Navigating Political Minefields in the Public Service
He pulled out his note pad and wrote: “Mr. Lelwela has been entrusted with the work of doing up the minister’s room. For this purpose he is hereby authorized to assume all powers of the GMR. Staff of other sub departments should take his orders and ensure that their work component is completed to his satisfaction without delay so that he may meet the deadline fixed by the minister for completion ”
And he thrust the note in my hand.
I walked out, silently enjoying the prospect of being GMR though only for two weeks!
The work was complete d in time to the entire satisfaction of both the Minister and the Secretary. As stated by the Secretary, he thereafter became my friend, freely discussing matters from politics to photography. After a couple of months he confided in me exactly what my position was when a delegation of party men who were railway employees, met him on his assumption of duties as secretary. He said:
“Lelwela, do you know that you have a lot of ‘good friends’ in the department?” I guessed what he meant. I allowed him to continue without interruption as I was anxious to know what my fate would have been more than who my enemies were.
“Your name was the fourth in the list of people to be removed before the new government got down to work.”
Since my leaving college twenty years earlier, my getting a position as high as No. 4 has receded from my memory. I didn’t know I was still that qualified to occupy the 4th position in a list!
He continued:
“I asked them why. They said that you were a supporter of the last government. And such people will be obstructionists. They should therefore be removed before the new government commences work.”
Then came the crunch. He had asked them: “How is his work? How would you measure him as a worker?”
“As far as his work is concerned of course we cannot say anything. He is very good. But he also could obstruct,” answered the leader of the deputation who brought the complaint. There were about six of them he said. He then asked each one of them separately the same question. There was none who could say a word against me about my work.
He then summed up. “You people are doing a foolish thing. If a man’s work is good, then why shouldn’t we keep him and get him to work for us? If he is not prepared to work for us, then it’s a different matter. We will get rid of him. You leave the matter about Lelwela to me. I will settle that and see whether he should work for us on not.”
It was as if he was reading the mind of any ordinary unbiased public servant whose main objective was to do an honest job of work and derive some satisfaction out of it.
This explained the style and substance of the first interview I had with the Secretary. Nevertheless I realized that I would have had a narrow shave. I had to climb only one more step in my career. My future would have been blasted on the wild and unfounded allegations of a group of clerks and minor employees who had access to the political establishment. Thanks to the understanding and foresight of a non- career officer who had never seen or known me, I was saved from a political minefield not for the first time.
If I thought that even a small fry like me could safely navigate a political minefield, I was stunned into disbelief when I heard, not very long afterwards, about an episode involving the then GMR. .
‘Sam’ was Chief Engineer, Way and Works, in 1976. He got hand picked to be the GMR in about June of that year with Mr. K. B. Ratnayake taking over the Ministry of Transport. Sam was someone who was impeccably honest, as straight in his dealings as his own upright figure, a gentleman to his fingertips and stickler for rules. No one could find a single reason to object to his appointment as GMR. He almost had an obsessive passion for keeping everything in its rightful place, like a cup always on a saucer. If ever there was a weakness in him, it was his desire to always get the perfect draft of a letter. His WPB would be half full with near perfect drafts! Although picked by a ‘blue’ minister, no one doubted his ‘true’ colour. As his name implied, he came from a family that had for generations been in the green camp.
However he was reluctant to accept the position of GMR as the term of the incumbent government was ending shortly and he may have problems with the successor. Despite his personal reluctance, he was persuaded by friends and well wishers to accept the coveted position. And he did so.
A couple of months into the new government of 1977, even before the new appointees could warm their chairs, Sam who had been GMR for about an year was one day leaving office to go home for lunch. As he walked down the staircase, he saw that the portrait of Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaiake which had been hanging on the wall at the first landing was missing. A peon, when asked, told him that the ‘new people’- the self appointed stake holders of the new government ‘ordered it to be removed’. “Why?” he asked. Because the new Prime Minister was not Mrs. Bandaranaike. Annoyed, he ordered the peon to convey to the party that removed the portrait that it should be put back exactly where it was by whoever removed it before he returned from lunch. He felt so happy about doing the right thing that during the lunch break he even telephoned the minister and informed him about the matter. The minister too appreciated his impartial action.
But, these ‘new people’, the stake- holders in the public service after a general election, are many, like the ones who took my name to the Secretary of the Ministry. They are a collection of the riff raff in the department – political appointees, crooks, thugs, undesirables, those who have suffered punishment and hoped to get the punishments reversed, those who intend claiming to have been politically victimized previously (I know of several such public servants who have received compensation from both major political parties!) and those who simply wish to be seen by others in the department as the new powers. Soon after every election, these people in the railways go from one work place to another disturbing work, harassing workers and superiors identified as opponents and settling personal vendettas.
When Sam returned after lunch, and was walking up the staircase to his room he saw that the wall near the landing of the staircase was yet without the portrait. When he reached the first floor he saw a crowd of people gathered outside his room. He went past them and into his room. The security guards who followed him informed him that they were waiting to see him about the portrait. An ugly scene erupted thereafter. In fairness to Sam, I do not wish to describe what ensued. Suffice it to say that the episode ended only after Sam was moved to the ministry shortly thereafter.
A committed public servant who had done the right thing, maybe at the wrong time, had to pay dearly for his action because he had thrust his foot into the thick of a political minefield.
There were seven other very senior engineers who were removed from their substantive positions of heads or deputies in the two mechanical engineering sub- departments within a period of about two to three years. None of them were incompetent or dishonest deserving such punishment; nor were their replacements any better than any of them. Merit, experience, and skills they have acquired over the years seemed to have suddenly vanished into thin air. It turned out to be a severe indictment even on those who have overseen their work and approved their promotions and increments year after year over a period of time for someone to suddenly appear on the scene and realize that they all didn’t deserve to continue in their positions. They also had a fundamental right to know why and where they were found wanting.
Source: The Island
Tags: aid, engineers, gmr, indictment, job, political appointees, promotions, public servant, railway employee, railway employees, railways, security guards, service, transport
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:16 am
[...] To Be Continued, February 22 [...]