Note for IAS/IPS aspirants

In this  note i have tried to answer the questions i keep getting from IAS aspirants. At the outset, I must thank my colleagues in the Karnataka cadre, Amlan A. Biswas, IAS,  Vipul Kumar, IPS and Randeep, IAS, for their inputs.

This note was written almost 5 years back and posted at www.praja.in. I have made little changes. I have avoided duplicating such information that is available in the internet/public domain. So,this is not a comprehensive note. This will give you what you don’t get on the internet! 

Now, let's get on with it.

Civil services examinations (CSE) is conducted by the Union Public service commission of India (UPSC/website:www.upsc.gov.in) every year. 

The examination has 3 stages, Prelims, Mains and Interview. Each of these stages requires different style of preparation. Prelims require vast reading and alertness, while Mains requires intensive study. Interview may require little coaching to communicate your personality to the Interview board correctly and confidently. 

The UPSC appears to be looking for following 5 qualities in you, apart from hard work:

1. Are you concerned about the world you live in?

2. Are you balanced/Neutral enough to listen to different view points, knowledgeable enough to understand them, and logical enough to come to a conclusion?

3. Are you bold enough to implement what you think is right?

If you lack any of these qualities, then you won't be happy with IAS, and IAS also won't be happy with you! You better do something else.

Now, about the questions. The 5 common queries i keep getting are: 

1. I want to do IAS. When should I start preparations? How many years are required to clear the exam from the date of my starting of preparations?  How many hours I should work per day? (Duration of preparation).

You can dream of taking IAS examination even from 10 years of age. But, preparation duration counts from the date you apply for prelims. From this day on-wards, IAS must be your 1^st priority, whether you are studying or working. It normally takes 2 years of study from that day till you clear the examination. But, it is very much possible to clear it in the first attempt itself.

Mind you, you may be working or studying.  In such cases, unless you bring IAS as priority number 1, well above your work or studies, you can’t be said to be preparing for IAS. You are at the keeping IAS as an option.

In these 2 years, normally you sit twice for the CSE. In the first attempt you learn the tricks of the exam, and then clear it in the next. But, there are quite a good number of persons who have cleared it the 1^st attempt itself.

The number of hours you put on preparation, during this 2 years needs to be 9 hours.  This 9 hrs is in addition to attending coaching classes, combined study etc. This 9 hrs is your undisturbed time, alone, where only you and your IAS are there.  

2. Can I do IAS along with my work? What are the chances of me getting thru? I am from poor background. How can I clear the exam? If not what options I have?

Whether you are rich or poor does not matter much. If you have the qualities that will make you clear CSE, then the same qualities will easily help you in surmounting problems regarding finances. I have seen poor brilliant students able to get scholarship and study abroad. Managing money is not an issue. In the worst case, if you have cleared the prelims and need money to proceed further, feel free to email me. I can help in getting support from government or from philanthropists. 

You can be working/studying, and still prepare for IAS, as long as work/studies are not your priority and IAS is!  You may require 3 months leave before the mains. Work or studies are just manageable distractions for a person who has kept IAS as priority.

Even after all preparations, if you don’t get IAS, don’t get dejected. Atleast you are satisfied that you gave your best. You won’t repent later! And life goes on. In India, more 99% of successful people in life are not IAS officers! 

3. What subjects should I choose? What are scoring subjects? Does literature assure you selection? Which language I should write the exam? (Subject details)

Subjects are like cars. Don’t buy a car or select a subject because it worked well for somebody. Nobody buys a car without liking it! Same way, never choose a subject unless you like it!

Because, only if you like it, you will come up with new/original thoughts. And UPSC exactly wants that!

If you don’t like it, you can’t think new ideas in that, and so, do not take it. If you like many subjects or don’t like any subject, then you can do the following.

Take the list of subjects from the list. Shortlist 10 subjects from that list.

1. Buy the last 10 years question paper for all those papers. Yes, do this for ALL subjects.
2. Go thru the questions patiently. You will get an idea about what is asked in each subject. Now you are ready to select the subject.
3. Now, take the subject list in your hand. Strike out of 5 subjects from the list, which you are not ok with. Now, start removing one by one, which you don't like much, till you are left with the last one which you think yo really love! 

Thus the selection of subjects is not actually the selection, but elimination of subjects which you are not comfortable with till you reach the left out subjects, which are best suited for you!

If you think that you do not have liking for any subject, then you should think of joining a good job somewhere else, and forget about IAS! In You are expected to know something about everything, and everything about something. 

Do not worry about ‘scoring subjects”, ‘literature’ ‘writing the exam in Hindi, Kannada’ etc. Because, nobody has been able to establish the connection between these issues and success in IAS till date. 

4. Is coaching necessary? How long one should get coaching? Which is best? Delhi? Hyd’bad? B’lore? (Details of coaching)

Coaching helps, provided that you have read the subject well. Thus, coaching is like polishing a diamond. No polisher can make diamond out of stone! So understand both the limitations and advantages of coaching. Coaching is not a substitute for working hard and reading yourself.

