Blog expressing the opinions of a common Indian

GOVERNMENT OFFICERS' FORMALITY- THE CONFIDENTIAL REPORT

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The dreaded time (PC: Google Images)

Its that time of the year now, well that time has already passed if you are working in the private sector. Its Self-Appraisal time, yes that time of the year again when you are asked as to what you did and didn’t so as to remind you again of the insult you are to the organization you work for. Basically its all about giving you a pre-decided raise despite your diligent and painstaking efforts as an employee by first disparaging you and then handing that raise to patronize you by showing how magnanimous of a management there is in place. That’s how it works in the private/corporate sector atleast. In the Government sector, things are a bit different, people don’t really care about it but see it as an opportunity to know about the status of their peers and what’s the ROI on their flattery, showered on their seniors.

Earlier it used to be completely confidential, hence you actually never know as to what irked or pleased your immediate bosses and hence there is no way for you to be absolutely sure. A lot of the malpractices that had crept in to the system as a result and it made the process just a means to favor the sycophants and screw the hardworking employees. Apart from that, I was told by some senior officers that true nature of biased office politics, favoritism and casteism plays a major role in the overall performance review of the employee. The Confidential report is never given to the concerned employee and the only copy stays with the Establishment section( the Human Resources for all you corporate snoots). So you can give your blood, sweat and tears but still come up short because you didn’t arrange for a drink for your senior officer, or you didn’t greet him or a million other tiny little things. Although there is no appraisal in terms of salary as such in the government sector whether you are extraordinary in your assigned work or not but there is a small little column that asks for recommendation for transfers. Now there is only one thing that the Government employees dread and that is getting transferred, because its quite pragmatically challenging for the family to shift your entire lives to a new city. In contrast you might be demanding a transfer to your familiar place as well and that again would be largely decided by your confidential report. Since promotions are based entirely on the seniority (date of joining equals experience equals seniority) and the discretion of the Promotions committee (the same people who have a lot to do with your Confidential report), but suddenly you might find that your letter from the Ministry giving you the good news of your promotion, is just buried under some other files and people beneath you in seniority are getting promoted. Anyway to put an end to favoritism and make the evaluation system more transparent the government deployed the new Government officer Evaluation and Appraisal report system.

So now apparently this system is supposed to be more transparent and unbiased which it actually is but that doesn’t change those parochial minds from speaking their minds. I was lucky enough to be joining at a time when this process was just put into place so I got to witness it in the truest sense. Now there was a lot of ambiguity in this process because a lot of people thought that this is just a new format but the underlying principle of confidentiality would remain the same. That’s where they were wrong, as it backfired in one particular case which cascaded into quite a few later. You see just because you changed the overall format of the paper it doesn’t mean that senior officers will suddenly become cautious, hence they presumed that the “Confidentiality” clause will remain unchanged unfortunately after many discussions and meetings, one fine day the employees started getting their respective appraisal reports.

This caused a havoc because suddenly they are given an insight into a world that was totally unknown to them. Within a matter of days 3 people showed up to our unaware Officer in Charge and caught him off guard. They slammed their reports on his table asking “Why is it that someone else who is not even showing upto work gets a higher grade in terms of accountability, hardwork and dedication. Did I ever ask for any long holidays or showed up late to work?”

PC( Google Images )

The officer in charge was totally appalled and made the situation even funnier by asking, “Who are you?” ( I think I burst out laughing when I heard that). The disgruntled employee says “If you can’t even remember my name when I am in front of you, then how did you grade my work?”. This went on with a bunch of other employees as well a few employees even went ahead and filed an official discriminatory complaint against the senior officials, which though amounted to nothing still managed to scare the senior management a lot. When the dust settled they learnt one thing that this new system needs to be dealt with in a different manner now and hence they decided that employees like me who are Gazetted officers won’t be handed their final assessed reports. But out of nowhere a new Government Resolution enabled us to get a copy of our final reports. So at the end of the it was people like me who actually got the benefit of the earlier ruckus and got a good and sensible assessment. Though as I mentioned earlier it doesn’t amount to anything but it certainly took the gun out of the senior management which trust me is a huge step in being even remotely just and fair in the current Government system.

This year we are going through that process again and I have submitted my own appraisal for the senior managements’ assessment, but that Officer-in-Charge, who was at the centre of this mess , has been stripped down of his review rights and now its on to the direct supervisory officers like me to grade those workers.

Do comment and follow for more insights of being a Government officer. Here's a link to my other entries-

THE HISTORY-SHEETER

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The familiar taste of the putrid water being distributed in the cells even when the purifier is right next to the main gate, the screams of the neighboring interrogation room where “information is being extracted” and the sobbing ladies imploring the constables for any leads regarding their loved ones while they’re being dragged out of the station; all of this seems banal and gloomy to me. Its hard to understand that how everyday this same scene gets acted upon on a loop and society expects to be safe and free from any crimes.

