e-government approaches, and the impact of the resource mobilization conserved from the results presented in this chapter.
E-GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC SERVICE TRANSFORMATION
This chapter presents the findings of the research and impact of e-governance through a new civil service architecture on public service transformation. They are cases studied based on the research tools and techniques described in the previous Chapter III. The findings consist of ICT resource mobilization through e-governance modality, demographic figures of the localities, case studies of five selected Ministries including Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance and National Planning Commission, and Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. This chapter has concluded the results and findings within and crosses cases of the civil service architecture under e-governance. The new lessons and good practices in public service reform have been illustrated herewith.
5.1 Nature and Composition of the Participants
The participants involved in the research comprised of people with a background within professions of civil service including general services, technical experts, and assistants in the Ministries and departments. They participated in the study and shared their views, perceptions, and experiences they adopted in the digital setting concerning public services through e-governance. Among the participants, the people holding executive positions with the authority of decision making were found dominant influencing followers and clients. Daily wage and labor workers on a contract basis were adopted as part of the second category. Other technical experts mainly based in the ICT sector were newly recruited technicians and engineers who followed the service sectors in the staff role for installation, set up, and handling troubleshooting. The labor workers were found to be related to repair and other inhouse maintenance works, arts
and crafts related to service products like data input, monitoring, working with the backend, and delivery of office products.
The occupational composition of the people in the sample area was found to be diverse in its professional origin. Table 5.1 illustrates the composition of participants in the survey.
Table 5.1 Occupational Status of Respondents
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
The median value of the category lies in executives in officer rank positions.
The minority of the people holding support services were found as 48 out of 384 which comprised 13% in total. Among the 384 participants, 234 were general service- providing officers, which meant 61% of participants were executives. Technical advisors occupied 7%. Similarly, 13% of the participants were support staff, 14% of the participants were daily-wage workers, and 5% of the participants were other employees followed by varied professions like equipment repair people, programmers, computer operators, and others.
Employees in the sample regions recognized that ten years ago, they used catalogs, indexing files, and manual computations to suit the needs of clients.
The view of participants, about the alternative modality of e-governance and digitization to reduce time delay, cost and increase the efficiency of the online services is shown in Table 5.2.
S.N. Profession No. of
Participants
Percentage Remarks
1 Executives in Officer Rank 234 61
Median value: 48
2 Technical Advisors 28 7
3 Support Staff 48 13
4 Daily-Wage Workers 55 14
5 Others 19 5
Total 384 100
Table 5.2 The Alternative Modality of E-Governance and Digitization
S.N. Additional Services No. of Participants Percentage
1 Messaging 39 10
2 Web-Based Service 18 5
3 Online Payment 71 18
4 Web Surfing 56 15
5 Complaint Handling 54 14
6 Online Monitoring 30 8
7 Virtual Interaction and Meeting 70 18
8 Others 46 12
Total 384 100
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
Out of 384 respondents, 71 employees (18%) believed that online payment was one of the significant positive impacts in e-governance, 18% suspected that virtual interaction and meeting was one of the prompt substitute methods for conducting discourse and exchanging ideas at this time, and 15 percent believed that internet browsing produced a positive impact. About 14% of participants realized that complaint handling provided support to people and executives to correct future errors. In addition, some 8% pointed out the online monitoring has also contributed to the quality of their services at the front desk.
To judge their efficiency, the participants were divided into chief executives, gazetted first-class, gazetted second-class, section officers, non-gazetted support workers, and office workers. Table 5.3 shows the selection of responders from various levels and backgrounds.
Table 5.3 Official Status of the Respondents
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
The households of chief executives were assessed as 7 percent, 32 percent, and 35 percent, respectively, out of 384 households. Officers, non-gazetted support employees, and other office attendants made up 11 percent, 9 percent, and 6 percent of the total, respectively. The vast majority of responders belonged to the gazetted first and second classes.
Similarly, education is taken as the vital factor for reform in the civil service architecture for effective public service delivery. The present status of male and female education, as well as their experience and in-service training, has been counted as the reference of education level in the sample study area.
