Collegium may not be perfect, but then NJAC will be dangerous!

One need not elaborate the problems with the present system of elevation of Judges for the higher judiciary, by the collegium of serving judges.

It is opaque, self-serving, fraught with nepotism, lacks professionalism and unscientific.

How nice it would be if we can have a better system!

Does NJAC fits the bill?! Sadly, it is not.

Why?

NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission), is a six member body, and will have three judges, the law minister and 2 independent members.

The catch is here. These two members are appointed by another committee having two politicians and one Judge. Thus these 2 members could be anybody agreeable to politicians. We all know how much credibility the political class in India holds, in-spite of having some of the best political leaders among us.

Now, we possibly have two members agreeable to the politicians, plus the Law minister, makes it exactly 50% strength of 'political sympathizers' in the NJAC. All they need is one more judge who has a tilt towards govt, if not a clear bias. Then the NJAC can easily select judges who are 'soft' to the government.

Thus, over a period of time, we will have more judges in the higher judiciary who have been elevated 'thanks' to the political masters, and in all probability soft towards the govt. So, there is all possibility, that NJAC will degenerate into another 'collegium' of the Parliament!

What will happen then? The independence of the Judiciary will be reduced to paper. The consequences will be irreversible, dangerous, and possibly destroy the spirit of the Constitution.

We will lose the last bastion that can stand a totalitarian govt.

And consider these:

1. The democracy, though vibrant in India, has not matured enough. When United Kingdom can run its democracy much smoothly without a written constitution, we struggle to run ours even with a detailed written constitution! Horse trading, Parliamentary impasse, Ordinance getting defeated in the floor are common to us. Thus, we are yet to mature.

Can an immature parliamentary democracy start tinkering with the judiciary? Is it not commonsense that we should put our own house in order first, before we poke our nose into neighbor's house?

2. Second is the process of election itself. In-spite of the marked improvement in the manner elections are conducted in India, and their general acceptability; the elections are far from being perfect. We all know how the voters are influenced. We all know about the inaccurate -rolls. Above all we have the first-past-the-post system, which throws up representatives who could have got more votes against that for! Thus, the parliament that we have has its serious limitations before it could arch forward to catch the absolute power, that it can get in an ideal democracy.

3. Third is the question of 'who will rein the govt, if it does a blunder?' What options we have? Only an independent judiciary can do that! If we take out that option, the next choice will be a coup d' etat. Do we want that?

Thus, though collegium has its own problems, let the Judicial independence be not disturbed. Let's keep the Parliament away from interfering in the higher judicial appointments. Let's see if the collegium system can be improved without interference from outside. That would be a useful discussion in the right direction.

My two cents!

Understanding the Govt: Part 18: Black Money and Black markets

“Aunty, what is Black money? What is the black market? I keep hearing so much about it. Why is it said to have been stashed away in Swiss banks?”

“Raju, I am glad you asked! Indeed when I was a child, I thought black money referred to the colour of the note or currency kept in some black box! Ha-ha!

To understand these, let’s assume a village ruled by a good king, with a population of 1000. He has a small army of 50 horsemen, and 50 soldiers and a small government with few officials.

Now, salaries have to be paid to the army and the officers? In addition, there will be other office expenditures too? To maintain all these, the king did what all other kings used to do, that is, collect a share from what the citizens produced. This share collected by the king or his government is generally called as Tax.

This was collected in the village market, when the citizens came to sell their grains or products they manufactured. This was called as ‘sales tax’. The king got Rs. 60,000 in this.

Meanwhile, the king came to know that, there are some items that were not produced in his village, but imported from neighbouring villages that were also sold in the same market. The king imposed a tax on them too. This was called as ‘customs duty’. This gave him Rs. 20,000.

The king also came to know that some items manufactured in his village were not sold in his market, but taken out of the village to be sold to other villages. So, the king taxed them at the place where they were manufactured. This was called as ‘excise duty’. This gave him another Rs. 10,000.

Then the king also taxed the rich people in his kingdom. This was called as ‘Income tax’. This gave him Rs.10, 000. Thus he got a total of Rs.1 lakh, and his revenue and expenditure was thus balanced. He could run his government efficiently and keep people happy.

