Come my fellow members! Allow me to take you to the world of bureaucracy, especially Indian bureaucracy extending from the Government Departments to Organisations to PSUs , where we can spend a whole lifetime in hope and anticipation. ?Hope? that something will be done, ?anticipation? that our hopes will be realized. In the end we have neither hope nor anticipation, what is left for many people is anger and frustration.
This is not a review on the Department of Consumer Affairs, but as a consumer I believe that the functioning of all Government Departments, Organizations and PSUs as well as other establishments both public and private should be taken cognizance of by DCA as it affects the consumers and the public at large.
This is, also, not a public bashing exercise against any particular organization or department but a general overview of the functioning of various policy making ?centres of power?.
LIKELY SCENARIOS:
(1) ?That you Mr. Bechara? Farookh (delay-master) here!......I have just scrutinized the file on ?Tackling Pollution in Hussain Sagar Lake?. I presume this was forwarded to me by oversight?.Not that I hold you responsible for it, mind you!. I have glanced through the file and I am convinced that it is very much in your jurisdiction. You are quite capable of taking a decision on it; and when you do, ? forward the file along with your recommendations?.You know how much I value your Judgment! Besides, our policy is to allow the juniors in the department to take initiative and come up with their own decisions without fear or favour?.Over to you with the file.?
(2) ?Is it you my friend, Kawabmenhaddy? Ha! Farookh (dm) on line! I was just going through the file you sent me?no no not that report on ?Semi Nude Dances in Bars?, I am yet to read that one. I rang you up with regard to the TPHSL file you sent me yesterday. I find that there are so many legal, technical, political, and hysterical issues involved in tackling pollution that, I believe, this very fact takes the issue out of my purview. Our department deals in issues mostly administrative. You are the experts in dealing with legal and political issues, and I am well aware of your departmental capabilities in wriggling out of the legal mire. Our departmental views in this matter are of no consequence. So, over to you, my esteemed friend, with the nude dances?sorry pollution?er..I mean the TPHSL file.?
(3) ?Hello, my lovely Akhonkithandak! I knew you?d recognize me, ? aah, how well you remember my name, so nice of you my dear! Btw, is Bhayanakji in his office? No, no?nothing important, its just that I was going through the file the other day, no, not that ?Mahila Jagran? file you sent me?the other one?.ah?the TPHSL file, yes that?s the one. I was just toying with the idea ?.you know how serious Bhayanakji is in these matters. He prefers to take all important decisions in matters of public welfare.
Moreover, he doesn?t think too highly of my recommendations, so I thought instead of breaking my poor head over this TPHSL thing, and also due to the fact that Bhayanakji will, in all likelihood, change my remarks on the file, it would be better and saves time too by sending the file direct to him for his perusal and decision. Well, thank you my dear ?.I knew you?d be a good girl and oblige. Btw, are you free this evening?.for a cozy dinner for two?
The above three scenarios relate to the same person but in three different ways ? downwards, horizontal, and upwards in a bureaucratic setup. In other words, this cunning gentleman is passing on his responsibility to his subordinate, his equal, or his superior.
In any organization, be it public or private, big or small, ?Buckmanship? or more simply put ?Passing of the Buck? exists in all its various forms. This is the evil that is slowly gnawing at the roots of administration and bureaucracy. India, as a developing nation, is more prone to such hiatus, though the problem exists globally.
It is not just ?Buckmanship? that we in India have to come to terms with, but also ?delay? and ?procrastination? that has become an integral part of a greater malady which has been diagnosed as ?Corruption?.
DELAY OR PROCRASTINATION:
We all know what delay means, but do we realize that delay means negation? Many bright proposals and useful projects have been kept in cold storage or have never seen the light of the day because of buckmanship and delay in decision making. Decision delayed is decision negated just as ?justice delayed is justice denied?.
A hapless man could walk through the corridors of justice and keep walking for the rest of his life hoping for a judgment in his favour. But, he doesn?t realize that he is dealing with a gargantuan corrupt system that can rob him of his sanity if not his meager savings.
?Delays are deliberately designed as a form of denial and are extended to cover the life expectation of the person whose proposal is being pigeon-holed. Delay is the deadliest form of denial?.
MATHEMATICAL REPRESENTATION:
As the incomparable Parkinson says, Delay can be laid down in mathematical terms:
If, L = LA or the expected life of the person from whom the proposal originates,
m = IDC (in due course) or the time elapsing between the first proposal and the final solution,
n = the number of extraneous issues brought into the discussion,
p = the age of the PP (prohibitive procrastinator),
{ (L + n) } m squared
x = ------------------------
3p
x is the amount of delay which is equal to denial.
People highly proficient in the art of delay seldom say from their side that ?It cannot be done in your lifetime?. This fact is allowed to emerge unobtrusively in the course of discussion or interaction from time to time.
This discussion is usually sufficient to deter even the most optimistic person, so to say, devoid of any single argument being used against the proposal under review.
THE REALISATION:
What the expectant ?initiator? visualizes is an endless vista of committees and sub-committees to probe whether there is a case for implementing the proposal or a case for preliminary inquiry to go into the ramifications of the proposal.
Ultimately, it dawns on the initiator that ?Committees are made up of a group of people who individually can do nothing, but meet collectively to decide that nothing can be done!?.
THE WAY I SEE IT:
There are honest people in this highly stinking bureaucratic system, but they are a minority. Their views or decisions are generally overlooked, if not overruled.
These honest people irrespective of recognition or support keep chipping away, whereas, the real culprits responsible for the present state of affairs manage to get the kudos, the recognition, and the promotions because apart from their expertise in the art of delay, they are quite adept at sycophancy
How can we cure our country from this highly contagious and infectious disease that is slowly but inevitably poisoning our society like Cancer?
© M B Farookh. 2004.