Putting all in the right perspective is the task that has been mandated to the public relations officers and the heads of government departments after an exclusive workshop hosted by the Department of Information and Publicity. The government officials have been asked to counter all adverse publicity and reach out to the people with various government initiatives. The time of six months that have been given to the staff to achieve this is significant as a little after this period the election code of conduct is likely to be imposed in the State as Goa goes out to vote for a new government.
No doubt it is the duty of the government servant to reach out to the people, but while this is a damage control exercise as in recent times there has been a lot of criticism directed at the government, the decision also has political overtones as it comes just months ahead of the polls. Under these circumstances, will this direction apply to even those government employees who may not agree with some of the government decisions or policies? It will be interesting to see how certain whistle blowers in the government, who in the past have not shied away from taking on the authorities, will take to this direction from the government.
Under service rules, a government employee is not permitted to participate in politics or involve in promotion of parties. The government is well aware of this, and in September last year, had issued a circular barring employees from participating in agitations or campaigns that target the government. The circular had stated that certain government servants were involved in agitations and campaigns against government policies and had signed petitions and submitted them directly to the Governor and the Chief Minister, without following the established practice of routing through proper channel. The government employees association had said the circular was an injustice to them as there would be genuine issues that needed to be addressed.
One of the tasks for the PROs and the Department heads is to focus on proper planning to generate positive content for news and to ensure that clarifications to counter government criticism are published the very next day instead of after ‘eight days’. This actually is a telling comment on the slow pace at which government departments work. If the political class is aware of this trait of tardiness, they will also be aware that no public relations exercise can succeed unless there is visible change for the better on the ground. If the government servants have to reach out to the people with success stories, where will they find these?
Take for instance the Griha Aadhar scheme where release of funds has been held up for the past five months. On the same day that the workshop for PROs was held, the Chief Minister said that the allowance under the scheme for one month has been released while the pending allowance of four months would be released every two months. Explaining this to the people is going to be a tall order for the army of government servants. Look also at the condition of the roads. An example of this is of the National Highway near the Old Market Margao, where a portion of the road caved in. What positive can be drawn from this? While the public relations exercise may gloss over the inadequacies of governance, the government should be concentrating on delivery of services. That is what the people expect.