Get coached at a place where serious applicants are many. That helps you to benchmark where you stand and boosts your confidence. Delhi is better for that reason.  But, if you are not able to go to Delhi, do not worry. There are many persons who have cleared IAS without going to Delhi! 

5. Any advice to aspirants? Any strategy?

Before deciding see if you have a strong reason to go for IAS. Else you may not get the required stamina to struggle hard for 2 years. And the strategy that worked is as below:

You can’t complete the syllabus however intelligent you are. It is like an ocean. So better you divide the syllabus into 3 categories, as A, B, C. 

A: those portion of the syllabus from which questions may come this year. C: portion from which questions may not come this year, as it has come last/recent years. B: in-between A and C. 

Yes, you will realise that, the ABC category varies year to year depending on the previous year question paper. This way of forecasting the question is seen as a smarter way of studying.  Please note that, when we all tend to prepare those portions we are comfortable with, and neglect that portion which we are not comfortable. But, the question paper doesn’t respect our choices and feelings! So better we prepare based on what questions are likely to come. 

A word of caution here. Please do not think that with shallow knowledge one can pass the CSE. The classification of ABC category was only to relatively differentiate the intensity.   

Secondly, try to meet IAS/IPS/IRS officers. Meeting them will motivate you strongly. They will be normally glad to meet you too. 

If you want to meet me, then email me at: mani1972.ias@gmail.com. But only if you are in the final year of your degree and already decided to take IAS. If you are in doubt, don't mail me!

I normally do not give any advice/coaching for prelims. I feel that clearing prelims is the minimum thing you should be able to do without any coaching. 

If you have already cleared prelims, then please contact me. I will guide you thru personal sittings.

That’s all at this stage. Other details like; what books to read, which coaching class etc., are very subjective and hence no point in answering them. What worked for me may not work for you. You may get help from the internet on such things. There is so much guidance available from professional agencies in the internet.

If anybody has specific questions that are not covered on the internet, or not present in this note, you may email such questions to me. But, kindly avoid questions on selecting the coaching center or details of books. 

That's it! I wish you all the best! :)

Cat has 9 lives! And government servant..?! (Part 15)

Raju’s question to aunty almost echoed in that small room.

“But, one more question Aunty. Why did the Shanbhag sound rude and almost arrogant? I have heard from my friends too that most of the government officials are similar, rude and arrogant. Why so, Aunty? Aren't they supposed to be humble as they are public servants? On the contrary, why do they behave like our bosses?”

Vani aunty smiled at him! “Raju, these government officials don’t come from Mars! They are one from amongst us. In-fact your uncle too, is a government servant! You have seen him talking to both of us very nicely. Isn't that so? I'm sure most government servants are also nice to their family and friends!

That brings us to the question as to why are they rude to the public? Let me tell you what your uncle told me long ago.
Rather than saying that all government servants are rude, it may be more appropriate to say that, many government servants are impolite with the public, most of the time.

The reason is simple. They do not take pains to be polite, because, they can get away with being impolite! And being polite calls for little effort, for most of us. Government officials are not ready to make that effort when it comes to the common man.

That's so, because, no one is going to remove them from their job, or even punish them for being impolite. Right?

In-fact, a common man can hardly do anything against a government servant, unless the common man is ready to invest his time and energy heavily on that issue. And most, can’t afford to do that! Most government servants know that intrinsically.

But, the same government servants will be extra polite, and at times bend backwards, for their senior officers! If you happen to hear them speak to their bosses, official or political, it will be just ‘sir…sir…sir…sir…sir…’ and hardly anything else! Lol!

“Oh yes Aunty! I have heard uncle too, talking like that to his boss!!!”
Aunty gave him a sharp stare! And then she laughed !!

“Yes, Raju! That’s because, they know their bosses can trouble them if they are not happy with them! Also, partially we have to blame our feudal culture and the practice of casteism, which does not allow us to treat everybody equally. Anyway, that is a bigger debate!”

“Aunty, you said that the common man is powerless before a public servant. But, can’t he complain against him? Say, if the Shanbhag asks for a bribe or delays work, can I complain to the Deputy Commissioner (DC), and ensure action is taken against him?”

“Haha! You are both right and wrong here! As I explained earlier, a complaint from the common man doesn't achieve much, unless followed up diligently and patiently.

Even if the complaint is serious, that may cost the Shanbhag his job, and yet he will escape! Like the cat, the Shanbhag has nine lives!!!”

“What Aunty? The Shanbhag has nine lives? How so?”

“Ok assume you write a complaint with all proof of the Shanbhag taking a bribe. Now, you address it to the DC? The DC will send it to the Tahsildar for immediate and necessary action. Then the Tahsildar will appoint a Revenue Inspector (RI) to enquire and give him a report.

The report of the revenue inspector will go the Tahsildar. Here the RI may reject your complaint! But, let’s assume that all of them concur with you. Let’s see how many levels it goes past!

From the RI, it will go to the Tahsildar. Tahsildar will send it to the Assistant commissioner (AC) with his opinion. The AC will send it to the DC with his opinion. Then DC will send the report to the Shanbhag to give his comments in defence, before taking action.

