Raju, our new Maharaja of then Mysore, in our imaginary story, looked confident, and ready to meet his Finance commissioner! Thanks to his sessions with his Aunty on Budget & Finances!
His task with the finance commissioner looked simple to him now. All he has to do is, to find out from the finance commissioner the quantum of ‘crop losses’, that is, the loss in the crop yield, in the six districts, and order for waiver of the tax in the same proportion.
But, poor Raju was not aware of the chakravyuah of bureaucracy that he is going to enter!!
The finance commissioner, Mr. Sastry was called in. After the formal greetings, both settled across the table.
“Sastry avare, what is the quantum of loss to the crops in these six districts?”
“That will be approximately 15 lakhs your highness. But, I suggest that you take the figure from the Revenue commissioner, who is in-charge for the revenue collection. Do we call him here?”
“Oh no! Not required! You have already given the information, why call him unnecessarily?”
“No your highness, I may have given the figure. But, it not official! For that, it has to come from the head of the department who is in-charge for the work.”
“Means, are you saying that your information is not the correct one, but an approximation?”
“Not that way your highness! It’s just that I am not authorized to talk about it. It is proper that the revenue commissioner provides you the data, which can be taken as official!”
“But, you are also an official? Isn't?”
“Yes, but I have specific department, ‘Budget and accounts’! I am not supposed to talk about other departments, and you not supposed to hear about one department from another department person Maharaj!”
Raju was little amused! But as he was new, he didn't know what to say, and hence, he agreed to send for the revenue commissioner.
“Greetings to you, your Highness! I am Jayaram Urs, the revenue commissioner. I am in-charge for mobilizing revenue to the government. Pray, what can I do for you?”
“Greetings! I want to know the extent of crop loss in the six districts, and also, what is it in the percentage terms?”
“Highness, the total loss is around 15 lakhs, which comes to around 50% loss, as per the crop cutting experiment conducted by our Deputy Commissioners.”
“Crop cutting experiment? What is that?”
“Highness, crop cutting experiment is done by the Deputy Commissioners to assess the loss of crop. It is not easy to assess the loss of crop, as the yield of the crops varies from field to field and from season to season. Thus, even if the rainfall is absent uniformly over an area, still the loss will be different for different places. So, we can’t sit here and calculate it mathematically, but it needs to be done in the field.”
“Oh ok, I understand. It depends on the soil conditions, seeds used etc I guess. Ok, how is it done?”
“Highness, the team officers from the revenue department will visit the fields and cut the crop from both the fields in an area, where the crop is normal, and where the crop has been affected due to drought or any other cause. From that they calculate the loss in the yield. Then they apply this sample for that local area. Like this, they keep doing the experiment for all regions to arrive at the total loss.”
Suddenly Raju got a glimpse of the complexity involved! What he thought to be a very simple calculation of loss due to rain; appeared not so simple!
“Ok, I understand. Now that you have arrived at the percentage, let’s issue orders for waiver the tax, which shall be equal to the percentage of loss in the crops in that district or region!”
The finance commissioner looked at him and said, “Highness there is a problem. In one district, Kolar, where there is almost 100% crop loss, we can’t waive tax 100%, as it has been never done in the past and it will lead to problems with tax collection.
Also, my submission is that, we should not waive of tax so easily, as it will lead to similar demands from all the villages and tehsils. That will be a dangerous trend your highness! I will not be able to get revenue for the government!”
“So, what do we do?”
“I submit that the waiver should be a token amount, and not exceed 25%. Anyway, they had a normal crop last year. This 25% itself will lead to loss of around 3 lakhs in the Budget! Anything which is more than this amount will make the budget a 'deficit budget'!”
“But, Highness, that is too a small amount. The farmers will be upset and will not be pay the balance 75%. There may be protests. The Deputy commissioners have already has been sending telegrams to me on that.” Now, this was the revenue commissioner.
Raju wondered what to do. “Can’t the protests be handled?”
“My deputy commissioners in-fact had held some meetings thru the local Tahsildars. But, the results are not encouraging. The farmers would want at least 75% waiver, if not 100%.”
“Highness, maybe we can take an opinion from the Police chief or the Home commissioner about the protests?” quipped the Finance commissioner.
‘What? You want to call two more officers now?!’ Raju started wondering what is happening! What he thought to be a simple thing seems to be getting complex!
“Do we really need to consult the police or the Home commissioner? Who is the Home commissioner, by the way?"
“Yes, your Highness! As you know, the Home commissioner is in-charge for all internal issues in the kingdom, including the law & order, police etc. He will be the best person to advise us on the possible farmers’ protests.”
Raju could see that the finance commissioner is keen on keeping the tax waiver as less as possible. May be that’s his job, he thought.
But, he was getting tired with the idea of discussing a small issue with so many officials! It’s going to be like the same meeting that had in the morning meeting, he thought! He started wondering if at all any decision can be taken in government without a meeting!
Finally, he decided to call the Home commissioner, to just see what he says.
Ramanujam, the Home commissioner was ushered in.
