Public Administration and Private Administration Dr Paromita Chakraborty

Public Administration and Private Administration Dr. Paromita Chakraborty, Surendranath College

§ The process of management is said to be practised by all Introduction kinds of organizations starting from an household to the most complex system of government. § There is a school of thought which think that public and private administration are similar and another school states that both forms of administration are different.

§ Skills- the skills, procedures and techniques are common to both public and private administration. Issues such as accounting, management procedures, purchases are common in both public and private administration. Similarities § Administrative set up- generally administrative and hierarchical set up is common in both private and public administration. Hence both have an organizational structure, higher and lower status employees and have clear demarcation of work and responsibilities. § Public relations- both public and private sectors believe that there should be maximum contact with the masses.

§ Though public administration has some common ground with private administration however there are certain differences between the two. § Political direction- unlike private administration, public Differences administration deals with mostly policy matters. The minister lays down the broad policy outline which is then implemented by the bureaucracy. The administration has to carry out orders from the political executive. This is not the case of private administration. § Prestige- public administration enjoys prestige and social status as compared to private administration.

§ Profit Motive- public administration is service oriented and profit making is not its goal. However private administration is concerned with profit issues. § Uniformity of treatment- public administration has uniform Differences principles. It is consistent in procedure and uniform dealing with the public at large. It is not discriminatory to certain sections of people. However in private administration discriminatory treatment is prevalent for the sake of profit. § Legal rules and procedures- public administration operates according to laws, rules and regulations. Private administration is free from the constraint of laws and regulations.

§ Essential Service- examples like defense, law and order, education and health are provided by public administration. Any lapse in these services can cause lapse in public life. Private administration on the other hand does not deal with matters of grave importance. § Financial Control- public administration is subject to Differences extreme financial control, namely the parliament. This does not exist in private administration. § Social issues- public administration looks after the social welfare of the people to promote the weaker sections of the population. Private administration does not operate on social necessity. § Public criticism- public administration is much more prone to public criticism, this is not the case with private administration.