Dr Sudath Gunasekara

As it is not clear whether this 12 hrs decision is meant for both the public sector and the private sector, I limit this discussion only to the public sector.

At present, keeping with universally accepted international labour laws in almost all countries the 8-hour working day rule has come to satay as the standard rule. It has been accepted both for public servants and factory workers. The same rule prevails in this country. At present it is said to be from 8.30 to 4.15 in government offices. Actually, it is only 7hrs and 45 minutes. Since it also includes a 1 hr lunch time, in reality the number of working hours in both sectors are even less and it actually comes down to 6 hr. and 45 working hours minutes.  

However, it is interesting to find out whether all public servants really work for even that full time. My personal experience is no, not at all.  If you take in to account things like late coming, which is the standard norm, (partly due to transport problems), gossiping, (this is the norm of the day as majority in offices are women, more than 75%), lack of proper supervision, Strick work norms  and discipline due to poor management or frequent absence of staff officers from office.  If they take 1 hour for lunch the real figure for working left for a public servant or a factory worker at present is actually 6hrs.45 mts. a day. However, although the law is that, in actual practice in the public sector it never happens. In the private sector it varies from place to place according to each employer.

Any attempt to increase this rule and increase it to 12 hrs will create more problems than solutions sought, leading even to political unrest and upheaval. 

In the days gone by, the standard office hour system was 8 to 4 with 1 hour lunch interval. I do not know as to why the government has made it 8.30.-4.15 now. (may be making allowance for transport problems, which in any case that should not be a problem for one’s punctuality) Providing an efficient transport system is also the responsibility of the government. In practice nowadays this time schedule is never adhered to the letter. The circular is one thing. but the practice is different. It varies from office to office depending on the managerial ability of each head of that department. I have seen people coming in staggering from 8.30 to sometime even 10 without being questioned by the head of the branch. Most of them start leaving offices by 3 pm. It is the prevailing practice in almost all offices. The fact that majority are women, it goes on like this. Before one try meddle with existing system, I think it is more advisable to correct its short comings without running in to new problems.

If you look at how a government office works at present, it is something like this. As soon as they come, they run to the bathroom to get their hair style and facial outlook etc adjusted perhaps. After coming back to their seats, they usually exchange pleasantries and go on chatting with those seated in adjoining seats for some time, on subjects like what happened in the previous day at home and neighboring houses etc. Then take the office telephone (as they are free) or the hand phone and hang on for some time leisurely chitchatting unless the boss calls you. When these days formalities are over, comes the tea time. Thereafter, rather lazily pull one or to drawers and files pretending to get down to work. By the time they get ready to work comes the lunch time. It takes about another hour or so.  By the time one gets ready to settle down after lunch comes the time to pick up the child from school, if you work in a town. There after each one starts to leave one by one and by about 3.45 or 4 Pm the whole office is empty.  This is how the so-called public service is functioning today.

This pattern varies from place to place, depending on the administrative and managerial quality of the head of the institution. So, under this pathetic situation very often today actually no work at all is done in a public office. One cannot get anything done unless you know someone in any office. You never get a reply to a letter.  In the olden days there was 3day rule. That is, you have to send a reply to any letter within 3 days. If unable to do so at least you have to send an interim reply.  But today very often, with the exception of very rare case one does not get a reply at all. Although these people are called public servants, majority have ceased to be public servants at all. The name public servants suit them only to the extend they are being paid by the public. But everybody enjoys their privileges including their salaries, over time and leave etc even if they don’t do any work. Supervision and annual confidential reports to monitor and evaluate their work are things of the past.

The situation may be different in the private sector. Because there, you have discipline where as in public service it is only a thing of the past. No wonder public service has now adays become a zero productive entity and got itself converted to a self-service paid by the public. Norms like punctuality, efficiency were strictly followed during the colonial time. Those days everybody had to come to office before the red line is marked in the attendant register kept on the table of the Head of the branch. Late commers have to sign below the red line, drawn after the grace time. No one could leave the office before the office time is over, without the permission of the Head of the branch.

