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Managing Transition

Bal Krishna Prasai

August 6, 2015

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Presentation Outline

Concept/Context Setting Transitional Management Strategies and Government’s

Initiative Role of Public Servants in Transition Management Challenges

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Concepts What is transition?Transition-the process or a period of changing from one state or

condition to another (Oxford Dictionary) Transitions are times of crossing or traveling from something old

and familiar to something new and unfamiliar. Most transitions are small and pass by almost unnoticed. Some, however, involve major disruptions in routines and force us to re-examine our values and lifestyle.

Transitions range from changes that affect everyone (social/technological advances and natural disasters) to more personal transitions that affect one's career and relationships. They may be voluntary, like moving to a larger home, or involuntary, like an accident, a disability or an illness. They may be predictable or unpredictable.

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Cont… William Bridges, in Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes,

lists three stages of transition. The first stage is fall. We see grass turn brown and leaves fall, which means another year is coming to a close. The second stage, winter, comes when the soil lies fallow and uncultivated. This is a time for quiet and waiting. The world around us appears lifeless, dead, or in hibernation. When spring -- the third stage -- arrives, green leaves re-emerge from the dry brown twigs of winter. The earth bursts forth again with life. If we view changes in our lives like the changing seasons, we can feel more comfortable with transitions.

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Cont… What is management? F.W. Taylor - “Art of knowing what you want to do and

then seeing that it is done the best and cheepest way”.Henry Fayol – “To manage is to forecast, to plan, to

organise, to command, to co-ordinate and to control”.Peter F. Drucker –”Management is work and as such it

has its own skills, its own tools and its own techniques”.“Management is the art of getting things done through

and with people”.

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Cont… Transition Management can be defined as the planning,

coordination, implementation and reporting process required to successfully restructure a portfolio. The objective of this process is to minimise the costs and risks associated with the restructure and provide a smooth and orderly transition.

Transition Management seeks to guide the gradual, continuous process of transformation of socio-political landscapes, socio-technical practices and “the structural character of society” from one equilibrium to another. In its application, transition management seeks to steer the outcome of change to lessen inherent uncertainty, produce desirable social outcomes and enhance resilience during the transformation of socio-technical systems.

Transition is about the process of systematic moving from the old and ensuring successful new beginning.

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Why Transition Management is needed? Progressive restructuring of state shall be made with inclusive

democratic federal system of governance by doing away with the centralized and unitary structure of the state so as to end discriminations based on class, caste, language, gender, culture, religion and region (Interim Constitution: Part 17, State Restructuring).

Nepal has been a federal, democratic, inclusive and a republic state since 2008. It is now shifting from:

Centralized (Unitary) System of government-Federal System

Constitutional Monarchy-Republic

Non-Secular- Secular

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Cont.State Restructuring (Draft Constitution)

One federal state, 8 provinces, 75 DDCs, 191 municipalities and 3276 VDCs

Three Tiers of Government-Federal (Executive, Legislative, Judiciary) , Provincial (Executive, Legislative, Judiciary), Local (Executive, Judiciary, Legislative)

Each level of government has exclusive and concurrent functions.

Public administration has to be tuned with state restructuring.

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Cont. Powers of Federal Level (Centre)

Exclusive Powers (31)-Defense, central police, foreign affairs, central banking, monetary matters, international trade and so on.

Concurrent (26)-Education, health, infrastructure Residual function Power to supervision and control These devolution demands restructuring of the federal government

institutions.

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Cont. Powers of Provincial Level

The state powers proposed to be devolved wholly (26) or in part (26) are: provincial civil service; police administration and law and order; banks, financial institutions and cooperatives; radio and television; several types of provincial taxes; provincial and local level development projects; health services, universities and educational services; trade, insurance and transport; land, forests, water resources and mineral management; provision of basic services to citizens; preservation of culture, language and so on.

The provincial government-is completely a new tier of the government, which entails creation of the new infrastructure, institutions, legal framework, additional human resources, procedural innovations and linkages with central and local governments.

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Cont. Powers of Local Level

The state powers proposed to be devolved wholly (24) or in part to local level include: local service; municipal police, community police, local taxes, royalty from natural resources, primary and secondary education, basic health and sanitation, local infrastructure, local court, disaster management etc.

Local level structure has to be retuned to be able to perform the assigned tasks.

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Cont. State Restructuring

Involves re-defining roles, responsibilities and processes (e.g., organizations, individuals, relationships),

Reallocating state powers and resources (e.g., vertical, horizontal), Re-assessing capacities (e.g., local level, national level, adaptation to

technological innovations), Reviewing incentives (e.g., political, organizational, financial), andRe-aligning with fundamental goals (e.g., inclusion, representation, partnerships).Transition management

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Transitional Management Strategies

There should be a transition management plan that encompasses all components of transition (clear-cut assignment of tasks to each level of government, legal framework and institutional arrangement, management of human, financial and physical resources).

A separate independent constitutional body needs to be established for some time to look into all matters related to transition management with clear-cut mandate to seek political support and participation. It should be provided with adequate resources.

The period of transition should not be long.

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cont…Strong commitment both at political and bureaucratic level is

needed to make federalism success. Federal government should be very supportive to provincial and

local level governments. Adequate resources should be provided to provincial and local

levels to perform their functions. There should be adequate incentives-both monetary and non-

monetary, to public servants, with prospect for career progression and assurance for job security.

Professional capacity of public servants has to be enhanced to yield higher performance.

Public administration should be made more efficient, effective, transparent and accountable. Anomalies of existing public administration such as corruption should not be inherited. 14

Draft Constitution, 2015Transitional Provisions (Part 35, Article 286-294)

CA to be converted to Legislature-Parliament Provisions relating to the President and Vice President (within one month) Provisions relating to the Formation of the Council of Ministers (within 7 days) Provisions related to Speaker and Deputy Speaker(within 20 days) Provisions related to Judiciary Provisions related to Constitutional Bodies and, Officials thereof Provisions related to Local Bodies Existing laws to remain in force Power to remove difficulties

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Government’s Preparation in Federalizing Public Administration

Administrative Restructuring Commission, 2064 High-level inter- ministerial body (Public Administration Restructuring Steering

Committee under the leadership of the Prime Minister) Formation of Technical Restructuring Committees Administrative Reform Recommendation Committee, 2069 Functional Analysis (OPMCM, MoGA)

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Roles of Public Servants in Transitional Management

Effective enforcement of constitutional provisions, including fulfilling fundamental rights of people

Functional analysis of tasks across different level of governments Revision of existing laws, formulation of laws, rules, procedures,

directives, norms, standards Development and establishment of political and adminstrative

structures/institutions at different levels of government Resources management (human, financial, physical) and their

allocation Improving quality of public service and level of performance

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Challenges of Transitional Management

A major challenge for the federalization process-managing overlapping functions across three levels of government, establishment of legal and institutional framework for political and administrative institutions, norms and standards of public service delivery.

Allocation of human, financial and physical resources to different levels of government

Weak capacity of government Inadequate resources Lack of commitment of the political and bureaucratic leadership Lack of coordination, cooperation between different levels of

government Resistance of public servants to change 18

Thank You

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