The implementation of this idea may put an end to the reform of the public administration system.
ZN.UA has a presentation of the project ” Government in a smartphone “, which is about revolutionary innovations in public administration. The document is dated June 14 and can still be changed. Experts of the Center for Policy and Legal Decisions Ihor Koliushko and Viktor Tymoschuk in the article “ Why a sharp reduction of the state apparatus is not a reform, but a big risk” voiced the main problems of this project.
This is an unprecedented reduction in the state apparatus. The proposal is to leave only 65,000 employees instead of 238,000 , almost halving the budget expenditures on salaries for officials – from 46 billion 500 million UAH to 26 billion UAH, respectively. Which is attractive, but hardly rational.
In our opinion, in the conditions of war it is dangerous to “reduce the state” drastically. We have many old problems (that is why volunteers provide the army) and new ones. Therefore, we should aim at more efficient use of human resources On their release . Qualified staff is the most valuable thing we have in government. At the same time, for years it was washed away by government teams exclusively on the principle of “civil service for their own. Even after the successful reform of 2015,” Koliushko and Tymoschuk said.
According to them, the efficiency and quality of staff really needs to be constantly improved. But only an evolutionary path is suitable for a complex system. After all, there is now a “natural” reduction, as some employees have moved abroad, to other communities or for other reasons will not be able to continue working. Reduction should not be an end in itself .
Digitization is often called the basis of reduction. The number of users of the “Action” program is really impressive – 17.5 million people. But other facts should be taken into account. Tens of millions of citizens are not covered by digitalization. Large-scale digital services are often “new” services (namely code-certificate, eSupport, IDPs). But there is still no result in 50-75% of services provided online.
And the most famous thing in “Action” – digital documents – is primarily comfort, ie additional “service”. But to get a passport, register a marriage, death, real estate, land, vehicle, get a driver's license, etc. – a person needs the services of an official. Therefore, a sharp reduction will result in the territorial exclusion of services, reduced reception hours, increased queues and time to resolve cases, corruption risks .
“The challenges of the” transition period “must also be taken into account during redundancies After all, the authorities in such a situation “paralyze” for several months, while new structures, staffs, positions, cabinets are determined. Can Ukraine afford this during the war? ” – experts warn.
Read more materials by Ihor Koliushko and Viktor Tymoschuk at the link.
