The future of this nation cannot be based on a lottery ticket system where the majority lose and the lucky few win.
A babu drained a whole reservoir in search of his misplaced mobile. It’s time for Modi Sarkar to drain the Babudom and IAS swamps. The officer allegedly stated that the water is “stale and unfit for any use”. Well, the Indian bureaucracy fits that description completely.
Anyone who has ever entered a government building can attest to the “ruler vs ruled” culture that exists there. Whatever their title or position, these babus are virtually unreachable. You’ll be sorted out by a group of serfs, hangers-on, or peons. You have to squeeze through dozens of other people hoping in vain to receive a darshan. If he ever allows the audience, it will be with an arrogant demeanour and a “don’t waste my time” expression. The room will appear to have been bombed by a B-1 in the past. Today, we have laptops, air conditioning, and slightly cleaner workspaces, but the mentality is the same. He will glance at your stack of papers.
They will essentially be hurled back at you for even the smallest deviance from standards that were never published or made public. If he agrees, you get a stern “Hmph” and your paper is tossed into a tray, signalling that you should leave. To see that it goes through the system, pursue another set of babus.
Of course, if you enter with the appropriate “credentials,” everything changes drastically. Everyone is grinning, and clerks and peons will scurry to locate your file and complete your work. A cup of tea will emerge out of nowhere. Even if you provide someone with a piece of blank paper, it will either be forced to comply with all standards and obscure laws.
The British imposed exactly this culture. To be fair, they did this to themselves as well, not just to us. Serials like “Yes Minister” have made fun of it. The only distinction is that they are wealthy while we are not. We were looted and they were the robbers. We spend a lot more money than a British person does to sustain our bloated, crooked, and inept babudom. I use the term “cost” in the broadest sense conceivable. The wage makes up a minuscule portion of it.
This culture fit the Congress and the reigning dynasty like a perfect pair of gloves after independence. Because they were the same as the colonials and equally distanced from the needs, difficulties, and suffering of common Indians. Their shehzades didn’t attend schools that their family had established for common Indians. They travelled to London or Doon. A group of “labarthies” who profited from Nehruvian socialism, attended the best institutions like Kendriya Vidyalayas, didn’t have to pay for their medical bills, and had wages and pensions that were inflation-proof was what they required to act as a barrier between them and the ruled. The price of this system was borne by the others, the common Indians.
The babus resembled mediaeval aristocrats, noblemen, and courtiers in many ways, as they still do today. By the way, did you know that in Britain, a degree could be earned without a student taking an exam or passing it?
The “Idea of India” era saw a rapid expansion in their abilities. To make almost everyone a criminal under one or more statutes, laws were created, and forms, returns, processes, and rules were developed. They have a firm grip over everyone as a result. They can squeeze it and fix you if they want to.
Babudom also gave the dynastic leaders a chance to shift blame. News of a minister “scolding” a babu is frequently seen in the media. He could, at worst, be suspended. That doesn’t matter because he receives his income despite doing very little work. And soon after that, in a new position with precisely the same benefits or even a promotion. The class system was also maintained by the recruitment procedure and career promotion. Either you pass the competitive IAS exam and join as an officer, or you join the government service as a low-level clerk. It is not necessary to have any practical expertise, business acumen, selling, managing, or bargaining with labour unions.
A district will be ruled by 30-year-olds who wouldn’t even make it past the first round of interviews at a respectable private enterprise, and they will have legions of constables and clerks reporting to them. because they were familiar with Mughal history, the precise year Tipu Sultan took power, when Nehru earned his degree, and how frequently The Hindu was published. The leftists did the same. Given the high unemployment rate and socialist restrictions on private enterprise, the educational backgrounds of clerks and IAS rapidly became similar; many postgraduates and even engineering graduates rush to apply for positions as peons and clerks because everyone cannot become IAS.
Contrarily, for those in the lower class who enter as clerks, the path to actual promotion is all but blocked; at best, you can advance a few ranks, such as to Undersecretary or Director, where the IAS will automatically join. That’s also true when you’re exhausted and looking forward to retiring.
This serves as a potent deterrent to performance. Millions of government employees are told, “You will never advance beyond this rank in 40 years, do whatever you want.” Better to relax and concentrate on your upcoming DA or IPL score increase. Do you know of any Cabinet secretaries who started as clerks and advanced through the ranks via hard work?
Although the private sector does hire MBAs and other professionals at high ranks, performance evaluations and inappropriate promotions are frequently observed. Interestingly, state-run banks, insurance firms, and other institutions also implemented a comparable scheme. Before being driven to adjust by competition, they achieved fairly similar results. In the beginning, the upper class made up the majority of the recipients. The backward Dalits were duped into lobbying for a ticket to join as insiders rather than criticising or trying to overthrow this system. Of course, only the elites within them gained.
This system’s output is what caused the dam to be drained. And Modi needs to drain this swamp specifically. This is amply evidenced by the absurd tax forms and returns that the RBI, MCA, Income Tax, and other babus created. They won’t ever change for the worst. It’s impossible to reform. Simply dredge the marsh. like the UP representative.
Since the majority of them—possibly almost all of them—have never worked a single productive day in their whole lives. They have never produced a widget, marketed a product, or dealt with a real-world situation. They didn’t even have to be on the waitlist for a train ticket because they never stood in the queue for anything. God waits for people, not the other way around—even temples give them priority.
Railway babus, who are identical to regional managers in a logistics company, are given opulent houses that were built for British officials. Our lordships have access to more domestic workers than a small European monarch, despite being responsible for keeping this system in order. They lead fictitious lives, sequestered in their offices, surrounded by sycophants and brokers, and shielded from all external issues. and create synthetic shapes. It makes no difference if the FM is NS or PC. They control. Although the Modi government exhibits the greatest realisation possible of this unpleasant truth, their actions to date have been timid.
In ALL echelons of babudom, we require talented young Indians from a variety of backgrounds who have relevant business or industrial expertise. They must have firsthand experience with how the economy, trade, and business operate. They could be experts in maths, accounting, engineering, medicine, or chemistry. But, kindly, no fake social “sciences”
Will this be the main topic on the NDA3 agenda? So, we must hope. for the benefit of our kids. PS: I know I’ve been harsh on Babus, but there is a sizeable number who are genuinely committed to their profession, put in a lot of effort, and perform miracles. They have my respect. They are the ones who, I have a feeling, will welcome change the most. However, we cannot base the future of this nation on a lottery ticket system where most people lose and just some people win.
The future of this nation cannot be based on a lottery ticket system where the majority lose and the lucky few win.
