The “lethargic” attitude of the government officials is nothing new and this also implies to the Electricity Department, which has “spineless” staff in its armoury. The Electricity Department does not appear to be “electrifying” when it comes to functioning and attending to public woes.
Despite equipped with computers, the functioning of such officials has been primitive. A fat salary with the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission and equipped with gadgets, laziness has crept into the officials with many of them shying away from their regular duties in serving the general public, who frequent the offices to get their work done despite other pending ones.
Like many other people, I have been subjected to this “care-a-damn” attitude of these officials especially those in the main Electricity Department Office in Panjim.
Last year, the department had sent some persons to replace the old electricity meters with the new “Genus” brand meters.
It’s been months since the meter installation. What is shocking is that I am yet to receive my electricity bills till date. I am forced to visit the department several times and made to run from one section to another.
The officials keep asking me to produce the photo of the new meter, the meter number, the reading and the date. At first I was forced to go home and click the photo of the meter and get the reading.
However, despite getting the above details, it was agonising to see none of the officials were seated on their respective seats in a section. After enquiry at a counter, I was told that some of them were on field duty. How can the employees leave the section at once with no official left to attend to people’s problems?
When I returned, I was further shocked to see the officials back in the section and this time chatting, with none of them showing any concern to attend to my complaint. I left the room and returned within few minutes only to see the concerned persons taking their respective seats.
As soon as I entered the section, the officials got a bit nervous when I asked them as to who was handling the billing system. A senior staffer asked me to provide the meter details, to which, I did. Within seconds he just “fiddled” with the computer and asked me that the number had been registered in the system.
Following his reply, I felt relieved and left. Next month, when I enquired with the meter reader, I was shocked to find that my meter had not been registered or fed in the system. This annoyed me further, and I immediately visited the office and questioned the department officials what was the problem. Their reply was that the guys seating in the so-called office outside Panjim are sometimes in the office or on field duty. I can’t understand this so-called “disgusting” attitude of such officials holding important posts are playing with people’s patience and can be so irresponsible in their duties.
Last year, one of my neighbours had complained about a streetlight not functioning in the area. Despite the complaint, the linesmen failed to attend to the same. They (my neighbours) contacted the department via phone yet again and this time, the officials said that the department had no streetlight fixtures in stock. However, later my neighbours requested me to complain to the department in this regard.
I visited the department and complained to the linesmen that one of the streetlights was not functioning. Immediately, I was told that there were no fixtures and that the department was in the process of procuring the same. All our requests fell on deaf ears as the area plunged into darkness. However, it took the department two months to replace the streetlight fixture.
The government needs to streamline the functioning of this important department and act tough against the erring officials, who are often seen leaving their seats while on duty. This “care-a-damn attitude” of the staff is setting a bad example to the general public, which has been a regular feature for years in the government departments. The government should initiate action against such inefficient staff.
