Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made references to “Office Office” and “tarikh pe tarikh” to describe the difficulties faced by people in getting routine work done in government offices, and said delays and negligence by officials make them question the system.
He stressed the need to link officials’ capacity building with their performance and promotions. Adityanath was speaking at the inauguration of a two-day north zone regional workshop that aims to engage states, training institutions and other stakeholders in shaping training institutions into capacity-building institutions. “The popular television series ‘Office Office’ often comes to mind, in which a citizen seeking to get a routine task done finds himself running from one office to another but nothing gets done. Such helplessness and state of despair inevitably lead them to question the system itself.
Similarly, ‘tarikh pe tarikh’ can be seen and heard across various sectors,” he said.
“Tarikh pe tarikh, a dialogue from the film, Damini, refers to long court cases, with too many hearings and delays, before justice is delivered. Adityanath was addressing the ‘Sadhana Shringkhala’, a workshop jointly organised by the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Uttar Pradesh Academy of Administration and Management and the Capacity Building Commission under Mission Karmayogi. “People assume that once they reach a particular post, promotion becomes their right. They fight for their rights and often secure them, but what about their responsibilities? We brought the disease under control within two years,” he claimed, adding that deaths from encephalitis in the state had been brought down to zero. Adityanath also cited an incident involving the widening of a road, where engineers had raised the road level by nearly three metres, inconveniencing residents. “That is when I realised that merely obtaining a degree and an appointment letter does not make an engineer competent. The ability to learn and adopt new technologies must also be developed. “Training should not be measured by the number of certificates issued. Adityanath urged the Capacity Building Commission to help develop the state’s administrative training institute as an AI Centre of Excellence. He called for capacity-building programmes for personnel working in gram panchayats and urban local bodies, including nagar panchayats, municipal councils and municipal corporations, stressing the need to strengthen accountability and citizen-centric governance. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The workshop on October 23-24 in Lucknow will be attended by representatives of training institutions from eight states and four Union territories. He cited the example of encephalitis, which he said had claimed 50,000 to 60,000 children’s lives over four decades in Uttar Pradesh. After becoming chief minister in 2017, he said, the government adopted a coordinated approach involving departments dealing with urban development, panchayati raj, rural development, education, disability welfare, and women and child development. “Capacity building helped us address a problem that had persisted for 40 years. He said 19.26 lakh Uttar Pradesh government employees were registered on the iGOT Karmayogi portal and had completed nearly four crore training courses. More than 334 training institutions in the state were connected to the Unnati portal, he added.
“Office Office” is a satirical TV series showing the struggles of a common man against delays, inefficiency and corruption in government offices. “The helplessness of a citizen who moves from one office to another for a simple task, but finds no one listening to him, raises questions about the system,” the chief minister said. He said delays in resolving public grievances could result from either deliberate attempts to discredit the system or officials’ lack of knowledge. “Having an incompetent person or a negligent person in such a position is dangerous,” Adityanath added. Adityanath said obtaining a degree and an appointment letter alone did not make a person competent, stressing the need to upgrade officials’ skills and familiarise them with new technologies. We have often failed to make them aware of those responsibilities,” he said. The disease had earlier been treated solely as a health issue, with other departments not taking responsibility, he said. He said the road had to be demolished and rebuilt according to the original plan. This requires capacity building,” he said. The chief minister said the purpose of training was not merely to issue certificates but to improve decision-making, simplify procedures and ensure better public services. Adityanath also proposed linking officials’ performance records, success stories and promotions with the principle of “the right official for the right role”, to ensure that personnel were placed in positions suited to their abilities. It should be reflected in better decisions, simpler procedures and improved services to citizens,” he said. Adityanath said artificial intelligence, data analytics and digital technologies were changing governance, requiring government employees to develop skills suited to the evolving environment. “Technology can speed up governance, simplify procedures and improve decisions, but only the spirit of service among government employees can make governance sensitive,” he said.
