A different path

If this was not all,the then civic chief conducted a yoga session of Ramdev baba at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru stadium,where the entire 20,000-strong civic staff was asked to join and learn the skills of keeping oneself physically and mentally fit. “The demands of the public have been increasing and public servants,especially the civic staff,are under tremendous pressure to fulfill the expectations of citizens. Under criticism from all quarters,the civic staff go through stress and in turn fail to deliver to the best of their capability,” said Shivaji Daundkar,PMC Labour Welfare officer.

The civic body is constantly providing training to upgrade the knowledge of its employees,but the tough job is to change the attitudes of the staff towards their responsibility as they are surrounded by negativity much of the time,he says.

Thus,the task of making the staff more efficient is a neccessity,feels Daundkar,explaining that these practices are common in the corporate sector,with such programmes being organised every week.

PMC executive engineer Srinivas Kandul says,”It’s very difficult to get time off work to relax. Our job is round the clock and there is no way out to come out of the job environment. Thus,I decided to go all out and enjoy the workshop on “system of positivity” for the department heads and it made me realise that there is much more left in me than I thought.”

Organisations in the private sector even prefer to arrange entertainment programmes to provide a change for their employees from their routine work. “The extra activities help improve the mindset of the staff . They might be questioned by many but they provide support to the civic staff to give their best in job,” says mayor Vaishali Bankar.

“The workshop on positive thinking helped me come out and look beyond the job of a mayor,” she says,adding that she plans to conduct more such events for all the elected representatives.