Craze for government job appears to be insatiable among the citizens of the state. Most students from Nagaland have the tendency to return home after completing their degree in metropolitan cities, while their counterparts from neighbouring states usually stay back to appear for competitive exams or opt for professional and job-oriented courses that will equip them to take up entrepreneurship or find employment in corporate sector. While it is unfair to generalise with some doing exceptionally well away from home, there is no denying the fact that you will see this trend if you happen to stay in cities outside the state for a substantial period of time. But why do students from the state come back home soon after completing their course? Most of them do so to seek state government job. This trend is encouraging as well as discouraging and dangerous. It is good if fresh graduates genuinely want to serve the public by working in public sector as it not only checks brain drain but will also improve service efficiency. Our society needs hard working and honest government servants. But most Nagas look for government jobs for different reasons. The most-sought-after jobs are the ones that require less or no work but high salary. Some people are ready to go to any extent, including paying huge amounts in the form of bribes and make offering during Sunday service to get such jobs. The prospect of getting “free money” for the rest of one’s life blinds most humans but it seems to affect the Nagas more.
This general notion about government job — salary without work – is dragging our society downhill. It not only obstructs creative and innovative people from excelling but also discourages young students from taking up challenging professions. Sadly, it is an accepted culture today, with most people failing to realise that hundreds of government employees are doing a disservice to humankind by killing all the ideals like integrity, honesty and sincerity that are taught both at educational institutions and in church besides cheating thousands of tax payers. Successive governments have lamented that a chunk of funds that could have been used for developmental works in the state are spent on paying the salary of its employees. To be precise, the government has said that expenditure on payment of employees’ salary during the last fiscal year is estimated at over INR 5,800 crore, which is more than the revenue that the state gets from its own tax, non-tax and its share in central taxes put together. Officials have said that scores of employees under the government sector are becoming a liability to the state and its exchequer rather than an asset. It is time the government employees in the state pull up their socks and render their service to the society and live the slogan: “Government Work Is God’s Work” that is inscribed above the entrance of the Vidhana Soudha (seat of Karnataka state legislature) in Bengaluru.
