I’m waiting outside a public official's chamber to get a document countersigned. Those of you who had an experience will know the agony and distress I'm currently undergoing.
In fact, it is not that bad as in the past. The officer who is about to sign my document is a responsible man and never keeps anything pending for the next day. That was a relief.
In fact, it is not that bad as in the past. The officer who is about to sign my document is a responsible man and never keeps anything pending for the next day. That was a relief.
Let us not discus much on the struggles, delay and the hardships of getting things done from "some" officials who get their pay from our pockets. Instead, let me try to throw some light on that totally neglected aspect: The economic part. If you were with me today, you would see 172 people (yes, I counted) waiting outside this office with me since morning. All of them have taken a day off from work and are here for some valid reasons.
Now, I'm going to stretch a little bit of my rusted basic mathematical skills to derive at some critical values.
| Assuming average income lost per person standing here (I know its actually much more) | =Rs 400/day |
| Total income lost by 172 people per day | = 400 x 172 = Rs. 68,800 |
There are 8 such offices here in this building.
Assuming all the offices have the same strength outside;
| Total Income lost by waiting outside these 8 offices per day | = 68,800 x 8 = Rs 5,50,400 |
Assuming the office works 20 days of the month;
| Total income lost per month | = 5,50,400 x 20 = Rs. 1,10,08,000 |
Yes! ONE CRORE TEN LAKH AND EIGHT THOUSAND RUPEES PER MONTH.
Is that signature you get on that piece of paper worth the money?
To give you a contrast, 2 years back, I got the same document work done by a public official of a different country. There, sitting in my office, it just took 5 minutes to apply on-line and upload a few documents. The certificate arrived the third day by post without a single day loss of pay and manpower.
May be its high time we upgrade.
Reminds me of the horrible experience i had with getting my passport made!
ReplyDeleteI too had similar experiences in the recent past, about which I have written in my blog. It is a two part write up, purely on the customer perspective... you can find it here http://nishdil.blogspot.com/2011/11/misadventures-part-1.html
ReplyDeletehttp://nishdil.blogspot.com/2011/11/misadventures-part-2.html
I liked the way you linked economy into the whole perspective. Most of us (especially the babus/madams in those chairs) don't realize that a minute wasted by them is equivalent to hours wasted.
And yes, its time to upgrade and uplift our standards ..
What I could not understand is why there should be a loss in pay. Most of our organizations stipulate a number of leaves for us per year.. its not as if you dont come to work, you lose a day's pay.
ReplyDeleteLoss in valuable man hours, yes.
And what an image it creates... its not only outsiders, but local people too. Everyone seems to hate the public servant for this very attitude.
rusted math skills? ha! doesnt look rusted to me :)
ReplyDeleteand you actually counted up to 1 7 2!! phew!
I dread going to a sarkari office...But your mathematical skills amaze me...
ReplyDeleteFrom a fellow Leo....
Going to a government office is an art. And being a CS I am a master of it. But, I know our country can never upgrade. Your calculation amazes me...:)
ReplyDeleteWhat are you doing as a doctor? We will love you more as a CA...:)
Hoi Leopaw, wow simple way of bringin out such a valid point...
ReplyDeleteIronic really considerin the huge loss... I need to get some docs signed up by a "gazetted officer" soon n I'v been pushin it away fr the same reason as i wud hv to lose away one day n I'm just too tied up wid work to do so...
wish somebody cud do soomethin bout it.. n as u rightly pointed out, the solution is often so damn stark simple ... but guess they'd never do so considerin the whole loss of 'payment' they'd entail...sad really..
but very nice u brought it up.. wish u to raise this up at another stronger forum too :)
This is very good! I've been one of those people in line waiting for a signature before. It was at the Delhi MHA and I felt fortunate to see this office in action. Unlike other offices I had been inside of in Punjab it was well organized at the MHA. It still took all day though. You go in the morning and get signed in at one office, go up to another office and wait to be seen and answer a few questions then they tell you come back at 5pm. Everyone gets told the same unless they are rejected and they all come back at 5pm, citizens and tourists! Some people in that office had plane tickets but couldn't leave the country without that signature and some had to reschedule their flights which costs even more money. In my case all I needed the first 2 times I made this trip was a piece of paper authorizing my local office to proceed with my paperwork - this could have saved me the train rides, 2 days in a motel and me and my husband both 3 days off of work if it could have been mailed or done online. So much wasted time and money for one signature that took less than 30 seconds to get!
