Right to food, right to live, right to work and right to information. These are jargons in any government babu's dictionary. All these terminologies start with the word 'right'. Not the ' right' that is derived from the expression 'right sir' that the bureaucracy utters each time his mouth opens in front of a minister or superior. The right that we are talking of is something that is a birthright. Yet millions in India are deprived of this right since independence. Reason is very simple and silly - Superiority complex.
Being a journalist and ha
ving worked in a government department for over a decade, I have observed these government 'servant' classes at close quarters. I feel cheated each time I meet a government babu. I feel cheated to my nation and myself. Are these the people who are going to give life to administration?
The value of an administrative post enhances with the remoteness of geography. The more remote you are in, the more you are likely to be considered a king. Yes, King. This is the right word that can be used to describe the Collectors or Police chief or a District Forest Officer. I vividly recollege the experience that I had in as recent as this month when I visited Dholavira, sites of Harappan civilization (2500-1900 BC) situated at Khadir Bet in Kutchch desert. Life for the villagers is hard but they live. As I entered a forsaken Gujarat Tourism guesthouse, I noticed some ten Gujarat Forest officials directing the newly appointed cook on the finer points of cooking. Soon some three joined them more. Their numbers outnumbered the number of saplings in the entire district - remember, the largest district in India. Soon came the DFO on a visit to the area to supervise how the saplings have been planted. The DFO directly came for the lunch and then went to a newly set room to take rest. The others took turn to have their lunch. Now imagine, some twenty people wasting precious man-hours for a work that is shamefully carried out with utmost precision - to feed their boss. A lunch of DFO cost the state an entire day's official machinery, not to speak of other costs.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is on a 'raid' spree. The agency is successfully collecting revenues for government, which the revenue departments have not. Billions are recovered either in cash or in kind from each officer raided. The maximum causality always comes from the Income tax and Central Excise & Customs department. Almost all the officers that I have come across during my tenure as a lower level employee in Income tax department were corrupt to the core. They were not only corrupt in their dealings but also in their attitude and thinking. Most of them had only one ambition and that is to earn quick bucks and for that they need good postings. Most of them had wives who were in one business or the other. And most of these businesses were nondescript and where there were no buyers. Let us come from the past to the present tense. They are actually cover for their husband's wealth amassing quality and quantity. In less than two years of interaction with these officers while on the job and more than ten years of interaction with officers for reporting work, it has become a routine work for me to first think whether the officer is straight forward or not. There are indicators easily available. Go to an officer's chamber and if you see a portrait of a god man or a god woman, it becomes the first indicator of corruption and nepotism. But that is necessarily not the best indicators because some people who are 'overzealously' religious also puts up these pictures. But talk with the officer for ten minutes and you will find how deep he is into his job or how deep he is into his pocket. And the best judges are the people who give the officer marks on the basis of the work in the area.
Being a journalist and ha
ving worked in a government department for over a decade, I have observed these government 'servant' classes at close quarters. I feel cheated each time I meet a government babu. I feel cheated to my nation and myself. Are these the people who are going to give life to administration? The value of an administrative post enhances with the remoteness of geography. The more remote you are in, the more you are likely to be considered a king. Yes, King. This is the right word that can be used to describe the Collectors or Police chief or a District Forest Officer. I vividly recollege the experience that I had in as recent as this month when I visited Dholavira, sites of Harappan civilization (2500-1900 BC) situated at Khadir Bet in Kutchch desert. Life for the villagers is hard but they live. As I entered a forsaken Gujarat Tourism guesthouse, I noticed some ten Gujarat Forest officials directing the newly appointed cook on the finer points of cooking. Soon some three joined them more. Their numbers outnumbered the number of saplings in the entire district - remember, the largest district in India. Soon came the DFO on a visit to the area to supervise how the saplings have been planted. The DFO directly came for the lunch and then went to a newly set room to take rest. The others took turn to have their lunch. Now imagine, some twenty people wasting precious man-hours for a work that is shamefully carried out with utmost precision - to feed their boss. A lunch of DFO cost the state an entire day's official machinery, not to speak of other costs.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is on a 'raid' spree. The agency is successfully collecting revenues for government, which the revenue departments have not. Billions are recovered either in cash or in kind from each officer raided. The maximum causality always comes from the Income tax and Central Excise & Customs department. Almost all the officers that I have come across during my tenure as a lower level employee in Income tax department were corrupt to the core. They were not only corrupt in their dealings but also in their attitude and thinking. Most of them had only one ambition and that is to earn quick bucks and for that they need good postings. Most of them had wives who were in one business or the other. And most of these businesses were nondescript and where there were no buyers. Let us come from the past to the present tense. They are actually cover for their husband's wealth amassing quality and quantity. In less than two years of interaction with these officers while on the job and more than ten years of interaction with officers for reporting work, it has become a routine work for me to first think whether the officer is straight forward or not. There are indicators easily available. Go to an officer's chamber and if you see a portrait of a god man or a god woman, it becomes the first indicator of corruption and nepotism. But that is necessarily not the best indicators because some people who are 'overzealously' religious also puts up these pictures. But talk with the officer for ten minutes and you will find how deep he is into his job or how deep he is into his pocket. And the best judges are the people who give the officer marks on the basis of the work in the area.
Not yet finished. More indicators to follow
2 comments:
I think, I agree with you. I have had so many experiences like this.
This is the bane of the bureaucracy. Corruption and apple polishing their way up has made our country into the mess it is and if there is still progress then it is due to God and some good people.How long can our country last on the shoulders of some really good people like our President, PM and and a few others. Lets resolve to fight this menace.
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