But, the following year, a problem arose. The income came down to just Rs.70, 000. The worried king tried to find the reason. The reason was simple: his officers showed records where sales in the market had dropped. But, his intelligence department said that, production had actually increased, but it’s not coming for sale to the market!

It meant that some of the products were being sold secretly outside the market. What was sold outside the market was not known to government officers, hence not taxed, and thus the government lost the tax! Besides, absence of correct information about the quantum of produce and sales, led to wrong policies from the govt.

So, the king sent his officers to search and arrest all those who sold products outside the market. It was a difficult task, as people sold it secretly in every place possible, like their own homes, fields, roads etc. All these illegal trades happen in secret and is called as ‘black market trade’.

Thus ‘black market’ is a collective term used to describe any location, where any illegal transaction happens. It could be any place, including   homes, offices, even open roads or cars where such illegal deals are struck and goods exchanged!

The unaccounted money that is earned in such transactions is called as ‘black money’! Black money is nothing but normal money, but is earned by illegal means by cheating government officials and accounts.

The money earned in this manner cannot be deposited in the bank, as the government can verify the bank account and easily identify illegal money! So this black money remains as cash only!

But, soon, the black marketers started sending the money to banks outside the village, which was beyond the control of the king, where no one asked for accounts. One such ‘village’ is Switzerland, where the source of bank accounts are not questioned, and hence many black marketers have deposited their cash there.

A few black marketers, make false entries in their account books, and show black money as legally earned money. This is referred to as ‘money laundering’. If this false accounting is done involving someone from another country, then it is referred to as ‘Hawala transaction’, where our black money is exchanged for currency of another country.

Now you understand ‘black money’ and ‘black market’ issues, Raju?!”

“Very well Aunty! Can government not stop this black marketing and black money?”

“It’s very difficult Raju. Can the government monitor 24x7 what every person is selling or buying? So, as long as people transact without billing or accounting, there will be black money. Therefore, unless people demand a bill for every sale or purchase made, black money can’t be controlled.”

“Does it mean that in any transaction we have, we should insist on bill and not do anything without bills?”

“Yes Raju! Because, every bill generated is a document and it helps government officials calculate taxes due correctly. For every bill not given, some black money is created!

What imposes a danger to the country is that such black money can be used to buy from mercenaries, items  that are banned by government like  guns, illegal drugs etc. Now do you realise the dangers of having black money in the country?

“Oh yes Aunty! I understand. From today onwards I will do my bit to reduce black money. I will insist on being given a bill for every transaction, Aunty!”

Vani aunty smiled at Raju. She wished that every youngster in the country does the same. 

Understanding the Government: Part 17

Aunty, Raju and the Shanbhag settled at the nearest eatery. Aunty started to gently question the Shanbhag. The Shanbhag had become at ease with aunty now.

“Why are you govt servants, always busy? Can't your work be organized?"

“Madam, we are busy because, our priorities are changed daily. There is no set work. We work as per orders from the Tahsildar or the DC sir.”

“Don’t you  have any written down work definition and allocation? Every day you get orders on what you need to do for that day?”

“No! We do have written down work allocation. But, over a period of time, the ad-hoc work given to us from our seniors is double that of the routine work! We always seem to be doing these ad-hoc work rather than our original work!

So, we can’t plan our day. Even though we plan, it will be disturbed by ‘urgent work’ that is imposed on us! So, we do the easiest thing: keep quiet and wait for the day-to-day command from the top!  

Although there are more than 30 or 40 government departments, only five departments have staff at village level. They are the Revenue department, the Forest department, Rural development department, Agriculture department and the Education department.

All other departments’ piggy back on us for anything! May it be census, registration of birth and death, pulse polio, election, you name it and we are part of it!

Over the last 100 years, population has grown almost 5 times, but administrative divisions have not grown in proportion. Going by the ratio that was followed while establishing districts 100 years back, we ought to have five districts in place of one. Bifurcation has happened in case of some large districts only. Thus, we are burdened with so much work, that we end up not doing any work properly!

