Pm Calls For Revolution In Civil Service Culture

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PM calls for revolution in civil service culture

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today marked Civil Service Day by calling for a revolution in civil service culture, telling government workers to focus on putting an end to corruption within civil service ranks and on responding to changes in global society.

The prime minister, who today handed out awards to outstanding government workers, told civil servants gathered for the ceremony that over the next four years he expected them to make adjustments and developments.

What was required, he said, was a revolution in civil service culture, with ministries cooperating more closely and taking the public as the focal point of their work.

Promising that red tape would be slashed to allow civil servants to work more efficiently, he also pledged civil service pay rises in the 2006 and 2008 budget years, noting that higher salaries were one way of preventing corruption.

However, he warned that government workers found to be involved in corrupt practices would face severe penalties, stressing that the vast majority of honest civil servants should not be compromised by a minority of corrupt ones.

“When good civil servants, they don’t have a very good life. But when corrupt civil servants retire, they do. We need to do away with this”, he said, warning corrupt workers that they would be forced out of office before retirement age.

--TNA 2005-04-01