Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Teacher's Agitation - India trip 2015

Last month in Odisha, I caught on a local TV Channel a group of government school teachers agitating, demanding to make their temporary jobs permanent. One person said that he is having a 101 degree temperature and doesn't have money to buy medicine. I was filled with empathy for him. But is it the reason for the government to guarantee him a job till 60 ? The fact that he didn't look so sick on camera, didn't go unnoticed to me.

An agitating lady proclaimed on camera, she didn't have food since morning and protesting on an empty stomach. She should be given some Samosas, but her empty stomach doesn't qualify her for a full time job. It's another matter, she didn't look so impoverished.

Another protesting lady whose stomach looked full said - I am pregnant and tired from standing for a long time. With due respect to the lady, is the government responsible for her pregnancy and should reward her as a baby shower gift, a full time job ?

In Odisha, the term service, is used interchangeably for a government job. Nothing is more apt, as payment should always done for a service provided, not easy money doled out in name of social justice. Jobs need to be earned and temporary jobs need not automatically get converted to permanent ones, per the wish of the employee. NAUKRI or CHAKIRI (in Odia), aren't Republic Day LADDOOs (sweetened sugary balls, popular in India for all occcasions), nor charitable handouts, destined to be disbursed freely. If provided just for the sake of sustenance, it lays the perfect breeding ground for inefficiency, complacency and corruption.

A government employee's salary comes from someone's pocket, mainly from a taxpayer's money. It's no easy money and calls for some sort of accountability. The combo of Congress and Commies have cemented a freebie culture, making people unaccountable, churning out KARMA KODHIA or KAAMCHOR (escapist from work), expecting some how the government to support them from cradle to grave, in the form of a permanent job with little or no accountability. At least our politicians are accountable every 5 years.

Why a temporary government job is taken for granted to be converted into a permanent one ? Nothing is permanent in life, perhaps with the exception of government jobs in India. It guarantees employment till the age of 60. It's said in Odisha - NISA RE GHIA MARI CHAKIRI KARIBA, or rub clarified butter on your moustache and go Scott free till the age of 60.

I met folks in my village still whining - my child did BA and/or MA, but SARKAR (government) did not give them any job. Government's job is to provide administration, not dole out jobs. Obliviously over the  years, the craze for government jobs has not diminished.

Per media reports, I was glad that Modi's government has increased accountability of its employees. It feels like a long awaited breath of fresh air and hopefully sustained on the long run. I wish the current government completely revamps the archaic labor laws, making them more amenable and accountable to make hiring and firing a whole lot easier. That will ameliorate the hankering for converting a temporary job to a permanent one, which should be the prerogative of the hiring organization, not the employees birthright.

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