A couple of days back I received a mail from my good friend Maj A.K.Moudgil from Mumbai ( 27 other officers from our cadre also must have got it) who has written about delinking of jobs like hotel/VOF booking, managing the car pool, hiring of cars etc from the P&S establishment. He has written about the plight of Protocol Officers who have to face the VIP and be answerable for any lapses connected with the duty as regards accomodation and transport arrangements. Whatever he has mentioned in the mail is valid and relevant. Those of you who have not received the said mail can have a copy from me. I have personally faced some awkward moments in the past (mostly at Delhi) in this connection. However, I would like to mention the flipside here. In my opinion it is OK for the P&S Cell to have control over these areas at major centres as there is enough strength and infrastructure available to ensure that things run smoothly. At smaller centres the P&SO is the Protocol Officer, Security Officer, Liaison Officer, Dealing Clerk, Telephone Operator, Handyman all rolled into one besides heading the Cell. Moreover the visits of VIPs are not very frequent. Having liberalised the use of Esteem AC cars for officers down to DGM level, the P&S Cell at smaller centres will be burdened with requests for hotel and transport from all and sundry most of the time if we take on this job. At my centre these jobs are being handled by DAPM and I am not cribbing. I have no hesitation to mention this fact to anyone who cares to ask me or has the temerity to ask for related favours. So that's it guys!! I am not keen on reversing the process over here. Another colleague I know has given me some food for thought : " If there is no uniformity in putting across our demands it is better to maintain status quo ". I could not agree more.
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