Oh, for a government job!

Even as I posted this blog, comes the news that the government is proposing to pump in Rs 4,000 cr into the long ailing Indian Telephone Industries Ltd, as if the Rs 30,000 cr pumped into Air_india was not bad enough.

Excerpts of the New Indian Express report are as below (full report may be accessed here):

Decades after the iconic Indian Telecom Industries (ITI) was written off due to lagging profit and declining manufacturing abilities,  the PSU is likely to be revived as the government is all set to pump in over Rs 4,000 crore into the ‘sick’ company.

- - - The government has been toying with the idea of roping in ITI for the Akash II as well. With nearly 1,800 acres of space in all their 6 units across the country, Dhingra said that they are ready to use machinery and infrastructure for any project the government proposed.

- - - “We will be taking part in government programmes such as broadband connectivity to rural areas as we have expertise in laying Optical Fiber Cables, and have also taken part in the tender process for a bio-metric project in Kenya,” he said. The company in the final quarter of the previous fiscal has reported a turnover of Rs 437 crore and their losses have come down to Rs 82 crore from Rs 144 crore in the third quarter.

The government should simply be monetising the 1,800 acres, or better still, be converting them into tree parks, a large part of them being in the heart of Bangalore city.

On Tuesday, the railway ministers and top brass insisted it (Hampi express tragedy) was a human error, saying the train drivers failed to see the signal. But the All-India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) fears that while they would be charged with ignoring the signal, systemic failure of signals would be conveniently ignored.
    
“The railways have never heeded the loco pilots’ working conditions. Railway rules say they have to work six continuous nights in a week; but in practice, they are in a month given 30 hours’ rest four times and 22 hours’ rest five times. This is inadequate,” says L Mony, AILRSA president. Till 2009, loco pilots drove up to Dharmavaram from Guntakal while going towards Bangalore, he said, but now they drive from Dharmavaram to Bangalore — a factor which could be causing fatigue resulting in such disasters.

For the full report in the ToI, click here

The inevitable disasters, and the convenient alibi's - same story repeatedly; absolutely no accountability.

Employees also complained of having to pay bribes for everything, including getting leaves sanctioned. “Firstly, they keep us for years on end as trainees with a paltry stipend of Rs 6,000 a month and then they deduct bribe from that money too or threaten to suspend or transfer us,” said an employee.

For the full report in the New Indian Express, click here

We all know it, right?

The government on Monday terminated the contract of 409 nurses attached to the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) Stipendiary Nurses' Welfare Association. - - - "We called off the strike on January 29 after BMCRI officers said our demands will be met. All these days we were kept in the dark, waiting for the minister to sign the order. Now, they have left us in the lurch. We are from poor families and many of us are sole breadwinners. We have worked on contract for 5-6 years. Where do we go now," asked Asha R, a member of the association.

For the full report in the ToI, click here.

The nurses have been working for 5-6 years on contract, at measly wages, all in the hope that they will one day become government employees, and thereafter they can relax, and perhaps even join the mafia in each of these places. Besides, since confirmed staff hardly do any work, the hospitals are almost totally dependent on the contract staff even to keep the show going, if nothing else. As such, if the present set of contract staff are confirmed, then the hospital will have to hire a fresh set to continue the show. It is thus a vicious cycle.

Also, this is the quite the pattern right across all government organisations. Besides, if the government regularises the services of a set in one sector, similar sets in other sectors are just waiting in the wings to raise their demands. And, if the government starts conceding to all of them, you will have to have huge budget allocations, but for very little work done, all at the cost of the aam tax payer.

As it is, going by today's ToI report (click here for the full report), "In the current financial year, it has budgeted to spend over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in salaries, allowances and travel bill to 34.1 lakh employees. - - Ten years ago, the government roughly had the same number of employees (32.2 lakh) and spent Rs 31,000 crore in paying their salaries, allowances and travel bill. While the government has maintained a freeze on fresh hiring for the past several years, it has increasingly depended on contract workers for odd jobs, which has also added to expenditure. - - In 2000-01, the government set up an expenditure reforms commission which delivered 10 reports recommending sweeping changes to cut down flab. But 13 years on, the reports are virtually forgotten with negligible progress on the recommendations. While experts say it is difficult to put a figure on the savings from downsizing, they say it is necessary to raise efficiency and effectiveness in delivering public services".

