‘Choice agenda’ concept can enhance public service, says deputy prime minister
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday the public
service can be enhanced by strengthening the ‘choice agenda’ concept of
making available services based on the needs and demands of customers.
He
said that in this modern era of public service delivery, the issue of
flexibility in providing services and giving the option to customers or
citizens was a prerequisite in appreciation of their choices and
aspirations.
“We do not deny that the other way of empowering
users to shape the public service is to bring the element of choice into
the public service,” he said when opening the 17th Public Service
Conference at the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan),
here.
Also present were the Chief Secretary to the Government,
Datuk Seri Dr Ali Hamsa, and the president of the Administrative and
Diplomatic Service Association, Datuk Seri Zainal Rahim Seman.
The
two-day conference, with the theme of “Public Services of the Future:
Opportunities and Challenges”, is attended by 350 public service
officers, among them 20 from India, the Philippines, Singapore and
Tanzania.
Muhyiddin, who is also the education minister, said the
aspect of complaint management was most important because the
enhancement of public service quality was closely linked to the number
of complaints managed in each organisation.
He said the quality of
public service management was no longer confined to the satisfaction of
the customer but covered their loyalty as well.
Hence, the
dedication, wisdom and determination of civil servants to assess and act
quickly to resolve a complaint was the benchmark for the improvement in
quality of the public service, he said.
Muhyiddin also emphasised
the importance for each government organisation to pool resources,
strengths, desires and aspirations to generate proactive policies and
decisions and achieve optimal service delivery.
“It has to be
reminded that cooperation and coordination in resolving issues among
ministries are important, and I hope that the mentality of working in
silos by the ministries and government agencies would be addressed
comprehensively,” he said.
The deputy prime minister reminded
civil servants at all levels to see and evaluate things holistically and
act resourcefully in completing a task.
He said this was
important because the public service was a mantra to efforts to respond
positively to the intensive and comprehensive transformation agenda. —
Bernama
Comments
Post a Comment