Battling the machinery

The uphill battle continues. What really foxes me is the mess and the amount of indecision at all levels that must have gone into almost on a continuous basis to achieve the grand mess that we are saddled with today at the national carrier.

Yes it is true that the typical staid way of functioning must have helped a lot, as that alone guarantees maintenance of status quo and hefty premium on non-deliverance. Strange it may sound but in the PSU jungles, it is not the tiger who is the most feared but the cunning fox that surreptitiously appears out of nowhere to claim its prey.

Addressing the young budding management students at the legendary IIT Delhi recently, I was literally at pains to explain to them the unlimited bundle of power that a human being is, yet that power and the potential remains untapped almost forever, with rare exceptions of course. The system that everyone criticizes and mourns for, yet accepts and perpetuates has a tremendous crippling effect. Endless debates and deliberations and yet remaining indecisive over even petty matters is the hallmark of the system.

It is a fact that the new government is trying its level best to pull the nation out of the accumulated mess of almost seventy odd years. No new scam hitting the nation since the present dispensation took over is at stark contrast with the legacy that they inherited. There is stress on integrity and value systems and interference is almost absent. Honest intentions are also conspicuous by their shining presence. While we are indeed witness to good strides in governance and development, yet the fact remains that a quantum growth and improvement would be possible only if the machinery radically changes the way it has been working. If it keeps working in the way it has been all along in the past, we would keep on getting the results we had been getting in the past. A total overhaul is required. Simplification is the name of the game. Things have to be made simple to happen and they shall.

The role of the check-posts, namely the vigilance and audit setups has to be reviewed and drastically curtailed. Malafide has to be handled with an iron hand, mistakes need to be merely glossed over. Trust in human beings has to be brought back and also the realization that if mere punishments could reform, crime would have hit a new low in India by now.

The recent facebook post of the coal secretary in which he has laid the blame for the lack of initiative at the feet of the five C’s is like hitting the nail bang on the head. That the 5C’s including the CVC and the CAG have succeeded in curbing initiative is a statement of fact that I have been living almost all my life. Initiative for an officer working within the governmental machinery is a personal risk for which he may end up bearing the cross all his life. And many therefore ask - why risk it, when a life devoid of initiative provides the same personal comforts sans pressures and also keeps the door open for elevation to the highest levels. Premium is there, but only for doing nothing.

Process reform is the key. Almost everyone appreciates it but hardly understands the same. It is indeed all about simplification of the decision making and contractual processes that swamp the governmental machinery. Unfortunately over the decades, in the garb of transparency and curbing corruption, almost all processes have been complicated to ridiculous levels. And therefore most of us who are not satisfied with merely twiddling our thumbs, are often at a loss for how to proceed forward and do things. And having worked in almost all sectors of the machinery, I can say with the courage of conviction that this maze is omnipresent.

The maze has to lift for the jewel of the east to rapidly emerge from the shadows. 

2 Down – More to go?

The arrest of two senior railway officers recently – Rakesh Kumar CEO of CBFC and K.M.Tripathi former CGM of IRCTC for accepting bribes made headlines. That both these officers are young and from the services is indicative of the depths to which some of us have fallen.

Yet these incidents are not a bigger surprise than the Railgate of 2013 that placed railways as the epitome of corruption in the country. Never before in the history of independent India was a secretary level officer arrested and charged for manipulating with hard cash, his own posting at an apex level in the organization. Yet he was the person who was caught and crucified while others of his elk got away. We all were witness to juicy details of wrongdoings on the part of the powers to be during those days, the shocking cell phone conversations covered by dailies, yet the incident that was expected to mark the beginning of many more heads rolling, actually became the end of such investigations with the result that corruption flourished and achieved new heights.

Recent report of the CVC also placed the railways at the numero uno position in so far as corrupt practices and the number of officials charged with graft are concerned. Not a matter to be proud of, especially for those who like to walk with their heads held high.

It is really a “low” for this great organization. Being regarded as the epitome of corruption is definitely not something one can write home about, yet the very fact that the wheels of this great organization keep rolling magnificently speaks volumes about the cutting edge employees of this organization. 

Is this – the recent arrests – marks the beginning of the end of corruption in this great organization? Many wish so yet the majority having tasted the consequences of not toeing the line would continue to remain skeptical. And that leads me to wonder – why officials from the services despite reaching fairly senior and well-paying positions go astray and secondly why do officers who consider themselves honest miserably fail to stand up to misdeeds of superiors. Prime Ministers clarion call from the red fort this independence day to rise above the "Mera Kya, Mujhe Kya" syndrome needs to be inculcated. Perhaps there is something wrong with our grooming of youngsters who have come to regard their jobs, not as service as Modi exhorted the nation to, but as opportunities at loot and self-aggrandizement. Sad it is, yet one has to accept the ground realities as emerged during Railgate and reinforced by the recent arrests and CVC’s damning revelations.  