Indeed madam, most of the public are not aware of these things. They don’t even know their rights, leave alone laws and regulations! When government says that not knowing law is not an excuse, I feel like laughing!

Because, such assumption can be made only in a society where literacy rates are quite high, say above 90%, and people can access information easily. Here, with just 30% of the population seeking and completing college education, and inadequate attempt by governments to educate the public on the rules and laws, how can we make people responsible for everything?

For registration of voters, the public is responsible. For birth and death registration the public is responsible. For everything the public is responsible!

If that is the case, why are governments not spending on educating the public? Where are the innovative mass communication programmes? Why are government systems still old and unable to cope  with the demand? Why are governments not responding to the public? Is it in the governments’ interest to keep the public uneducated? Aren't we a democracy?!”

Shanbhag stopped his long speech! He drank a glass of water.

Raju was dumbstruck. He never knew so much! Suddenly, he seemed to understand how an aged system is struggling to cope up with idealistic expectations of a modern society! It looked like both the government and society wanted to win the race using an old 1947 model car!

“Aunty, why can’t we improve the system? Why can’t we make drastic changes in the administrative set up and modernize it? Why are governments more interested in giving individual benefits to people rather than bringing systematic changes? Is that because such changes won't result in votes in the next elections? ”

“Raju, you are right. Such systematic changes don’t fetch votes in the short period of five years, thereby accorded low priority by the popularly elected governments! The scarce resources are spent largely on popular vote garnering schemes!!"

“But then, who will do this important work? Who will bring in systematic changes? Which government will invest on common infrastructure of education, health, roads etc? And which government will take upon itself to educate and create awareness amongst the vast population of this country? How can anybody continue to run government with an aged and dilapidated system?”

“Raju, it would require statesmen at the top, to go beyond electoral politics. And that would also require the people to appreciate such efforts. May be somebody has to start it somewhere. Else, one fine day the system will collapse! And then it may lead to chaos everywhere or even civil unrest!"

Already we are seeing breakdown of basic services and systems. We hear break-down of law and order, non-functioning hospitals, dysfunctional schools, and unfriendly government offices. What more we are waiting for?

If anti-government movements like Naxalism are spreading fast, one reason is the absence of good and responsive governance.  Indeed the rise of the people against corruption and such other issues in recent days are pointers to the rulers that public won't tolerate things for long. The clock is ticking!"

"But, aunty, why don't such movements last long enough to enforce a change?"

"Good question Raju. That is due to the heterogeneity in our country, where people are divided on all possible lines; race, religion, caste, language and what not! These differences do not allow us to come together so easily! Even if we come together, it doesn't last long! This has come as a blessing in disguise for the leadership in our country to look at short term benefits and get away with it! We need a government who can put national interest above political interests!"

"But, aunty, I guess things can't go on like this forever. We will have leaders who will unite the people. We will demand our rights and get them! We will also have good government!"

Vani aunty smiled. "Yes, Raju, when I see you, I get that hope. The youth in this country have to demolish those walls that separate us, and unite us. Then the force unleashed will demand and get what it deserves, the best!"

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(I must thank Srinand Kaushik for prodding me to continue this series of writing about government and polity in simple language.)

Titing at the windmills of corruption!

"Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless."

Like in Don Quixote, are we tilting at the windmills, when it comes to tackling corruption? Are we having confrontations where adversaries are incorrectly perceived, or courses of action that are based on misinterpreted or misapplied heroic, romantic, or idealistic justifications, like the above?

Yes. It seems so.

It’s nobody’s case that corruption should not be fought against with vigor. Corruption is definitely a curse, and it needs to be exorcised.

But, the issue is, what is the best method to tackle corruption?

Now that the polling is over, and the fate of the political leaders in sealed in the EVMs, we can discuss the issue with much freedom, without the worry of getting political color!

The General Elections 2014 will go down in the history as the election which decided the crucial question of the method the nation wants to choose in tackling corruption.

Consider these facts: Apropos, the internet and mobile revolution in India, as expected, the issue of corruption came to the forefront with Anna Hazare taking up cudgels against corruption. The media almost joined hands with him, and took the message of corruption to the nook and corner of India, as it was never done before.

