Public Administration in Developing

Countries
• Public administration plays an important role in the modern society. First of all,
it is an instrument for providing services. It protects the life and property of
people by maintaining law and order. It provides a number of services for the
people like public health, education, housing, social security, amongst others.
• Public administration is also responsible for implementing the laws and policies
of the government. It is the public administration which translates the decisions
of the government into reality.
• By implementing public policies and programmes, it delivers the promised goods
and services to the intended beneficiaries. By delivering goods and services to
the people, public administration maintains harmony and cohesion in society. In
this way, it maintains stability in society.
• In developing countries, Public administration is also an instrument
of socio-conomic change. The Third World nations which emerged in
the post-Second World War period faced the problems of poverty,
unemployment, and social and economic backwardness.
• Public administration in these nations emerged as an instrument of
change. The massive developmental drive by the bureaucracy in these
nations led to the implementation of poverty eradication
programmes, employment assurance schemes, community
development programmes, electrification of remote villages, road
construction, and all areas of infrastructural development.
• This has transformed the face of the erstwhile colonial backwardness.
In India, the credit for successful implementation of the various
programmes like poverty eradication, employment schemes, rural
development, land reforms, green revolution, industrial development,
and infrastructure development goes to its bureaucracy.
• Public administration is an instrument of national integration. Indian
administration played an important role after Partition. It helped in
the rehabilitation process of the refugees. It also helped in integrating
the princely states with the Indian territory.
• Most developing countries are incredibly diverse. In such countries,
the bureaucracy is entrusted with the responsibility of
implementation of the goals of constitution. The success of India’s
democracy to a large extent can be attributed to the positive role
played by the bureaucracy. It has a number of castes, classes, and
religious communities. Despite these differences, India is an example
of unity in diversity. The credit for this goes to the Indian
bureaucracy. It has successfully implemented the goals of the Indian
constitution which believes in equality, fraternity, and social justice.
• In the era of liberalization and privatization, there is a decrease in the
scope of the functions of the state. It brings about shrinkage in the
administrative apparatus as well as the size of the bureaucracy.
Under these circumstances, the role of the bureaucracy changed.
• Now, it is supposed to promote, encourage, and motivate the private
sector. It has also to see the operational side of the private market. It
is the duty of the state to prevent the earning of greater profits
through illegal means. Hence, it is the duty of the state to prevent
such practices in the larger interests of the society as a whole.
• The role of the state as a regulator requires the existence of a
regulatory mechanism to protect and promote public interest by
imposing regulations upon the private enterprises. Thus, in the era of
the free market economy, public administration has to regulate the
private sector in order to protect public interest. The absence of good
administration would make a mockery of the new economic system.