The status of the education level of the surveyed respondents is displayed in Figure 5.1.
S.N. Economic Strata of the Family
No. of Households
Households %
1 Chief Executives 27 7
2 Gazetted First-class 121 32
3 Gazetted Second-class 134 35
4 Section Officers 42 11
5 Non-gazetted Support Staff 34 9
6 Office Attendants 26 6
Total 384 100
Figure 5.1 Trend of Education Level of Respondents Source: Field Survey, 2020.
Out of 674 employees of sample offices, only 15 were found to have a doctoral level of education. 145 employees graduated with a Master’s Degree and 214 with Bachelor’s degrees. The front-line office assistants were 165 with high school diplomas and office attendants with basic level education. The biggest percentage of survey respondents were Bachelor's degree holders (32%), while the lowest percentage was held by Doctoral degree holders (2%). Figure 5.1 depicts the educational attainment of office workers as seen in the survey.
Employment has been categorized as permanent employed and employed on a contract basis in the system with fixed terms. The minimum age required for public service employment is 21 years and the upper retirement age is 58 years for permanent positions whereas employees on a contract basis can work more than 58 years even after retirement. The age has been grouped in the interval of ten.
The status of employees according to the age group is presented in Table 5.4.
Table 5.4 Age Group, Gender, and Type of Services of the Employees Age
Group
Total Employees No. of Female Employees
Employed on Contract Basis
Employed Female %
20 - 30 456 225 100 27
30 - 40 472 243 123 30
40 - 50 353 180 120 22
50 - 60 213 107 80 13
60 - 70 123 65 23 8
Total 1617 820 446 100
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
There were a total of 1617 employees in surveyed offices under different age groups in the study area, out of which 820 were female. The employment status of people on a contract basis for the short term showed a total of 446. The percentage of employed women within the age groups of 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, 50-60 and 60-70 is 27%, 30%, 22%, 13%, and 8%, respectively. After the age group of 70, women appeared to be retired and engaged in domestic and light household work. The age group of females from 20-50 was found to be the most productive and active in public service delivery.
Employees' income and spending balances were assessed based on their annual savings, the no savings and no losses category, and their income status losses.
The status of income and expenditure of the employees is presented in Table 5.5.
Table 5.5 Economic Status of Employees S.N. Economic Status of
Employees
No. of Respondents
Percentages (%)
1 Savings 153 40%
2 No savings & no losses 56 15%
3 Losses 175 45%
Total 384 100%
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
Out of the 384 personnel polled, 153 people (40%) indicated they had been able to save money, while 56 employees (15%) said they had neither saved nor lost money.
The other remaining 175 personnel, or 45 percent, stated they were living with losses, implying that their lives are going very badly and that they may have slipped into a poverty trap.
Figure 5.2 illustrates the level of expenditure in a year from the employees who have more expenditure than income.
Figure 5.2 Economic Status of Employees Source: Field Survey, 2020.
Of the 150 federal servants who answered the survey, 30% said they had saved less than 40,000 NPR in a year. About 23% saved less than 60,000 NPR, 15% saved less than 80,000 NPR, and 27% saved over 85,000 NPR each year on average. The average annual savings for medium-class workers is from 45,000 - 80,000 Nepali Rupees
The yearly saving status of employees is illustrated in Table 5.6.
Table 5.6 Yearly Saving Status of Employees S.N. Saving Cash
(Yearly) (in NRs)
No. of Saver Respondents
Percentage %
1 Below 20 thousand 23 15
2 Below 40 thousand 45 30
3 Below 60 thousand 34 23
4 Below 80 thousand 22 15
5 Above 80 thousand 26 17
Total 150 100
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
Of the 150 civil servants who responded, 30% said they saved less than 40,000 NPR per year. About 23% saved less than 60,000 NPR, 15% saved less than 80,000 NPR, and 27% saved over 100,000 NPR every year. Every year, between 40,000 and 80,000 is saved by the majority of medium-level employees.
