An unsung hero of our times

There are individuals who invent a new moral principle to guide them in troubled times often at a great cost to themselves One such person is Pratik Bandyopadhyay who chose to resign from his job instead of identifying a member from his team who could be laid off Never heard of him right Until last week Pratik headed the regional sports desk of the Kolkata edition of a national newspaper that booked a profit of over R400 crore and boasted a cash reserve upward of R1000 crore in 201819Pratik and his team of four had worked together for nearly eight years He took home R94000 every month His wife a government schoolteacher would pull in another R50000 They have an eightyearold daughter with whom they live in a house they ownAfter the organisation slashed the salaries of all employees in April in anticipation of a dip in its revenue because of the lockdown Pratik sensed a bloodbath awaited them His presumption was that the companys greed for profit typical of the corporate world will make it strive to match the previous years profit if not exceed it Since dismissal of employees is one way of maintaining the bottom line he shuddered on imagining a life without a jobIn April an editor based in Delhi called Pratik to convey to him the managements instruction that heads of every unit at every centre of the newspaper must identify its worst performer What for Most likely the worst performer would be laid off or his or her salary halvedBetter to resign than to identify the neck to be put to the cleaver Pratik saidThe voice at the other end gasped in disbelief WhatPratik said the quality of work of his team members had never been questioned over the last eight years and now one of them was to be damned as the worst performer Thats unjust inhuman said Pratik who was then asked to talk to Mr Editor in KolkataMr Editor lauded Pratik He said who in todays world sacrifices his own job to save those of others Yet Mr Editor thought it prudent to warn Pratik just in case he had revolution on his mind that his action would not amount to even a scratch for the newspaperNo goal other than to take a morally right decision Pratik replied He said the families of his four colleagues were solely dependent on their income By contrast he did not have to pay a rent and his wife earned a salary Unlike them he would not be out on the street Days later Mr Editor suggested it would make great economic sense for Pratik to wait for the management to fire him That would ensure him under the terms of his appointment an extra months salary which he would forego if he resignedI told him that dignity matters to me more than a months salary Pratik said to me His last day in office was June 15Pratiks resignation challenges the philosophical proposition that any means adopted to enhance a businesss economic efficiency are morally correct He has also proved wrong the assumption that departmental heads will always to save their jobs sack a subordinate to hold the bottom line Implicit in Pratiks decision is the idea that bosses who are better paid than their subordinates should offer their scalps to company owners wishing to reduce staffWe need more and more Pratiks as COVID19 batters an already bruised economyWe need a Pratik in the political realm as those who subscribe to Chanakyaniti which privileges power over morality hold the levers of the state We need him as a substitute for those who promised to uphold moral principles but belied our faithRemember Ranjan Gogoi He was among the four judges who held a press conference in January 2018 to warn the nation that the Supreme Courts functioning had become a threat to democracy Gogoi had kindled hope ndash which he extinguished during his tenure as Chief Justice and is now a member of the Rajya SabhaOr take Arvind Kejriwal who grabbed the nations attention because of the moral position he took on myriad issues but cannot now offer even a word of support to Muslim and Leftliberal youth leaders who have been booked for conspiring to foment the February riots in Delhi Some of them did indeed block roads to protest against the discriminatory citizenship policies but this action cannot justify the killing spree that mobs were allowed to undertakeThe Delhi Police through their tendentious investigations want us to believe that the youth leaders were agent provocateurs Only a Pratik in the Delhi Police could have pointed out that their attempts to prove right a Hindtuva allegation resemble the tactics of the Chinese to turn their bogus claim over the Galwan Valley into reality With time out of mind Pratik Bandyopadhyay represents rationality anchored in morality and humanityThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday 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