The
Musings 10
Friday,
January 18
Read:
Genesis 2
Workers striking work for
better pay and benefits is a common feature in India. Every worker is entitled
to wages and perks that are rightful and just to him and according to the work
that has been assigned to him or her. But off late some of the strikes that
were organized became a total sham often bringing ridicule and contempt in the
minds of the common man. The recent strike by the state government employees of
the Kerala State government was an example in this matter. A strike organized
against a government order introducing participatory pension scheme for the new
government employees. A strike organized by government workers who were already
bleeding the state exchequer, as almost 70% of the government income generated goes
for salary and pension of its employee. Tally the salary and the amount of work
hours that is done by these employees, one feels disgusted at the way work is
understood by some government employees. But what really takes the cake is a
recent article that was published in Times of India this week about the
disparity in pay in the government owned airline Air India. According to
reports that has been brought out by committee that looked into the skewed
salary system of many of central government institutions, it found that it is
better to work as a the clerical staff in Air India than working as its
chairman and managing director. According to reports that has been published,
the chairman and managing director who is an IAS officer takes home a salary of
Rs. 80, 000, while a joint managing director in the Indian Revenue Service take
home about Rs. 70,000. In stark contrast the five hundred odd clerical staff in
Air India draws between Rs. 60, 000 and Rs. 1.10 Lakh a month, excluding other
emoluments. In fact, according to the report of the committee, about one fifth
of airline's 28,000 work force which comprises of unskilled employees like
loaders, car drivers and peon takes home a salary between Rs. 32,000 and Rs. 50,000
a month. Along with these you have different benefits like travel benefits,
allowances and other perks No wonder that most of the central institution like
the Air India and Indian Railways are in huge cash crisis or in debt. The government seems to be working on fixing up
this skewed salary structure in institutions like Air India. But then more than
the fixing up of the skewed salary structure what need to urgently fixed or re
moulded is about the concept of work of Indians especially those working in government
undertaking institutions. How do we view work? Can work be always related and
compared to its financial benefits or can we redefine work in terms of meaning
in life, work in terms of one's calling and vocation and the contribution that
we can give to the society and to our country through the work that we do?.
It is in the book of
Genesis that we find the meaning and the concept of what it means to work. In
Genesis 2: 15 we find God creating human being and entrusting the human beings the
responsibility of the garden of Eden. He tells Adam and Eve that they are
supposed to cultivate and keep it. Here in this verse we find for the first
time a work being given by God to human beings. Human being are entrusted to
cultivate the garden of Eden and keep it. Here we find that it is God who
entrust the responsibility of work to us. It is this understanding that bring
theology to work. Works is a calling that God gives to us and it is God who
places each one of us in the work place that has been assigned to us. Thus to
have a new understanding of work ethics it is imperative for all of us to understand that each one of
has been called by God, set apart by God in a place or an institution that has
been chosen by God for us. Thus my belief is that each one of us has been given
a garden of Eden. This garden of Eden could be the school that I teach, the government office that I work or in
other sense wherever human being work, that place or institution is something
holy for God and it is set apart by God as a garden of Eden for the concerned
person working there. If we have an understanding that it is God who has placed
me in the particular work place where I am working, I am sure we would be able
to take our work more seriously and can also redefine the concept of work .
Along with work we also need to understand the work ethics that goes along with
it. When God put human being in the garden of Eden, they were supposed to
cultivate it and make it wonderful. Garden of Eden is not given to human being
to only stand guard of it, just as a security guard guards a vacant land or
property of its owner. Human beings are supposed to work and cultivate and transform
the garden of Eden to something more beautiful. This means that through my work
I am supposed to bring changes and contributions to my work place. Through my
work when I bring changes for the better in the institution I work, then I
bring meaning and ethics to work and also in the process bring glory to God. As
a clergy, this is my objective in my ministry. Wherever God places me, I am
supposed to work with God so that I bring changes and transformation in the
place that I am in. I am not in a place of work, where I am just supposed to maintain
status quo or just be there in an institution or parish or a work place where
my emphasis is to do the minimum work and take home the maximum salary and
benefits. Hence what is needed in our life is this reorientation of work and
its ethics whereby we understand work as a calling of God, work that we do with
God to bring about changes and transformation in the place that we work, so
that through our work life is made meaningful
to us and a blessing to others and God.