ReplyDeletethis was a really cool article.. i liked the thought that went into it.. we tend to think of ourselves..you actually thought of the total loss by all concerned and had the solution too...
ReplyDeleteI want to second what Saru said.. it is an art to deal with govt employees.. :D :D :D
ReplyDeletereally liked the way you penned it down.. the thought process on the loss side and the worth of a signature is super :) :)
wow! i never saw it in that light, just goes to show how some government departments are so backward still in this day and age
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, Leopaw! Simply amazing the way you've pointed out something so sensitive so clinically (especially since you are a doctor :P). You very elaborately and clearly have outlined why it's time for our government offices to upgrade...
ReplyDeletegreat post........, depicts the duty-full BABUs of our country :)
ReplyDeletesaikatmbka (campbuzzz.blogspot.com)
wonderful post ........leopaw
ReplyDeleteInformative with a little sense of humour; obviously, it's going to take some time for the online forums to get into the mundane business, especially in a country like India.....
ReplyDeleteFrom: www.sriramnivas.com
Despite all the trouble and waiting, there is no guarantee that the work would be done.....they may ask for some other proof or document!
ReplyDeleteWow! That was certainly an eye-opener. Very well written. Never thought about this in that way even though I have encountered situations such as this.
ReplyDeleteI just read a book called "Mammaries of the welfare state" by Upamanyu Chatterjee..read it if you find it..you'll stop asking questions :D
ReplyDeleteThat was a wonderful way of calculating the loss to the nation -- all because of the bloated egos of the officials. Very well written.
ReplyDelete@ayesha~thank God they accept online application these days. Thank you for the comment.
ReplyDelete@Nisha: yes it's high time we upgrade. will definitely read that post. thank you.
ReplyDelete@Anupama K. Mazumder~ true. but they are much better these days. it is the system that people hate.
ReplyDeleteWell, even if there are payed leaves (people working for daily wages earners don't have it), this is the last thing anyone would want to do on that day. Thank you.
@Sujatha Sathya~ :)yes, 172. it was easy. there were 4 token machines. I only had to count one queue that served without tokens. thank you.
ReplyDelete@Alka Gurha~ Thank you lioness. Welcome here.
ReplyDelete@Saru Singhal~ Yes, it is an art. Well, as a doc, at the end of the day, I get more satisfaction serving the unwell than playing with numbers. Simple reason I chose this prof. Thank you.
ReplyDelete@R-A-J~ Yes Raj. That is the sad truth. Even I've kept it pending till the deadline. Thank you.
ReplyDelete@white Bhabi~ Well said. How many days and resources we waste for just the signature that takes just 30 seconds? Simply not worth it. BTW, nice name. Thank you.
ReplyDelete@Dr Roshan R~ Thank you Roshan. That was encouraging.
ReplyDelete@SuKupedia :) :) ~ True, an art that can be mastered only by repetition. Glad you liked it. Thank you.
ReplyDelete@joel fernandes~ well said. these days, majority of the employees are efficient and duty minded. But the system is still in the stone age.
ReplyDelete@Vishal Kataria~ :). Glad you like it. thank you.
ReplyDelete@saikatmbka (campbuzzz.blogspot.com)~ rather than the BUBU's duty consciousnesses I wanted to highlight in the system as such. That's were we need an upgrade. Thank you.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous~ Thank you. Glad you like it.
ReplyDelete@sriramnivas~ well said. it is definitely going to take some time. But can't waste much time planning without implementing. Thank you.
ReplyDelete@S.R.Ayyangar~ OMG!! That is the worst part of the whole process. I've had a couple of similar experiences before. Thank you.
ReplyDelete@AKSHAY KUMAR G~ thank you. Glad you liked it.
ReplyDelete@Ana_treek~ Sure I will. thank you.
ReplyDelete@zephyr~ Thank you. Glad you liked it.
ReplyDelete