Accra, July 7,GNA - Mr Smart Chigabatia, Executive Secretary of the Civil Service Association, on Thursday urged members of the Association to change their attitude to work to enhance productivity.

"It is time for Civil Servants to stick out their necks to prove to the public that all the things they hear were things of the past." Mr Chigabatia was speaking at a staff durbar organised by the Accra Regional Coordinating Council for Civil Servants aimed at addressing the problems of members.

He said although the salaries of Civil Servants were nothing to write home about they should develop positive work ethics to ensure efficiency and higher productivity.

He said the Association which was charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the welfare of members were fully catered for would require the efforts of members to ensure that welfare funds were handled well.

The Association has implemented a health insurance scheme for Civil Servants in the Upper West and Ashanti Regions and other regions are expected to implement it before the end of the year.

"Civil Servants in these regions now enjoy free medical care ...no one goes to the hospital and pays for receiving medical treatment." He explained that before the scheme medical expenses of members were refunded to them but the managers realised that some members arranged with medical personnel to forge receipts for them, which caused the funds to be exhausted before the end of the period for which it was allocated.

"We, therefore, decided to commit the fund into a scheme so that no individual handles money so the medical bills are paid directly to the hospitals".

He, however, noted that members needed to be educated on the scheme to ensure that they understood its import.