We the bureaucrats!

We are the largest employer in the world, yet have minimal concern for HR!

We talk about doing big things, yet end up not doing even small things!

We talk about clean stations and clean trains, yet maintain dirty offices!

We want the field staff not to drink on duty, yet fail to ensure it in our offices, right under our noses!

We criticize the police for rape in the cities, yet do nothing about sexual harassment in our offices!

We talk about staff shortages at work, yet unfailingly misutilize official staff at residences!

We talk about shabby treatment by seniors, yet unfailingly misbehave with our subordinates almost always!

We talk about loading, revenue, world class stations, mega projects, postings and transfers, yet have no time to discuss the welfare of our men or value systems that need to be a part of the organization's culture!

We want everyone else to be honest, hard working and committed, yet do not apply the same principles on ourselves!

We talk about the rampant corruption in the nation, yet do nothing about corruption right under our noses, in our own domain!

We blame the politicos for the mess, yet leave no stone unturned in complicating matters ad-infinitum!

We blame the unions for the mess, yet have no concern for staff welfare ourselves!

We want the organization and the nation to improve and have plenty of ideas for others, yet do nothing about it ourselves!

No wonder, our downhill speed is growing faster by the day!

Amen!

Financial Blues

It is rather unfortunate that most of us mortals, especially those from the hindustani sarkari sector are not able to distinguish rate from revenue. That reduction in rate may lead to rise in revenues is something that many of us are not able to appreciate. This realization dawned on me during my first stint at the (in)famous ITDC and got reinforced during my subsequent stints in the beautiful state of Madhya Pradesh.

Another realization that also got reinforced over time during my service in the sarkari sectors is that finance is not expenditure control, but it is rather unfortunate that it is viewed to be so even by the worthiest and mightiest of the sarkari lot. Well expenditure control is easy as one knows what heads of expenditure to clamp down upon, even if it screws up the operation in the long run. Revenue generation on the other hand is a tough job as one is not able to generally fathom, from which well the revenue stream is likely to come. And so the mediocres, that most of us are, choose the easy path and the casualty is the returns, short term as well as the long term variety.

And therefore one rarely comes across infrastructure projects of the kind that are desperately needed for the growth and development of the country. Tinkering and that too with a lot of fanfare easily passes of as development, that the average citizen is unable to comprehend.

How long shall this nonsense continue in my motherland, is a question that I shall forever be unable to answer. Nonsense for me definitely, way of life for most of the other sarkari mortals with exceptions of course.