It is heartening to see officers take it upon themselves to lead from the front when there is a crisis. While this newspaper has been a strong critic of the manner in which parts of Panjim have been recklessly dug up and other issues confronting the city, the manner in which the Commissioner of the City of Panjim (CCP), Sanjit Rodrigues has got into the driver’s seat to tackle the strike called by temporary garbage collectors, is absolutely commendable.
The sight of Rodrigues driving a garbage collection truck, with new workers he hired virtually overnight and going from place to place to collect garbage, was one of the most definite and defining images of an administration at work. Though one Rodrigues behind a wheel of a garbage truck in Panjim, does not visibly demonstrate a shift in the government working template, it is surely a candle in the darkness.
The people of Panjim, need to support the CCP and the Commissioner in his effort to beat the temporary workers, who walked out of a meeting to discuss outstanding issues and went to the streets to announce a flash strike.
For over 48 hours, the city turned into a dump as garbage was not picked up. Outside the hotels, hospitals and markets, filth spilled over onto the streets within reach of Christmas shoppers and other tourists.
What Rodrigues did was practical and needed right then. He hired 100 workers, asked drivers of the Kadamba Transport Corporation to pitch in and drive heavy trucks and got into one himself. Day two was better! The supply of manpower was steady and a message went out to the striking CCP workers lead by Ajitsingh Rane that a city cannot be held to ransom.
Yes, there is the other side of the story too — of the workers’ demands for regularisation and pay hike. While every aspect of their agitation may not be justified, all workers will justifiably have the demand of being employed securely. The government cannot prolong a decision on these issues indefinitely. It needs to close it either way. On issues of regularization of contract employees, the Department of Labour should be given the task of framing a broad hiring and employment policy for all categories of workers, including contingency workers. Once a template is created, there is really no need for separate discussions every time ad hoc on the long standing demands of workers across departments.
The other fallout of leaving labour related decisions hanging is that people like Ajitsingh Rane are created. He is now the self appointed leader of striking workers, from GRES to CCP and is creating a constituency for himself. In cricketing terms he is the Virat Kohli of union leaders, with older warhorses like Christopher Fonseca slowing down. But without a government plan to mitigate these issues, leaders like Rane become larger than life figures, who have the power to bring a city to a halt.
And this isn’t Panjim’s problem alone. The scenario has been repeated in Margao where there is a lack of policy and huge differences between the councillors and the executive body of the council over outsourcing door-to-door collection of garbage. The issues regarding permanent employment and wage hikes are endemic to all civic bodies and that is why a repeat telecast of events is seen across councils.
But what is not seen, are officers like the Commissioner Rodrigues, jumping into trucks and picking up garbage. Sadly, these are flashes of individual dedication that the system does not breed or nurture.
Civic administration is far more critical than other policies, because this impacts day to day lives where the government and people interface is direct. If master plans for cities are being made, they cannot function without a manpower management master plan. Civic bodies are like housekeeping departments of major hotels and without a cohesive manpower management plan, the house will crumble. That is what is happening to our towns!