“Greetings sir, I am Ramanujam, the Home commissioner. I take care of internal security, law and order etc. I was told about the agitations. Yes, the chief of Police, the Inspector General, did inform me about the possible agitations if the tax waiver is not done adequately. Also, the local newspapers may make some comment, which the Highness may not like.”
Raju now wanted to talk to his Aunty badly! He made a last attempt to solve this.
“Ok then, can you tell me what percent we need to waive off so that farmers are happy and there are no issues?”
“Highness, I suggest that we waive off 100% of the tax in the affected regions.”
Raju almost fainted! Before he could say anything, the finance commissioner gave a cold smile to the Home commissioner and looked at Raju. “Sir, what the Home commissioner says can be only from the law & order point of view, but definitely not in the interest of the state! May be we should get the opinion of the minister, the Diwan.”
‘Oh yes, the Diwan! I will call him!’ though Raju. But then, he remembered that it was the Diwan in the first place who advised him to have a discussion with the Finance commissioner on the waiver! God, this is getting into a loop he thought!
He looked at the Home commissioner and asked, “Can’t you and Revenue commissioner discuss how to handle the situation at the districts and advise me how to keep the waiver to minimum? Or should we call the Diwan?”
There was a silence. Then the finance commissioner spoke, “yes sir, I suggest that we will have a meeting on this with Diwan, and also we can call the Deputy Commissioners from the six districts for the meeting.”
Revenue commissioner interjected immediately, “No. no! There is no need to call the deputy commissioners. We will have meeting of all of us and the Diwan with the Highness!”
Raju wondered at the intricacies and the turf wars! He thought its better to talk to Aunty.
“Ok, let’s call a meeting of all. May be tomorrow?”
“Yes sir!” That was a chorus from all!
Raju almost ran into his room!
“Aunty! My god! What’s happening??! Why can’t things be simple? Why so much mistrust and turf wars? And that is that deficit budget? And, Aunty, what is this Home commissioner department? Why it is called home? I should be called as department of law and order? Isn't?
“Oh my boy, you seem to be having a hard time! First, drink this nimbu paani! We will find a way to solve these problems!"
(To be continued next Sunday)
His task with the finance commissioner looked simple to him now. All he has to do is, to find out from the finance commissioner the quantum of ‘crop losses’, that is, the loss in the crop yield, in the six districts, and order for waiver of the tax in the same proportion.
But, poor Raju was not aware of the chakravyuah of bureaucracy that he is going to enter!!
The finance commissioner, Mr. Sastry was called in. After the formal greetings, both settled across the table.
“Sastry avare, what is the quantum of loss to the crops in these six districts?”
“That will be approximately 15 lakhs your highness. But, I suggest that you take the figure from the Revenue commissioner, who is in-charge for the revenue collection. Do we call him here?”
“Oh no! Not required! You have already given the information, why call him unnecessarily?”
“No your highness, I may have given the figure. But, it not official! For that, it has to come from the head of the department who is in-charge for the work.”
“Means, are you saying that your information is not the correct one, but an approximation?”
“Not that way your highness! It’s just that I am not authorized to talk about it. It is proper that the revenue commissioner provides you the data, which can be taken as official!”
“But, you are also an official? Isn't?”
“Yes, but I have specific department, ‘Budget and accounts’! I am not supposed to talk about other departments, and you not supposed to hear about one department from another department person Maharaj!”
Raju was little amused! But as he was new, he didn't know what to say, and hence, he agreed to send for the revenue commissioner.
“Greetings to you, your Highness! I am Jayaram Urs, the revenue commissioner. I am in-charge for mobilizing revenue to the government. Pray, what can I do for you?”
“Greetings! I want to know the extent of crop loss in the six districts, and also, what is it in the percentage terms?”
“Highness, the total loss is around 15 lakhs, which comes to around 50% loss, as per the crop cutting experiment conducted by our Deputy Commissioners.”
“Crop cutting experiment? What is that?”
“Highness, crop cutting experiment is done by the Deputy Commissioners to assess the loss of crop. It is not easy to assess the loss of crop, as the yield of the crops varies from field to field and from season to season. Thus, even if the rainfall is absent uniformly over an area, still the loss will be different for different places. So, we can’t sit here and calculate it mathematically, but it needs to be done in the field.”
“Oh ok, I understand. It depends on the soil conditions, seeds used etc I guess. Ok, how is it done?”
“Highness, the team officers from the revenue department will visit the fields and cut the crop from both the fields in an area, where the crop is normal, and where the crop has been affected due to drought or any other cause. From that they calculate the loss in the yield. Then they apply this sample for that local area. Like this, they keep doing the experiment for all regions to arrive at the total loss.”
Suddenly Raju got a glimpse of the complexity involved! What he thought to be a very simple calculation of loss due to rain; appeared not so simple!
“Ok, I understand. Now that you have arrived at the percentage, let’s issue orders for waiver the tax, which shall be equal to the percentage of loss in the crops in that district or region!”
The finance commissioner looked at him and said, “Highness there is a problem. In one district, Kolar, where there is almost 100% crop loss, we can’t waive tax 100%, as it has been never done in the past and it will lead to problems with tax collection.