That the new government looks upon railways as the prime mover of economic activity in the nation is indeed heartening. The immense potential that railways possess in triggering and giving a push to economic activity in the nation is waiting to be tapped. But for that the organization shall have to first eradicate corruption and unethical conduct cutting across levels, an exercise that would indeed unlock the tremendous potential of this monolith.

There is absolutely no doubt that the time has arrived for this great organization to move in the direction of a genuine fulfillment of national aspirations. In God we trust.......

Corruption - Beyond the CBI & CVC

Corruption! Is it really beyond the CVC, CBI and the Courts now?

Yes, it is true that despite the presence of elaborate set ups like the CVC, CBI and a plethora of Courts of various hues, the menace of corruption has been touching new highs with each passing day. A new scam makes its entry on the horizon even before the import of the previous one is fully assimilated by the masses. It is a never ending cycle, almost like the non-stop landing of planes at a busy airport. CWG, 2G, Adarsh and the Coalgate, all got fired in rapid succession as if they were bullets in the defense of the nation. And there have been many more scams before, irrespective of the party in power, that the aam aadmi directly affected by acts of petty corruption covering his every interaction with the sarkari tantra, is unable to retain in his limited memory cells.

CVC & CBI, the overworked organs of the state have almost lost the battle that they were designed to fight. Partly because it appears as if these are the only organs of the state that are mandated to fight corruption, while the others are mandated to perpetuate. That vigilance is the fundamental duty of every executive has unfortunately remained a distant thought in the Indian bureaucratic system.

Tremendous and continued emphasis on fighting corruption has started taking a visible toll on delivery. That the aim of the nation or for that matter any organization has to be delivery should never be in doubt. Eliminating corruption or making people honest can and should never be the aim except when “being on the take” starts hampering delivery. And yes in India it has hampered delivery in the first sixty five years of existence as a free nation and therefore warrants a head on approach. But will a head on approach as is widely visible in the nation, through the aegis of the mandated agencies, be able to give results. May be it will, but the results so far are not in tune with the size of the problem.   

Perhaps the tantra needs to look at issues differently if its drive to eliminate corruption from the face of the country has to show results. The complexity of the processes invariably provides an effective shield to the corrupt and the only way forward lies in the simplification of the complex processes, at all levels. Let us reduce the number of thumb impressions per decision and if possible eliminate or drastically reduce files. This will improve productivity, fix accountability and in the process decimate corruption. Everyone will then be fully accountable for his or her acts of omission or commission and will either pay the price for non-deliverance or enjoy the fruits of delivery in the backdrop of an immediate exposure for acts of impropriety. The process driven, not delivery oriented complex contracting mechanisms that have so far guaranteed shortcomings in quality, quantities and timely execution besides creating ample opportunities for loot also need to be overhauled.

We have to accept that our decision-making and contractual mechanisms, designed in the garb of providing transparency have failed and therefore deserve a total overhaul. This overhaul that may prove to be the single most effective weapon in the battle against corruption has to be wielded by the executive, not the mandated agencies. Status quoism perhaps prevents the executive to make the first move and may be rightly so as many have paid the price of coming out of the shell in their quest for being change agents. 

Yes, it is true that this path is a difficult one. The conventional route is high on visibility, many shades easier and also creates a mirage of action, when none is actually taking place.

The thought processes have to undergo a radical change. 

Insha Allah!

Corruption calling!

Time to rejoice, we have been certified as numero uno in the nation by the CVC.

Rejoice because we are now the certified number one in atleast one field, how does it matter that it is corruption that we are talking about. We have beaten the PWD’s, State Governments, DDA and many other veterans in this sport and therefore celebration is definitely due.

India being a nation of crabs, many of the spoilsports from amongst us would try to belittle this achievement by citing many flimsy reasons. They would say that the railways treats malafide and violation of rules and procedures on similar footing and hence the high score. Such spoilsports deserve to be shown their rightful place by all of us who through their rightful and not so rightful actions have brought honor to this great organization.

Jokes apart, the fact remains that we have achieved almost the impossible. And therefore it hardly makes a difference that we continue to have our minor follies that make us the butt of jokes almost all the time.

A once great organization brought to its knees by its own masters, how painful and also how pathetic. A classic case of achieving self destruction by non-stop shooting ones own foot.

Are we really that corrupt? Having served the railways for over three decades, I must have been an idiot of the highest order to have been oblivious to this great reality. I always thought that despite all our ills and there are many of them, the railways are still the finest example of dynamic delivery in our nation where every government department, without fail has achieved perfection in the art of often absent and at times inadequate delivery.