Assume the DC dismisses the Shanbhag from service. Then the Shanbhag will appeal before the Regional commissioner (RC). If it is rejected here, next he can appeal to the Revenue commissioner at the state level.

In the event of state rejecting his appeal, then Shanbhag can go to the administrative Tribunal. For Karnataka state, it’s called as Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT).”

“What is this Tribunal Aunty?”

“A Tribunal is a special court, which is for hearing and disposing of certain types of cases. The Administrative Tribunal hears cases involved with the state administration. Thus the employees can go before the Tribunal.

Now, if the Tribunal rejects, then Shanbhag can appeal before the High Court! If the high court rejects his case, then he can again appeal before a bench, where more than one judge will hear the case.

Now, if the High court bench rejects, then he has the Supreme Court of India!

Now, tell me, doesn't the Shanbhag have nine lives?!!”

“Oops Aunty! I never knew of all these procedures And these must take a few years?”

“Of course! It may take many years! That’s why I said, the complainant too has to be persistent!

And, mind you, we assumed the ideal situation, where there won’t be any influence at any of these 9 levels! But, it’s quite possible the official will bring pressure from various quarters!

Also, it is quite possible that the Shanbhag may trouble the DC, by asking somebody to file fake complaints. Then the DC has to keep answering notices and appear in court for such cases! This will be additional work for him!

Now, let’s assume some 10,000 employees work under the DC in a district. Therefore, even, if the DC takes action on 1% of the worst employees, it amounts to 100 individuals! Of the 100, assume 10 persons file false cases on the DC in the police station, disabling the DC from doing any other work except answering these 10 complaints and attending court, instead of doing public work at the office! Now, is that a good situation for the public?!

So, the DCs generally avoid taking action unless he or she feels that the case is of a really serious nature like theft, murder or if trapped by Lokayukta etc. They will ignore small issues like misbehaving, absent from duty, coming late etc.

You will be surprised to know that in many places there are government officials who do not attend offices for months together without information and still no action is taken!”

Aunty took a long breath! “Abba, I talked for so long!”

“I understand aunty. God, it’s so complex! But, you said that I am also partially right, what was that?”

“You were right to the extent that when common people join together they become a formidable force! Instead of 2 of us, if we were 20, the Shanbhag would have talked in a polite manner. If we were 200, we could have even sat outside the office and demanded the Shanbhag come and meet us!!”

“Very interesting Aunty! But, why are they afraid of the crowd? Do they expect to be attacked?”

“No Raju, they are afraid of the crowd, because, crowds attract attention of public and media. They will come and report the incident on TV and make everything open and transparent! Media is also capable of helping form a public opinion.

Public opinion is one thing, which any democratic government is afraid of! Because public perception influences voting trend and thus decides the fate of the government!”

“Hmm, now I understand why government officials are afraid of crowds and media. In-fact, I remember the Shanbhag asked if we were from the media?! Lol!!

Aunty, one more question: Can we shorten these nine levels? Can we also stop bad officials’ from misusing the law? Can we ensure that no politician or officer interferes in such enquries?

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(To be continued next Sunday...)

The official secrets & the right to Information! (Part:14)

When Mallikarjun, the Shanbhag of Kyathsandra, questioned Vani aunty, Raju was little taken aback. This was his first experience seeing a public servant behave with a public, and he expected it to much more polite and sincere conversation. After all, the Shanbhag is a public servant, there to serve the public! 

Raju has seen even the private company officials talking quite professionally, if not so politely, but seldom rude. He wondered why this Shanbhag is sounding rude and authoritative.

By that time, he heard Vani aunty speaking to the Shanbhag.

“I am Vani, from Bangalore. I am working as professor in a science college. This is Raju, my nephew. He is doing a project on delivery of government services. In that regard we have come to interview you.”

Raju saw a sudden shine in the eyes of the Shanbhag, as if he got some importance after a long time. But, in a moment, he withdrew with suspicion. 

“Which interview? I can’t give any interview. Are you from press?”

“No! We are not from press. We are doing a project. We want to know how you are delivering services to the people.”

“I think i can't do that. Please meet the Tahsildar or the Deputy Commissioner. And I have lots of work to do. You can come after you get such permissions.”

He disappeared into his room again.

“What next aunty?”

“I knew he will say this! It's ok. We will sit here and observe what’s happening here. We learn a lot by observation. And i hope to catch him while he is leaving the office. Anyway, we have lot of time at our disposal!”

“Ah that’s a good idea.”

Raju looked around. It is typical old government office. There was these charts hanging on the wall. Tour programme of the Regional commissioner, tour programme of the Deputy Commissioner, tour programme of the Assistant commissioner, tour programme of the Tahsildar etc. There was also a poster on registration of births and deaths. Another poster on pulse polio immunization.

Raju looked for any chart giving details about this Shanbhag's office and the services provided. There were no such charts. Even the time-table is not displayed. 

Raju was little surprised and started discussing about it with Aunty.