Me on the other hand , I am not in the Police, nor am I a criminal, atleast not as of now. I haven’t lost anything or anyone nor do I have any information regarding the many incidents that take place everyday. I am just a History-Sheeter , an idiot who got locked up once for relieving some poor old bastard of his wallet. To be honest there was hardly anything to be cherished in that waste of cheap leather , but apparently it was that loser’s everything. He even overstated the amount he had in his complaint , it was only when I got caught a week later that I gave the exact details of the 400 rupees and some loose change he was carrying. Well it was my first attempt so can’t expect the crown jewels but I still abhor him and the fact that he gets to call himself the victim in all this. They say “honor among thieves” , what about this moron , trying to milk the petty thief like me.

Silent it may seem but its quite deafening if you're at the receiving end(PC- returnofkings )

Anyway since then, irrespective of the magnitude of the incident I get simply lifted off the streets like garbage and get thrown into one of these demonic cells. Later somebody will come and skin me and the others with a belt or bare hands(depending upon his mood).

It isn't always the case but it does come to mind (PC milligazette )

I am actually a Punter ,whatever that is and I am supposed to carry information of anything that happens in my locality because apparently I have a large circle of similar petty thieves and pick pockets. So me being locked up in the cells hardly ever helps the police in catching anyone but its just a standard procedure to soothe and calm the senior officers who prefer visible progress over actual progress in a case. I provide a genuine sense of security to the ones who are in-charge of everyone’s security. These uniformed personnel do strut around but I get to see the part when they are pressurized and treated in the same manner society treats us. I am a necessary and benign evil to vent out their desperations, frustrations, failures. In a way I am their Avengers who saves the day everytime they are down and dusted because despite having all the knights and the horses they get to be vulnerable and humane by being inhuman to me.

What do you think guys, I will keep creating more relatable and practical content which I come across as part of my job. Do checkout my other posts as well-

The Election Duty

The New Culture of Godmen

A Prayer for Christchurch

The Election Duty-2019

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The first phase of the Festival of Democracy 2019 concluded yesterday and with it as they say the kismet of the candidates. The candidates, the bright hoardings, the rallies, the issues, the people, the EVM and the inedible ink selfies hog the spotlight in this entire set of affairs. Who said/did what, who voted for whom become the cynosure of all and it should be ; unless you do understand what its like being an election official. This was my first time being one and it did nothing to spark the love of democracy for me, but everything to admire the sheer volumes of those millions of worker bees who are directed to take time off their usual assignments. Its already impossible for us fellow Indians to queue up for anything , let alone for some wild rush of pressing a button in the sweltering heat, but what is even more perplexing is getting those slothful babus to get out of the comfort of their chair and homes for enabling the common man to decide their fate, sort of.

I was appointed as the Sector Officer(or Zonal Officer) and had 13 polling booths under me. The District Collector office had conducted a slurry of training sessions, Q&A and workshops for equipping the concerned officers with proper technical know-how for the machines and the overall procedures governing the smooth conduct of the polls. However it all comes down to the Pre poll day when amongst the huge rubble of government you actually meet the polling parties, all smiles and jokes from the outside discussing about the arduous journey they took to be here surreptitiously suggesting the innate disagreement they all carry within to this unconventional yet indispensable workload that has befallen over them. They are teachers, accountants, officers, clerks, doctors, engineers, professors rarely known to each other but its that duty order that unites them together. It is important to know that election duty is a non-optional convention which unless you can get away with some “justifiable” reason, could get you suspended almost instantly for the slightest of errors.

So even after knowing the stakes, the election training starts which is actually sitting in a giant hall and listening to the Do’s and Dont’s as patiently as you can but most of the people rely on their past experiences on these things and only come in to avoid a show cause notice. Its total mayhem on the day before polling , as people come in from almost everywhere around the city with their bags. As a sector officer you come to know your polling parties only the eve before election and help them on their way to the respective assigned Polling booths. Now these polling booths are not the most well maintained premises, mostly they are municipality schools, storage centres, colleges and/or community halls, so not the best of the facilities are expected. No matter what designation you have, its heartening to know that you can’t leave the premises even for a walk or some refreshments and that you have to sleep on the bare floor unless you got some bedding of your own.

The E-day is when it all turns real, you get to wake up early in the morning and start a mock poll, and by 7’o clock your voting actually begins where people start lining up and although are willing to exercise their votes, may fall short in identification or missing their name in the voters list altogether. But as a Polling officer- The show must go on. Then come the enthusiastic political goons, who just need to garner attention at any cost, and its for people like these the Presiding Officers have been given unlimited powers and police force at their disposal so that they could drive away any and all creating a scene. Some people do complaint about the machines because it’s a trend but take it from me who had commissioned the machines, its highly improbable to get an EVM that works in favor of some candidate, although there might be some battery or other technical issues for which the arrangements are in place already. I myself had changed an EVM during mockpoll because the VVPAT machine was running on a faulty battery but that’s almost it.