The government owes a responsibility for payment of fair wages to all employees, whether directly employed, or on contract, or in the private sector. It should not have to employ all of them directly for the purpose. It can be very easily achieved, through the private sector, if the labour laws are made a bit more flexible to make sure that an employee realises that he needs to put in an honest day's work to earn his wages (check this). The answer as such very simply lies in down-sizing the government drastically (check this) by outsourcing/ privatising all non-core activities. This will lead to a work culture, where acquiring greater skills will lead to earning higher rewards, making for a prosperous nation, all in all.

There are of course the social responsibilities for the under-privileged, disabled and such types, which is where the government's direct intervention may be called for, perhaps in collaboration with NGO's. 

A woman officer with the passport office in Bangalore went to Saudi Arabia on a year’s leave in 1998. Fourteen years later, she returned and  demanded salary for all the years she was absent, as well as other arrears and benefits. The CAT turned down her request. She  then approached the Karnataka High Court which dismissed her petition as “the worst form of misconduct”.

For the full report in the New Indian Express, click here.

Their interpretation of "rights" (check the discussions here) has reached the shameless extent of taking the matter even to the courts. Thankfully, the High Court put an end to it, fairly unequivocally too.

The busy Platform Road was abuzz with activity on Thursday morning. Commuters were wondering what the fuss was all about till they realized it was no film shoot that choked the one-way stretch. A traffic constable and a KSRTC bus driver were locked in a duel, and a real one at that.

The scuffle broke out after the cop objected to the driver entering the one-way road. Alleging that their colleague was attacked for no mistake of his, 10 KSRTC drivers staged a protest by stopping their vehicles in the middle of the road. This brought traffic to a standstill in Majestic, Okalipuram, Goodshed Road, Ananda Rao Circle and KG Road.

 - - - It all begun when KSRTC driver Prasanna Kumar allegedly entered the one-way road around 10.30am. To ease traffic, police have restricted KSRTC buses from entering Platform Road during peak hours. "Despite repeated requests, Kumar, who had come from Arakalgud in Hassan, entered the one-way street. When I opposed, he abused me," traffic constable Hussain Basha said.

For the full report in the ToI, click here

Here is another clear instance where the driver should have been summarily sacked for challenging the traffic police's instructions. Instead, the policeman will now have to defend the assault case, filed against him, using KSRTC union clout. And, the union clout essentially devolves out of KSRTC's government ownership. How can a service organisation function this way? And, how can police function this way?

The state government seems to be ignoring its own orders on the suspension of officials accused of corruption. In the last four months, 10 officials were arrested for allegedly accepting bribes, but none of them has been suspended.

For the full text of the report in the New Indian Express, click here.

So, forget sacking, government servants are immune from suspension even. Will any work ever get done this way?

If any right has to be bestowed on any one, the very first has to be the "right to sack" (check this) on the employer (including the government).

Sumana, a 38-year-old BA graduate, was one among the thousands who came to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) office on Thursday to collect an application for the post of a pourakarmika.

It is not because of dearth of jobs in the private sector that Sumana hopes to become a pourakarmika. It is for the job security that comes with the profession.

“Private companies hire people on contract. The chance of losing one’s job is high. I wanted a government job and, if it means sweeping roads and collecting waste from houses, I don’t mind it,” she said. If everything goes well, she hopes to eventually get a promotion and become an officer.

After almost two decades, BBMP issued a notification for recruitment of 4,000 pourakarmikas earlier this year. Raju, another applicant, is 27 years old and works at a private bank. “At the bank, I work as a coordinator on contract basis. My salary is just `6,500 a month. A pourakarmika’s job is after all a government job and a secure one. My life will be settled,” he told Express.

For the full text of the report in the New Indian Express, click here.

Well, if there are post graduates ready to take up the job of a "Night Rat Killer" (see my opening post), why should it be surprising that there are the likes coveting the 'poura-karmika' job? The whole rationale too is explained in the opening post.

Government and PSU jobs, in essence, just screw up the work culture of the country - the lesser the number, the better for the country. In this regard, NaMo's slogan "less government, more governance" is undoubtedly the right approach.

As such, rather than employing poura-karmika's directly, the Karnataka government would do well to enforce strict compliance, by the contractors, with the terms & conditions of engagement of labour. In fact, these terms may even be made more liberal, and made applicable for not just poura-karmika work, but to almost all low skill work.

