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‘We are public servants’: Meghalaya official asks staffers to be patient and polite
The letter dated September 20 by Swapnil Tembe, the Deputy Commissioner of East Garo Hills district said, “Various cases of rude behavior and indifference are being reported by the public in general with respect to all the branches of the DC office.”
Concerned about complaints of rude behavior of the staff, the deputy commissioner of a Meghalaya district wrote a letter advising staffers to mind the tone and texture of their conversations and always remember that they are “public servants”.
The letter dated September 20 by Swapnil Tembe, the Deputy Commissioner of East Garo Hills district said, “Various cases of rude behavior and indifference are being reported by the public in general with respect to all the branches of the DC office.”
The letter sent to around 200 employees of the DC office in both English and Garo had just four points. First, how while talking to people “utmost care should be taken regarding the tone and texture of the voice”. Second, all communications should be done in a polite manner. Third, in case the public is reporting a grievance, “patient hearing should be given.” He ended the letter with “…we must all remember, we are ‘PUBLIC’ servants.”
Tembe said on Tuesday that he wrote the letter after receiving a few complaints about colleagues getting impatient and behaving rudely. “For years people have not been told how they should behave with the general public,” he said.
Tembe, a 2015 batch IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh said he conveyed the message verbally, too, but that did not have much impact. “People tend to be less attentive when you say it verbally. So I thought I should put it on paper so that it reaches everyone. It makes more impact,” he said adding it would also be easier to take action if there are more complaints.
The 32-year-old IAS officer, who studied mechanical engineering at IIT Kharagpur said he got the Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute to organise a one day training earlier this month for around 40 employees of the DC office on emotional and social intelligence where they were trained how to not react emotionally in public dealings among other things.
Asked about the feedback to his letter, Tembe said the locals in the district have called it a welcome move and the colleagues at the DC office, too, have given a positive response.
