I was amused on reading the letters (Jan. 6) on the merits and defects of keeping government offices open on all days of the year. A friend of mine completed building his house in India and was awaiting his “building tax assessment.” The Revenue Officer inspected his house and asked for a bribe to complete a favourable assessment. He was asked to come to the Secretariat on a Sunday and pay the money directly to the tahsildar. When my friend asked, “do you work on Sunday,” the officer said “Oh, we have so much work that we rarely take a holiday.” Sundays were apparently reserved for some quiet transactions.
T.P. Subramonian,
Cupertino
Efficiency is about quality, not numbers. Human beings cannot be treated as machines. Due importance needs to be given to their socio-cultural needs for maintaining good mental health which is of utmost importance in discharging their duties well.
C. Petson Peter,
Kochi
When communication has become 24x7, why can't we have an administrative system that operates 24x7x365? When the railways, postal and telecommunication systems can function throughout the year, why not the government delivery system?
As a highly populated country with a large number of holidays, we have lost our work culture forcing the government sector to be insensitive and indifferent to the needs of the common man. The solution lies in allowing the willing employees to carry on with their duties. They should be given incentives. Another solution could be employing the unemployed, educated youth during holidays for specific work so that the piling up of files for long can be minimised.
V. Rajagopal,
Tirupati
