TRAGEDY IN WARANGAL
If indeed the suicide was due to the harassment & humiliation by senior officials, the management at the highest level, should sit up & take serious note of it. This shouldn’t be & can’t be dismissed as a one-off extreme case. No leniency should be shown to the officials alleged to have driven the person to take such an extreme step.
No attempt should be made to brush the follies of anybody under the carpet. The management should come out with a statement in this matter to clear the air. It should also specify what exact action is being taken in this matter.
As it is, Class I Officers are feeling frustrated. They are working under immense pressure. The outdated & hackneyed system of extracting work by harassment & humiliation should go lock, stock & barrel. Just consider the impediments with which a Class I Officer works:-
a. No recruitment in Class III & IV. They have to perform non-supervisory functions.
b. No overtime or compensation for continuous late sitting.
c. No security for working after office-hours especially female officers.
d. Inadequate promotion opportunities.
e. Inconvenient postings on promotion, if any.
f. No progress on wage-revision front for last 2 years.
g. Withdrawal of LTC benefits.
h. Withdrawal of mementoes distributed in conferences for AAO’s & AO’s.
Only the other day, an officer deputed from HRD-OD of CO came to the WZO & demanded (from all classes of employees) as to what jobs they were doing. The officer then noted everything. This is absolutely ridiculous & insulting. Suddenly we got a feeling that we were being watched & on a tight leash. This big-brotherly attitude & treating the officers like criminals should go. Is this the ideal environment for the growth of the Corporation? Where are we leading to?
A section of MM’s & SDM’s feel that only through humiliation & pressure, would the marketing officials perform. They should understand that the frustration & anger in the officers is building up & should mend their ways immediately to prevent a snowballing of the crisis. The practice of calling the officers on Sundays & holidays should stop forthwith.
On one hand, marketing officials are being pressurised. On the other hand some divisions have reported that the Divisional authorities are forcing the officers in administrative side to perform marketing activities. As it is, the officers are having their hands full.
The officers should also think over the following:- Whether it is worth to take so much pressure? Is it worth to put our neck on the guillotine? Only when one has the courage to say a big “NO” at the point one feels that one can’t take the stress, the troubles will recede. Heavens will not fall if we say no. NOINO has been at the fore-front on bringing to the fore all these issues. The officers should rally round it.
The management at the highest level should also introspect on the following issues:- What is the frequency of Information Sharing meetings? Whether Information Sharing meetings are held at Zonal & divisional levels If there is no vent for pent-up feelings & no free exchange of thoughts it will stymie the growth of the institution.
Why is that we are not doing well? Is it because of wrong strategies? If so, how can we blame the marketing officials? We have only a few plans in the market? Is it because the IRDA is stalling our proposals? Or is it because we have not pushed for enough plans?
Whether we are taking officers at all levels into confidence while taking policy decisions or are we just dictating them?
A relaxed person gives more output than a disturbed & a pressurised one. The sooner we realise this, the better. We all want the growth & progress of the Corporation. We always think of the Industry first. An overwhelming majority of our officers are matured & responsible enough to understand the responsibilities they shoulder. They don’t expect the senior officials to mollycoddle them. But then neither do they expect that they should be humiliated & pressurised.
Lastly, an appeal to all. We all are very concerned about this issue. But let this concern not be a short-lived one. Let the concern not be confined to mere lip-service. Let us come together. Remember what Swami Vivekanand said:-
“Be not afraid of anything. The moment you fear, you are nobody. It is fear that is the greatest cause of Misery in the world. It is fear that is the greatest of superstitions. It is fear that is the cause of our woes, and it is fearlessness that brings Heaven even in a moment. Therefore, “Arise, Awake, and stop not until the goal is reached”
And the goal is definitely not to get humiliated, pressurized and disturbed. Our goal is to live an honourable, peaceful and social life.
Please cultivate the habit of saying a firm “NO” before the water starts flowing above your head…!!!
Dr S B Sharan
WP, NOINO