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The government is focusing on three crucial axes for implementing the public sector reform plan as the arrival of EC-ECB-IMF troika representatives in March draws near, government sources said this week.
The first axis concerns accelerating the implementation of measures for the suspension of 2,000 civil servants and, subsequently, a mobility program. Certain unresolved issues with these measures are to be overcome in the next few days, after which the administrative reform ministry is going to announce the vacancies that need to be filled in the public sector. There are estimated to more than 10,000 such vacancies, mainly in the public order ministry, social insurance funds, and healthcare.
The second axis concerns the government ministries' organization charts. The government council, chaired by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, convened at noon on Thursday to approve the new organization charts in four more government ministries, following the ministries of administrative reform and environment.
The ministries of justice, Macedonia-Thrace, labour and agriculture are going to witness their administrative structure cut by 60 percent in a bid to reduce costs, while the charts of other five ministries are set to be approved next week. The goal is to reinforce the role of ministries and their services to the public and to contribute to efforts aimed at boosting entrepreneurship.
The third axis concerns the removal of civil servants found guilty of breach of faith, are deemed otherwise unsuitable for office or have been unjustifiably absent from work. Only 800 of the roughly 4,000 civil servants found guilty of breach of faith were removed in 2012. The problem was made worse by delays in the issue of decisions by disciplinary councils. The government's goal is to place those employees on suspension in order to thwart the troika's demand for mass dismissals.
Problems of corruption by public-sector employees who have violated the civil servants' code were discussed by Public Administration Inspector General Leandros Rakintzis, Administrative Reform Minister Antonis Manitakis and Interior Minister Evripidis Stylianidis in a meeting they had a few days ago. (AMNA)
