Small Initiatives, Utmost Satisfaction!

It was the training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie our alma mater that introduced us to the idea of Shrama Dana as a tool of people’s participation in governance.

The idea saw fruition as a series of Sharma Dana events in the non-descript, historic city of Basavakalyan in Bidar district, around 800 kilometres from Bangalore the state capital.

It began as an attempt to clean up the historical monuments and their environs. But what it achieved was beyond credible – it helped the government in winning over the hearts of the youth, setting up communication channels and sweeping participation of the local people.

An action plan was put into place, after consulting citizens, about the way in which the Shrama Dana programme was to be implemented. When this initiative was discussed with the Deputy Commissioner Dr P. C. Jaffer IAS and Chief Executive Officer, ZP Mr.Ujjwal Ghosh, IAS, they instantly liked it. They supported the idea and gave important directions to make it a success.

Starting from 7th December, 2013 to 11th January 2014, Shrama Dana programme was implemented in Basavakalyan, Bidar in a phased manner over six Saturdays.

It went like this:

1. Every Saturday morning from 0700 hours to 1000 hours was scheduled for the cleanliness drive.
2. 15 Taluk-level officers were identified and assigned as Team leaders. Students of various colleges were to serve as team members.
3. Six different locations were identified for the cleanliness drive ranging from Public Parks, Memorial Sites, and Main Roads to the Old Fort. This was done to sustain the enthusiasm and urge to perform till the end.
4. Each team comprised of a Leader and 2 constant members (1 Revenue staff + 1 Municipal staff), 2 municipal workers, 1 garden labourer from BKDB office. These teams remained constant for all the six Saturdays.
5. Each team was given 10-12 students (students attending the schools/colleges near the identified place of work, from Standard IX to Graduation).
6. Six Chief Guests were invited to boost the morale of the team members and volunteers. These Guests showed great zeal and enthusiasm and contributed immensely by spending quality time. They also did manual work, distributed certificates to volunteers and gave pep-talks to students.
7. After all the work was over, all of us gathered to have delicious brunch while sharing the day’s key learning points.

Key Learning points:

Early morning walks have been solo brain storming sessions for me. These early morning soliloquies seemed to have changed my life. Shrama Dana was one of these early morning ideas that got translated into a successful programme. The key learning points from this Shrama Dana programme are here:

1. Co-ordination is certainly a huge takeaway after every Shrama Dana. Inter-departmental co-ordination beginning from ice-breaking (knowing each other) to discussing official matters was a welcomed consequence at the end of the day.
2. Performance is high when targets are clear, work is organized, and efforts are appreciated in a healthy competitive environment.
3. It felt easy to identify people who work beyond the call of duty. This was important because knowing what job an individual can do best and assigning them such jobs is the best way to do it.
4. Staying in headquarters contributes heavily to the performance at work. Since Shrama Dana is scheduled at early hours, officials and volunteers had no option but to stay in the headquarters. `I am in a meeting’ was often an alibi for officers and employees for not being present for meetings. Our programmes were scheduled at 0700 hours long before the office hours and 99 % attendance was achieved.
5. Integration is a key to success – integration of goals, resources, people and activities is quintessential to achieve success.
6. Cultivating team spirit by positive, goal-oriented activity is not merely in theory, but practically achievable. Generally, people want change and are open to new initiatives.
7. The response of general public was highly encouraging. The Chief Medical Officer of the General Hospital has got the hospital premises cleaned up without much economical costs.
8. When December 24, 2013 was suddenly declared a holiday, SDM office staff volunteered to clean up the office for the first time since the building was inaugurated. Our office personnel have coordinated the cleaning up operations most actively on the holiday.
9. Inspired by the success of the Shrama Dana programme, engineers, contractors and others in the entire construction industry offered a day’s work to beautify the city.

Duties of a Sub-Divisional Magistrate include co-ordination and integration. Having realistic goals and channelizing resources adds immensely to service delivery. One of the best lessons I learnt in my four months as SDM at Basavakalyan is this simple definition of work: “work is what you do and willingness makes all the difference”.

I am also reminded of my UPSC personality test. I told the board my priorities would be to enhance the service delivery mechanism and make it accessible and effective. I said I would provide basic services like sanitation, primary education and qualitative education that will contribute to the welfare of the society. Thankfully, I have this opportunity to do what I thought of and realize my childhood dreams - the dream of delivering social justice to the people at the grassroots level.