Both apparently are sorely lacking in this hospital. But this can be extended towards the entire government work force, that also displays a similar lack of empathy when dealing with the people. There is need that every government employee shows a change in the manner in which he or she deals with the people and also improves the quality of the delivery of services.
Goa’s size is small, its population manageable and its army of workers so vast that there is one government employee for every 23 persons. The delivery of services should not be a bother. Yet, it is, to the extent that people have to protest at various times to get the administration to act. There are queues at various offices and often officers absent from work that leads to delays in the delivery of services, necessitating at times another trip to the government office to complete the task. It is very rarely that the people are able to get a task completed within the mandated time frame by the government. While this occurs in Goa, it is not necessarily the same in every other State in the country, some of which have taken great strides in delivery of services.
Goa should perhaps take a leaf from the Delhi government that has successfully launched doorstep delivery of government services to the residents of the national capital. What this means in Delhi is that a government representative will visit the people’s homes and assist them with the formalities required to receive the enlisted essential utilities that come under this doorstep delivery service. For certain services, the residents of Delhi don’t have to approach the government offices to get their work done. The government, in the form of a worker, comes to their homes and makes their life that much easier. How wonderful would this be if it could be followed in Goa too?
This system was launched in Delhi a year ago and its success has led to more services being added to the list of doorstep delivery of services. Could Goa emulate what the AAP government has done in Delhi? It shouldn’t be difficult given the size of Goa and the easy accessibility to almost all places in the State. In fact it should be easier than doing it in Delhi. Besides, the Delhi model is already available for Goa to take a leaf from, it does not even have to devise its own plan. The framework is ready in Delhi. All Goa would have to do is tweak it just a little bit. Imagine how beneficial it would be, especially to senior citizens, if much of their works could be completed in the comfort of their homes.
Yes, Goa needs a positive change in the attitude of all the government staff in the State. But that will come only if the government insists that its employees show a friendliness to the people who approach them for their works. Three years ago, before the last Assembly election of 2017, when the Goa Government Employees Association had taken up the demand with the government to implement the VII Pay Commission the association had admitted that people are not happy with the ‘way government offices function in general’ but claimed that there are departments that are doing a ‘good job’. The Association president had actually gone on to say that government service is like ‘a vocation, an opportunity to serve the public’ and also spoken of the need to improve the quality of services rendered.
The government employees got the VII Pay Commission, Goa being among the first States to implement it, but has this shown an direct improvement in the quality of services that the employees deliver? On the surface there isn’t any positive change. But it can still be done. All it needs is the political will to get it done, but if that is lacking, then it will not happen. New ministers usually attempt to prove their efficiency by some surprise visits to the offices of the departments they handle. We have not seen many such visits, though the State did get quite a few new ministers. Such visits should be a start, but it should not end there. The change in delivery of services has to come about.
