By Sugeeswara Senadhira
Colombo, January 6 (Daily News): A few years ago, government employees in Sri Lanka became a laughing stock in the world when a trade union struck work in protest against the installation of fingerprint machines to mark attendance in their offices.
Sri Lanka is among the top rankers in the list of countries with too many holidays. And in spite of enjoying all the holidays, half-day leave, short leave and other facilities to abstain from work, Sri Lankan trade unions have brazenly resisted all attempts by the authorities to at least get government servants to report to work on time and to prevent their departure from office before the closing time.
Many studies, surveys and evaluations have found that the vast majority of government servants are inefficient and lethargic. The analyses say that the output of public servants is as low as 25% of the required services. Roughly, the total output of the 1.6 million public servants is equal to the output of just 400,000 workers.
Hence, there was no reason to be shocked when President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and some courageous ministry secretaries spoke bluntly about the expected duties and services of government servants.
Without mincing words President Wickremesinghe said that public service is not an eight-hour job. He urged public servants to work extra hours to make the cash-strapped country a prosperous nation this year.
“A person’s duties cannot be limited to eight hours a day and five days a week. Let’s all work with commitment. By the end of 2023, I hope to take this country forward with the support of all of you and restore normalcy,” he said.
The people are well aware that the country was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis last year due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves that also sparked political turmoil. The President said no public servant can shirk his responsibility as 2023 is going to be a critical year for the country’s economy.
Speaking on current needs, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena urged public servants to work together to put the country on the path to a bright future. Speaking at the commencement of duties in the new year at the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo, he said: “This is the moment to announce the pledge and resolve to work with commitment for the betterment of the nation.”
He said that the government led by President Wickremesinghe is committed to achieving targets in the next 25 years on behalf of all Sri Lankans to ensure that the country reaches its goal by the 100 th. year of independence.
“While making this pledge today, the only wish of the President’s Office including all other ministries, departments and public service institutions spread across the country that represent thousands of government employees as well as private sector employees who join us, is to build a proud future for the country and the people.”
“In fact, a larger responsibility is assigned to the public service. We are dedicated to the process of bringing efficiency, orderliness and effectiveness of the public service to the people and to the entire country,” the Prime Minister said.
As a country that has experienced setbacks and resurgence throughout its history amid various challenges, Sri Lanka can transform itself into a proud nation once again, Gunawardena said.
“We are currently going through one of the most challenging times in history. As the Prime Minister, I appeal to you to extend your hand and help fulfill all the duties of the public service to make Sri Lanka a developed, modern and self-sufficient country and to build a new generation that will embrace new developments in various fields,” the Premier said.
Public complaints against government officers directly dealing with the people include: coming late to work, spending a lot of time over breakfast, and gossiping with each other without any concern for the waiting public. The public also say that some officers do not attend to work with seriousness but spend time talking on their mobile phones or browsing the internet on their phones.
One of the new ministerial secretaries, Public Administration Ministry Secretary Neel Bandara Hapuhinna, took the bull by the horns when he said that he would act tough on the use of mobile phones by State officials during office hours. He added that he had seen in some places public offices navigating Facebook and WhatsApp the first thing on coming to work without attending to people who had come to obtain services.
He said he is wondering if a circular should be issued on the use of mobile phones during office hours. He pointed out that in some private sector offices, employees have to place their mobile phones in a locker on arrival and take them out only after the day’s work.
Considering the need to reduce the number of public servants, the government took several actions. One was to offer public servants no-pay leave for two years for them to work abroad without breaking their service seniority. Already more than 125,000 requests have been received from public servants eager to avail this opportunity.
Another step was compulsory retirement for those who attain the age of 60. More than 60,000 have already retired. But some trade unions have come up with the threat of a strike against this regulation. Trade unions that had always demanded that elders must not be given service extensions depriving jobs for the youth, now say that elderly employees must be retained!
Public sector employees started work in the New Year on January 2, amidst the cancellation of at least 15 office trains. The reason for the cancellations was the go-slow action of railway workers who wanted the government to extend the services of retiring railway workers. The trade unions should have asked those who were retiring to train replacement staff before they retire instead of making such absurd demands.
It is time public servants took the warnings given by the President, Prime Minister and the Ministry Secretary seriously and realize that they are public servants and that their primary duty is to serve the public.
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