Here's What Has Hampered Smooth Functioning Of Indian Bureaucracy

Red-tapism and corruption are interconnected issues in government departments, causing frustration for citizens and businessmen and contributing to the reputation and notoriety of bureaucracy, and top bureaucrats have in general shown unwillingness to end the menace of red-tapism in their respective departments, claims a book.

It can be experienced very easily in civic bodies and departments like land, revenue, police, hospitals, etc., dealing with common people for their official work. This is often a pretext for corruption and, in some cases, an instrument of dilatory tactics or deliberate delaying.

If some palms are not greased, red tape can stall big investment proposals from businessmen or even a trivial and routine job. It appears that some employees do not take interest in doing what they are paid to do unless there is gratification, argues “Decoding Indian Babudom”, a one-of-a-kind book written by senior journalist Ashwini Shrivastava.

Decoding Indian Babudom

Lackadaisical approach by the employees, often by those holding clerical posts, in helping citizens with their work, ill treatment of those not well versed in getting their work done, and dilatory tactics are a normal scene witnessed in many government departments.

It is not that red tape has rendered our bureaucracy ineffective, but there is a lot of scope for improvement. This can eventually lead to the productivity of the government’s work and greater public satisfaction.

Former Defense Minister George Fernandes gave a vivid description related to red-tapism by referring to a bureaucratic orbit where official files are said to be kept in constant movement with the intention of keeping their disposal pending.

Irked over the delay in processing one such file, he had reportedly once sent two bureaucrats to Siachen when he came to know that they sat over them.

Fernandes became the defense minister on March 19, 1998, but had to quit the post following a scandal. He returned as defense minister in October 2001 after his name was cleared in that scandal, and he continued in the post till May 2, 2004.

Coming back to red-tapism, it is very sad to notice people making frequent visits to a government department for their routine and genuine work, which should have been done promptly without any gratification. Instead, they are made to run from pillar to post and suffer unnecessarily hardships, thanks to the ubiquitous red tape.

Ending the red tape is not rocket science. It simply requires sincere supervisory officers at all levels to be more vigilant about the activities and working styles of their subordinates. Most work, if digitized, can help in ending this malaise. No, we do not need any new rules or laws. We already have some that set timelines for doing a job. It is less of a rule and more strict surveillance and courage to reform a system.

If a government department’s head, usually a senior IAS officer, decides to end red tape in his or her department, no power on earth can stop it. Did somebody whisper corruption?

(Excerpt taken from  Decoding Indian Babudom, written by senior journalist Mr. Ashwini Shrivastava)