Also, my submission is that, we should not waive of tax so easily, as it will lead to similar demands from all the villages and tehsils. That will be a dangerous trend your highness! I will not be able to get revenue for the government!”
“So, what do we do?”
“I submit that the waiver should be a token amount, and not exceed 25%. Anyway, they had a normal crop last year. This 25% itself will lead to loss of around 3 lakhs in the Budget! Anything which is more than this amount will make the budget a 'deficit budget'!”
“But, Highness, that is too a small amount. The farmers will be upset and will not be pay the balance 75%. There may be protests. The Deputy commissioners have already has been sending telegrams to me on that.” Now, this was the revenue commissioner.
Raju wondered what to do. “Can’t the protests be handled?”
“My deputy commissioners in-fact had held some meetings thru the local Tahsildars. But, the results are not encouraging. The farmers would want at least 75% waiver, if not 100%.”
“Highness, maybe we can take an opinion from the Police chief or the Home commissioner about the protests?” quipped the Finance commissioner.
‘What? You want to call two more officers now?!’ Raju started wondering what is happening! What he thought to be a simple thing seems to be getting complex!
“Do we really need to consult the police or the Home commissioner? Who is the Home commissioner, by the way?"
“Yes, your Highness! As you know, the Home commissioner is in-charge for all internal issues in the kingdom, including the law & order, police etc. He will be the best person to advise us on the possible farmers’ protests.”
Raju could see that the finance commissioner is keen on keeping the tax waiver as less as possible. May be that’s his job, he thought.
But, he was getting tired with the idea of discussing a small issue with so many officials! It’s going to be like the same meeting that had in the morning meeting, he thought! He started wondering if at all any decision can be taken in government without a meeting!
Finally, he decided to call the Home commissioner, to just see what he says.
Ramanujam, the Home commissioner was ushered in.
“Greetings sir, I am Ramanujam, the Home commissioner. I take care of internal security, law and order etc. I was told about the agitations. Yes, the chief of Police, the Inspector General, did inform me about the possible agitations if the tax waiver is not done adequately. Also, the local newspapers may make some comment, which the Highness may not like.”
Raju now wanted to talk to his Aunty badly! He made a last attempt to solve this.
“Ok then, can you tell me what percent we need to waive off so that farmers are happy and there are no issues?”
“Highness, I suggest that we waive off 100% of the tax in the affected regions.”
Raju almost fainted! Before he could say anything, the finance commissioner gave a cold smile to the Home commissioner and looked at Raju. “Sir, what the Home commissioner says can be only from the law & order point of view, but definitely not in the interest of the state! May be we should get the opinion of the minister, the Diwan.”
‘Oh yes, the Diwan! I will call him!’ though Raju. But then, he remembered that it was the Diwan in the first place who advised him to have a discussion with the Finance commissioner on the waiver! God, this is getting into a loop he thought!
He looked at the Home commissioner and asked, “Can’t you and Revenue commissioner discuss how to handle the situation at the districts and advise me how to keep the waiver to minimum? Or should we call the Diwan?”
There was a silence. Then the finance commissioner spoke, “yes sir, I suggest that we will have a meeting on this with Diwan, and also we can call the Deputy Commissioners from the six districts for the meeting.”
Revenue commissioner interjected immediately, “No. no! There is no need to call the deputy commissioners. We will have meeting of all of us and the Diwan with the Highness!”
Raju wondered at the intricacies and the turf wars! He thought its better to talk to Aunty.
“Ok, let’s call a meeting of all. May be tomorrow?”
“Yes sir!” That was a chorus from all!
Raju almost ran into his room!
“Aunty! My god! What’s happening??! Why can’t things be simple? Why so much mistrust and turf wars? And that is that deficit budget? And, Aunty, what is this Home commissioner department? Why it is called home? I should be called as department of law and order? Isn't?
“Oh my boy, you seem to be having a hard time! First, drink this nimbu paani! We will find a way to solve these problems!"
(To be continued next Sunday)
Sir very nice story. New Ministers having less experience in governance will face this kind of bureaucracy problem.
ReplyDeleteSir very nice story. New Ministers having less experience in governance will face this kind of bureaucracy problem.
ReplyDelete:)
Delete@Guru Rajas and Ministers are there for a shorter period but Babus who are there all the time till retirement knows the loop holes in the system offers ideas to the politicians in different ways of creating scams!
ReplyDeleteThere are very few babus who are clean and tidy ... remaining are like pigs in a muddy pond. They not only roll but make others also make roll or atleast make muddy by rubbing their back.
Thanks to Mani Ji for creating awareness with these basic management posts :-) Even many of our MBA graduates are lacking in these fundamentals. I shall surely share with many of friends & family members to teach themselves and their children about our constitution and how it is managed.
The politicians and officers (babus) don't come from Mars! They are from our society, many a times our relatives, near or far! we need to think of systems that will bring the best out of the people and not the worst!:)
Deleteaddicted to this excellent story sir :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!:)
Deletevery interesting! waiting next week for next part of the story :)
ReplyDelete:)
Deletesir not just understanding the system am feeling it.... am the "raju" here...! really superb sir
ReplyDelete