Hyderabad: It has become increasingly common for IAS officers and other bureaucrats to face trouble due to their indiscreet comments. For instance, former CMO secretary Smita Sabharwal faced backlash over her remarks on the quota for persons with disabilities in civil services. More recently, GHMC commissioner IAS officer K Amrapali’s offhand comments reportedly offended the Safai Karamcharis. Observers suggest that if bureaucrats do not curb their careless remarks, they may spend more time managing the fallout than focusing on serving society effectively.
On Friday, during her surprise inspections, Amrapali took GHMC sanitation workers to task, alleging that they weren’t regularly going for door-to-door collection of garbage, which has been the common grievance of the city-dwellers.
While cautioning the workers that she may have to use modern technology to track their movements (garbage collection vehicles), the IAS officer said that the workers were not even collecting trash from her residence regularly.
That was enough to enrage the GHMC sanitation workers who have been working day in and day-out despite the rains. They took no time to lodge their protest by holding a ‘Chalo GHMC ‘ protest demanding she apologise to them for her remarks against her underlings.
IAS officer Amrapali spoke with the protesting ‘Safai Karamcharis’ and told them that what she meant was not to hurt any of them, and told the media after convincing the workers to stop their protest, that GHMC workers played a key role in maintaining the city clean.
However, that wasn’t done for some (not workers).
“We have been training home makers about how to make vermi-compost out of the trash. We have been urging the city dwellers to raise terrace gardens so that it can serve both purposes- recycling of waste and becoming self-sufficient in food production at a very micro-level. Many people are attending out training sessions held every month,” a senior retired official of the horticulture department told Siasat.com, countering the IAS officers.
“But such comments show that though people (mostly the educated middle-class) have been making strides to change themselves, the age-old bureaucratic arrogance and loose-talk seems to have become the order of the day,” the official added.
On condition of anonymity, he told Siasat.com that Amrapali could learn from certain IAS officers who have been raising gardens in their homes and have also been using cattle to prepare organic manure that could be used to nourish their plants.
“She may not have time for that, but she can at least use her human resources for the purpose, instead of damaging the morale of her team members, who have been doing extra cosmetic and destructive work during her visits to various areas of GHMC in the recent time,” said the official
After being convinced that IAS officer Amrapali didn’t mean to hurt them, the GHMC sanitation workers called off their protest.
