Sunday 1 April 2012

I AM A SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR , AND I AM A VALUELESS PERSON IN THIS DEPARTMENT .

Friend ! as the title itself shows some negativity , but the reality is something more bitter than the title. Starting from year 2000, the early days of computerisation in this postal department , to the self sufficient fully computerised computerised department of the present era , one should not forget the role of  " SYSTEM ADMINISTRATORs " .  But SAs are being treated as just like a " MULTI - SKILLED " Group - D employee in every division of India Post .  No one , neither the divisional authorities , nor the policy makers are worried about the SAs . In fact 11 long years have been passed . But still the postal manual is silent about the duties , responsibilities &  facilities  of the SAs . 11 years time is not a short span of time . Department of post is extracting the job of a professional software engineer in the salary of a PA. It is better to sit in the counters , But when you are asking to provide service by travelling from  one SO. to the other spending money from your own pocket, rising from early morning and preparing your travel plan for reaching your destination office.No body will bother for the communication facilities, but it is expected to reach there in time . No doubt , there is the provision of TA and DA . But it depends on the grace of the divisional administrators . In most of the cases SAs have to wait for the month of  March of the next year for your legitimate claim . Still then your bill will go through a tight scrutiny. No body will care how you are managing your expenditures. Most of the place one SAs visits are not good communicated areas . Hence you have to arrange your personal means of communication . But suddenly the officials sitting under fans at division office will object your bill by saying that you are not going to be sanctioned bike mileage over 300 KMs . That means , you can't afford bike in your job  . But usually SAs are forced over phone to proceed immediately from HQ to a far of place . It is not matter for the officials having so called higher ranks , that how the SA will proceed ? Whether there is any means of communication or not  ? Another thing is that there is a strong belief that, SAs are the officials having magic hands . Whenever one SA touches one problematic unit , it will be rectified immediately with one touch. This problem arises only because of the lack of technical knowledge with the divisional office staffs and the heads. Department is emphasising upon the computerisation . Everyday one new software is coming , up gradation files are coming  . But the department has never thought that the personnel who are implementing all these things are being managed by somebody who is completely ignorant of software s and working procedure of a SA .

                                                                     Now single handed SOs  are computerised  , Where the volume of transaction is almost negligible . But still department is spending around a lakh for a office. Are not this bad expenditures ? But the department have never thought that how this huge number of systems are being managed with the constant or decreasing number of SAs ? The number of computers have been increased but the Number of SAs are constant. All the SAs are not designated Purely as SAs . They are PAs who will work as SA. That means your controlling authority will definitely use you as a PA .

                                                                    Not only the administrative staffs , the SAs are betrayed by their own colleagues also . Nobody tries to do work systematically or to do according to the instructions of the SAs. So the problem in software arises frequently. And the SO. staff only reports the SA that such and such error message is showing come immediately wherever you are doesn't matter. Where some of your colleagues closes their single handed SOs before 14.00 hrs. and goes home , SAs have no time limit and excuses .
                                       If the question , " would you like to be a SA ? "will be put before every officials of this department, their answer will be certainly , " NO " . That's why every SAs can shamefully say that        I AM A SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR , AND I AM A VALUELESS PERSON IN THIS 
DEPARTMENT . "