“Raju, as I was telling you, we are still carrying the legacy of the British administration, which was not at all people centric. As you know, in those days, the British administration was there for the purpose of collecting tax, and to maintain law and order. Engaging public was unknown! 

Indeed if any official was engaging himself with the public, he was viewed with suspicion by the government, and his loyalty to the government was questioned. Reason? The public were generally against the British government.

So, the then British government took no attempt to interact with the public. The system was top-down and hierarchical, without any scope for reaching out to the public. The same system continuous till date, with some minor changes here and there.

Thus, public engagement is almost absent in government system. The system is only bothered about their senior officers and how to keep them happy. Thus you have tour programmes of the Deputy commissioner etc, but no information on the services provided in the office, like a citizen charter!" 

“But, aunty, 60 years was not enough to change?”

“I wish we changed Raju. But, we did not. Because of two reasons: Firstly, we did not educate the public. Had we educated our people, then they would have become aware of their rights and demanded the government to provide them with information and services. The government also would have been forced to listen to the public, as it is happening today. 

But, somehow we did not invest in education. While other countries like Singapore, Korea etc invested hugely on education, we did not. Thus, our literacy rate is just 74% after 66 years of Independence, which is much below the world average of 84%. We come at 120th place of 192 countries in the world! It’s almost a shame! 

The absence of education and awareness means, the government was left unquestioned. Thus the status-quo was maintained and the old systems continued.”

“Ok aunty, I understand what you are saying. People did not demand a change after independence. But, the government, headed by such good leaders did not think about this? Why it did not change in itself?”

“That’s a very good question Raju! That brings me to the second point. The government did not change it itself because, nothing changes in itself! It's like Newton's first law! You need a force to act upon something to change it's course! You must have read about 'inertia' and the resistance to change! Change from within is the toughest to happen Raju, whether it's individual or an entity. All of us resist change. 

In government nobody wants to upset the apple-cart! After-all the leadership stays for five years, and it wants to do short-term things that will fetch them vote again. So, any long term activity is generally not undertaken by any government. That involves huge amount of risk, and hence most of the leaders do not go for that, unless they have brutal majority and unprecedented support from the public.

So, few changes happened and it happened in bits and pieces. In-fact, to my knowledge, there are only two important pro-people and revolutionary initiatives taken up in our country, since independence. 

One is the 73/74th amendment of the Constitution of India, which devolved the power to from a centralized government system to the decentralized local organizations having common man in it. We call them as Zilla panchayat, Taluka Panchayat and Gram Panchayat in Rural regions, and as City Municipality, Town panchayat in the urban regions. Indeed they are the third tier of the government, like we have the first two tiers, central and state.

The second important enactment was that of the Right to Information Act. In one go, it allowed the people to peep inside the government offices and know what the government does. It brought in the wave of transparency and empowered the people. 

Empowerment of the public is the first step to good governance in a democracy. What we missed to do by educating all, we tried to do by empowering all. 

It was a long journey for the government, albeit unexpected, from the days of the Official Secrets Act in 1923, to Right to information Act in 2005! But, we still have to go a long way, before empowering people with information. The next ideal step is to go for voluntary public disclosure of information about all the activities of the government to the people.

The revolutionary improvements in Information and Technology (IT), gives wide scope for the government to do that at almost no cost. The government should grab this opportunity to pass the disclosure law. It will go a long way in engaging the public. Open governance will lead to good governance."

“Hmm. I get it now. Information is the key. The government needs to function in a transparent and open manner. Gone are the days of official secrets! 

Aunty, doesn't it look odd, that when we talk of openness, the Shanbhag says that he cant talk to us without permission from the deputy commissioner?Indeed, first I thought that he is happy to give an interview, but in a moment he withdrew and gave excuse of Deputy Commissioner! Why is that Aunty?”

“Oh, that is because, government discourages the officials from talking to public or media, as they fear, if something wrong is told, then it will embarrasses the government. They don't want to risk the credibility of the government in the hands of individual officers. May be this is acceptable, as even private companies talk thru spokespersons. Secondly, government officers generally are uncomfortable in talking to the public or media, as they are not used to it!"

“Then how do we understand how they do their work?!”

“Lol! By sitting here and observing people like this! Don't worry, tomorrow we will meet the Deputy Commissioner, and take his permission to interview the Shanbhag, Revenue inspector and the Tahsildar! Then we will also go around meeting people and checking whatever they claim to be doing is being actually done or not! BTW, when they do things transparently, they need not go to press or talk to people!

Now, let’s watch quietly what’s happening and let’s see how the Shanbhag responds when he sees us sitting in his office!”

“That’s fine aunty! But, one more question. Why was he sounding rude and little arrogant? I have heard this complaint from my friends too, that government officers are arrogant and rude. Why so Aunty?”

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(To be continued next Sunday)

All the King's men: Part 13 (Understanding the government)

Raju and Vani aunty got down at Kyathsandra and started walking towards the Shanbhag office.

