The above lines are inscribed on the ‘Vidhana Soudha,’ the seat of the state legislature of Karnataka located in Bengaluru.
Before even going through the piece, I am sure a lot of you would be leaving ‘laugh’ or ‘angry’ reactions right after reading the headline. I don’t blame you for this, because perceptions are such that nowadays anything related to the government is viewed with skepticism and taken with a pinch of salt! That anyone who is working on government assignments or contracts is looked upon with as a person of questionable intent is a given. This is because the general view is that government work almost always means a scam!
Now, what exactly do people understand by the word “scam?” In the context of government assignments, a scam means largely these three things –
1) a contract procured by using contacts and favouritism,
2) a contract where the rates quoted are abnormally higher than standard market rates and
3) a contract wherein work is either incomplete or under-delivered and yet full payments are disbursed.
Whenever a contractor, agency, or any individual for that matter, indulges in any of the above-mentioned practices, it is safe to contend that it is a scam. However, this does not necessarily mean that it happens only with government assignments; it can happen in private organisations as well. But then why is only government work looked upon with so much suspicion?
While I don’t deny that unscrupulous contractors and agencies do exist and scams do happen, the presumption that all government assignments and work are scams is highly judgmental. A majority of these assignments and contracts can safely be assumed to be legit and processed with all due scrutiny and defined processes. Without trying to sound defensive, I am inclined to write and say this because of late, almost all government jobs are being viewed with immense cynicism. Of course, various factors have played their part in this.
Though the actual reason for the Vidhan Soudha inscription is unknown to me, I believe it means to say that almost all government work is for the people, and hence when you work for the people, it’s akin to working for God. Although it is a much-inspired thought, the people certainly don’t feel so as I had mentioned before.
But I think it is time, we change this perception. I agree it is not easy because, with so many reports and news of multi-crore scams happening right under the authorities’ noses, it is difficult to accept that anything is legit at all. However, it is not wise and I would rather say unjust to quite a few of those who genuinely undertake these projects with an aim to serve the public. And not just that, such projects create employment opportunities and feed a number of families.
On top of that, sometimes, there is also a lack of competent agencies, merit, and personnel as well and hence in many cases, it also seems like a particular contractor ends up bagging a majority of the assignments. But isn’t that case for us in our daily lives as well – we keep visiting a particular doctor every time because we trust his work, diagnosis, and treatment. Similarly, it is the same with the government as well. Assam is an example here, where there are not too many options that the government can turn to and this too raises eyebrows and ultimately fingers start being pointed.
Of course, since all money that goes into such projects is public money, people are bound to get angry on hearing about scams but this does not hold true in all instances. There are people who even go out of the way to over-deliver and such malice does not help or encourage them. In turn, it puts them off and this definitely affects the overall output.
So maybe, this needs to change and we all need to reconsider how we think and feel. Of course, being inquisitive has never harmed anyone and the society’s watchdogs are already there to raise alarms, but maybe we can be a little more considerate in judging someone at the drop of a hat!