Civil servants can’t survive one mistake: Chief Secretary LV Subramanyam
VIJAYAWADA: Drawing a parallel between the life of a civil servant and a cricket match, Chief Secretary LV Subramanyam said playing a single ball wrongly could result in the player losing his wicket.
Participating in the Civil Services Day celebrations at the Interim Government Complex at Velagapudi on Saturday, Subramanyam, who described the Secretariat as the hub of civil servants, stressed the need for being patient even if provoked. Though Civil Services Day was on Sunday, it was celebrated a day earlier.
Subramanyam’s comments attain significance in the wake of the ‘silent’ tussle between him and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu after the EC’s decision to appoint him in place of Anil Chandra Punetha as Chief Secretary days before elections in the State.
“Life of a civil servant is like a cricket match. One mistake, you have to pack up. Unlike in badminton, where you commit fault but get to correct it in the next shot, in cricket, you will never get a chance to correct yourself,” he reasoned.
“You are out, then you’re out,” he said while addressing the gathering of IAS, IPS and IFS officers.He said he was aware of some individuals ‘who have made a choice and who have been desperately trying to revise the choice later’. “But the time has run out. The opportunity is over,” he observed.
Advising bureaucrats to be patient, even if instigated by someone else against someone, Subramanian said, “if one loses their temper and reacts sharply, they could lose their job.” He said he knew of some such people who lost their jobs.
“Those who get selected to Civil Services and allocated to cadre continue to be in kind of illusion and think they are intellectually superior or destined to be there,” he said and advised such people to understand the ground reality.
He said civil services was a long-term game and one should be prepared to play long innings and act accordingly. “When it comes to formulating policies, they should be able to discern if it is for personal benefit or for public benefit.”
The Chief Secretary emphasised that the final goal of IAS officers was to serve humanity, protect the country’s integrity and safeguard the constitution.