“Aunty, what is the meaning of Shanbhag? And why he is called as ‘village accountant, instead of ‘village officer’ or ‘village revenue officer’?”

“Shanbhag means ‘writer’ in Sanskrit. As I explained to you, the British administration system started from the top and went till the bottom, which are villages.

At the state or provincial level, we had the commissioners, and below them the deputy commissioners. Below them were the Assistant commissioners. Below each Assistant commissioner, we had Tahsildars.

Tahsildar meant, ‘Tax collector’, and this word has been there since Mughal days. ‘Tahsil’ meant collection and ‘Dar’ meant the person, thus Tahsildar meant the person who collected the Tax.

Thus, in olden days, the Tahsildar was the person at the local level who collected the tax from the people. He was authorized by the king to collect tax on behalf of the king. He was also authorized to fix the tax rate; add or reduce the tax. It meant, that he conducted court like a judge and decided any quarrels in the taxation, or land ownership or even granted government land to the landless or deserving, who can cultivate and give revenue to the king. Later, during British time, they were given magisterial power too.

The Tahsildar used to sit at the Tehsil (Taluka) Headquarters, which was normally a small town of having more than 10,000 populations those days. The Taluka town used to be connected from the District, by an all weather road, meaning that motor vehicle can travel from the district to the Taluka town round the year, irrespective of monsoon and rains.

But, from the Taluka town (headquarters) to villages, there were fewer, or no all weather roads those days. It used to mud-tracks or cart-tracks. So, most of the times, the travel used to be in horses or horse-carts.

It meant that the Taluka boundaries generally coincided with the distance a horse can travel comfortably in day time, that is, around 30 kms.

As the Tahsildar can’t travel to all the villages in his area every-day, there was a need to have somebody to keep track of the tax issues in the villages, like details of the crops grown, ownership of the land etc. These details are crucial for the collection for revenue.

To keep an account of all these data, the Tahsildars appointed accountants, and each accountant for keeping account books for 2-3 villages. That’s how we have village ‘accountants’ and not ‘village officers’! And ‘accountants’ were called as ‘Shanbhags’ in Sanskrit! Oh, God, what a long answer to your question!”

“Oh thanks Aunty! Now I get a clear picture. I think the village accountants, who were primarily appointed for taking care of the accounts of the villages, were given additional works later?”

“You are right Raju! As the village accountant, we will call him ‘Shanbhag’ from now onwards, had data about the owners of the land, their land holdings etc, it become easy for him to give information on any additional work.”

“Aunty, I have heard about these Revenue Inspectors. Who are they?”

“Oh, they came later. When the work load of the Village accountants increased, there was a need to supervise them. Also, the Tahsildar’s work load increased and he could no more concentrate fully on the revenue issues.

So, they appointed ‘revenue Inspectors’ who started touring and inspecting the work and accounts of the Shanbhags. So for every 4-5 Shanbhags we will have one Revenue Inspector. And his area is called as a circle.”

“Hmm. Very detailed administrative system. Let me recollect; Commissioner at the state level, then Deputy Commissioner at district, assistant commissioners to assist him, then Tahsildar at the Taluka level, Naib-Tahsildars to assist him, Revenue Inspectors for revenue circles, below them Shanbhags for group of villages!”

“Lol, you are right! Just that we left one more level. Between the commissioner at the state and the deputy commissioner at the district, there is one more level; the divisional commissioner! He is in charge for a group of districts. Presently they are called as Regional commissioners. In Karnataka, we have four regional commissioners, sitting at Bangalore, Mysore, Belgaum and Gulbarga.”

“Oh God! So many levels?! And still the common man is unhappy with the administration?”

“Yes my dear! Come let’s find out the reason why the common man is not happy! We have reached the Shanbhag office!”

Both Raju and Aunty stood before the building. There was no name board. But, one could see people around. Some were inside that front room, and few standing outside.

Both entered the room, and looked for the big table and the main person seated there. But, they didn’t find any! But, suddenly somebody appeared in their front.

“What do you want? What is the work?”

“We want to meet the Shanbhag sir.”

“Oh, he is busy. You tell me what the work is. I will get it done. Which village you are from? Caste certificate? Income certificate? I can get done in 24 hours. Or any land issue?”

Raju could gather that he is not a official and must be a middle-man who are present in most of the government offices. He wondered why they need to be there, if the Shanbhag can do the work of the public immediately.

“No, I need to meet the Shanbhag only. Can you help me?”

 “But, why you want to meet him? He is always busy. You can’t meet him. Where are you coming from?”

“We are from Bangalore. We need to meet him.”

“Oh, from Bangalore! I guessed. But, he is not free now. Anyway he is going to Tahsildar office for meeting. And next two days he is busy with census work. You can come next week.”

“When next week?”

“You want exact day?! Nobody knows! You come and check your luck. You are not ready to trust us to do your work. Then why you are asking so many questions to me?”

“Ok. Can you tell me where is his tour programme which will tell when he is here?”

“That I don’t have. Ask the ‘gram shahayak’”.

“Aunty, who is this Shahayak?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. To assist the Shanbhag, each village has one ‘Gram Shahayak’ or assistant.”