Over the last ten years, the economic condition of public service employees has been categorized into three categories: good, normal, and weak, with two-year intervals between each.
Figure 5.3 shows the financial standing of households over time.
Figure 5.3 Trends of Economic Status of the Employees Source: Field Survey, 2020.
The economic situation of civil service workers was classified as 12 percent good, 45 percent normal, and 43 percent weak in the first ten years of the last decade, but it shifted to 16 percent good, 46 percent normal, and 38 percent weak in 2010-2012.
Likewise, in 2012-2014, the trend of changing economy improved to 21% good, 51%
normal, but the poor condition was lowered to 28%. In 2014-2016, this pattern was maintained, with 27 percent good, 53 percent normal, and 20 percent weak. From 2016 to 2018, the economy was in good shape 36% of the time, normal for 53% of the time, and weak for 11% of the time. As one of the successful change components, the government's employee motivation plan to prevent corruption and motivate employees to provide quality service had a huge impact on the shifting environment. Employees' high earnings have been attributed to a variety of factors, including performance incentives, career advancement, and overtime pay.
The opinion of employees for the good economic status of the households at present is shown in Table 5.7.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Economic Condition of Women
Good Normal Weak
Table 5.7 Reasons for Good Economic Status
Reasons for Good Economic Status No. of Employees of Good Economic
Status
Percentages %
Promotion of Employee at Higher Level
14 9%
Performance Reward 17 11%
Incentives Provided 54 36%
Overtime Payment 21 14%
Technical Skill Allowances 34 23%
Others 10 7%
Total 150 100%
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
Sixty-six percent of the 150 employees in good economic standing realized that their pay had increased as a result of the incentives offered. Furthermore, 23% of interviewees said that an increase in technical competence allowances was responsible for the increase in income. Around 14% noticed that the rise in overtime pay had improved their income. Approximately 11% of respondents believed that receiving a bonus for a job well done benefited their family's financial well-being. Only 9% of respondents said their income was good because they were promoted to a higher level with a greater salary and other benefits. On the other hand, out of 384 participants, the majority i.e., 175 respondents had weak economic conditions.
The reasons for the weak economic status of the employees at present are presented in Table 5.8.
Table 5.8 Reasons for Weak Economic Status
Reasons for Weak Economic Status No. of Employees of Weak Status
Percentages %
Higher expenditure in the family 42 24%
Punishment and no growth in salary 75 43%
Absenteeism 23 13%
No promotion and performance Incentives
22 13%
Others 13 7%
Total 175 100%
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
Out of 175 employees surveyed, the majority of the respondents i.e., 43%
employees rated that their weak economic condition was due to punishment and no growth in salary, about 24% agreed that their income had decreased due to higher expenditure in the family, and 13% rated that the decrease was due to absenteeism, and another 13% rated it to no promotion and performance incentives.
Respondents were asked to react to a variety of expectations on socioeconomic status enhancement initiatives, such as the establishment of a national employment program, subsidized loans for family welfare, performance-based rewards and incentives, and a bonus for possessing ICT skills.
Table 5.9 shows employees' expectations for the current economic situation to improve
Table 5.9 Expectation of Employees
Expectation of Employees No. of Respondents
Respondent %
Provision of National Employment Scheme 48 13%
Subsidized Loan for Family Welfare 46 12%
Reward and Incentives on Performance Basis 123 32%
Overtime Payment 56 15%
Extra Allowances for having ICT Knowledge 102 27%
Others 9 1%
Total 384 100%
Source: Field Survey, 2020.
Of the 384 families surveyed, 123 employees, or 32%, said that their expectations were rewards and incentives based on performance, 102 employees, or 27%, said that their expectations were additional allowances for having ICT knowledge, and 56 families, or 15%, said that their expectations for an improvement in their current economic status were overtime payment. About 13% of respondents expected the government to provide a national job program, while another 12% expected to need a government-subsidized loan to help their families.
