Work Life Balance for Bureaucrats

News

• One of the early actions of Modi government was to crack the whip on the bureaucracy. Coming late to work was frowned upon, long lunches were out and afternoons on the golf course were well, disapproved. In their place came timeliness, late hours and in many cases, even working on weekends.
• To counter all these and provide a work life balance to the bureaucrats , PM Narendra Modi has come around to the age-old aphorism that all work and no play does make Jack a dull boy.
• On Tuesday, bureaucrats, who normally associate Modi with a trademark intense glare, a no-nonsense demeanor and deadlineoriented tasks, saw a different side of the prime minister, one full of mirth and banter.

Serious Messages

• Modi asked bureaucrats not to take work home, saying: “When you return home in the evening, your wife and kids should look forward to that rather than hide in a corner fearing your burden in office will be vented out on them. Many a time you are under your home’s roof but still not home. You carry files to the house, phone keeps on ringing while you are at home. Has your life not become like a robot?”
• Modi had tried to go out of his way to try and break the politician-bureaucrat divide. “He made bureaucrats realise that they are a key part of the government machine,” the former cabinet secretary said. “It was a speech with spontaneous bonding,” he said.