New Year and after

The Sinhala and Hindu New Year was celebrated on a grand scale. A contagious spirit of festivity and friendship filled the air through the length and breadth of the country.

In Colombo streets are deserted and many private and public offices were running with skeleton staff since most employees have taken long leave with no concern for the services to be rendered to the people.

This tradition of taking extra holidays has serious repercussions on the economy on account of valuable man hours lost. It is a pity that this factor is glossed over in silence by the authorities as well as trade unions. Such a situation would not be tolerated in any other country. This is also a part of the breakdown of discipline and work ethics in the country.

Political interference and patronage in the appointment and promotion of public servants is one big factor that has accentuated indiscipline in work places and eroded employee enthusiasm and enterprise.

Since employees feel themselves to be just cogs in the wheel with no appreciation of work done while those that have political or other patronage rise up the hierarchical ladder in the work place it is no wonder that they find it more at home outside their places of work.

Unless a new culture of work is introduced and secures, unless promotions and salary increases are tied to performance, unless the bright and enterprising are rewarded ungrudgingly this new culture cannot be created. It is necessary to do away with political patronage.

Pasting posters during election time should not be a criterion for employment or promotions.

There has been talk of public sector reform for several decades. Both politicians and top bureaucrats have been speaking about it. Yet with no example coming from the top the reform is still at ground level.

The President has called upon everybody to support the Government’s development drive which would get top priority in the days to come. However, its success depends most on the human resources that could be mustered for the drive and their pace of work and commitment.

No amount of capital expenditure or foreign aid could drive a project without the participation of active human labour. That is why long holidays and slack working patterns harm the national effort.

There are many accusations levelled against the authorities for wastage. Yet, how many consider wastage of man-hours of work an economic wastage? This country would grow faster if every employee, whatever his or her designation performs an honest eight-hour labour. This is true of politicians as well as public and private sector employees.

It is not a question of discipline alone. It is also a question of attitude. Nor is that all. The lack of an efficient transport service for employees to travel to work in time as well as inordinate delays due to traffic jams are also causes. Thus, a holistic approach to the problem is essential. The system of constant monitoring of the progress of work is either absent or it is only a ritual performed without any commitment for better performance.

Now that the New Year and the festivities that goes with it are almost over, it is high time that everybody gets down to work in earnest.

Show no lenience

The people who went to the polls and performed their civic duty are still waiting to see the final result. It is denied to them due to the misguided and arrogant actions of a few individuals who took the law into their own hands. The actions of these few insolent and callous individuals are a disgrace to the country and an affront to its dignity and honour.

The authorities should not sweep under the carpet these misdeeds for the sake of preserving party unity or for avoiding party embarrassment. Such persons should not be allowed to escape with impunity. It would open the door for many others to follow their example, even if the system of preferential voting is done away with. It is such impunity repeated for the nth time that has emboldened these few shameless individuals.

What is intra-party today may become inter-party tomorrow. It is time to put a permanent full stop to all such misdemeanours.