The movement gave rise to a political party; AAP, who won the Delhi election on the plank of fighting corruption! They also later resigned on the issue of tackling corruption; the Lokpal. Thanks to the omnipresent media, the issue of corruption took the centre stage as never before.

In the midst of this discussion on tackling corruption came the general election! What can the better opportunity for the common man to voice his views on corruption thru the ballot? Will the party which almost stood on the anti -corruption platform, AAP, be the logical choice of the voters? After all, AAP is perceived to be either free from or least afflicted by corruption, among the parties that catch our eyeball in the present times.

But, going by the exit polls, AAP may not win many seats, nor it may get a major chunk of votes. Why? Are we a corrupt society, which is not bothered about corruption, as many of us believe? Or is that there is something which the people don’t agree with AAP?

That seems to be the case! The voter seems to be not enamored with the AAP methods of fighting corruption, which brings us to the topic of ‘best method’ of tackling corruption.

Nobody can say for sure what the best method is. The methods are many; from the ideology of Naxals carrying arms to the peaceful and long drawn process of Right to information and courts. It includes Lokpal, Independent CBI etc. (Interestingly, some methods may even include the Robin Hoods!)

But, the voter seems to have rejected the ‘direct’ methods of tackling corruption, like the Lokpal, more anti-corruption laws etc. Indeed, it’s not surprising that the voter rejected such methods! Such methods, infact, may not work.

Many of AAP’s supporters believe that, strong anti-corruption systems will remove corruption. They even cite examples of Europe where there are strong anti-corruption laws and rules.

No doubt that Lokpal will create some fear in the mind of corrupt officials. But, it will be inadequate to be effective. We have enough draconian laws, like the Prevention of Corruption Act, which if used to the hilt, can eradicate anybody who is even remotely connected with corruption. But, we all know the limitation imposed on law, by those who practice it, from top to bottom. In India anti-corruptions law will not work effectively, as the persons who are running may not have the passion of an anti-corruption activist who designs the law.

For common man, corruption matters as long as it has direct connection with their livelihood. That’s why they get agitated with petty corruption. Every time, we talk of fighting corruption, they expect that there will be a positive change in their daily life. When it does not happen, they get frustrated and agitated, like the Auto rickshaw driver of Delhi.

So, his vote is not for rhetoric. ‘What is the point is voting for anybody else, even if he is an embodiment of honesty. If he can’t do make my life better, how does it matter to me?’ This seems to be question that guided the votes.

This also indirectly supports the other theory, the ‘indirect’ methods which use inclusive development as a weapon to tackle corruption. Real development is empowering the common man. When the common man is empowered, he climbs up the Maslow’s hierarchy. And there he will be equipped to fight corruption. Let’s not forget that corruption needs to be fought by millions of us, at many levels, not by a few enlightened thru law. Countries develop first, and in that journey, shed away corruption. This is what history has taught us.

Every anti-corruption activist must work for an inclusive development first. Lets concentrate on whatever aides inclusive development; a transparent environment, decentralization, education, health, affordable bandwidth etc. Development as a mantra to tackle corruption seems to be the clear message this time.

It's time for working together for an inclusive development! It's time to stop tilting at the windmills!

Corruption forms...

Raghunandan Tr: Little interesting thing to share: Yashavantha Tumakuru's father Sannamuddhaiya, works for the Revenue department in Tumkur. He is currently the Hon president of the state employees association. I learnt much from him and i respect him a lot. Ten years back, he was the president of the Tumkur employee association, and i was Assistant commissioner there.

Once we both had a heated argument on corruption when i was to take extremely severe action on village accountant on a corruption case, which was not proved. During the conversation we ended up classifying corruption into three categories.

One: the 'Demand corruption'; the most visible form of corruption, and called as retail corruption, where the official 'demands' a favor/money, for doing his ‘duty’ Eg. Asking for bribe for giving ration card.

Second: ‘Risk corruption’; where the official and the citizen ‘agree’ to exchange favors, for giving ‘illegal benefit’ to the citizen. Eg: allowing set-back violations.

Third: ‘Safe corruption’; where the official does extra legal work for the citizen, and takes money in exchange. E.g. Getting driving license out of the way, in single day!

