New Public
Management (NPM) is a management philosophy used by the government since 1980s
to modernize the public sectors. Many developed and developing nations are now
experimenting about the applicability of NPM in their context. In Bangladesh, NPM
reform ideas have also been recommended by international donor
agencies as well as numerous reform committees but yet the country has hardly
made any progress in establishing effective public management. This paper
attempts to identify some administrative reforms in Bangladesh
that have the spirit of NPM as well some peculiarities that threaten successful
implementation of NPM in Bangladesh.
It is argued that state incapacity, bureaucratic failure and donor-driven
reform policies are responsible for the failure of implementation of NPM in
Bangladesh. Therefore, to establish efficient public management or to follow
NPM model, Bangladesh need to have solid institutional frameworks, sound rule
of law, proper control structures, appropriate checks and balances, effective
civil service system, appropriate accountability and transparency; and for these political leaders, bureaucrats and donor-agencies have to work in line.
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