the tutor and the taught

My lecture at the CBI academy the day before was an eye opener for me. While I always believed that the rot has to be universally prevalent, I could never have visualized the sense of disenchantment that prevailed amongst the lower echelons of the premier investigating agency of the nation, a situation, contrary to my expectations. Disenchantment leads to negativity and negativity is never good especially amongst those who are expected to cleanse the tantra of all its ills.

And there were smiles, for obvious reasons of course whenever a reference was made to the fact that at the apex levels, a conduct that can be emulated is the prerequisite for giving good results. I on my part facing a similar situation could only commiserate with them.

Anyway the experience was worth the while – a learning experience for both, the tutor and the taught even though exposure to dim realities only saddens the heart. Yet the enthusiasm of the group was infectious and that gave me a feeling that all is not lost yet.

Why there is invariably a deep divide between the management and the men who run the show, cutting across sectors and states is what I fail to understand even after putting in almost three and a half decades in the service? Why cant humans treat others of their elk with respect and dignity, something that everyone aspires for, I wonder? Why rising within the officialdom is regarded as such – a rise even though it may be a fall, I fail to understand?

After all in the eyes of the almighty all human beings are equal and if at all they are to be ranked, it would have to be on the basis of their contribution to humanity and human values. In his eyes, I am certain, the walls separating the peon and the officer would never exist, yet we carry on regardless and almost always, creating classes and sub classes within the human race perhaps for self-gratification that actually never takes place in the real sense.    

And perhaps therein lie the answers to the malaise that the nation has continued to face since it came of its own almost sixty seven years back. Our failure to appreciate that the ultimate objective can only be to deliver, not merely shuffling of files, passing time in official environs or gratifying the ego has me really worried these days. If delivery indeed emerges as the objective, the existing structures and processes would necessarily have to become the first casualty. Yet the ground reality that is far different makes me think otherwise.

The arrival of the new government on the scene has indeed given hopes to millions like me, yet hope has a strange way of fading away if not timely actualized. After the honeymoon period is over, either hope or disenchantment would remain and I sincerely wish and pray it would not be the latter.

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.......

PM's call for sanity

The Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have echoed what the country's bureaucracy had long wanted to hear from the head of its government - that there is a need to differentiate between malafide and mistake. The leaders also said that unless this is done, the decision making process would continue in a state of paralysis. How true and how timely though ostensibly the reason may be different - to save those in power from the heat of the CBI. Yet the solace that these words have given especially to those who are honest and hence a miniscule minority in the bureaucratic fabric of the nation cannot be under estimated. 

Having worked directly under Jagmohan in his avatar as the Minister for Tourism and Culture, I admired his penchant for honesty as well as governance. His style was a far cry from the present times when we are almost always in a situation of honesty sans governance or governance sans honesty or the limbo ie neither governance nor honesty. Practicing effective governance not misdirected efforts at finding faults and crushing with an iron hand dishonest practices that come in the way of deliverance has been the style of Jagmohan who by far has been one of the most able administrators that the nation has sired.  

The working of governments is mired in bureaucratic red tape the world over. However the complex web of the tape is generally inversely proportional to the level of development of the nation. The more developed the nation, the simpler the web and vica-versa has evolved with the global realization that delivery is far more important than process. Yet India continues to be unique in that the web is getting more complex by the day with an absolute disregard for delivery.  

It is indeed unfortunate that even after over sixty six years as a free nation, the tantra and its components continue to lack clarity over what is supreme - process or delivery. Following the process appears to have gained a higher ground over deliverance and therefore we continue to be perpetually, almost at the bottom of the list of nations in all developmental indexes. It is this penchant for processes that has led to the current scenario where a genuine mistake or a deviation from the process even if carried out in the overall interest of the nation gets equated with malafide. A situation ripe enough for the vigilance setups and the CBI to merrily meddle in leading to the paralysis that the Prime Minister spoke about. 

The paralysis that the Prime Minister mentioned in his address had to happen. There is absolutely no doubt that the administration needs to be clean and dishonest practices curbed yet this cannot be the the sole talking point or focus of the establishment. The establishment is meant for delivery, more so in a nation that regards itself as developing and anything that helps delivery therefore needs a proactive support. There is also no doubt that corruption is presently the most severe of our national ailments and therefore needs to be fought tooth and nail. Yet we need to realize that surreptitious attempts to nail corruption as we are witness to in the present times cause more harm than good. Unless this issue is brought onto the table in all official forums, debated at length within the bureaucratic and political establishments and even placed as the most important issue plaguing the nation in the speeches of the prime minister and president delivered on the independence and republic day ceremonies, the battle would not be won.

The Prime Minister has touched a raw nerve in all of us. Yes there is a subtle undercurrent of fear that keeps many of us away from decision making of any kind. Procrastination has emerged as the order of the day. Yet I hope that the conscience keepers respond to the call made by the highest authority in the land to free the sarkari machinery from the fear of the unknown in taking decisions.

Great Past, Uncertain Future

How deeper is the abyss still I wonder with each passing day. Yet it is indeed gratifying that the highest court of the land also thinks the same way. Its recent observations castigating the society itself on the repeated cases of rape of young girls followed by its remarks on the working and servility of the central investigating agency towards men in power reveals all that is rotten about this great nation. Rape it is, of young girls and the nation itself by perverted minds both at the base and highest levels in the land.

Yes we all live from news to news. First the news appears shocking enough, shockingly though its effect quickly wears of as some other glaring piece of news takes over through the breaking news route. Sad it is however to witness weak attempts of the government to either expose or in many cases as recently witnessed to cover or provide a justification, as the situation so warrants. Yet the conduct of the establishment and the powers that be makes the populace hang its head in shame. Is it not sad that rarely the establishment, irrespective of its shade of polity offers the nation something that its populace can indeed be proud of?

The seriousness of the recent excursion by the dragon, almost twenty miles deep within our territory and the casual approach of the establishment is shocking to say the least. Would we as an individual ever permit our neighbor, howsoever close a friend or rival he may be to park his chair permanently in our varendah. On a similar analogy, why such a casual attitude over an established enemy nation forcefully occupying a piece of land that is ours? Perhaps we as a nation are afraid of the might of the dragon that honed its biceps while we whiled away our time in petty affairs. Yet despite the might of the bully, it does not behove us, nor we have a right  as a nation to surrender our land without a murmur. I am itching to see how matters proceed.

The acquittal of one of the prime accused in the sikh riots of 1984 by the courts today also came as a surprise to many of us who root for justice regardless of the social status of the accused. Yet the very fact that it took almost three decades for the case to be finalized, even if to a conclusion not acceptable to many, sends shivers down my spine for it gives an inkling of the time one would have to wait for justice in this nation, even if one’s near and dear ones are murdered in broad daylight.

The awesome amount of money spent on the protection of those who attacked the state and its institutions is also beyond comprehension. Democracy and secularism does not imply protectionism for traitors and terrorists, perhaps pseudo democracy does.

And there are a plethora of minor incidences that keep on shaking us as we live on and survive in this great nation. A nation with a great past facing an uncertain future ever since it’s tryst with destiny.

The need is for reforms, large scale rapid reforms, but is it possible in the absence of a sense of purpose, commitment and professional integrity in the entire tantra?   

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 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.