Like I have stated before too, the government has a responsibility not just to a handful of its "labour aristocracy", but to the entire working population, and it's best achieved through removing all artificialities that government jobs create.

Mohit R is an MBA in corporate finance from Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. He began his corporate career in Siemens, moved to HSBC and his last stint was with Ernst & Young in their project management team in Bengaluru. In April, he quit E&Y to become a driver on taxi-hailing app Uber's platform.

- - - The Bengalurean got behind the wheel after long hours at his earlier job took a toll on his health. “Sometimes I would clock 65-75 hours a week at work, and ended up having high cholesterol,“ he says. Many of us crib about the city traffic snarls, but Mohit enjoys driving. And he doesn't consider his decision a social embarrassment.“My mom was fully supportive of my decision. I'm earning close to Rs 80,000 a month, more than I was in my last corporate job. I see this as a short-term opportunity. I may do my own startup one day,“ he says.

A number of handsomely paid executives have ditched their corporate jobs and are on taxi-hailing platforms.Some do it part time. Some for the love of driving. And some because the money is really good -many earn Rs 90,000 or more in a month.

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.

For earning in the range of 80 to 90 K a month, working for Uber/ Ola too, one has to put in hard work. As such, I expect, not many will want to take this option. And, even the ones that do, are not likely to last in such jobs for long.

Now, in total contrast is this scenario, outlined in the following excerpts from a New Indian Express report (full text accessible here):

Government jobs are a big draw not just in Uttar Pradesh, but also in Karnataka, which is known for its IT firms and multinational companies.

Nearly 14 lakh people have applied for just 3,800 posts of first division assistant (FDA) and second division assistant (SDA) in various government departments. The Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) had called for applications in July for these posts. The selection will be made through a written test, to be held in the first week of October. - - - Recruitment agencies feel job security and facilities that come with government jobs are the main attraction for youngsters, especially from rural areas.

The demand is so huge, even with the salary being about one-third, and qualifications required being about the same.

So, what is the big attraction? The answer very simply, apart from the stated "job security and facilities that come with government jobs", is the unstated opportunity available to make under-the-table (non-taxable) money, far more than any IT executive or a cab driver can ever hope to make. Aren't we reading about these (wealth disproportionate to known sources of income) cases day in day out in the papers, but, which never seem pursued to conviction, and consequently have little deterring effect?

It wouldn't be a surprise if many of the current IT employees and cab drivers too will be amongst the 14 lakh applicants.

Government jobs, as institutionalised today, essentially tend to perpetuate a decadent work culture, totally detrimental to the country's economy. The going is already unsustainable, and unless the governments slash their size to the barest minimum (as suggested here), and fast enough, total collapse is staring us all in the face.

This August, Class V dropouts will take a written exam along with MPhil degree holders, postgraduates and graduates in basic maths, language and aptitude to prove their competency for five porters' (hamals') jobs.

The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) will conduct a state-level written exam for over 2,500 people who have applied for the grade D post. "It is not possible to conduct interviews for all the applicants. Hence, we decided on an examination. The selection will be based on merit," MPSC secretary Rajendra Mangrulkar told TOI on Monday.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the ToI, click here.

A few months back, I had come upon another ToI report, relevant excerpts from which are reproduced below (full text may be accessed here).

'Minimum government, maximum governance' has been one of PM Narendra Modi's catchiest slogans. But the Modi government is set to add more than two lakh central employees over a period of two years from March 1, 2015, despite the Centre's announcements from time to time on a freeze in fresh recruitments.

The central government's actual staff on March 1, 2015 was 33.05 lakh, which increased to 34.93 lakh in 2016 and is estimated to grow to 35.23 lakh by March 1, 2017, according to the budget estimates for 2016-17. This includes the railways — which has not added a single worker to its strength of 13,26,437 in the last three years — but excludes the defence forces.

The biggest increase of 70,000 is projected in the revenue department which comprises income tax and customs and excise, followed by central paramilitary forces, projected to rise by 47,000. The strength of the home ministry, excluding paramilitary forces, has increased by 6,000.

- - - A major reason for the spurt in hiring is that many departments faced acute staff crunch in Group B and C categories due to a moratorium on fresh recruitments for the past several years.

A lot of the new appointments have been in these categories. Vacancies have piled up over the years. More than six lakh posts are vacant in various central government ministries, according to the personnel ministry.

