Comment Pieces

The Value of Selfless Service

He promptly explained to me that they pay from their own pockets when they make calls to the applicants personally. I simply smiled and offered to pay the Rs.1 of the telephone call he made.

Quite often, clerks in public offices or constables in police stations selflessly spend on customers or citizens out of their pocket. Never mind even if it’s their duty we are talking about, for which the government already pays them, along with pension and several other benefits. Such philanthropy could potentially bankrupt them.

How can we, in such cases, walk away without paying back what they rightfully deserve, even if it’s in the form of a bribe.

Consider this constable who spent one whole rupee to make a call to this individual so that her passport verification process could conclude. It’s only fair to these large hearted men to ask for what they deserve. Some chai pani or a few hundred rupees, perhaps.

Most of us feel offended with such an atrocious demand while some of us half-heartedly ‘reward’ the government servants, this individual from Pune duly paid the constable the one rupee he spent to call her. After all, how often do such government servants go above and beyond their call of duty?