This is with regards to the plan to fire govt. employees doing side business as reported in your esteemed newspaper on July 15, 2019.
While it’s a fact that a govt employee doing side business besides his govt service can affect his service, it’s not true in all cases. I think there should be exemptions in many cases and not a blanket ban on all government employees from doing something to earn additional income if it doesn’t affect their work. There shouldn’t be any problem if the side business is done after duty hours. And especially for lower post govt. employees with low income. For eg, govt employees in educational institutions whose duties begin early in the morning and end in the afternoon. What’s the problem if they do something in the evening? They are off-duty and whatever they do in the evening doesn’t affect their job in the morning in any manner. Why can’t they do some business part-time such as tailoring, cutting hair or running a tea and snack stall?
There is a false perception that simply being a government employee even at the lowest post means the salary is sufficient and no additional income is required. It’s not true in all cases. Everybody’s situation is different. For example for male govt. employees at the lower posts and at the beginning of their career, the salary is simply not sufficient to marry and have kids specially if elderly parents also have to be taken care of. Unless they find a wife, who is also earning a good salary and not just a housewife. Now for those govt. employees at low posts who are nearing retirement after working for decades and whose parents have expired, their salary is sufficient to take care of wife and kids. But then again it’s not true for all. Some could be having a housing or other loan.
So any action on govt employees doing side-business in my opinion should be applicable only to those at high posts whose actual work gets affected during the duty hours because of their side-business and not just a blanket ban on all. Everybody’s situation in life is not the same and removing govt. employees specially at lower posts such as sweepers, peons, etc, for doing anything to earn additional income after their duty hours will have a devastating effect on their already difficult lives.
On additional thinking, even someone at a medium or high post whose business isn’t that big or successful enough yet to take care of the EMI and household expenses and who has taken a housing loan based on his salary will be devastated if his job gets terminated. After all, the loan amount was sanctioned by the bank taking into consideration his salary and relying on deduction from his salary in the future.
The govt shouldn’t take drastic measures without looking into the possible consequences and effects of their actions on various sections of the govt. employees. Things must be done in a systematic manner such as giving a memo, etc, and not just fire existing employees all of a sudden to make way for ‘fresh blood’. For fresh blood, new employment opportunities should be created and they should fill up posts left vacant by retirement of old blood.