We tried to tackle it starting from the first to third category. But, then first itself proved so difficult, and still I am struggling to work with systems that would free us from the ‘demand corruption’.

I can say with some surety that first category can be eliminated. I am not sure about second and third category, though I would like to work hard to remove those too.

We have a very long way to go…

Will Aam Aadmi Party do this? (Part 16)

Last week we saw why it is not so easy to dismiss any government official from service, and how the official appears to have nine lives! Now, the next logical question will be, why can’t we amend the rules so that dismissal or punishment can be made easier, like it’s done in most of the private sector? And can citizens do anything in this regard?

The above questions of Raju assumes significance, as citizens' movements are getting stronger day by day, and political parties are promising strict action against corrupt government officials.

Let’s see what Vani aunt has to say about this!

“Raju, let’s first understand why these nine lives for officials. In the private sector, the decision to dismiss a staff may be taken at two levels, a proposal and an acceptor. But, in government, it takes almost 5-6 levels to take the final call. And at each level there is a delay due to inefficiency in the system. This can be reduced to just 2 levels by governments.

But, the government seem to hesitate, as it will obviously upset employee associations. The associations may go on strike, disrupting public work. Hence the popularly elected governments don’t want to take a chance! Now, we have to wait and see, if parties like AAP catch the bull by the horn and amend the rules!

Citizens too, have a role to play by complaining about those officials who are corrupt or inefficient, rather than putting up with them or turning a blind eye, for whatsoever reasons. If every lapse of officials are taken seriously and brought to the public forum, it will act as a deterrent. It’s much easier and effective to do that with social media all around! However will we start doing it?”

“Aunty, why can’t the government recruit good people, to start with?”

“Good question! For just that purpose, we have the Public Service Commissions, who are mandated with recruiting the best for government service. UPSC for union government and State PSCs for state government. But, then it’s unfortunate that most of the state PSCs have lost their credibility. It’s high time that the governments ensures complete independence and professionalism in these agencies. Sadly, the government want to retain control over these agencies. Here too, again, I am waiting for new age governments like AAP to amend rules to make public service commissions 100% independent.”

“Hmm. I understand. Aunty, what percentage of the government officials,do you think, are bad?”

“Ah, that’s a difficult question to answer. But, going by the normal curve, and giving some bias for inherent problems in the selection process and working environment, one can say that 30% of them are quite bad, 50% of them are fence sitters who will be good or bad depending on the environment, and another 20% who are really good irrespective of the environment.”

“What is this environment thing you are referring to, Aunty?”

“Oh, that is the system in which they work Raju. It includes the incentive-disincentive system. It is very critical that, we should have a fair and strong incentive and disincentive system for employees in any organisation.

But, it’s extremely unfortunate that in the government, where one would expect top class incentive-disincentive system, this system is practically non-functional! Incentives are almost non-existent, and disincentives are hard to impose, as we saw just now!

There are no monetary incentives! Other incentives like promotions are given periodically to all, irrespective of their performance. So, the motivational levels are quite low in the government. It is a mystery as to why the government is not able to copy best practices in this aspect from the market! I guess no government wants to touch issues concerned with employee associations! Ah, I don’t want to pull the AAP again into this, although I am tempted to!

Environment also includes the culture that is maintained by the top boss. If the top is clean, than people at the bottom think twice before getting involved in brazen acts. At the same time, a clean person at the top does not automatically ensure stoppage of corruption, as the top boss in government has less control over his subordinates, compared to his counterpart in the private sector!”

“Can’t we discuss with employee associations Aunty? They too must have good people in it?! ”

You are right Raju! No organization or association is entirely good or bad! It is as good or bad as its members are! Now, the members also have their set of grievances. The working conditions are quite bad in government! Now, do you see this office?! Would any private company work in such a bad office?! In most offices, the furniture are old, and even the toilets are non-existent! There is a severe shortages of officials in departments! No recruitment has happened since decades!