What was more was, those days there was a circular prescribing a minimum quantum of work for per day for a person, whereby everyone had to complete a given quantum of work per day and submit it to the head of the branch as he/she leaves office for the day. Any incomplete wok had to be done first, next morning before he/she starts the day’s work. I still remember how I implemented this system successfully as DRO Yatikinda, my first appointment in CAS, as I had learned it in my previous job as the Principal of Sangabodhi Mahaa Vidyaalaya, Morayaaya, Minipe.

Of cause, there was one who protested and handed over a long protest singed by all in the office. I summoned all to my room first, one by one, and asked them as to why they protest. They all said, one man had asked them to sing but they are not against it. Thereafter, I summoned the whole office including the Chief clerk. The leader who got all to signed the protest said Sir, you are trying to implement a rule that is not practiced in any office in the Badulla district. Then I asked the chief clerk whether that circular has been withdrawn by the government at any time. He said no. Thereafter I told them, even if it is not being implemented in the whole country it will come into effect from that day in my office. If there is anyone who cannot carry out my orders such person can go to another office where this rule in not implemented. From that day my office staff followed that rule and office work that had been dormant for 15 years, was updated within 2 weeks, as the GA who was invited by me to come and see the office told me.

This is how public administration has badly deteriorated since 1948, more particularly after 1956. It became still worse after political rights were given to public servants below a certain salary point to contest elections in 1978. This created a situation where the tail started to wag the dog, instead of the dog wagging the tail.  Obviously, one cannot blame the supervisory staff for this deterioration.  As the fault is with the system due to political interference in administration.

For example, today how can a District Secretary impose strict discipline over his subordinates, who enjoy political rights if he/she wins an election, he/she can come even come as his own boss as the Minister of Public administration. As a result, discipline in public service has deteriorated beyond recovery. With political rights being given to certain lower categories to contest elections the heads of department completely lost their supervisory and administrative control over their subordinates. Under this pathetic situation the proposed changes, if implemented, will make it even worse. With the result productivity in offices can become even zero.

I this country where rights always take precedent over duties the outcome of the proposed change could be even worse.

Therefore, these problems have to be carefully addressed before you introduce new things like increasing the working hours to 12 from the present 8 hrs. This is going to be utterly impracticable and the whole public service will end up in chaos and confusion with a tremendous increase in cost. Therefore, I suggest the government to first work out a system where all public servants to do some productive work for a minimum of 1 hr. a day within the conventional 8 hr framework?

Instead of pursuing with this new proposal, I strongly recommend the government to drop this idea for the following reasons.

1. This decision contravenes the accepted international labour laws. First workers will protest and there will be more strikes that will affect administration and production. It will affect production and the economy will fall from the prying pan to the hearth.
2.   Sri Lanka Government adds a new problem in the international sphere with more complications losing the credibility and legitimacy of the government. Beside this it also violates the internationally accepted 8 hour per day and 48 hours a week rule.

One could argue, under the present economic situation, a 12-hour working day is proposed to increase production that could be a plus factor for quick economic recovery. But in a situation where people are finding it difficult to meet their daily needs and people are leaving the country to other countries for survival and where majority never think of the country, with daily increasing and unbearable cost of living and decreasing job opportunities, this might even increase emigration of the work force.  As such it will end up as a negative factor in economic growth.

Generally, all men and women at least need 8 hours of sleep 8hrs recreation and 8hrs work rule is the generally accepted formula for a healthy society all over the world.

Therefore, in sum the decision to increase the number of hours of work from 8 to 12, I opine is illegal, illogical, unrealistic and impracticable and non-productive. It is a dead rope given by someone to create more problems and confusion, to make the government more unpopular and to bring down the government earlier than scheduled time. It is therefore a first-class political blunder if they do it at this moment of economic social and political instability and tension. It will only multiply the current problems and worsen the existing situation.

Instead why doesn’t the government take the following steps if it wants to increase productivity of the labour force and production in the country.

First, streamline public service and restore discipline among all government servants by reinstalling the line of authority free from political intervention.

Second, abolish the act no 58 of 1992 (Transfer of Powers to Divisions) and withdraw the PA circular 21 /92 and restore the Kachcheri system under the GAA, with full authority over the Divisional Secretaries Graama Sevakas and on all other government departments as it had been in 1970s.

