Coming late and going back early : CM at his rare witty moment
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: Ocotber 01, 2014 -

Hard hitting but not below the belt. Witty and yet serious, reflecting the reality.

Chief Minister O Ibobi will surely not go down as a man with the gift of a gab, but his remarks at the inaugural function of the workshop on skill development on September 29 show cased his latent skills of hitting out but without hurting.

The significant point is he did not spare himself.

A light hearted banter, it may seem to the casual observer, but the admission of the Chief Minister that all Ministers, including himself and top rung Government officials including the Chief Secretary and others have developed the habit of turning up late for work and then returning home early clearly reflects something about the work culture amongst Government employees.

No wonder that all the major roads of Imphal are choc-a-bloc with vehicular movements at 11 am and never at 9 am, when Government offices are supposed to open.

This should underline an important point.

It is the same thing in the evening and this should explain why the roads are not so crowded at 4 pm, the time when Government offices are supposed to close for the day.

More than an indication that the man from Thoubal Assembly Constituency is not blind to the going ons around him.

In a sense it is also a pity that the Chief Minister has so far not thought it fit to crack the whip and has tolerated all the recalcitrant Government employees for years.

The time of giving Government employees the long rope is anathema to the understanding of excellence and the ability to stand out from the mediocre and the average.

Maybe this was what the Chief Minister sought to convey while addressing the opening day of the workshop.

Lack of work culture amongst Government employees has been the bane of Manipur for ages. Tough to say when such a culture started taking roots but it has spread to anything that has got something to do with the Government.

Not a trait that can be identified or even related to the private sector, where diligence and sincerity are awarded but where there is no room for lethargy and incompetence.

A point which should have become clear to all Government employees. The lethargy of Government employees starting from the top to the bottom is also another reason for corruption to start taking roots.

More often than not it is not the aim, objective and qualification of the employees of a Government Department that define its effectiveness but something totally different.

There is a reason why it becomes so hard to get files moving from one table to another and while the culture of graft practices is one reason for this another factor that has become more and more visible with each passing year is the poor work culture of Government employees.

The Chief Minister did not touch on this topic, but it would have meant a lot if he had talked tough on the prevailing practices in some of the Government Departments.

When work in the corridors of Government Departments is dictated by the rate of palm greasing then it is bound to make a lethal cocktail with the prevailing poor work culture. This has been the bane of Manipur for ages.