By Kumar Vikram

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS): 'Show courtesy and consideration, listen patiently, be meticulously correct and courteous, rise to receive and see off' -- these are some of the common guidelines issued for civil servants while dealing with Members of Parliament or state legislature.

Issuing the consolidated guidelines, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said, "An officer should be meticulously correct and courteous and rise to receive and see off a Member of Parliament/state legislature visiting him. Arrangements may be made to receive the Members of Parliament when, after taking prior appointment, they visit the officer of the Government of India, state government or local government."

It may be noted here that recently, a war of words had erupted between BJP Parliamentarian Nishikant Dubey and the District Magistrate of Deoghar.

"The officers should not ignore telephonic messages left for them by the Members of Parliament/state legislatures in their absence and should try to contact at the earliest the Member of Parliament/state legislature concerned. These instructions also include SMS and e-mails received on official mobile phones, which also should be replied promptly and on priority," the guidelines said.

They also said that any deviation from an appointment made with a Member of Parliament/state legislature must be promptly explained to him to avoid any possible inconvenience. Fresh appointments should be fixed in consultation with him.

Also, MPs of the area should invariably be invited to public functions organised by a government office. Proper and comfortable seating arrangements at public functions and proper order of seating on the dais should be made for the members keeping in view the fact that they appear above officers of the rank of secretaries, the DoPT guidelines said.

Issuing the guidelines, the DoPT said that any violation of these guidelines will be viewed seriously.

"All ministries and departments should ensure that the above basic principles and instructions are followed by all officials concerned, both in letter and spirit. Violations of the guidelines laid down on this subject will be viewed seriously," DoPT said.