Now, whereas it may be in order to employ group B and C staff directly (as in the latter case), where is the need to do that in the case of "porters"? And, as to the 'why' of even post graduates applying for such jobs, the explanations have already been provided in the opening post itself - essentially "job security".

Well, for all of that, if the Maharashtra govt is indeed going to be employing such level of workers, I expect, it will not be far off before it starts employing (directly) "night rat killers" (NRK 's - check my opening post) too.

The question that I would again like to ask is "shouldn't the government be outsourcing as many of these jobs as possible to companies like TeamLease (who are largely known to play by the rules), rather than employing them directly, for all of the reasons already stated in the opening post"?

After the Supreme Court showed strong disapproval of Food Corporation of India departmental labourers drawing lakhs of rupees as monthly salary, the Centre said it has decided to reintroduce contractual labourers in FCI's 63 depots, godowns and railheads.

On January 9, the SC had said there was something "seriously wrong" with the FCI where 370 departmental labourers were paid Rs 4.5 lakh a month, a salary that was much more than the President of India.

On Friday, solicitor general Ranjit Kumar informed a bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dhananjaya Chandrachud that the Centre has issued a notification on July 6 to revert to contractual labourers for loading and unloading of foodgrain sacks at FCI depots.

Contractual labourers were abolished from FCI depots from 1970. This means it would be introduced again after 46 years. Kumar also said that the government would gradually phase out departmental labourers.

- - - The court had referred to a report of the high-level committee which said that the Rs 1,800 crore salary bill for labourers in FCI was unacceptable. The committee also pointed out that apart from these 370, there were other departmental labourers who earned a monthly average salary of Rs 80,000 and that in contrast, the contractual labourers doing the same job earned Rs 10,000 per month.

The court's guess turned out to be true as it was admitted by the government that those drawing salaries in lakhs had actually engaged contractual labourers. Since salaries could not be paid to the contractual labourers, the departmental labourer who engaged them was collecting the entire money for their behalf showing erroneously that a single departmental labourer was drawing hefty salary, advocate for FCI workers Union Amit Sibal told SC.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the ToI, click here.

This is the classic "labour aristocracy" in action, and it is not confined just to FCI. It's very much there in most government set-ups and PSU's, though, of course, the FCI lot may have taken it to the limits.

For instance, the following excerpts from a ToI report of a few years back (check my post of 28th March, 2014, scrolling above; not much has changed since then), shows the treatment meted out by BMTC to probationary drivers, even as the labour aristocracy have everything their way:

BMTC driver Krishna is not the only frustrated driver among the over 20,000 employees on probation. John D'Souza, member of the United Employees Union (UEU) of BMTC and KSRTC told TOI some drivers have been on probation for 12 years. - - - "The management keeps exploiting probationary drivers who're made to work full-time and paid a meagre Rs 7,000 as stipend. Most often, an employee gets less than this due to deductions of fines levied against him. It's wrong to make mistakes but then they're not intentional. As a penalty, the management would extend the probation period by 6 months to 12 months," D'Souza claimed.

Likewise in every government undertaking/ department.

In fact, as brought out here, the "raison d'etre" for continuance of the public sector, has by and large become its 'exploitation' by the members of the various types of mafia confederations involved, ironically referred to as 'stake-holders', their actual stake being plain self-interest. The "labour aristocracy" is another such mafia-dom. The answer very plainly is "hire & fire" policy, as brought out in my post of 29th June (scroll above to read).

In fact, the governments are fully aware of the 'dangers' of having workers on their permanent rolls, and that's why they avoid it to the extent possible. But, that talk being "politically incorrect", they can't openly say it. Leave alone the government and politicians, even the 'janata' largely chooses to remain politically correct, lest they be labelled capitalist/ anti-poor/ khaas aadmi, etc, etc - more on that can be accessed here.

The old Airport traffic police on Friday seized a BMTC bus and arrested the driver for recklessly abandoning the bus for 15 minutes near Thulasi Theatre in Marathahalli, causing a traffic jam during peak hours.

- - - In a second instance later in the afternoon, traffic police seized another BMTC bus parked near Manipal Hospital. A police official told Express: “The bus had broken down around 1.30 pm and no one was informed about it. Hours later traffic started piling up and it was obstructing the CM’s convoy as well. Higher officials were immediately alerted. It’s a Volvo bus and towing is also not possible. We got to know that the bus was hired by a multinational company.”

