SUSPENDED OFFICERS DON'T CRY

One of the perks of being in a Government job is the Stability factor. Basically it means that you might be asked questions regarding your incompetence but you will never be held accountable for your inefficiency, laziness or the fact that you simply don't care about the coveted government job you fought tooth and nail for. The idea is to prevail a sense of security among the officers so that they don't tremble in fear in implementing the policies laid down by the government, however as most things do in India, the Cobra effect gets activated when any policy is laid down by the lawmakers for prevention of any mishaps. 

But all is not that bad, there are anti-corruption laws and regulations which may exact severe penalties and punishments if found guilty. Although you might think that the judiciary itself gets walked by a snail in terms of pace, there is some truth to the fact that the Anti-Corruption departments do trap a lot of these bad apples which get media coverage as well, in order to set an example.

I am here to take you through one such case that took place in our department which actually tells a lot about the aftermath of asserting charges on a Government officer. This particular officer ,let him be X had a knack for being upfront in his dealings. X didn't care nor dreaded anyone despite not being that high in ranks.It was X's strong understanding that the job is permanent in nature hence the worst outcome of these "under the table" dealings, which were not that under the table, might get publicized at the most and X was right. There were hardly any people who ever got trapped in any corruption cases in the department got suspended at the most where you get almost 50% salary and if the Department finds nothing in order to charge you(which they don't) then you get reinstated after a few months;plus you get the backpay.

PC- hydnews.net

So X had no reason to worry logically and his insubordination put into the mix made him virtually untouchable. This was not only known to the people within the department but also to the contractors who had to go through X for their pertinent work.

All this was going fine, X had new cars, land, flats and everything else which added more vitriol to his dealings with everyone whether it was personal or professional. Now the thing with getting caught in a corruption case is that everybody is fine as long as you take the tacitly agreed price of your conscience and even the Anti-Corruption people know that, the problem arises when you suddenly start asking for an astronomical figure and start moving the goal post further. The normal "rate" is fixed , depending on your stature and the historical rhythm set by the "has-beens", but if somebody, like in our case X,tries to disrupt the established order then its bound to turn some watchful eyes your way.

X got a bit greedy and had started asking for a larger sum than usual for a simple signature on a file. This triggered unrest among the people who then went to the superior officers of the department, but X didn't care, he thought that if even one person got their way with him at a lower price then nobody would care about his authority(as a corrupt officer) and he cared a lot about his nefarious reputation.

So one such guy who had some influence over the department and was a seasoned contractor came to X for a mere approval. X saw that as an opportunity to send out a message and upgrade his earnings now that even the big players are kneeling before him. So X asked for a lot and eventually got a lot, but then at the stipulated date of approving their file, X wanted even more. There was a heated debate after which X threw the file in the garbage. The contractor didn't even think twice and went straight to the Anti-Corruption department, where they always do the suspect a favor by informing the highest officials first but X was undeserving of any forecast for the upcoming storm.

PC(Indiatoday.in)

So eventually the Anti-Corruption team laid out a trap where they sent the same contractor back to X , readily agreeing to all of X's demands. A quiet and desolated location is picked where both parties are scheduled to meet for exchanging the cash amount. However the cash is laid with a chemical (Phenolphthalein if I'm not wrong) and the serial number of the notes are already with the team. Then they install a small camera at an unsuspecting location where this entire scene could be captured and when the exchange is made then the teams simply come out of the dark to handcuff the perpetrator and is asked to  wash hands with soap which turns red due to the chemical reaction,hence the term red-handed. 

People react differently in these scenarios, some start crying incessantly whereas some try to settle matters then and there by offering some to the Anti-Corruption teams. Overall when you're caught, you're caught and there is hardly anything that can be done there, some media people come in and capture the moments to put everything in public record. At this point you might feel that story ends here, the deserving officer got what was imminent and now the course of law will decide the magnitude of the punishment. But trust me this is not even the interesting part of the story, the normal people believe that justice has been served that the country is devoid of one corrupt officer at least, however the story begins from here but this post is becoming too long and cumbersome. 

Do checkout the aftermath in my next one........

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

The Confidential Report of the officers

The Election Duty

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The Election Duty-2019

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-

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