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| Sunday, 3 October 2004 |
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The right column In the good old days of the British Raj and even sometime after independence public servants used to sign their communications to citizens as "Your obedient servant". Even after Sinhala became the official language, the same phrase was used in Sinhala too. However, the practice was abandoned though I cannot recollect when and by whom. After the change of guard in 1956 the old Village Headmen were replaced by "Grama Sevaka"s, the term denoting servant of the village. This term more in line with "your obedient servant" was later changed to the present imposing title "Grama Niladhari". These changes, I mean the substitution of Niladhari for Sevaka and the doing away with the practice of signing as "Your obedient servant" display a fundamental trait of governance in Sri Lanka. It is a trait that is more akin to feudal or pre-capitalist relations rather than to modern democratic practice. Governance is envisaged as "lording over subjects". This "lordism" prevails throughout the bureaucratic apparatus even right down to the level of the karyala karya sahayakas. Just go to an Out Patients' Department in a government hospital, you could see how the karyala karya sahayakas lord over patients. The attitude of the public servants to the public who come to transact business with government departments or statutory bodies is well known. They send them from pillar to post, bark at them and keep them standing and waiting for long hours while they engage in gossiping, relaxing or loafing around. Politicians of all hues have acknowledged the need for public sector reform. Yet no reform would succeed if the public servants are not taught a proper lesson in public relations, not trained to be polite and humane to the public, who after all foot their salary bill. A concomitant of the present day bureaucratic administrative structure is the "arrogance of power" that once again permeates at all levels. In this respect even the so-called reformers in the Legislature and the Executive are not second to the bureaucrats. They arrogantly stake claims to lead the masses even when the latter has deserted them. They bark at officials and citizens. They ignore or usurp the law of the land, mishandle public property, ignore public opinion. They arrogantly engrave their names in commemorative plaques in projects implemented by public expenditure. They distribute public funds on ego building exercises or to grant political favours. What more, they employ private armies and criminal squads to silence opposition, to stifle dissent, to terrorise innocent citizens. Most politicians like to sit at the apex of political power in their domains, whether local or national. Nor do they hide their arrogance. In fact, they love to display arrogance, to impose their will and personality on the hapless. They love to show off ostentatious wealth as a means of commanding respect. - the Sceptic |
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