L&T Story / 1
A recent circular of Maharashtra Government requires
that babus ( govt officers ) should stand up from their seats, every time a MLA
, MLC or an MP , enters and leaves their office
Ostensible reason offered :
Government officers must treat elected representatives
with " Honour " and " Courtesy "
That circular contains many other " DOs " and
" DON'Ts " for government officers , while dealing with elected
representatives
I shudder to think about what next the Government would
want these officers to do !
May be garland the MLA on arrival and walk-up to his
car while leaving ?
Or , that a Secretary must get up and offer his chair
to a Minister who walks in and himself shift across the table and occupy the
visitor's chair ?
{ In the past , we have had instances of officers
tying the shoe-lace of a Minister ! }
That makes me wonder :
What is the " Character " of a Democratic
Institution ?
Who is responsible for building this " Character
",through personal example ?
The following instances may provide a clue :
> During my tenure as General Manager -
Powai Works at L&T( 1979-87 ),
whenever Mr Holck Larsen
or Mr N M Desai ( Chairmen , at different
times ) , walked into my
cabin , they insisted that I do not get up from
my seat !
On many such occasions ,
they would start pacing the cabin from
end to end , telling me
or listening to me - as I continued sitting !
> Whenever Mr Holck Larsen visited Madh
Works , he would just peep into
my cabin and say ,
" Parekh , carry on
with your work . I know my way around the factory "
Then , he would just
walk out and go around the factory , all alone ,
meeting and greeting
hundreds of workers , at their work places !
He just insisted that no
Supervisor / Foreman / Manager should stop his
work , in order to
accompany him !
I wonder how many of our
Ministers today , go around their offices ,
or their constituencies
, without a retinue of Officers !
> I even recollect an incidence when Mr
Holck Larsen said :
" Parekh , can we
go and try out the food being served in Workers
Canteen ? "
Then , when we reached there ,
he insisted on standing in the queue
with the rest of the workers ,
to pick up his food-tray !
Incidentally , talking of a Manager having to vacate
his chair for his boss ( a
practice , which , I believe is still prevalent in many
organizations ), I remember an instance when we hired a Maintenance Manager
from one " Sethji Controlled " company
After a few days , I heard of severe resentment in that
department
When I inquired , I found out that he had the habit of
asking his subordinate managers to vacate / offer him their chairs , whenever he
visited those section !
I was left with no choice but to ask him to
resign !
" Yathaa Raja , Tatha Praja " ( People
will emulate those in power ) , is true even today
I request others to comment / submit their own
experiences of what goes into making a Great Organization
By contributing their own similar experiences , they
would be telling Managers and Ministers :
" Here is how we can imbibe a Democratic Culture
to transform India "
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hemen parekh
10 August 2015
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