The Finance Minister said that those Commissioners meaning those that the present System had nominated were the best out of more than 25,000 civil servants. This is a sweeping view of the Government. No wonder the Government did not think much of the civil servants when the legislators and the constitutional members were granted substantial pay increase. It seems the Government felt that apart from those few who have been now made Commissioners, the other civil servants did not qualify the Government's set standard. It is a difficult call for the civil servants who are required to remain politically neutral and yet qualify the expectation of a ruling political Party.
I have sympathy with pre- retirement aged Commissioners who have been left abandoned after service in the Commissions. It is a kind of fall from the grace through no fault of theirs unless they had earlier lobbied for commission post. I am sure they are hard working. And definitely capable. But on what basis: academic, experience, examination or loyalty to Tsawa Sum are they the best among the 250000 whole lot? I assume that in the absence of any form of criteria conducted publicly, the yardstick used had to be political to determine the best suitable.
Dear Wangcha Sangay,
ReplyDeleteI am a regular reader of your blog and you have earned my deepest regards and respect. I am still afraid to come out in the open and shower my praise or rather agree to most of what you share and express because I am a civil servant and supposed to be apolitical. Apolitical in our context also mean without any opinion or thoughts on our politicians and leaders and therefore excuse me if you find me anonymous because that is what we the civil servants are made of. Your insight and view on the India- Bhutan relations and so called special, way forward with China, border issues, law makers to name a few.
Today, when I saw in the BBS what our Hon’ble Finance Minister said about the commissioners being the best of the 25000 civil servant, I am depressed. If what he said represents our present Government’s views and opinion on the other civil servant, it is more depressing. No doubt they represent the better half of the civil servant but to say that they are the best indicates how much he knows about us. I just want to ask how much he knows about those who are toppers, civil service selected, served the king and the country to the best of their abilities, regarded by many as outstanding yet remained behind the scene without any recognition. Our civil servant today has become a punching bag and political tool. To do well in politics is politics but to do well in civil service should be credentials and references and not politics. In the absence of determining who are the best in the civil service, the credentials and references should be made on the academic achievements, civil service examinations, output or contributions made in their service career and ofcouse on their service record, integrity and loyalty. While it is not my intention to say that the commissioners and constitutional post holders are not worthy of their appointments, they are many who are equally good but did not get the opportunity in their way. Just to remind our Hon’ble Finance Minister some facts, are the constitutional post holders academics toppers in their time? Were they toppers in the civil service examination? Did they make extraordinary contributions in their respective departments what others could not? Are they the only loyal and dedicated civil servants? Hon’ble Minister must come out in the open and say that he did not mean what he said and did not know what he meant.
RCSC is the body where we all civil servant depend and expect to take care of our concerns but seeing our very RCSC into deep politics is disheartening. Today, if we look into our civil service, the people who are extremely doing well are the ones who were there at the right time, right place and close or related to the right people. Look at the RCSC today, the person who is responsible to run the secretariat and conduct RCSC graduate selection examinations did not even did his exam or got himself selected. It should not surprise us tomorrow if our Hon’ble Finance Minister’s intelligence observes or say that the one who did not sit for the RSCS examination is the topper or the best among the graduate from that batch.
The least civil servant expects from this government is to correct the wrongs of the past and not take their own failures (sorry if they are any hon’ble ministers selected in the RCSC Officers selection exam) on the civil servants. Please remember, the Hon’ble Ministers has achieved their career more than any best civil servants of their batch could hope for.
It is very possible that the Finance Minister was too engrossed in defending his agenda and therefore pulled all kinds of plugs without realizing the impact on the establishment and the exposure of shallow perception.His Excellency has been working directly with civil servants only for a short period and possibly Finance Ministry officials were too readily bent on pleasing him to substantially put across their professional opinions that could contradict Lyono's own thinking. When you do not contribute or have opinions then you cannot be considered above average. Civil servants must have say in field of responsibility but once the Minister or Government takes a decision the same has to be efficiently implimented. I used to know Lyonpo. He is a good guy but certainly not the best. Destiny has not much to do with best or worst, good or bad.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience in management I found that the best in people must be brought out by leadership. Often if leaders are unable to see the sunrise early in the morning, it is possible such leaders are facing the West. The leadership of our 4th King during the Insurgency Flush out Operation brought the best out of our inexperienced defence forces and it had an immeasurable impact on the Indian Army. I know it is an extreme example but I want to cut short all counter arguments by many CEOs and other leaders.