Archives

by Lloyd Fernando

It is to the middle class
We must look for the safety of England
- Thakeray, Four Georges

There is a lack of monitoring and supervision in state institutions; and often nobody is answerable or prepared to take the responsibility.

Let the public servant remember that anything can be accomplished, any goal can be achieved when no one cares who gets the credit. It is time officers of the public sector realised they should be dedicated to participate and serve for the common good of all. Their beholden duty, no matter what position they hold in the government, is to serve the community and to serve it with dedication and meaningfully.

'A cushy job in the public service' is how the common man has come to describe an employable position in the public sector, be it in the rank and file or at the executive level. Although this type of thinking if not the viewpoint, has changed considerably during the last few decades or so, still the question remains as to how many public servants do an honest day's work for the public who, in the wake of increasing legislation vis-a-vis public matters, are becoming more dependent on the public service in transacting business with reference to their day-to-day lives.

Consideration

Be it at the post office, railway station, bus terminal, or the official super markets, unending queues are a daily feature the public has got to put up with, particularly during the rush hours; perhaps, with a little bit of courtesy and that amount of consideration for a reasonably quick service, the lot of the people could be eased to a great extent.

A kind word or a pleasing attitude in this environment, towards the members of the public could surely go a long way to alleviate the daily burden of the proletariat. In recent times, public institutions such as the Passport Office, Airport, and the State banking sector have become exceptionally busy areas of public servicing, catering to the mass exodus of people going in search of the 'pot of gold' to the oil-rich climes.

Apart from reporting to the public officer's place of work on time and being there for the greater part of the day to serve the public, the least a public servant can do is not to send the public astray from one desk to another, or from one office to another. In a letter to the editor of a morning 'daily', a reader has complained of having made twenty-five visits in over an year to the local office, only to be told eventually, to make out a second application; another member of the public had been curtly told the application file could not be traced. In another instance, an official had consigned all letters distasteful to him to the waste-paper basket. The common man is thus shunned with disdain with no one to turn to.

In difference

At public servicing counters, members of the public are often treated with contempt or utter indifference.

There is scant regard for the public; practices such as private conversations or transaction seems to take precedence over public service.

A 'CWE' sales counter girl at the premier outlet in the heart of the metropolis was either not aware of what she had in stock for sale or it was just the common attitude of "can't be bothered", when I made inquiries of an item I had observed in the showcase, and she very reflexively responded negatively.

Contemptuous

The callously contemptuous attitude of a disciplined service towards the public manifested itself in no unmistakable form in the recent past. We had gone to the local police station to lodge an entry vis-a-vis a lost identity card. The officer on duty, after recording the statement demanded that my colleague fetches a bottle of gum to paste the entry in place. We stood still aghast, and eventually purchased for this 'impression' police station, a full bottle of gum to help police serve the public for worse, and hopefully for better!

The stark fact that has to be borne in mind by politicos, quasi-politicos and public officials whom the public encounter in their day-to-day lives, is that their very existence is dependent on the public and the least they can do is to lend the public their ears, or extend a helping hand, however small it may be, wherever and whenever necessary. Let us try never to feel that we are competing against anyone; it is better to have the feeling that we are helping all.

Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.

- Eric Hoffer

(The writer is former Secretary to Governor, N.W.P.)

www.crescat.com

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager