Only Protocol!

Amongst many other things, our railways has also emerged as an extremely protocol hungry organization. In sharp variance with other organ of the state, its senior mandarins display extreme fondness for protocol during their official and demi official movements, an exercise that has been carried to ridiculous extents in recent times. One only needs to visit railway stations whenever such protocol hungry officials travel, to get an idea of the waste involved in such movements.

Where else in the nation would one find director and joint secretary level officers performing protocol duties for mundane official movements of officials senior to them, except in the railways?

Where else in the nation would one find senior officers and their better halves need to be chaperoned by officials of the rank of directors to the Government of India, even for movements within the city for attending official circuses?

Where else in the nation would one find men in uniform being assigned as shadows for top officials and officers in senior general management positions, and also as round the clock guard for their residences?    

Perhaps such acts impart a false sense of importance to the otherwise unimportant officials, but are the costs incurred justifiable even in the wildest of the dreams of the pigmies.

The sad part is that we all detest protocol when we don’t get it, yet await our turn to turn important in the eyes of others through such devious means.

Amen!