Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
Government servants are a group of organized public servants employed for the overall administration of government. The first and foremost duty of govt. servant is to render service to common people in line of democracy. The attitude to serve the nation and its people is inevitable. Regarding the topic, there are some points to ponder.
The security and discipline point preceded from other points. It is the most vital thing which is focused before all other things. This is so essential that without it any office loses its importance. It is heard that very often office records are being misplaced or at times become missing. This is simply suicidal. It must not occur. These occurrences are no doubt unhappy for the reputation and image of any govt. office. Besides administration is being collapsed for such type of bad incidence.
The punctuality of our officers and office staff are also in parallel line of office security and discipline point. Govt. servants hardly maintain the time table. They do not attend offices in time, departs from offices early. We see the queue of employees in the secretariat from one hour before the final bell rings. They are not at all alert about effective time management. Meetings, seminars and conferences do not start in time. In some offices, the picture is very much offensive. The office people are not serious on this issue. They are very much casual and move to other places random out of their offices.
More over the govt. servants must show the highest loyalty and maintain discipline. The are to give-up the corrupt and insincere path way and unfair means. But, the tragedy is that the majority of the govt. servants are used to the wrong practices along with corruption and nepotism. They are supposed to be self-less, impartial and unbiased. But the opposite picture is reflected here. Nowadays, the officials do not behave proper with people. They show sentiments and even do not hesitate to exchange hot talks with clients. This is happening in banks, corporate offices, Bima offices and even all service sectors like PDB, Gas Energy, health centers etc.
Again the govt. officials should work with team spirit. But officers do not pay heed to it. They do not understand the team management. So we find very poor performance in offices, specially in govt. offices. The out put is of below standard. The official must give up the complicacies of bureaucracy. Rather things need to be made easier for better service. The govt. servants must be equipped with the adequate knowledge to perform duty effectively and efficiently. But things are not done smooth, correct and decent. Some-how papers are being prepared and presented. As if, they do it ignorantly and with negligence.
If bureaucracy is equipped with the concept of modernization then any targeted mission can be achieved. With the changes of time and modernization the bureaucrats will have to involve to the process of politics and do their respective job in line of politicization. They are supposed to work and cooperate the govt. to the interest of the ruling class and sometimes they play the part of socio-political guardianships in favor of the govt. and they remain confined within the four-walls under the preview of colonial culture. They do not at all bother for any criticism or pressure from general people or deprived people, whatever be the type or nature of the govt. the bureaucrats become the soul and power of govt. So, the objectives of all govt. must be mandated to peoples welfare and nation’s upliftment. But the problem is that the govt. servants in the name of peoples welfare concentrated to themselves only for maintaining a group or class interest which we may call it colonial system. But in the progressive society this cannot be accepted.
People and their leaders get agitated and they protest it. In the colonial regime the govt. servants were trained not as a public servant, but as a public master. They were really treated as a govt. agent. But that regime is over and we are the citizen’s of a free and independent state at present. How far our public servants try to accommodate with the changes of times and in the changed situation. If the officers are cordial and there is a expression of positive aptitude but they are obstructed from some pressure lobbying groups from dark corner. I
n the modern welfare state the administration has been re-arranged. The administrative activities must have the strong foundation and it must be well arranged. The bureaucrats must play a good role of a good administrator and taking the measures where highly professionalism is focused. According to the opinion of modern political scientist, bureaucrats are found with many of the undesirable problems.
The bureaucrats consider themselves to be the master of the people. They also think that they can exercise any authority upon people on any ground, so this sorts of superstructure mentality is a great problem for a nation and its people. With this aptitude, they show negligence to people and care little. Besides, the present bureaucrats are not liberal and they become rigid to taking any decision.
Moreover there are absence of transparency and accountability and also there is a procrastination of time. The govt. servants are very much formal and they have the tendency to escape responsibilities.
Again the attitude of indifference to people, impartiality, non co-operation and reluctant to political development are combindly affecting our bureaucrat’s attitude and making their mentality declining to socialization. However with all the problems our bureaucrats must not cross the boundary line of democratic concept. They must come under a common rule and a unique umbrella like control point and from that control line they are to engage themselves only for the good of nation and its people.
They must be responsive and responsible. Govt. servants must be united. In no way they show disregard or complexes among themselves. There should not be any blame game or any other humiliating approach or any criticism adverse to nation’s interest. If so, it will only defame the service image.
The govt. servant in no way can criticize other person who is his present colleague or a former colleague. At least the minimum courtesy and politeness must be maintained. But in the office campus some govt. servants are giving the privileges to the outsider opportunists for which the accepted norms are now broken and rules are violated. In recent time some of the govt. employees have tendency to take the advantage with the outsider lobbyist and political influential.
Consequently they are creating bad precedence among their colleagues. With this bad practices the inter service relationship is hampered and if the standing rules are broken and illegal and illogical practices are established then with the adverse situation in administration people will have to suffer. Today there is a bad trend. There are very rush of visitors which is not decent looking. They move from door to door and disturb the normal activities of the govt. servants.
The visitors enter the office campus, spend the whole day gossiping with the govt. servants. The rush of the visitors in the offices must come under control. Otherwise the govt. servants would not be able to conduct their session peacefully. Moreover there are a elite pressure group who are in collaboration with the govt. servants are having the privileges and reciprocally govt. servants are also benefitted. So all these things should be monitored.
If brokers, collaborators, lobbyist and outsider opportunist’s are at random with an easy access to govt. office then it will create major problems of offices like security and discipline and even there will be the problem of real public service. So we want to see our govt. servants not as a public master but as a public servant.
