CONTROL
The civil servants play vital role in the modern social welfare states.
He supplies the expert knowledge to the administration and being
an expert, he controls the administration.
He enjoys wide discretionary powers and exercises great influence
in the body politic. It is but necessary that means be devised to
secure effective control over public servant lest he may become
irresponsible and despot.
There are certain controls through which administrative
responsibility is enforced
(i) external (or political) controls-:The external controls operate upon
the administration from the outside. They work within the general
constitutional structure and may differ from country to country.
(ii) internal (or administrative) controls-; The internal controls are
those which operate within the administration itself. These are fitted
into the administrative machinery and work automatically as the
machinery moves.
EXTERNAL CONTROLS OVER PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:
A. Executive Control over Administration:
Every official is responsible to and under the control of his administrative superiors
who are known as Ministers in a Parliamentary Government.
The minister is responsible for all what goes within his department.
The doctrine of ministerial responsibility is a cardinal principle of Parliamentary
system. If a mistake is made by a civil servant in a Department, The Minister in
charge of the Department is held responsible when if he knew nothing about it or
he was not consulted by the official concerned before taking the action.
In India, ministers had to resign for the mistakes committed by the officials in their
departments.
Recruitment System:
The important means of executive control over administration is recruitment
system. Generally, recruitment to civil service is placed in the hands of
Public Service Commission— an independent body.
The general rules of recruitment are laid down by the Government. The
qualifications, experience, age, etc., required for different posts are
determined by the executive.
It has also the power to exclude certain posts from the purview of the Public
Service Commission. To the higher posts of the civil service, the executive
has a free hand.
The ministers select their own secretaries and heads of departments. Thus,
through their appointees, they exercise full control over the administration
of the department.
Political Direction
The Minister has the power of direction, control and supervision. He has
full authority to manage and direct his Department
He issues directives to the departmental, officials. No important
decision can be taken without bringing the matter to his notice. He may
concentrate the entire authority in his hands and reduce the Secretary
to a cipher
He may go round the Department in order to supervise it’s working. He
may issue orders to eradicate red-tapism and increase efficiency
Executive Legislation
The executive exercises power of legislation which is termed
‘Delegated Legislation’. The Legislature passes an Act in a skeleton
form and empowers the executive to fill in the details
B. Parliamentary Control over Public Administration:
In a parliamentary system, such as in India or Great Britain, it is of
primary importance because all state activities emanate from the
legislature. The cardinal principle of parliamentary system is the
responsibility of the executive to the legislature.
The official cannot be called to the floor of the House to explain his act. It
is the Minister who shoulders the responsibility for the administrative acts
of his department.
Sometimes, the entire ministry may have to quit the office because
ministerial responsibility in a parliamentary system is collective. Thus, we
find that the legislature’s control on administration is indirect, i.e.,
through the executive
Law-Making Process:
Question-Hour
In every parliamentary system, there is the practice of setting apart
one hour of Parliament’s meeting time for questions which is called
‘Question-Hour’. The members may ask questions regarding any act
or omission of administrative authorities, from the highest to the
lowest.
The Ministers concerned prepare their answers and reply to the
questions on the floor of the House. Supplementary questions may
also be put
The questions keep the civil servants alert
Debates and Discussions:
Debates and discussions are a very important occasion for the Parliament
to examine and scrutinize the activities and efficiency of various
governmental agencies.
The inaugural address of the President, the Budget Speech, introduction
of a bill for amendment of an Act or enactment of new law, introduction
of Motions or Resolutions provide an occasion for debates and
discussions. When the President opens the session of the Parliament, the
speech delivered by him is discussed in the Parliament before a ‘Vote of
Thanks’ is passed.
No-confidence Motion;- The meaning of No-confidence Motion is simple. It is a motion
expressing lack of confidence in the Ministry on account of some of its serious lapses,
failures and inefficiency. If passed, it will lead to resignation of the Government. According
to the Rules of Procedure of Indian Parliament, a No confidence motion must be supported
by fifty members for its admission.
Adjournment Motion:- The Adjournment Motion is introduced to discuss a definite issue
of urgent public importance. Something very grave such as terrorists attacks in Bombay on
November 26, 2008 which affects the whole country, its safety, its interests and all that is
happening must have occurred to substantiate the urgency of the Motion.
Censure Motion:- The ostensible purpose of an adjournment motion is to censure the
Government and influence its decision. Consent of the Speaker and support by at least fifty
members of the House is essential for admitting the motion. A censure motion can be
moved against the Ministry or an individual minister or a group of ministers for their failure
to act or not to act or for their policy, expressing regret, indignation or surprise of the
House.
Call-Attention Motion:- A Call- Attention Motion may be introduced by a member of the
Parliament with the permission of the chair to draw the attention of a Minister to a matter
of urgent public importance and request him to make a statement thereon.
C. Legislative Control over Administration:
Under the Presidential system of government of U.S.A. most of
the means of legislative control described above are not
available.
the legislature in a Presidential system can neither put
questions to the Ministers nor can it pass a No-confidence or
Censure Motion against the government.
The executive does not sit in the Congress. It does not
necessarily have the majority support in the Houses of Congress.
(i) It defines the organisation, powers and duties of the administrative
authorities.
(ii) It appoints legislative committees for investigation of
administration;
(iii) It makes laws laying down policies, methods and procedures
(iv) It has the power of impeachment of the President. The House of
Representatives frames the
charges and the Senate sits as a Court of trial. Two-third in both the
Houses is essential to remove the President from the office
INTERNAL CONTROLS:
Internal controls are those controls which operate from within the
administrative machinery. They exist in every section, branch and
department. The administrative machine, as we know, is designed
hierarchical, in which one controls the work of the other.
1. Finance and Statistics:
The officials have to keep within the confines of budgetary allocation
and follow the financial procedure and rules strictly. If they exceed the
budgetary allocation or fail to confine to financial rules, they will be
held responsible for it. The Ministry of Finance and the Comptroller
and Auditor-General are the two main agencies which exercise control
in this behalf.
2. Personnel Management: The second type of internal control over
administration is through Personnel Management. The administrative
machine is hierarchical in structure. The hierarchical structure of
administration provides for clear lines of responsibility.
Another device of control through personnel management is the
standardization of establishment norms. The number of personnel
required in each department, their grades and salaries, their
recruitment and promotion, their retirement and dismissal, their
training and transfer and their other conditions of service are laid down
by a central agency, the Home Department in India
3. Professional Standards: It is vital that public officials should cultivate
high standards of conduct. They should be non-corruptible, loyal,
humble, non-partisan, honest, efficient and of integrity.