Patna, Jan. 6: The sound of the national anthem and the sight of billboards with motivational quotes can fool anyone into believing it's a school, but it is actually the Vaishali district magistrate's idea to inculcate discipline in her collectorate.
The employees start their day with Jana Gana Mana and spend their time in rooms whose walls are dotted with inspirational slogans. The officials gather in front of the main building of the collectorate, that houses the offices of senior police and administrative officials, everyday at 10.30am and sing the national anthem. Vaishali district magistrate (DM) Rachana Patil also stands among them.
Today, 500 employees were found singing the national anthem before they assumed work at the Vaishali collectorate in Hajipur.
The practice started this New Year's Day but has picked up at the block offices in the district. The dividends are already showing as well.
Vinay Pandey, an officer on special duty at the DM office in Hajipur, around 20km north of Patna, said: "This decision of the DM has led to the employees coming to their respective offices on time. It has also helped the authorities inculcate a sense of discipline among the public servants.
"The idea is to create sensitivity among the public servants so that they can look into the people's grievances with utmost attention," he added.
A source in the district collectorate office said Patil hit upon the initiative as part of a New Year resolution to deal with complaints of late arrival of employees. She decided on it after hearing complaints of senior officials not staying back at the district headquarters (as they are supposed to) and rather commuting to and from Patna, about 15km away.
"Now, participation of every employee on duty has been made mandatory in the morning," a senior deputy collector in Hajipur told The Telegraph.
Those found lax are rebuked by none other than Patil. "So far no complaint has been received against any employee in spite of the cold morning," the deputy collector, who didn't wish to be named, said.
Patil, a 2010-batch IAS officer, had earlier hit the headlines for holding janata durbar at a village in Maoist-hit Patepur block where she stayed with her junior officials at night. She has won accolades for carrying out intensive surprise checks of government hospitals.
