Just when the nation was gearing up for an enhanced and more efficient work culture in the country’s topmost public office, hilarious account of how unthinkingly and callously the bureaucracy is responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exacting nature has arrived. Millennium Post reported on Friday how ministries, particularly the human resource development one, not just threw away but destroyed hard copies of thousands of files after Modi demanded a ‘paperless’ office. Although Modi meant he wanted a digitised version of the official records, and not heaps of unread and unprepared dossier on issues, the ministries went on an overdrive to placate the Prime Minister and actually destroyed the files without keeping any backup. This unimaginable buffoonery came only days before the bureaucrats sat through a workshop that charted out the necessity of good record-keeping and maintaining soft copies of every file. But the directions of the PM ‘to weed out’ old files was singularly misconstrued by babus too eager to please the top boss without an iota of thoughtful reflection on what exactly did the new technosavvy PM have in mind on one hand, while, on the other, what could be the repercussions of destroying files in such a heedless manner.
This is competitive sycophancy at its worst. While for years the bureaucrats have had an easy ride dealing with ministers either too ignorant or too arrogant to browse through the files themselves, it’s time for them to adapt quickly to the drastic change in work culture in government offices. Modi’s message on skills and para-curricular improvements and his maniacal attachment to efficiency would mean the bureaucrats have to do their home work well. However, if the ministry of HRD (itself responsible for nurturing and propagating the talent pool among young and old, taking the work force to more competent levels of job delivery as well as educating them in holistic ways to tackle the skill-job market gap) shows the wrong way, then what will happen to the other sections of the new regime? A rupee for this thought!
This is competitive sycophancy at its worst. While for years the bureaucrats have had an easy ride dealing with ministers either too ignorant or too arrogant to browse through the files themselves, it’s time for them to adapt quickly to the drastic change in work culture in government offices. Modi’s message on skills and para-curricular improvements and his maniacal attachment to efficiency would mean the bureaucrats have to do their home work well. However, if the ministry of HRD (itself responsible for nurturing and propagating the talent pool among young and old, taking the work force to more competent levels of job delivery as well as educating them in holistic ways to tackle the skill-job market gap) shows the wrong way, then what will happen to the other sections of the new regime? A rupee for this thought!