Row over table manners training for Tbilisi officials

Employees at Tbilisi's City Hall will soon feel confident about which fork to use for each course

Officials in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, are under fire over plans to use state funds to train city employees on table manners and dress code etiquette.

The mayor's office announced that it was holding a tender to select a trainer for 38 members of staff from its own ranks and from Tbilisi City Council, the pro-opposition Rustavi-2 TV channel reports. Natia Lataria, deputy head of the municipal services development agency, tells the channel that the training was chosen based on the results of a survey on employees' needs. She says dress code and dining manners are integral parts of official meetings and receptions.

The story raised the hackles of the opposition United National Movement - councillor Irakli Nadiradze describes the planned training as a "misuse of budget funds" and says those involved should be "held responsible".

Rustavi-2's report has been widely shared on Facebook where Georgians expressed their anger. "They certainly need to spend people's money teaching good dining manners, don't they?" one Facebook user asks sarcastically. Another says the officials have "gone nuts... People are dying of hunger while they care about table manners." And one user thinks staff shouldn't really need such training: "If you don't know dressing and table manners, what are you doing in the mayor's office and the city council?"

Tbilisi Mayor Davit Narmania has distanced himself from the controversy by calling on his staff to be "more careful" when planning courses, the ON-OF.COM news website reports. He's quoted as saying it would be better to focus on more essential training matters.

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