Third, Abolish the 13 A and the Provincial councils forthwith thereby saving billions going down the drain.

Fourth, Increase the number of working days from day 5 to 6 days a week, making Saturday also a working day   

Fifth, Reduce the number of public holidays to 12 being the average accepted the world over using the following formula given in Annex 1.  

Sixth, Restore Strict discipline in public service Give promotions only on merit based on annual evaluation

Seventh, Restore the old Daily targets for all public servant as it was practiced during colonial time

Eighth, Stop all political appointments to public Service and limit cadre to a minimum after a scientific work load analysis

Ninth, withdraw political rights to contest elections limiting only the right to vote for public servants making it compulsory to resign if anyone wants to contest elections.

Tenth, restrict right of trade union action only to their professional rights and ban political agitations and  ban resorting to sick leave  without a medical certificate from a Government docter.

Eleventh, start a nationwide campaign Duty and country first Rights later” coupled with an action programme to inculcate patriotism in our people like what is found among the Japanese, Chinese, Indians, and Israelites, to increased output.

Twelfth, work out an incentives and reward system including monetary, promotional prospects and honorary awards for men and women who exceed the targets.

Annex

 මේ රටේ ආර්ථිකය බිඳවැටීමට ප්‍රධාන හේතුවක් වන දැනට පවතින අධික රජයේ නිවාඩු දින ගණන ජාත්‍යන්ත්‍ර සාමන්‍ය ගණන වන 12 හෝ ඊට ආසන්න සන්ක්‍යාවකට  අඩුකොට  වසරකට අපතේ යන මිනිස් දින ගණන රටේ සන්වර්ධනයට යොදාගතයුතුය. එය පහත සඳහන් පරිදි විය යුතුයයි යෝජනා කරමි.

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. නම                                   මාසය                    දින ගණන

අනිවාර්‍යෙන්ම  ප්‍රකාශකළයුතු රජයේ නිවාඩු 

1 සින්හල අලුත් අවුරුද්ද  අප්‍රේල්  13 &14               2

2 වෙසක්                             මැයි    වෙසක්  පෝය    2

3 ජනරජ දිනය                          මැයි  22                   1

4  ජාතික ගොවි කම්කරු දිනය    මැයි 1                   1

5  සින්හලේ ජාතික දිනය (පොසොන් පෝය)          1                                               

රජය විසින් තීරණය කලයුතු නිවාඩු දින

6    ජාතික වීර දිනය                                                 1

7   පරිසර දිනය                                                         1

8 ජාතික ළමා  දිනය                                                 1

9 ජාතික මව්වරුන්ගේ දිනය                                    1

10 ජාතික වැඩිහිටි දිනය                                           1

මුළු ගණන                                                              12

මෙම නව ක්‍රමය යටතේ ඉරිදා සෙනසුරාදා නිවාඩු අහෝසි කෙරේ.මීට අමතරව ඉතිරි සෑම පසොලොක්වක් පෝය දිනයක්ම (10) රජයේ නිවාඩු දිනයක් කිරීමෙන් තවත් නිවාඩු දින 10 ක් රජයේ සේවකයින්ට එක්වෙයි. ඒ අනුව වසරකට මුළු නිවාඩු දින ගණන 22 ක් වන අතර. මේ අනුව රටේ සින්හල බෞද්ධ අන්‍යතාවද නැවතත් ස්ථාපිතවී ආරක්ශා වනු ඇත.ඒ අනුව අපගේ රටටම ආවේනික පාසල් සතියක්ද සකස්කරගත හැක. දැනට රජයේ නිවාඩු දින ව්ශයෙන් ප්‍රකාශකොට ඇති ක්‍රිස්තියානි, හින්දු සහ මුස්ලිම් ආගමික නිවාඩු දින එම ලබ්ධිකයින් සඳහා පම්ණක් නිවාඩු දින කළයුතුය. මන්ද එම ආගමික දින සින්හල බෞද්ධයින්ට රජයේ නිවාඩු දින කිරීමේ කිසිදු අර්ථයක් නැති බැවිනි. එසේ කිරීමෙන් දැනට පවතින රජයේ නිවාඩු දින අටක් අඩුවණු ඇත.

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