Meanwhile it’s the middle of the day and we see a drop in the voter turnout as people are busy doing their household chores and its at this point that the polling parties get a breather where they could have some food and mental rest.

The final hour is again the most crowded part of the day when people come in flocks but now the polling parties are exhausted and grow a little restless. Anyway as the duration of the poll ends there lies another arduous challenge of the statutory and non-statutory paperwork that has to be meticulous as it determines the success and failure of the polling station in your booth. The demand to be correct and the need to be quick sometime cause unexpected blunders resulting in suspension of officers but still a majority of the people do it diligently and report back to the headquarters in the evening or night. Its at this place where they really lose their minds, they have been working exorbitantly hard and now its just a formality of submitting the machines and the literature back to some other government employees, who they expect to be empathetic to the taxing task they had just completed. But truth be told, it is at this point people complaint about the mismanagement of authorities out of tiredness and disgust. After all is said and done, people do leave for their homes, although there is always that lingering doubt that everything checks out properly and that is the story of the election from an official’s perspective. I might not have the exact figures but in my personal experience the government officials involved in making the biggest democracy work in just a single day, themselves rarely vote. I think its but natural to get jaded of the entire process however they still enabled millions of their fellow beings exercise their right to vote and that’s the point. The people who actually make this festival of democracy a palpable reality are the ones who sacrifice a lot and the only thing they expect in return is their job they have been doing in the first place.

What do you think guys, I will keep creating more relatable and practical content which I come across as part of my job. Do checkout my other posts as well-

The new Culture of Godmen

CULT- The new culture

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Its almost strife nowadays that the following of Godmen in this modern era has reached new dimensions altogether. People have virtually discovered God walking among men who are then given and provided for all kinds of worldly pleasure which is contradictory to their own teachings of sacrificing all desires. What's more is that these anointed God personas dont even need to be alive anymore, someone would either replace them as their heir or just keep on fleecing the people in the name of the holy deceased. This conundrum of society requires a deep introspection as it is now blended into the concept of faith and religion whereas it only serves the few elite. However this is not a new concept altogether because there is a basic necessity for us human beings to stick a face to any ideology and then later , only the face remains.

In almost all mainstream religions we can find prophets, messengers and real gem of humanity who sacrificed themselves for the betterment of the people and never expected anything in return. They had a marrow deep iron clad belief in the sustenance of life in an organic way in tandem with a higher power who they themselves weren't able to perceive themselves. People followed their teachings, their motto and their doing only to be lost in time at a later stage where only the face or a description of these noble men remain. The mere congregation in following the statues of these incorrigible personalities speaks volumes about the gullibility of the masses. But it points out a strange fact that for us examples are of higher values then definitions.

Take for instance the concept of learning the alphabets, we always start with A for Apple, B for Ball and so on. The stress is so much on the latter half of these phrases that it almost seems impossible for people especially children, as to what is exactly the point of these words. Why does the example of using the alphabet is almost as, if not more, pertinent than the alphabet itself. A lot can be argued about the validity of the above statement but as learning becomes more diverse and intrinsic we see these basic concepts sporadically embedded everywhere.

It has become a notion that we human beings like to perceive thoughts and ideologies through media, and with time although the perception might fade away the media itself becomes more magnified and glorified.

What do you think guys, I will keep creating more relatable and practical content which I come across as part of my job. Do checkout my other posts as well-

Pray for Christchurch

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The recent headlines stating the mass shooting in a Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand has brought the entire world to a standstill. New Zealand is considered one of the best countries to live in the entire world with a substantial immigrant population which has been living in harmony for decades and out of nowhere suddenly we hear about this heinous crime committed in the name of racial supremacy.

This goes on to show that Terrorism has no prefix and no matter what the political and socio-economic status of the country it will continue to demonize everyone if the measures to curb terrorism are left on the podiums of “International Summits” or eventually lead to increase in the spending of military budgets. The focus as of now is on particular Racially bigoted factions and other fringe elements, similarly social media is on the crosshairs again as it somehow validates or inspires imitations and emulations. However, I personally feel that, such an untoward incident is the culmination of hate based on usual misinterpretations of other acts of violence, which are then targeted towards main stream society which is inherently harmonious. Unless these acts of violence are followed by humungous displays of solidarity on the streets worldwide, where exactly nobody is left behind.

I believe it sounds crazy and unrealistic but so is killing people and thinking that somehow you are revered for such an inhuman action. These fringe elements need to be shown that their propaganda is actually limited to their own rooms and that the wide majority is always humanitarian pro. It is by local events like these that we could actually uproot the very thought of discrimination and radicalization which would itself preclude any act of violence on its own. If it takes a village to raise a child then for our posterity we’ll need a whole lot of countries and continents because we don’t decide or own the future, we are mere mediators for a better world.

What do you think guys, I will keep creating more relatable and practical content which I come across as part of my job. Do checkout my other posts as well-