So, there is a need for dialogue. The government needs to listen to the associations and improve the working conditions of the employees. while the government spends a large proportion of the available funds towards the public capital works, it spends inadequately on its own employees! While the capital expenditure on the public is increasing every year, the revenue expenditure moves at snail’s pace, or a fixed raise of 5%, which hardly suffices to take care of inflation! So, if we do not take care of the employees, then how can we expect them to work and take care of the public?”

Before Raju could ask his next question, the Shanbhag came out of his room. He was surprised to see both of them still sitting there. “Manju, why are they still sitting here? What happened?”

Before his man-Friday Manju could say anything, Aunty intervened. “Shanbhag sir, I am Mrs. Murthy. You may remember Mr. Murthy, who recently retired as Additional Regional Commissioner. He said he knows you.”

“What??! ARC Murthy sir?!! Madam, why didn't you tell me this earlier?!! Oh please sit down! Goodness!” The Shanbhag's face glowed, and he was clearly overwhelmed!

“Madam, please come inside and sit! Please!!! Manju, will you please get some thing to drink and some samosa? Oh Madam, Murthy sir has been so good! Such a nice officer! You know, when I was implicated in a false case, it was Murthy sir, who closed the file, when the earlier officials demanded money from me to close it! He cleared so many pending cases for others too! He is a gem of a person. Now, please tell me what can I do for you?”

Raju was so shocked even to respond!
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(To be continued on a relaxed Sunday!)

The weapon in your hand... Empowerment in Independent India

I don’t give much importance to assigned events like the New Year day. But, then, the starting of 2014 marks the coincidence of a new starting, the culmination of what I call as the ‘first phase of empowerment’ in independent India, that started in 1995.

1995? So late? Nothing before?

The political manifestation of the undercurrent of unity in diversity, in our country occurred overwhelmingly only once, in 1977 with Janata alliance getting whopping 47% of the votes polled, which is the highest till date, against the tide of congress since independence. It was hailed as the upsurge against the emergency imposed in 1976.

The experiment on a new type of democracy, the coalition, appeared to be short lived, with the congress coming back to power in 1980, with a 43% vote share, as if the voters recoiled back from their adventure!

With literacy rate of less than 3/4, and with a larger share of voting from the rural less-literate population, combined with the substantial influence of money and muscle power in the elections, the correlation between the election results and the political understanding & empowerment of the citizens of India was questioned by many till the late 90s.

In 1995, both internet and mobile phones came to India, heralding the information and communication revolution, both being the pillars of empowerment. The revolution would come of age in the next decade, thus giving the average Indian a sense of empowerment in the new millennium.

The new-found empowerment was explicit in the choice of our food, lifestyle and even movies. It had to reveal itself in the politics too, and thus it emerged as a movement (IAC), riding on the urban populace, empowered by the internet and mobile phone.

Unlike the anti-emergency plank that died soon, IAC would refuse to die, morphing into AAP in November 2012.

Close on its heels, the horror of 16th December would come as the tipping point. It was not just another barbaric crime. It was more than that. It was the culmination of years of misgovernance by the state, and apathy of the public.

I remember writing, “It was neither an isolated incident involving a psychopath, nor it happened for a vengeance. It happened so casually, with an audacity which still doesn't allow me to sleep. It is a slap on the face of all of us, who are privileged to have a voice in this society.”

This fueled the empowerment movement of the citizens. The angered citizens are no more sporadic and disconnected. They are now strong; informed and connected, thanks to the internet and mobile phones. From Rajpath to the innocuous TV rooms, they waited for the moment of expression.

And it came in December, thru the elections. Wherever there was an option to vote against the old order and give life to the new order, the people did. Delhi gave that option clearly. With the coronation of Arvind Kejriwal, the ‘first phase of empowerment’ in India came to a head.

The second phase starts from 2014, which is going to be more noisy, difficult and prolonged, where individual expressions and ideas will clash with each other for space and primacy.

Being a heterogeneous country, divided by language, caste and creed, we will settle for local equilibrium and coalitions. The final benefit will go to the citizen, who will emerge stronger, with the most powerful weapon of our times, the mobile phone.

With this in our hand, let’s welcome 2014! I am sure most of us are already doing so! Now, let the smile in your lips be there for the whole year! 

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...)