Call for a disciplined public
service
President Mahinda Rajapaksa spoke some home truths the
other day when addressing Chairmen of Government Corporations
and statutory bodies.
The President noted that some heads of state institutions
were hardly in their seats and were wont to play truant. He said
some of these heads were not punctual and were not in the
offices for even 45 minutes.
This state of affairs is only too well known and the
Presidential admonition may well be a reminder that such
callousness would not be tolerated.
The President no doubt is speaking from experience as a one
time Trade Union leader who may had runs in with such Chairmen
and heads of Government bodies and know first hand their
attitude to the workers and the public at large.
The President’s straight talk could well be a clarion call to
these personages to serve the public with redoubled effort to
justify their lavish upkeep from the public purse.
He wanted them to put their shoulder to the wheel in
realising the fruits of the Government’s 10 year development
plan and if they cannot deliver, the door was open for them to
quit.
The President’s admonition to the Heads of the state
institutions is not without reason given the all too familiar
image of the public officials cultivated in the minds of the
public as being lethargic, ostentatious and those who use
resources of their institution for private purposes such as the
deployment of official limousines for spouses’ shopping or to
cart their offspring to and from schools. True, not all heads of
Government bodies can be painted with the same brush.
There are dedicated and efficient individuals who adorn these
top seats whose skills and professional enterprise have brought
rich dividends to the institutions under their purview.
Equally there are also the bad eggs whose sole purposes of
adorning office is for the perks and privileges it affords.
Time was when the country’s public service was the envy of
our South Asian neighbours and the heads of institutions
performed their duties with diligence and a great degree of
public consciousness.
Hopefully the President’s address may serve as a beginning to
revert to that era in our public service.
The President’s call for all Chairmen and heads of Government
bodies to have empathy with the people during these trying times
should also be taken note of by these personages so that they
would justify their salaries and perks paid for by the public
purse.
The President also spoke of “opportunist Chairmen” who do the
minimum possible to ‘save their skin’ and blamed these elements
for a lack of public consciousness.
It is high time the Government put in motion a system of
assessment to gauge the performance of the various Chairmen in
state bodies so that optimum output is obtained. This method
would also show up the time servers and help weed out the dead
wood.
There should be no political considerations in ridding the
vermin who fatten themselves on the public purse and give
nothing in return.
The President also made the pertinent point enjoining the
heads of state bodies to make the institutions under them profit
making ventures. Today many state ventures are in the red due to
lack of foresight and proper planning on the part of those at
the helm. Some state Institutions are virtually bursting at the
seams as a result of overstaffing.
True, the Chairmen cannot be held responsible for this state
of affairs as all Governments since Independence packed State
Departments with their supporters with no qualifications for the
jobs assigned. As a result today the public has to foot a
massive bill to maintain this financial burden in our State
bodies.
The Government should consider a moratorium of recruitment to
state institutions which are already brimming with unproductive
labour and steps taken to trim the fat in these institutions
which no doubt has a bearing on the rise in the cost of living.
What is of utmost importance is an attitudinal change on the
part of all heads of State Institutions.
As the President said they should take upon themselves the
obligation to serve the people and show proof of their
achievements to the public.
The President enjoined them to be efficient, dedicated and
persevering. The President’s address we hope will galvanise
these personages to reassess their worth and take upon
themselves with added vigour the task of delivering the goods
for which they were appointed into the higher echelons of the
public service.
It is time they heed the President’s words and descend from
their ivory towers and cultivate a pragmatic approach towards
solving the multifaceted problems confronting the people.
Also be ideal if these Head of boards and corporations divest
themselves of some of the lavish perks and privileges they
currently enjoy and empathise with the difficulties of the
people. |