Baleful faces of bureaucracy must be dismissed

When Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself openly says that there are some surly faces in government offices who are determined not to even address the legitimate needs of the people, what should those who have to face this situation on a daily basis do? Surly faces appear in government offices when officials who should be public servants turn into autocrats. How do they turn cantankerous? Anyone with common sense will understand that the arrogance that no one will do anything to them no matter what happens and that they will not have to move from where they are is what paves the way for them to show their bad face. If those in power are strong-willed, no official will be willing to show their surly face to the people.

It is not difficult to find out from whose side the behaviour that leads a Chief Minister leading a government, that has been given a succession of power, to a helpless position comes from. Since the day Pinarayi Vijayan took office as Chief Minister, he has repeatedly told government employees that there is a life in every file and that justice and fairness should be implemented without delaying the file. However, when a section of vested interests hesitates to take that statement at face value, should we doubt whose failure it is? The service organizations of the ruling parties are also responsible for this. They too should change their approach of protecting those who stand with them no matter what mistakes they make. Most government employees are doing a good job. However, can the ones in power avoid responsibility for the sluggishness of a section of employees?

Local Government and Excise Minister MB Rajesh said at the same function attended by the Chief Minister that a person complained to him through WhatsApp that if he goes to the corporation office with an application for a building permit, he cannot return without throwing fireworks. Needless to say, this is happening because of the harassment people get from officials. If we look at the civil service in the state, information about hatred and betrayal among senior officials comes out daily. There are those who openly challenge the authority of the administration and blame each other in public. The Chief Minister said that a section of the employees are interested in their own affairs and many wrong things are happening. Doesn't that mean that the bureaucracy is failing to properly implement the government's instructions?

It is important to examine how many days our ministers spend in the Secretariat. The situation is such that most ministers arrive in Thiruvananthapuram the day before the cabinet meeting and return immediately after the meeting. How can such people control the officials? When ministers completely depend on and are subservient to the officials, some officials will start to think nothing will happen no matter how they act. If this situation is to change, they must be ready to take strict action. Those who receive salaries and other benefits from the people's tax money should act as public servants. Those who do not do so should be properly monitored and those who constantly fail should be dismissed from service. What is the point of blaming the mirror from time to time for making the faces look bad?