We usually visit government offices to perform certain tasks — to renew the driving license, pay tax and transfer land or house ownership, among others. But are we satisfied after visiting these government offices? For most of us visits to government offices are not something we like to do.

The reason is simple. Visiting a government office in general is a painful experience. Oftentimes we are forced to run from one room to another, one department to another or one person to another – to the extent of harassment. In principle, government officers should have been helping the general public with prompt and effective services. But the scenario is completely different.

There is a tendency among most of the government employees that they are occupying the seats not to serve the general public but to have a “nice and easy life”. Nonetheless, I don’t mean to say getting a government job is easy. People indeed burn the midnight oil while preparing for government jobs. But why such hard-working people turn their back on the general public after they get the job?

A friend of mine, who was preparing for government job, once told me: “Let me study day and night today. Once I get the job, I can relax throughout my life.” I was kind of flummoxed and speechless. When I asked why not a private sector job, he replied: “It’s only in governmental jobs one can relax and earn without any work pressure.” “You go to the office, mark yourself present in the register, while away the time and then leave,” he added.

I don’t mean to say all government job holders have the same tendency. But bad eggs are in every sector. And a handful of such bad eggs are enough to give a bad name to the entire sector.  No matter what, nobody will deny that the experience in government offices in general is not very good. We often meet people who are rude. It’s a mystery why they become so when they are sitting on government chairs. This gives rise to the question whether there is lack of proper orientation for these people? Or do we have some flawed hiring system? Or is it any other problem that we are yet to figure out?

Government job holders work hard to get through the Public Service Commission exams, but once they get the job, “public service”, it seems, vanishes from their dictionary. There is a need to address this issue. Public post holders must keep public service at the centre of their focus. There has to be a proper mechanism to ensure that the general public does not feel harassed when they visit public offices.