Top bureaucrats and experts at a seminar yesterday said top-level civil servants must bring a change in mindset of the civil administration to deliver better public service.
Speaking as the chief guest, Adviser to Prime Minister on Administrative Affairs HT Imam said public servants have to bring a change in their mindset to respond to the public demands and be judicious, transparent and accountable.
Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) jointly organised the seminar on 'Improving public services through total quality management (TQM)' at a city hotel.
Speedy disposal of files and a helping attitude of the public servants are two of the TQM goals, said AKM Enamul Haque, deputy project director of Enhancing Capacity of Public Service Training in Bangladesh (ECPUST) at BPATC.
ECPUST Project Director Zishan Ara Arafunnesa said only well-trained public servants can deliver quality service, adding that self-serving public service should be now a matter of the past.
Introduction of different training courses for public servants at BPATC is a goal of TQM which is a Tk 90-million three-year programme for the continuous improvement of public service through a method of action, planning, implementation and evaluation.
The programme, funded by JICA with Tk 81 million and the rest by the government, is now passing its second year.
Public servants have to take a proactive leadership to satisfy the clients and focus on the process of service delivery, said Prof Dennis S Tachiki, ECPUST deputy project team leader.
Mindset has to be changed at top management level of the civil bureaucracy, he added.
Speaking as the special guest, Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka Masayuki Inoue said public servants in Bangladesh work under various 'attacks' from the political governments and the media.
Establishment Secretary ASM Ali Kabir and Upazila Education Officer of Dhamrai Joshna Khatun also spoke at the seminar chaired by BPATC Rector Md Abdus Salam Khan.
A number of secretaries and director generals of various ministries and government departments participated in the programme.