Civic responsibility

It is often said about us Sri Lankans that we would even accept a headache if given free. This habit has been a hangover from the immediate post-independence era when Governments provided free rice rations to the populace.

It was so ingrained in the public psyche that any attempt to discontinue with this facility spelled doom to the Government in power. In fact a former Prime Minister had to vacate office prematurely due to an incident sparked by the withdrawal of the free rice ration. The upshot of this was a lazy public devoid of initiative.

We also cultivated a dependent mentality where everything was expected gratis from the state. This had its negative impact on the forward march of the country and affected production while undermining creativity.

Had we taken a collective initiative at the time instead of depending on rice shipments from abroad for our sustenance the country would have achieved self sufficiency in food, enabling it to withstand the present global food crisis.

This dependent mentality is perhaps why we are still languishing behind our neighbours in many respects. Even after all these years the 'free' culture has still not lost its allure.

Today we have duty free facilities which were unheard of at that time when Governments practised insular policies. This facility too is being abused. Similarly one should take note of the abuse of State resources by Government employees, which are at their disposal for free.

One has only to walk into any Government department or corporation to witness the number of staff hanging onto telephones with nary a care in the world. It goes without saying that this laissez-faire attitude is born out of the generosity of the State that has been providing too many free benefits to the public servants over the years.

Our comments are made in the context of the new free package that is to be extended to Government servants including pensioners in the form of free mobile phone calls. The initiative under the title Upahara sponsored by a leading Service Provider in the business seeks to offer subscribers voice and video calls free of charge.

The package is meant as a relief measure to public servants. However Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayka has urged public servants not to abuse the facility and enjoined them not to talk over their phones endlessly - a typical scenario in any Government office.

Addressing public servants at the launch of the package he asked them not to abuse the facility. "Like us politicians you too are being paid by the taxpayer," the Premier went on to stress.

The whole thing boils down to responsibility. Today public servants nay the public at large are fast losing their sense of responsibility towards the country. The fast tempo of life and the free-for-all culture have blinded them to this responsibility.

They do not care for their country or losses heaped on the State as result of their actions. One has to only see the number of street lights that are left burning well into the day or the running taps at public places to realise the extent of public negligence or the "to hell with it" attitude.

Added to this is the wanton waste that is witnessed in State institutions draining the country of its scarce resources with no one assuming responsibility. It is this responsibility that is lacking in most of us.

Patriotism covers a wide gamut of qualities such as saving and protecting the resources of the country from destruction. Time was when waste at public institutions was unheard of. There was a time at work places when even to receive a new ballpoint pen one had to surrender the empty cylinder of the used one.

Discipline was kept on a tight leash and staff were expected to maintain exacting standards. Politicisation of the public service changed all this with indiscipline and corruption seeping into the system. This also eroded one's sense of responsibility which was instilled in the past.

It is this attitude that the Premier touched upon when he addressed the public servants. Implicit in the Premier's remark is a rallying call for responsibility to complement patriotism. What he obviously expects from public servants is to give in return for what the State has bestowed on them by way of free facilities and other perks.

It is only through such a change of attitude that productivity could be increased and the country put on the road to progress.

The public servants should be made to justify the munificence showered on them by the State.