In Kashmir, Is Public Office a Responsibility or a Privilege?

by Mudasir Rasool NajarDelays, weak accountability, and poor public service undermine citizens’ dignity. A government office should be a space of dignity, where people find solutions—not where their patience and self-worth are tested. There is a meaningful difference between a system that is slow and one that no one takes responsibility for repairing. What is more troubling is how little formal grounding officials receive in the values their role demands: honesty, ethics, empathy, and respect for human dignity. That gap between value-based training and everyday practice is where public trust quietly erodes, and where reform, and perhaps social work’s own contribution to public administration, must begin.