“Oh, another official paid by the government? Ok, let me check up when we will get to meet the all powerful Shanbhag.”

“Let’s ask the Gram shahayak Raju.”

With those words, another person sitting in the table looked at them. “What do you want?”

“Oh you are the gram shahayak? We want to meet the Shanbhag. When he will be available? As per his tour programme when is supposed to be here in this office? We heard that from 3.30 to 5.30, all government officers should be available in their offices? If he is not here now, maybe we have to complaint to the Deputy Commissioner.”

It was like a bomb dropped. There was a minute silence. All looked at Raju. And then, then somebody entered the room from the adjoining small room. A middle aged man, round faced, oiled hair pressed to his head firmly, with an half-authoritative voice asked, “Who wants to complaint to the DC? What complaint you want to make?”

“Sir, I am Raju. This is my Aunty, Vani. We came to meet the Shanbhag during the visitor’s time. Still the persons here said that he is busy and we can’t meet him. They also refused to tell us when he will be available.”

He looked at Raju and Vani Aunty. Then said, “I am the Shanbhag. Mallikarjun. Now, will you tell me what do you want?”

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(to be continued next Sunday...)

Shanbhag: The mighty village clerk (Government: Part 12)

Next day morning, Raju is ready to escape from the palace and go on tour to Tumkur.

Vani aunty smiled at him and said, “Raju, we forgot one simple thing! Whenever we want to escape this ivory tower, or from any situation, all we need is to take the time machine and come to 2013! We become commoners and can do anything without the trappings of power!”

“Oh you mean that, we will go back to 2013 and travel to Tumkur?”

“Yes, and anyway, not much has changed in the administration, so we won’t lose much!” winked aunty!

Raju laughed heartily!

Vani aunty turned on the time machine, and presto! They found themselves in the mid of Mysore Palace front lawn in 2013! Perfectly looking like commoners!

“Great aunty! This is good! We can use this time machine as and when required! Now let’s catch the next bus to Tumkur?”

Soon, both were sitting comfortably in the KSRTC bus to Tumkur. Once the bus started, Raju started his conversation with aunty.

“Aunty, now tell me about the administration in the districts and villages. We are going to see the office of whom all?”

“Raju, we will see the office of the three main officials in the district. The deputy commissioner, the Tahsildar and the village accountant.”

“Ok aunty! Where do we start?”

“Let’s start from the people’s side. It means, let’s start from the village. Indeed if you happen to look at the earth from an aircraft, you will find that most of the villages having clear boundary, and are the scattered in the landscape, and thus they are the natural administrative areas. 

Administration stars from the villages. So, we will start from village officials. 

We have different categories of officials who are connected with the village. They are from both the central and state government. We have teachers, postman, health workers, village accountants, agricultural extension officers, Gram panchayat secretary, Electricity board engineer, local police constable etc.

Raju, for a common man, the village accountant is the first person in the government. He represents the revenue department of the district, which is headed by the collector or Deputy commissioner. The revenue department is called as the mother department, as it's the oldest and also it takes care of all residual issues which are not defined.

Thus the village accountant is an important post. However, each village does not have a village accountant. But, there is one village accountant for a group of 3-5 villages. This village accountant is called as ‘Shanbhag’ or ‘Talahti’ or ‘Patwari’ etc. His main work is to keep account of all the land details of the villages.”

“Aunty, then I guess each village should have one Village accountant instead of giving a group of villages, as he may not be available to a particular village when required? Or does he work as per a strict time-table?”

“Raju, you are right! It is a difficult task for a village person to get hold of the Shanbhag! Every time somebody wants him, he will be at the ‘other village’!! Though there are time-tables prescribed, hardly any Shanbhag follows it, as the timetable is often violated by the meetings or discussions called by the senior officers. So, the time table is for namesake!”

“Why can’t the deputy commissioner issue strict orders and make surprise inspections and suspend the Shanbhag who is not present as per the time table?”

“They do that. But, still it's difficult to enforce. For example they will say that they were called by Tahsildar to get an urgent document, and that's why they could not be present in the particular village. As the government priorities are so volatile, fixed timetables are difficult to adhere to."

“Aunty, then the government should post one Shanbhag per village? That would ensure that they are available to the villagers? Else it will be frustrating for the villagers to search for the Shanbhag. And, by the way, what do the villagers need Shanbhag for?"

“Raju, they require him for variety of things. Starting from making changes in the ownership of land, getting caste certificate, income certificate till including the name in the voters roll, everybody needs a Shanbhag. He does all the residual work too. He is like the Tahsildar for the village! He wields quite an amount of influence in the village, though it has been watered down substantially in the recent decades.

You may think that, if that being the case, why the government is not appointing one Shanbhag per each village. In-fact, it will bring good name to the government.

Even I don’t know why the government is not appointing them. But, I guess it will require lots of money. Around 30,000 villages are there! Even if you pay each 30,000 per month, it costs around 1000 crores an year! Presently, they must be managing with around 200 crores. A five-fold increase may not be easy!”

