THE majority of government institutions hold parties to exchange greetings on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr when offices reopen after the holidays. Some see this annual custom as unobjectionable so long as it does not delay people's transactions and interests. But at a personal level, a question arises in my mind, which I wish each one who attended these parties should ask himself: What new thing have we contributed to the nation and citizens since our exchange of Eid Al-Fitr greetings last year until the Eid feast this year? How I wish the official who gathered his staff for this reception at his ministry, department or university would ask himself this question and then the employees congratulating one another. The reality is that there are shortcomings. Dissatisfaction indicates that there is a lot to be desired. Year after year, the situation remains the same without any official, director general, head of department or even an ordinary employee taking the initiative to solve recurrent problems brought up by those who need their services. Nor is there a move to develop a work mechanism for facilitating matters for citizens or for coming up with new ideas to improve the work quality, or shorten the time for processing the paperwork. Years pass, but we continue complaining about the painful situation in some sectors and administrations. If we examine the reasons behind it, we will find that the person in charge of that section or administration that is the subject of complaints by disgruntled citizens is unqualified or is inefficient. A well-managed institution is headed by someone who is creative and takes the initiative to improve its functioning. He does not have a conventional attitude to work and there is no place in his office for negligent and procrastinating employees. The reason for persistent complaints against some public sector entities is the officials in charge of their administrations. They have a misconception that the years of experience on the job would surely prevent any shortcoming on their part. But the truth is that those years are of no value if they do not add new knowledge and skills. We need to reevaluate the kind of people in charge of sectors related to public service. Efficiency should be the yardstick, and nothing else. For this reason, I repeat that I wish that on every Eid, every national day and every important annual occasion that we ask ourselves: What have we contributed to the nation and citizens? We should create positive change that enables us to make big strides toward progress.
