We all have been victims to Indian bureaucracy and corruption at one time or the other. Applying for a passport, driver’s license, telephone connection, Khata certificate, Ration card, etc all can be nightmarish experiences for an average Indian. To escape the long queues and complicated procedures you must either be rich with good ability to grease some palms or you must be well connected (with the high and mighty). If you aren’t either, in order to survive you must be thick skinned, patient, and must carry no sense of ego and self respect. Some examples of my experiences with bureaucracy in the last 4 months in India are given below.

Recently, I had to get my birth and marriage certificate verified at the State home ministry in order to apply for a visa. (Verified means, state government says you are not lying about your birth and marriage details and the certificate you furnish is not a fake, the central government say that the state government isn’t lying and then the embassy verifies that the central government isn’t lying). I had to get a new birth certificate from the Department of Birth and Death. The department already had my birth details registered by my parents at the time of birth and despite this there was a series of visit to the department. I did notice right away that the right information is not supplied upfront to the applicants. An average applicant visits these offices till you reach the brink of sheer frustration or in some cases murder. Not only does each employee give different information each time ( perhaps each is equipped with a different manual) but also sends these applicants from desk to desk saying those famous words we hear all the time ‘This isn’t in my jurisdiction, please go to desk so and so’. There starts your (non-)musical chairs journey with in the government premises till finally you realize that you actually stand in no man’s land.

At the state government’s home ministry in Bangalore after applying for verification, I was told (even after 3 months of my application) that my marriage certificate verification was stuck in Mysore (where my marriage was earlier registered). I had to go to the Mysore Police Commissioners office who directed me to a local police station; from there I was directed to the Marriage registry office and from there back to the local police station. The cop in charge in local police station (they were finally able to pin a man whose job this actually was) was on rounds some where else so we were told to go there. On reaching that place the cop sent me back to Police station, after a quite a bit of waiting (in a state of rising blood pressure) I got my work done. I then went to Police Commissioners office with the required document and as per rules was accompanied by a police man; lest I manipulate the document (I wish they showed this dedication from the start). After a week, I finally picked up the document from Bangalore’s home ministry after the mandatory handing in of some ‘tea and biscuit money’ to a clerk.

During the time of my passport renewal, I had a similar set of problems. There is no information desk anywhere in the passport office. The norm is standing in a mile long queue, to be only told that either that you are in wrong queue or you need another set of documents after you reach the counter. I understand, when you receive more than 500 applicants in a day, you are in no mood to be polite and nice. Well, with each application costing Rs. 2000 you’d think the government could at least afford more than 2 counters for collection.

Corruption is prevalent at every level of the government and is seeping into our day to day existence. We bought some land at a cooperative society in 1984 but till today we have been unable to get the land allotted to us despite running pillar to post since then. The ‘disputed land’ (having been simultaneously sold to another party/parties) owner has many high government officials in his pocket and so thereby can evade any petition or court case with panache. After approaching a Consumer court, we were told that our only hope was to file a petition for return of the Rs.40, 000 we invested in 1984. Now, isn’t that unfair considering that Rs.40, 000 in 80s meant more than the Rs. 40,000 today. In Bangalore where I grew up, I now notice that with day to day increase in living costs, the bribes are also increasing exponentially. A new telephone connection, or getting a Khata certificate (present bribe rate is Rs.10, 000), an electricity connection at KEB, etc all need bulky purses. Over the years we have all grown tired fighting a losing battle with the land Development Authority officials, Electricity board, and other offices etc. This is the way of life for most of us now.

Apart from corruption and bureaucracy, our government officials carry an aura of apathy and rudeness. Those in authority always want to drive the point home that you are at their mercy. Instead of rules being made for the convenience, rules are used to make your life difficult. From the TC in the railways, to the Traffic cop, there’s no questioning them. There are some government officials when they see you, they don’t see a money making opportunity but rather a ego boosting occasion.

I realize that this sort of working is not limited within India but also our offices abroad. On a short visit to UK when I was studying in Germany, I had the misfortune of losing my passport. I went to the nearest Indian consulate, (after the unofficial mandatory waiting period) with Xerox copies of my passport, German visa and police complaint to apply for a new passport. I was questioned deeply (with the typical rudeness) with regard to my passport as well as my personal background (I guess they wanted to ensure that I wasn’t a lair or worse an illegal immigrant which is understandable). In the process I was asked to book and furnish a return ticket to Germany and at the same breath was told that the new passport may take a week, a month or longer to be issued. The conundrum to me was how I could book a ticket if I didn’t know when I would get my new passport in order for me to travel back to Germany. Though I explained this, the official insisted he cannot proceed with the application without a booked ticket. Over the conversation, it was made clear to me that I was at their mercy. Only after the misery and helpless crept into my face (and I conveyed to the official indirectly that he was the master and commander of the world) was my application excepted. In direct contrast to this, the German consulate said all they needed to issue me a new visa was a Xerox copy of the visa I had lost. To end the story, my passport was reported in by some kind Samaritan after a few days. I immediately called the Indian and German consulates. I was rudely chastised by the Indian official for applying for a new passport too soon and I got a congratulatory email from the German official. On my visit to the Indian embassy in Den Haag, I got the same old feeling that I better tread softly and carefully because somehow all the officers in there were in a bad mood.

I am very proud of my country and its achievements. I know, I read all about our growing GDP, scientific progress, and our software programmers. Why is it that with all that, bureaucracy and corruption still flows in every vein of our administration? Despite all this, we are actually having a GDP of 7 % annually, then imagine without corruption. I hear corruption is a result of low salaries, well then why is it then we have corruption at the highest levels. I also know that there are some who are exceptions to this sort of work ethics. I have had instances of a few miracles when I got my work done the straight away. I know that with a country as big as ours, we mustn’t and cannot expect expediency and efficiency. When we have greater evils to fight such as poverty, communal conflicts and security issues, logically, the leaders at the helm rather spend money and time fighting these rather than worrying about and improving our administrative system and its structure. Corruption and bureaucracy are webbed together, only changes at administrative structure (with reinforced accountability and transparency) can bring about some improvement. . Will I ever see a day when I walk out of a government office without a clenched fist and creased lines on my forehead? After all corruption free service is our fundamental right.