A plethora of rules and procedures, almost all of which border on the ridiculous have brought the railways to this pass. I am presently preparing a compendium of idiotic rules and procedures and am almost certain that the compendium in its final form is bound to be as fat as the Britannia Encyclopedia.

Jokes apart, I must confess that concluding railways as the numero uno can at best be called distorted. Being surrounded by a highly motivated team of brilliant and committed youngsters, almost all of whom do not display any symptoms of being on the take whatsoever, I find it a bit difficult to digest the conclusions of the CVC. The CVC is also not wrong as it is only the railways that has classified every minute deviation from its silly rules and procedures as an act of malafide, leading to the high score that we earlier ridiculed.

Our penchant to structure every single triviality has landed us in this soup.

Corruption centerstage!

Anna Hazare has jolted the sarkar.

Anna Hazare has also woken up the nation.

Since the Tianaman incident in the early nineties, I always wondered whether a public uprising is indeed possible in our nation of over a billion. The recent show of public solidarity against corrupt regimes in many nations in the middle east also filled me with a deep sense of sorrow for our nation that though not governed by an autocratic regime has also not failed in setting an absolute high in corruption levels in the public domain.

Revolutions to succeed require a critical mass of incorruptible people. We are rather fortunate or maybe unfortunate that our nation of over a billion people has so far been unable to produce the critical mass.

The Anna movement is appreciable because of the purity of its purpose and also because of its ability in shunning the politicians so far. It however needs appreciation that the politician, of whatever hue and shade he may be, is a true representative of the society we live in and no purpose would therefore be served by merely castigating him, whether he belongs to the treasury or the back benches. The politician is the true face of the society and if the face is bad, so be it.

It is true that corruption has been so deeply ingrained in our society that for a common man, it is almost impossible to get anything repeat anything, done from the sarkari tantra, without the customary greasing of palms. Fortunate are the senior politicos and bureaucrats and also the super rich who are not affected by the malaise and this is a major contributory factor for corruption to flourish. People who can change the system remain unaffected by the system and therefore have no stake in changing it. The complexity of the sarkari tantra with its plethora of thumb impressions for even mundane matters is the real culprit.

We already have many checkposts in the form of CBI, CVC, Lokayukta, police and innumerable vigilance setups. How much will one more checkpoint in the form of a Lokpal help is therefore a matter of debate.

A holistic view on the entire issue of corruption is the need of the hour.

Unrealistic expectations!

The issue of corruption is now center stage. The Hazare and Ramdev movements are based on the understanding that politicians are corrupt and therefore a strong mechanism is needed to checkmate them. This has led to the ongoing long drawn out and heated debates and discussions on the proposed lokpal bill.

Inadequate appreciation of the issue of corruption has caused the above scenario.

Corruption has two faces, financial and professional. Due to lack of understanding of the the professional kind, financial corruption alone is generally considered synonymous with corruption per-se in the nation. The genesis of financial corruption lies in the rapidly depleting standards of national character, and its root cause lies in the complexity of the sarkari system that we have adapted to ru(i)n the nation. Too many thumb impressions for even petty decisions have diluted the concept of responsibility while at the same time giving adequate cover and shield to the corrupt. Enabling corruption has therefore emerged as the strong point of our existing system.

Professional corruption on the other hand is as damaging as its financial counterpart, maybe even more, primarily because of its extremely high ripple effect and its being freely practiced by almost the entire bureaucracy. The higher the pedestal occupied by the bloke, the higher is the damage he causes through his blatant acts of professional corruption, the most common of which is the art of "not taking decisions". And therefore the file, the sarkari tool for taking and communicating decisions keeps on shuttling up and down, right and left, backward and forward and in the process keeps on bloating like a pig.

Identifying the politician as the major culprit in the popular game of corruption is perhaps the biggest mistake almost all of us make. While the politicians are no doubt generally corrupt, the bureaucracy invariably takes the cake in this field with the lower rung generally specializing in financial and the upper crust in professional corruption. Service, only of the self, family and friends has emerged as the motto of the bureaucracy, cutting across sectors and states. Besides why deliver, when no one asks for it. Keep on coasting along, purposelessly and handle files as one would a ping pong ball or a shuttle cock and in the process keep on rising to the top, like muck in stagnant water.

Movements such as those witnessed in recent times are no doubt piloted by men with good intentions, but unfortunately these good men have very little idea of the manner in which the wheels of governance move in this nation. And therefore it is imperative that before another watchdog institution is created, the contribution made by the CVC and the Lokayukta needs objective assessment. The creation of a Lokpal, without cleansing the tantra would tantamount to creating one more checkpoint, one more roadblock that would further slowdown the snail paced system of governance that we have in our nation.