Editorial:-
It started as a trickle; a few organizations announcing the resignation of its government servant members. Now, however, it is a proper deluge as realization and perhaps acceptance as well has sunk in that the government is serious about not wanting people on its payroll to also serve [even as members] other associations and organizations. And as more press releases come in everyday, announcing how another association has dissolved its executive committee to free its government servant members, the reality of how ubiquitous the presence in government servants in non-governmental agencies had become sinks in. They were simply everywhere, from neighbourhood sudhar groups to state level sports, community and social organizations. They must have definitely served a role and provided a service to the organizations they had joined and were office bearers in, but one cannot ignore the fact that it is worrying to realize how much influence government servants enjoyed in Sikkim. As this section has mentioned before as well, their exuberance, even if earnest, was harmful because it allowed all civic engagements of the lay citizens to atrophy. Things might get on the mend now after so initial stumbles.
But even as the depleted associations and organisations learn to thrive without government officers among its office bearers, one wonders whether the bureaucracy now relieved of its other distractions [because it does appear as if the entire bureaucracy was also moonlighting elsewhere] will approach its real responsibilities with more keenness. Because let’s accept it, the public wants its servants and representatives to deliver better. This has not been happening which is why the Assembly now has a sizeable Opposition representation and the babus no longer have even their second Saturdays off. This, at a time when a decade back, a concerted effort was made to institute a 5-day week. The idea was shot down when realization sunk in that the 9 to 5 working day [against the present 10 to 4 system] which would have to come in lieu would a pointless, only on paper exercise. The two extra hours of work every day for five days would make up for the no office on Saturday, it was explained. But everyone knew it was pointless since even 10-4 was only a loose guideline with government officers working around it rather casually. This was a reflection on the work culture, or rather the lack of it, in Sikkim’s government offices. And not much has changed since then either. Improper as it is to paint all officials and government employees with the same brush, the end-result, the performance of the departments on the whole makes it difficult not to be prejudiced. Punctuality has never been the hallmark of government offices here which is perhaps why notifications continue to be issued reminding personnel of the working hours, of the importance of punctuality and need for clearing files in time. This is not even to say that government employees don’t want to work at all. What is being attempted is to get to the root to the problem. A visit to any government office will bear out the fact that the work-culture is slack in Sikkim not because of the personnel, but because of the absence of clear tasks and target-oriented responsibilities. There are also clearly too many with too little work. There are few who abandon work midway and leave office, but there are many who have nothing constructive to do in all the hours they spend in their chambers. Here again, the tried and tested formula for similar problems elsewhere is VRS. It fails in Sikkim because even before the employees take the option of VRS, there are others moving files to take up their jobs. The load never really gets shed because there are too many considerations and connections which cannot be ignored in a small state like Sikkim where most things work at a personal level.
So what does one do?
The oversized administration has been viewed for far too long as a burden and since no solution has really worked out, perhaps a change in attitude is required. What if, the same monolith is accepted as an asset and then segregated into compact units with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. To repeat a point here, there are very few government employees who don’t want to work, they grow lethargic because they are not given anything interesting and constructive to do. Few know what their contribution is to the larger scheme of things. If this confusion is cleared, more responsibility given and power devolved down the line, things could start looking up. This, when complemented by the frequent trainings that have now become mandatory should keep refreshing the officials on their exact roles and contribution to Sikkim’s future. Few will fail to measure up if this is done. At the end, even this might not work out, but at least Sikkim would have tried hard enough…
It started as a trickle; a few organizations announcing the resignation of its government servant members. Now, however, it is a proper deluge as realization and perhaps acceptance as well has sunk in that the government is serious about not wanting people on its payroll to also serve [even as members] other associations and organizations. And as more press releases come in everyday, announcing how another association has dissolved its executive committee to free its government servant members, the reality of how ubiquitous the presence in government servants in non-governmental agencies had become sinks in. They were simply everywhere, from neighbourhood sudhar groups to state level sports, community and social organizations. They must have definitely served a role and provided a service to the organizations they had joined and were office bearers in, but one cannot ignore the fact that it is worrying to realize how much influence government servants enjoyed in Sikkim. As this section has mentioned before as well, their exuberance, even if earnest, was harmful because it allowed all civic engagements of the lay citizens to atrophy. Things might get on the mend now after so initial stumbles.
But even as the depleted associations and organisations learn to thrive without government officers among its office bearers, one wonders whether the bureaucracy now relieved of its other distractions [because it does appear as if the entire bureaucracy was also moonlighting elsewhere] will approach its real responsibilities with more keenness. Because let’s accept it, the public wants its servants and representatives to deliver better. This has not been happening which is why the Assembly now has a sizeable Opposition representation and the babus no longer have even their second Saturdays off. This, at a time when a decade back, a concerted effort was made to institute a 5-day week. The idea was shot down when realization sunk in that the 9 to 5 working day [against the present 10 to 4 system] which would have to come in lieu would a pointless, only on paper exercise. The two extra hours of work every day for five days would make up for the no office on Saturday, it was explained. But everyone knew it was pointless since even 10-4 was only a loose guideline with government officers working around it rather casually. This was a reflection on the work culture, or rather the lack of it, in Sikkim’s government offices. And not much has changed since then either. Improper as it is to paint all officials and government employees with the same brush, the end-result, the performance of the departments on the whole makes it difficult not to be prejudiced. Punctuality has never been the hallmark of government offices here which is perhaps why notifications continue to be issued reminding personnel of the working hours, of the importance of punctuality and need for clearing files in time. This is not even to say that government employees don’t want to work at all. What is being attempted is to get to the root to the problem. A visit to any government office will bear out the fact that the work-culture is slack in Sikkim not because of the personnel, but because of the absence of clear tasks and target-oriented responsibilities. There are also clearly too many with too little work. There are few who abandon work midway and leave office, but there are many who have nothing constructive to do in all the hours they spend in their chambers. Here again, the tried and tested formula for similar problems elsewhere is VRS. It fails in Sikkim because even before the employees take the option of VRS, there are others moving files to take up their jobs. The load never really gets shed because there are too many considerations and connections which cannot be ignored in a small state like Sikkim where most things work at a personal level.
So what does one do?
The oversized administration has been viewed for far too long as a burden and since no solution has really worked out, perhaps a change in attitude is required. What if, the same monolith is accepted as an asset and then segregated into compact units with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. To repeat a point here, there are very few government employees who don’t want to work, they grow lethargic because they are not given anything interesting and constructive to do. Few know what their contribution is to the larger scheme of things. If this confusion is cleared, more responsibility given and power devolved down the line, things could start looking up. This, when complemented by the frequent trainings that have now become mandatory should keep refreshing the officials on their exact roles and contribution to Sikkim’s future. Few will fail to measure up if this is done. At the end, even this might not work out, but at least Sikkim would have tried hard enough…
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