A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region

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A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region Figure 2.17: Simplified organizational structure of Sri Lanka Road Development Authority 2.5 Staffing and Human Resource Management REFORM Sri Lanka’s RDA has its own Human Resource policy 13 Terminology may differ between countries in South Asia. The survey shows that most highway agencies primarily employ engineers, and technical and administrative support staff. However, a few respondents were able to state the precise composition of their staff. When considering future recruitment, the focus is on hiring engineers and Information Technology (IT) professionals, with only a few exceptions (Bangladesh and the Indian state of Karnataka). These highway agencies recognize the need to improve the skill mix and hire non-engineering staff including transport planners, economists and financial specialists. South Asia in General The scope for developing road agency-specific policies on recruitment and human resource management is limited, as there are restrictions applicable to all public sector agencies. Recruitment of gazetted officials 13 is done by the Public Service Commissions; for nongazetted officials, direct recruitment from a pool of pre-selected candidates is allowed. The details differ from country to country in South Asia. Less than half of the respondents expressed a desire to be granted more freedom in this respect. Shortage of staff is an issue, although no data are publicly available. However, Karnataka PWD in India has provided information (Table 2.9). In the lower ranks, a significant shortage of around 20 percent exists. The staffing situation in road development authorities is a little better. For example, the Sri Lanka RDA, which operates as an independent authority with its own human resource policy, has all positions filled up. There are no systems in place for rewarding employees for their good or exceptional performance, yet (disciplinary) actions are taken when circumstances so demand. Such actions are only taken, however, when there is a case of serious default on responsibilities or tasks. The combination of a lack of promotional opportunities and possibilities to ensure good performance of all staff contributes to a lack of incentives for staff to excel. Compounding this problem is the fact that career progression schemes are based on seniority rather than merit. For example, there is one case where the career progression 40
A Review of Highway Agencies in the South Asia Region Table 2.9: Composition of staff in Karnataka Public Works, Ports & Inland Water Transport Department (example) Post Sanctioned Filled up Vacant Vacant as Share of Sanctioned Engineer in Chief 1 1 0 0% Chief Engineer 3 3 0 0% Superintending Engineers 21 21 0 0% Executive Engineers 64 61 3 5% Assistant Executive Engineers 344 341 3 1% Assistant Engineers 1,119 857 262 23% Junior Engineers 863 703 160 19% Total 2,415 1,987 428 18% Source: Karnataka Public Works, Ports & Inland Water Transport Department. scheme is described merely as the entitlement of an employee to wage increases as (s)he grows older. Most senior postings, the responsibility of the parent ministry, are promotional posts for officials from within the highway agency. These posts tend to be filled by older officers nearing their superannuation. The tenure in senior position, therefore, is generally short, between one and three years. The higher echelons are thus relatively old in age, a potential barrier for a fresh approach to the management of highway agencies. Scarce attention is paid to improving knowledge and skills within highway agencies. Membership of the respective national institutes of engineers is limited to half of the responding organizations and the concept of professional registration is unknown. Participating in committees of such or similar institutes is observed in 40 percent of cases. Despite the importance attached to training in the available policy and vision statements, training does not receive much attention. In 60 percent of the highway agencies, junior and assistant engineers do not undergo any training. Training is limited only to senior officials and, that too, is often not targeted; in 20 percent of the highway agencies training is only given to engineers at the level of Executive Engineer and above. Highly skilled staff is an exception: 30 percent of the agencies employ Ph.Ds and 20 percent employ postgraduates. 2.6 Reforms Undertaken and Success Achieved Governments and highway agencies have realized that their approaches would not yield the desired outcomes in view of the economic and social development that is taking place in the region. Therefore, a variety of reforms have already been implemented across South Asia. Some of these have been highlighted in the previous sections of this chapter. In addition, Figure 2.18 shows other reforms that have been implemented across the region. Most common is the digitization of information and processes. Limited procurement and financial management reforms have also been undertaken. In 70 percent of the cases covered in the study, rudimentary management information systems have been put in place, and in 40 percent of the cases budget tracking studies were undertaken. In India, RTI is complied with by all but one agency covered in the study. However, grievance redressal procedures are only implemented in 30 percent of cases. There are also efforts to increase transparency and accountability and, to this end, standard bid documents and transparent bidding procedures are in place in 70 percent of the cases. 41
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Transport Division Transport, Water
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