“But, aunty, I would still like to have one officer at village level, and try to solve this problem in an innovative way as everybody would like to have one official at the village level who will represent the government and who can engage the people on behalf of the government. I would also want him to be very smart and good, because he is the ambassador of my government! Even the villagers will be happy with one person in-charge for all government issues. It’s so simple aunty! Why can’t the government do this?”

“What you are saying makes sense to me Raju. We need to have a one official from the government side for all issues concerned with the government. 

So, instead of having multiple officials at the village level, that too for a group of villages, it’s better to have one official per each village, who will be overall responsible for the village. There will be motivation, accountability etc. 

Years back, when the communication was not so much advanced, government could have been right in not giving all powers to one official, but, now, with instant communication facilities, nobody can misuse power and get away with it at the local level. So, a single official as village level is a good idea. Government should go for it. I don't know why there is not doing it!"

“I agree aunty. It puzzles me also. If the government can concentrate all the powers at the level of a Taluka, by appointing a Tahsildar who is almost the premier of the Taluka, why not at the village level?! Nowadays, we get the brightest of men and women, and with real-time communication facilities, they can do wonders!”

“Yes, Raju, you are right. But there may be other issues like the promotion of such officials etc. What will happen to these 30,000 Shanbhags after 5 years? They need to be promoted. Isn't? The next level will be the Panchayat level, where we have group of 3-5 villages. Thus we will have 6,000 panchayats.

It means, 4 out of 5 Shanbhags will lose their job after 5 years, of remain in the same position. When they lose promotion they will get de-motivated and may not perform well.”

“I agree aunty. But, we can always take them on short-service commission like the army does. Tell them that only one in five will get promoted and others can leave the service or stay in same place if they want.”

“It’s a good idea Raju. But, we need to think thru. What will they do after five years? Also it is likely to make the promotion issue so contentious, and every promotion may be questioned in the court of law. If the court stays the promotion, then all of them continue for more time. That would mean no new recruitment at the 5th year. Isn't Raju?”

“Agree Aunty. But, why will they go to court if we make the system very transparent? Do the army officers go to court on their promotions?”

“I get your point Raju. You are right. If we have a transparent system, I do not think that the Courts will intervene. Even if they do, once they are convinced that the promotions are done in a scientific and transparent manner, they will desist from entertaining frivolous petitions."

"Also, even after 5 years, the person will have rich experience and can join anywhere else. I know of many NGOs who want to have such experience. Nothing like working as a village accountant for 5 years! Even i would love to work as Shanbhag Aunty! It would give me very good idea of how things work at ground level. That will equip me well in whatever i do later in my life!"

"I agree with you Raju. Government should go for a single-window administration at the cutting-edge level of villages or towns or cities. Presently, it's all confused. People don't know whom to meet for what!"

“That’s my point Aunty! Look at the towns, cities and even Bangalore! There is no one officer we all can approach for our business with government! Leave alone the specialized services like water, power etc. For all other residual services like BPL cards, voters list, land issues we have no idea whom to contact! That’s how the middle men thrive!

Now, with the help of the information technology and the power of networking, the government should overhaul its systems. Systems which were designed 100 years back can’t deliver in this age and time! How long we are going to take to change? People are already knocking on the door worldwide.”

“I agree Raju! Let’s visit the offices of Shanbhag, Tahsildar and Deputy Commissioner to understand the issues much better! Another 30 minutes, we will get down at Kyathsandra and will have a look at the Shanbhag’s office!”

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(to be continued next Sunday)

Understanding the government...Part 11 (The Ivory Tower!)

Raju came out of the meeting hall smiling!

“What happened Raju? All went well?”

“Oh yes aunty, I realized that, in government meetings, all goes well for the person who chairs the meeting, the problem is to those who attend the meeting! Lol!”

Aunty laughed! “Good observation Raju!” So you finally took the decision on the tax issue?”

“Oh, yes, and I will tell you the details later, now I have to prepare for my tour. I have asked the Diwan to help. He may come anytime! So, tell me soon, where will we go?”

“Anywhere Raju! All is yours! You want to go closer or far-off place?”

By that time the Diwan appeared and Raju thought that he will take help from the Diwan himself.

“Your highness, where you want to go?”

“Where do you think I should go? Why don’t you only suggest a place?”

“Tumkur’? It’s not far off, yet not close too. You may like to visit the famous Devarayanadurga temple too! Normally the kings connect their tours with visiting temples, the abode of Gods!”

But Raju’s mind was on things on the Earth. “I want to visit villages affected by the failure of monsoon and crops. I want to see how our government is helping them. I want to see how our administration is at the ground level.”

Diwan thought for a moment. Then he looked at Raju, “Yes your highness, If you so wish, we will go to Tumkur and see the ground situation regarding the failure of crops and the administration.”

“Ok, we will start tomorrow early morning at 7 am?”

Raju could see the Diwan's eye brows going up in surprise.

“Highness, that will be too early. First we need to make a detailed programme and then send that to the local deputy commissioners. In this case to Deputy Commissioner, Tumkur. Then we need to give 4-5 days time for preparations both here and at Tumkur."

