The canker of corruption is everywhere in Pakistan. However, much hue and cry is being raised by a few television channels about the growing canker of corruption, especially the financial corruption in Pakistani society but regrettably nobody speaks about the “corruption of time” which is the greatest evil in the public sector organisations.
It is an established truth that a majority of officers and somewhere ancillary staff also do not reach well in time in their offices. One may face an emergency but it is futile to make a phone call to any officer before 10 am. If anybody is in urgency and dials the concerned number, one hears pet words that “Sahib is in the meeting.”
In many offices, seasoned officers leave their officers at 2:45 pm. Their staff keeps on wasting their time in surfing websites when they should be doing their duties. The public sector’s time must be spent in service of the public interest and public servants must focus their attention on the public’s needs.
More pitiable is the situation in the provincial capital secretariats where Deputy Secretaries and Section Officers, especially in the Sindh Government, do not attend office before 11: 30 am and they leave their offices at any time. Recently, I had an experience to contact a few responsible officers in the Governor House, Sindh, where more or less all the officers reached around noon, hence, even the routine files which may not need to take more than two or days, take months.
HASHIM ABRO
Islamabad
