The Opposition Leader has urged the Royal Civil Service Commission to urgently address the shortage of experienced civil servants due to high attrition. In a letter, the OL raised concerns over slow progress in implementing planned initiatives and delays in public service delivery across all sectors. He recommended faster recruitment, a stronger civil service, and refining the performance assessment system to promote professional commitment with humane values at its core.
According to the Opposition Leader, during his field visits to constituencies and districts, local government leaders have expressed concerns about staff shortages across all local government agencies.
He also said that the high attrition rate and retirement of experienced professionals at the central level could derail the ambitious goals of the 13th Five-Year Plan.
In the letter, the OL highlighted other emerging issues in the civil service such as unclear leadership for national planning, poor coordination of planning and budgeting, and confusion in reporting and monitoring national plans and progress.
According to the OL, these issues might have resulted due to the recent agency consolidation reforms which were meant to improve governance and service delivery but have not yet achieved the intended results.
Furthermore, the OL stated issues related to the forced ranking system in the performance assessment system, saying that the parliament submitted it to be removed owing to the risk of harming work ambience and professional relationships among colleagues.
According to the OL, the parliament also recommended and endorsed doubling the budget allocation to Nu 4.9 B to enhance Human Resource Development in the 13th Five-Year Plan.
According to the RCSC’s Consolidated Report 2019-2024, over 11,500 civil servants left the civil service between 2019 and 2023.
The report states that most of the civil servants left their jobs through voluntary resignation, superannuation, and due to contract completion.
Currently, there are over 29,000 civil servants in the country.
Kinzang Lhadon
Edited by Phub Gyem