On Thursday, a case was booked against another BMTC bus for obstructing traffic on Marathahalli bridge. Police officials said they have launched a crackdown on buses that hamper smooth movement of traffic. “Many buses halt in the middle of the roads and causes severe traffic congestion and also accidents,” the official added.

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the New Indian Express, click here.

There's no way this highly unionised lot can be disciplined, and consequently, there's no way the BMTC can be relied upon. The simple answer is to allow for effective competition from reputed private players, which is what this debate is all about. At least that way, even if the indiscipline continues, the commuters (in fact the city itself) will not be held to ransom, quite as we have seen in civil aviation, telecom, banking, insurance and other sectors that have opened out to competition. Time the citizens raised the demand for it.

Adopting the corporate practice of outsourcing housekeeping work to a third-party vendor, the government has directed all deputy commissioners in districts to switch to the "outsource-mode" for filling up 2,459 Group D posts in government hospitals.

Group D employees, in government parlance, comprise the lowest rung of the administrative machinery who deal with routine duties. The other layers are: Group A - senior bureaucrats in leadership roles; Group B - middle management; Group C - those who perform supervisory and operative tasks.

- - - Health department sources said the move will increase efficiency among staff. "It is difficult to manage ward assistants and sanitary attendants, especially in rural areas. Any action against them for dereliction of duty often results in groupism and unruly scenes. However, such situations can be avoided by outsourcing work to a third party and fixing responsibility. This is precisely how corporate companies operate in the housekeeping field and we are trying to replicate that in hospitals."

For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the ToI, click here.

Efficiency, and responsibility are synonymous with accountability. And, that can come about only if there's a fear of losing one's job. Governments resorting to outsourcing is an indication of their acceptance of that truism and becoming more responsible thereof. The Health Department needs to be complimented for taking the initiative. The government would do well to ensure that all other departments too follow suit, henceforth.

Simultaneously, the government also needs to look at down-sizing itself, in keeping with the new mantra of "less government; more governance", as suggested here, apart from getting totally out of producing goods and providing services (with some rare exceptions, perhaps), at which their PSU's can never hope to compete with the private sector, eventually becoming total burdens on the economy - check here.

As such, the statement by the CM that "contractual ones (pourakarmikas) will be made permanent pending a cabinet decision", going by this report in the ToI, is in total contrast to the Health department's sensible approach, and he would do well not to indulge in such talk (reference is also drawn to my post of 5th July, 2014, under the caption "hot pourakarmika job", scrolling above, as also Praja debates here and here). All of initiatives like "pourakarmikas who clean the city's streets every day will now get Iskcon's midday meals", etc, reported alongwith, are of course most welcome.

ToI has reported (emphasis added by me - for the full text, click here) - "Thousands of contract pourakarmikas associated with the city's civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), have called off their indefinite strike and decided to attend work from Wednesday. The move comes after assurance from the state government which said the contract system, against which pourakarmikas had been protesting, will be abolished soon and all pourakarmikas will be regularised by July this year."

Another report on the same page, in the same paper, reads - "Bengaluru development minister K J George was noncommittal in the assembly on Tuesday . “We will give preference to those working on contract to fill vacant posts,'' he said. Another round of meeting will be held with them on June 19 and a decision will be taken, he added. - - - - Government sources said they cannot afford to regularize pourakarmikas working on contract as it would cause complications; other government employees working on contract like drivers and helpers would also take the cue and protest."

Very plainly, it's time the govt stopped carrying on this game of bluff, and started talking 'straight' to the workers (well, not just to them too). Yes, the workers need to be paid well, particularly for the pourakarmika's, since it's a difficult and back-breaking job. But, if the contract system has to go, there has to be a simpler way of sacking a "recalcitrant" worker, rather than the tortuous process obtaining presently.

Perhaps an "Ombudsman" set up whereby a decision on a labour dispute is arrived at over a maximum of three sittings (over a maximum of a 45-day period), would be enough to check arbitrariness on the employer's part. Provisions may be made for challenging the decision in the courts, but at prohibitive costs (which can be refunded against favourable outcome), which will make for the unions to think if there's sufficient merit in the case.

Apart from all of these are the cases of job redundancies on account of technological advances, like with the advent of vacuum road sweepers, etc. When these happen, there is no option other than to offer a severance package and downsize the work force. Today, as such, the whole idea of job permanency has become outmoded. In such a scenario, the government would do well to start talking straight rather than continue to bluff their way along as they have been doing all these years.

More on the subject may be accessed here.