Government servants- time to work

I would start this blog with an interesting excerpt, contributed by a gentleman named Vipin Bucksey that I recently read in a newspaper. Here how it goes:

 “A man dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a different hell for each country. He goes to the German hell and asks, “What do they do here?” He is told, “First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German Devil comes in and beats you for the rest of the day”. The man does not like the sound at all, so he moves on and checks the US hell as well as the Russian hell and many more countries…he discovers that they are all more or less the same as the German hell. Then he comes to the Indian hell and finds a long line of people waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks, “What do they do here?” He is told, “First they put you in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay out on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Indian devil comes in and beats you for the rest of the day”. “But that is exactly the same as all the other hells- so why are so many people waiting to get in here?” he asks. “Because the maintenance is so bad that the electric chair does not work, someone has stolen all the nails from the bed and the Indian devil is a former government servant, so he comes in and signs the register, then goes to the canteen.”

So, that’s how the situation is government departments in India. We tend to believe that we are a growing (leaps and bounds) economy and can compete the developed nations, but, very sorry to say, we do not have the mentality and attitude to work dedicatedly and honestly. Red tapism prevails everywhere, but nothing surpasses the “never work” mentality of our government employees and those white collared bureaucrats. Peep into any government office and you will see mountain ranges of files (most of which may even date back to the pre independence period). The same goes with the judicial system, where half of the year is a holiday. And talking about west Bengal’s administrative affairs, some of the untouched and neglected file heaps will soon beat the highest peaks of the Himalayas, considering their size and height! The only thing our government servants are do and quick at is to demonstrate for increasing their pays and incentives month after month, whatever be the state and level of their work.

To give you some examples, we all know what happened in the Commonwealth Games. Everything was disorganized and only after so much criticism and media glare did the concerned authorities spring into action. Well, fair enough, but why were the whole tasks kept in such a messy state? No one knows. Since the commonwealth was such a huge international event, the government felt concerned, but what about the prestigious domestic sporting events? Take for example, the 34^th National Games to be held in Jharkhand. Nothing has been completed and the event has been deferred for the 6^th time already. Such is the work culture in our country.

So what’s the remedy? I guess it’s virtually impossible, but Indians have to change their mentality. Privatization is not the only solution to end such mess in the administrative level, but yes, educated managers and youth will have to step in. I guess B-school graduates may raise their eyebrows thinking about working in government jobs (but then some have to take the initiative). A combined effort can only solve the problem.