“4-5 days for preparation? What preparations?”

“Your highness, when you move on tour, lots of people move along, starting from a part of our kitchen, till the king’s bodyguards, a whole paraphernalia moves! And next it’s the arrangements that have to be made for your stay in Tumkur. The deputy commissioner needs at-least three days time. So, we make a ‘Tour programme’ and send it to the concerned with minimum 3 days notice period.”

“What?! My kitchen moves with me?! Why? I can’t eat food cooked in Tumkur? And I need my body guards? What about the Police in Tumkur?"

“Highness, I would humbly suggest that we shouldn't make any sudden changes on the systems that have been followed since long. They are time tested.”

Raju sensed that this could turn into an uncomfortable conversation. “Ok Diwan sir, let me think about it and get back to you! Meanwhile you can make a programme draft as you wish and put it up to me.”

The Diwan bowed and left.

Raju almost ran into the room looking for aunty.

“Aunty, tell me this first! My kitchen moves with me when I travel??!”

Aunty laughed at him! “Oh yes, my dear! You are after-all the King! Not only the kitchen but a huge retinue moves with you! Have you not heard of the King’s camps later becoming towns?!”

“Goodness! Don’t tell me that in 2013 also same thing happens!”

“Lol! It does happen in 2013 also, but partially! When the head of the state, the president or the Governor moves, along with them a huge entourage moves! The procedures are written down and it’s called as the blue book, which details the number of vehicles, persons who accompany the VIPs!

Even with the PM and CM also, we have security team, and his personal section moving along with him! All these arrangements take some time. So, you just can’t start your tour the next day morning my dear Raju!”

“But, aunty, I don’t want all that! I want to just go along with you and if required, the Diwan and see for myself how the things are in the districts.”

“You mean, a surprise visit?!”

“Is that called a surprise visit?! I thought that’s normal visit! In-fact this ‘Tour programme’ looks funny to me aunty! I understand that we may need security etc., but can’t it be given at the local level? Or maybe just one or two officers can accompany while I travel ?”

“Oh, we will discuss those details later Raju! Now, tell me, you want to go for a surprise visit?”

“Yes aunty! But, how do I do that? I could see from this room down, so many of the guards and officials. How do I escape the attention of all of them?”

“That’s the point Raju! As you are king and you are so powerful, there are so many persons waiting to meet you! Most of them need a favor and many more take advantage of your proximity. So, where you are every minute is always tracked. Many will even know when you switch of the light of your room! And, trust me, I am not talking about the security threat you may have due to your enemies in other kingdoms and within!”

“That’s scary aunty! If I can’t move freely and meet people, then am I not keeping myself away from the real world? Then how can I take big big decisions that affect the common public? That’s why they tell that kings live in ivory towers?”

“You are right Raju! Most of the time people sitting in the top lose touch with the reality. But, back in 2013, things are much better! You have phones, internet etc which can make you keep in touch with the public if you choose to, midst of your busy schedule!”

“I understand that. But, if I don’t do that, I depend on my secretaries and commissioners? And I find that they are also having some 15 layers till they reach the last mile. And 15 layers can make white to black and ant to elephant. Isn't?”

“Of-course Raju! In every layer of communication, some inefficiency is introduced, that by the 5th of 6th level, the information gets badly distorted to have any value!”

“Then how does this 15 levels are still working aunty?”

“That’s why government works only on paper! Lol! I didn't mean that way Raju! I meant to say that, all the work of government happens by writing, do that it can’t get distorted even it passes thru 100 layers! Though it led to delays in the olden days, now, with fax and internet, things can be really faster!”

“But, aunty, you only told me that government is yet to use the IT tools like emails etc fully?”

“Yes Raju! You are right! But, they are working on it! Things will improve a lot in coming days!

You leave aside that, do you really want to go for this surprise inspection? Then you have to disguise yourself or you can’t even leave this palace! Forget about going to your districts!”

“Disguise? Like the kings in the olden times did? Why can’t I tell my guards not to stop me and walk out of the place?”

“Silly, somebody in the guards will tell whisper in the ears of another, and when you step out of the palace, you will have some 10 to 20 guys following wherever you go!”

“Oh yes! Ok, then let’s disguise ourselves and leave? Come aunty, it’s exciting! I will disguise as my attendant?!”

“Don’t be mad Raju! They will know when they see the face! If you cover the face and move out, your own police will catch you! So, I have a better idea. Tomorrow morning, say you are going for a ride in the horse. Once you are just with your body guards, ask them to come and meet in the normal place.

But, you take a deviation, and come to the old house just adjacent to the road to Chamundi hill. I will keep alternate clothes and another horse cart for you. We both will escape in that and ride to the nearest market! From there we can travel as common citizens to your Tumkur!

 “Oh, this idea sounds great! Let’s do it! I can’t wait to go to the countryside and see how things are there!”
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to be continued next Sunday...

(NB: As per the feedback, the narration will be continued in third-person!)