Callous government service

(This is translation of an article that appeared in Muslim Murasu December 2010)
Soldiers in army protect the country at its frontiers. They do their job round the clock in snowy mountains, deserts and in middle of seas. They make their camps and tents in the vicinity of their job. In the interior, government machinery takes responsibility for the governance for six crore Tamilians. 10 lakh employees are on the roll. Government entrusts them with budgeted money. Government employs one person for every 60 Tamilians.

Portfolios of ministers are shifted. Minister for forest becomes minister for information technology all of a sudden. Minister for backward classes takes the wheel for health care sector. Minister for Petroleum is seated in the ministry for Panchayats in the middle of the night. There is no correlation between the portfolio that a minister holds, the degree he has aquired and the expertise in the field. Serving the government is the bottom line. End result should be the benefit of the society.

Government employee should be shifted across departments. He or she should not occupy the post with a tenant or owner attitude. One gets employed in the government without any general knowledge. Only requisites are to have garnered a degree from one of the sundry colleges that operate under a tree and to have registered in the employment office.

Crores of rupees, authority and management will be in his refuge. Road, education, transport, birth, death and caste certificates, distribution of food, water tax, land tax, approvals for construction, economic loans and trade permits of 60 Tamilians lie under the feet of such employee. For all the facilities they seek, Tamilians should go on their knees, beg, please, satisfy, gratify and amuse these employees in whatever possible way.

A government employee does not know or need to know the count of his colleagues in his department, budget outlay, and money spent, name of the minister, name of the principal secretary, his or her educational qualifications, efficiency and tour itinerary; full salary at the end of every 30 days. Employees in private firms undergo special training every year and at every stage. Transferring files indiscriminately and dilly-dallying are the only qualifications needed for a government employee. A government employee does not reside in the neighborhood of the job. Instead he asks the workplace to be situated near his house. This destroys government funds. Some districts and Taluks see abundance of employees and the situation is opposite in some other districts. Life of Tamilians is wobbling because of choking shackles by the government. One cannot see any certificate without earning the signature of government employee; income will be blocked. Employees who inexplicably sit on files should be dismissed. Raids should be conducted on those employees who deposit more than 8000 rupees per month. Government service that does not enrich competency but only yields luxuries should be put under chronic scrutiny.