Bonus, perks dangled to meet CWG deadline

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The countdown has begun. With less than two months to go for the Commonwealth Games (CWG), Delhi government is stepping on the gas to ensure impending projects are completed on time. To avoid being left in a sticky situation, they’re dangling the carrot. Engineers have been offered one month’s salary as bonus to finish

CWG projects, according to a news report. To improve law and order, cops have been promised rewards for rushing injured road victims to the hospital, and furnishing their blood-stained clothes as proof.
Kewal Singh, additional commissioner of police (PCR), was quoted saying, “Policemen who will have bloodstains on their uniforms while transporting the injured to hospitals will be suitably rewarded.”
Obviously, perks are doing the pep talk. Sameer Singh, a professional, says, “If employees have been underpaid, why wouldn’t they jump to this offer? I am not surprised that this method is being used to get work done. In the end, duty flies out of the window and greed becomes the only option.”
Will this turn out to be a boon or bane for the government? Opines Shelly Prabhakar, a consultant with a training firm, “Maybe this will push the babus to work harder. Bonus may indeed speed up the process. CWG is in the news for all the wrong reasons now. Let’s hope that this one turns out in its favour. On the flip side, I sincerely hope that these bonus offerings don’t become a norm for getting work done. Awards for cops seems like a wonderful effort. We all seem to have become insensitive and aloof when it comes to helping people around. Hopefully, this move will evoke sensitivity in the common man, even if it starts off with the desire of earning the reward. But again, what if somebody starts twisting this genuine help into a money-making or reward-earning business? How does one check that?”
India is on the brink of embarrassment if the CWG projects don’t meet the deadline. But better planning and implementation would have spared this situation. “It seems the government is so desperate that they are doling out money to get work done and if that is not enough, Delhi policemen will be rewarded for having blood stains on their uniform. The only losers in this situation will be the detergent companies as the men in uniform will stop washing their stained clothes to collect brownie points,” says Pallavi Shrivastava, who works in a bank.
Maybe money talks, integrity doesn’t. Tanha Bhalla, PR professional says, “Perks are like bribes. Earlier, we used it to get our work done, now it’s payback time for government. It can only happen in India.”
Ankur Talwar, media relations executive, concludes, “Who is keeping a tab on all these additional expenses, besides what is being spent on the games? The government is in a tight spot, so to cover up their failings they are using this trick to get the work done.”