Bhutan Civil Service System
A civil servant is a person employed in the public sector employed by a government department or agency. Royal Civil Service Commission in Bhutan is an apolitical mother body of all the civil servants (29057 as of August 2016) in the country. It has come a long way through a lot of change by leaps, and bounds committed to promoting Good Governance in pursuit of Gross National Happiness. To maintain small, compact and efficient civil servant RCSC has come up with three broad reforms viz. Superstructure, Career progression and Doctors Career path.
It was mainly to introduced Clarity in the position category, Reduce and rationalize the entry points into the civil service, Addresses stagnation, Optimize HRD investments, Address the disadvantaged professions, Better utilization of manpower.
As per the latest reform brought by the RCSC they have categorized position into four groups Executive (EX) and Specialist (ES), Professional and Management (P&M), Supervisory and Support (S/SS) and Operational (O). The super structure has divided and distinguished service providers into five major groups namely Executive and specialist service, Administration service, Finance service, Education service and Technical service. There are 19 MOG and 94 sub-groups.
A. Super structure
Earlier RCSC faced lots of criticism and had to tackle stacks of challenges due to inefficiency in the system. There were myriad issues with regard to civil service promotion and transfer which led to the creation of several criteria to ease in the functioning. For instance, to get promoted from Planning Officer to Immigration Officer one has to serve 10 years at the most as a Planning Officer. Likewise there too was a fusion of the profession irrespective of background qualification causing a mismatch of their expertise and position.
Criteria 1. Now with the objectives of recruiting the right person for right job RCSC carried changes in the system by allowing movements of civil servants among MOG, SG, and positions within super structure group. To retain and enhance professionalism in civil service Technical employees cannot shift and take the post of administration and management unless on the given conditions.
Conditions for transfer and open competition are:
• Movements allowed among the positions identified for (AS, FS & ES).
• Technical Service no movement unless Exception-positions requiring the same qualification.
• However one must serve 3 years from the date of appointment in the same service before opting for transfer and changing profession if fulfills the necessary criteria.
• One must also serve in the same field equal the duration of their training period.
Criteria 2. The officer on special assignment allows movement outside the superstructure group under special circumstances for fixed term depending upon the availability of vacant position minimum of 5 years.
Criteria 3. Allow movement within the same group for positions with multiple entries on the condition of either through appointment/open competition/transfer.
B. Career Progression
Career progression is another significant change taken by the RCSC with the objectives to allow smooth career progression and outline a career path for all position categories. There was an issue of stagnation based on qualification and entry level in the earlier system. Overlapping Position level especially in P3, P4, P5 between Professional & Management and Supervisory & support. To address this issue it was being replaced by:
• Senior supervisory Concept without the change in the pay structure, Position Title, and responsibility.
• Additional career advancement which can take career up to SS1/P2 level.
• Smooth Career movement with increasing in promotion duration and meritorious promotion which is given either at the end of three years or 6 months before if one gets excellent thrice in the performance rating.
C. Doctor’s career path
It is also an important step taken by RCSC to make the medical profession more attractive by motivating the existing doctors to perform better and make up the seniority list.
Doctors need to undergo maximum years of training at the max of 9 years and by the time when they enter the job, many are found struggling and aggrieving over the slow progression of their career. Reason being there was a high rate of doctor turnover but now with this career path implementation, they are given meritorious promotion and first promotion in four years. Their study period was also considered active and placed in P3 level if they have master’s degree.
The regular reforms are necessary to fine-tune the system to weed out the inefficiency for the betterment to build a professional, apolitical and meritocratic civil service. Any reforms are accompanied by the challenges, but things have to be sorted and managed to keep it relevant to changing time and environment. RCCS the apex body of Bhutanese civil servant maintain effective, efficient and optimized in size enabling civil servants to render professional service guided by the highest standards of ethics and integrity.
A civil servant is a person employed in the public sector employed by a government department or agency. Royal Civil Service Commission in Bhutan is an apolitical mother body of all the civil servants (29057 as of August 2016) in the country. It has come a long way through a lot of change by leaps, and bounds committed to promoting Good Governance in pursuit of Gross National Happiness. To maintain small, compact and efficient civil servant RCSC has come up with three broad reforms viz. Superstructure, Career progression and Doctors Career path.
It was mainly to introduced Clarity in the position category, Reduce and rationalize the entry points into the civil service, Addresses stagnation, Optimize HRD investments, Address the disadvantaged professions, Better utilization of manpower.
As per the latest reform brought by the RCSC they have categorized position into four groups Executive (EX) and Specialist (ES), Professional and Management (P&M), Supervisory and Support (S/SS) and Operational (O). The super structure has divided and distinguished service providers into five major groups namely Executive and specialist service, Administration service, Finance service, Education service and Technical service. There are 19 MOG and 94 sub-groups.
A. Super structure
Earlier RCSC faced lots of criticism and had to tackle stacks of challenges due to inefficiency in the system. There were myriad issues with regard to civil service promotion and transfer which led to the creation of several criteria to ease in the functioning. For instance, to get promoted from Planning Officer to Immigration Officer one has to serve 10 years at the most as a Planning Officer. Likewise there too was a fusion of the profession irrespective of background qualification causing a mismatch of their expertise and position.
Criteria 1. Now with the objectives of recruiting the right person for right job RCSC carried changes in the system by allowing movements of civil servants among MOG, SG, and positions within super structure group. To retain and enhance professionalism in civil service Technical employees cannot shift and take the post of administration and management unless on the given conditions.
Conditions for transfer and open competition are:
• Movements allowed among the positions identified for (AS, FS & ES).
• Technical Service no movement unless Exception-positions requiring the same qualification.
• However one must serve 3 years from the date of appointment in the same service before opting for transfer and changing profession if fulfills the necessary criteria.
• One must also serve in the same field equal the duration of their training period.
Criteria 2. The officer on special assignment allows movement outside the superstructure group under special circumstances for fixed term depending upon the availability of vacant position minimum of 5 years.
Criteria 3. Allow movement within the same group for positions with multiple entries on the condition of either through appointment/open competition/transfer.
B. Career Progression
Career progression is another significant change taken by the RCSC with the objectives to allow smooth career progression and outline a career path for all position categories. There was an issue of stagnation based on qualification and entry level in the earlier system. Overlapping Position level especially in P3, P4, P5 between Professional & Management and Supervisory & support. To address this issue it was being replaced by:
• Senior supervisory Concept without the change in the pay structure, Position Title, and responsibility.
• Additional career advancement which can take career up to SS1/P2 level.
• Smooth Career movement with increasing in promotion duration and meritorious promotion which is given either at the end of three years or 6 months before if one gets excellent thrice in the performance rating.
C. Doctor’s career path
It is also an important step taken by RCSC to make the medical profession more attractive by motivating the existing doctors to perform better and make up the seniority list.
Doctors need to undergo maximum years of training at the max of 9 years and by the time when they enter the job, many are found struggling and aggrieving over the slow progression of their career. Reason being there was a high rate of doctor turnover but now with this career path implementation, they are given meritorious promotion and first promotion in four years. Their study period was also considered active and placed in P3 level if they have master’s degree.
The regular reforms are necessary to fine-tune the system to weed out the inefficiency for the betterment to build a professional, apolitical and meritocratic civil service. Any reforms are accompanied by the challenges, but things have to be sorted and managed to keep it relevant to changing time and environment. RCCS the apex body of Bhutanese civil servant maintain effective, efficient and optimized in size enabling civil servants to render professional service guided by the highest standards of ethics and integrity.