5.2 Inclusion and Empowerment: A Case of MOLESS (Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security
It's critical to note that Nepal's public service delivery landscape has changed considerably in the preceding two decades, moving from a unitary to a federal system that provides services to people's doorsteps. The public service sector in Nepal gained traction with the introduction of civil service reform and the promotion of basic infrastructure reform, power devolution, service motivation programs, alternative interventions in service delivery, and the deployment of e-governance. A wide range of governmental services is now available to the public via the civil service governance
system, including manual and online options. More than 2500 branches and branchless service outlets are spread among 211 service centers. However, urban areas are home to the majority of government service providers. In remote places, just a few public service providers offer services that are both difficult to access and underserved. There are therefore two-thirds of the population who are excluded from official civil services, and spatial concentration is still a major problem. As a result of federal incentives and restrictions, fiercer competition among government employees for e-service delivery reduced service costs and entry hurdles, resulting in a tremendous geographic expansion and an increase in access to public services.
The concentration of the trade, real estate, and large manufacturing industries, as well as an unfriendly working environment, a lack of knowledge about public service activities, and fear of high-risk activities have all played a role in keeping a large segment of the population from using e-governance services in the labor, employment, and security sectors. Therefore, the issue for policymakers is to devise a method that enables the low-cost delivery of public services in a customer-friendly manner without putting service users at needless danger and expense. Online service platforms are the greatest models for public services in this respect. This is why they've grown so quickly in the previous several years.
The urgent need for the development of e-governance services, especially through ICTs, is to encourage entrepreneurship, promote self-employment, provide income for the disadvantaged, and ensure inclusive economic growth. Concerning e- governance reform in the Nepali civil service, the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security is emerging as a key actor. After mobilizing more than NPR 25 billion in cash for workers in January 2019, a reserve fund of NPR 2.5 billion has been set up for job creation, with a deposit of NPR 120 billion and a loan of NPR 102 billion provided for reform in employment promotion. More than 30 thousand people are employed in offices as a result of this process, which includes 2.3 million members, nearly half of them are women. Women outnumber males in the formal sector for the first time. Comparatively speaking, the ownership of such a plan is much more inclusive than that of the production business. In an institution where there is a 10-fold higher level of operation in government institutions than private organizations, only a few promoters and borrowers receive the same amount of credit as the Ministry has granted
to millions. This shows how inclusive the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security's public services are, and how civil service institutions are compared to non- governmental groups. Other than public service centers, ICT-based virtual platforms also conduct some public awareness activities; in particular, online portals, web pages, and blogs usually provide this service. When all civil service offices are using e- governance, the savings in both time and money are significant. This demonstrates the Ministry's importance in the financial industry. Government offices have played a critical role in social inclusion, as shown by Census 2012, which shows that the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security serves 15% of the people who have access to e-governance services, compared to other ministries that cover 13% of urban residents and only cover 9% of rural residents (CBS, 2012). Because 40% of the borrowers still use family and local money lenders for social financing, and because borrowers make up only 22% of service searchers, online businesses have a lot of room to grow their business in the social security industry. Some people are concerned about the sustainability of e-governance infrastructures when they operate under the high- interest regime, provide risky data manipulation services, and deal with clients who are either out of the loop or are secondary level servers created solely for back end serving purposes. Data security and handling of new software present some serious challenges, such as the need for appropriate legislation to regulate such services, effective supervisory and monitoring arrangements, adherence to member-based public service activities, implementation of good governance practices, implementation of internal controls, adherence to ethical practices in e-governance, and restraint of the temptation to create and distribute ill-gotten gains. Concerns have also been raised about unethical cyber practices being imitated and an over-concentration on open-source in high-risk areas like client access. Public service centers must explore innovations, be resourceful in designing services that meet people's requirements and be ready to work in challenging environments such as remote settlements, sparse populations, limited resources, and socially excluded areas.
The Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security has proposed many social responsibility projects to broaden its scope in the community's socio-economic advancement. Table 5.10 demonstrates the creative CSR's use of social security welfare.