Thoughts - Training for an Epidemic

Any organization has a three step process - recruit, train and then deploy.

 

The Government also follows this, but their training process is a little different. Some of these unique training processes have been adopted by many private organizations, too but the efficacy of the government process is on a different scale altogether.

 

In addition to the other standard training processes the specialized ones are those of selective hearing, selective eyesight and selective actions. To an extent, all these are supplemented by a specialized communication system.

 

Before you jump to conclusions, this is not just about politicians but about the entire administrative mechanism which includes the bureaucracy- right from the lowest ranked staff to the head of organizations, the law enforcement agencies, the Judiciary and the quasi judicial bodies. It is also valid irrespective of political ideology, political leanings, or the manifestos of different parties - without exception.

 

The first lesson that they are taught is to identify who needs to be served, and who does not. Lets call is selective vision. This is fairly easy to do. Anyone who hopes to gain access has to possess at least one of the valuable assets - money (quite a lot of it), proximity to a person of importance (either directly or indirectly) or ability to create a significant nuisance for persons of importance. The rest do not stand a chance! And the rest is a very large majority but unfortunately not important enough. This rest of the population is faceless though not necessarily poor. This rest has also been taught to hope endlessly and yo keep lowering expectations with every passing day.

 

Once the government recruit has mastered this initial art - which is fairly elementary, the next lesson is dissociation and delegation.This skill is a little more sophisticated and complex. No government member worth his salt will ever be caught not taking action on any problem that was brought to him.Irrespective of whether the problem is simple or complex, it will either be marked up or down to someone else, who might be so impressed by this that he might replicate the same action. This might go on endlessly so that people can see that some action is being taken, but also ensures that the problem is never solved.

 

Try this with any government organization - the municipality, the ministry, the courts...... the process is still the same, irrespective of political colour, position, control.

 

The people in question value time greatly - theirs, not ours!Talk to anyone there - he is so busy, that he has, of course, no time to do everything himself, but talk to the petitioner, did he get the problem solved - the answer is nearly always the same - no! The people in the government have also mastered the art of using time - so that either time solves the problem (rarely) or till the petitioner gives it up as a lost cause. Time is the friend of the government, but an enemy of the common man. No one knows this better than the courts - for them the time is the best thing that nature gave them. This is certainly true, after the filter of selective vision has been applied.

 

These people have also mastered the skill of selective deafness. You present a problem, and see how they perceive the same problem. their understanding may or may not have any link to your problem, therefore the solution offered will certainly not address it.This has no bearing on their intelligence - since they come from the same stock as we do. It is directly linked to the way they have been trained. Listening and understanding is a problem - it creates a burden on their conscience (I don’t know if that has also been marked down to a subordinate), it might, God forbid,push them to act, it might cause health issues - which will not do at all! Best way to avoid all these hassles is use selective deafness, which is simple and elegant at the same time. No listen, no pain! Great strategy!

 

A clear example of this is when you listen to any of the speeches that they give - either in official functions, or in social gatherings - it is all about what they did (really!?!?) and never about what they have to do. In their mind, they have had a glorious past and collectively if you believe them, common regular folks should be thanking their stars to have them as the administrators. Surprisingly, the views of those that had been apparently served is absolutely contrary. This tendency also increases with time spent in the government and peaks in the years after retirement. just listen to any retired civil servant (in the most general sense of the term which includes anyone at any level who is paid by the government for his employment) at any gathering and it will make you wonder whether your experience of government interactions are an illusion.

 

This training has been so good and so uniform that it bolsters your belief that the government is capable of achieving wonders if they put their minds to anything. Exceptions, though they do exist, are almost impossible to find - and usually you will see that these exceptions are a lot who have not had it easy. They are the pariahs who refused to conform - it certainly takes great courage and strength to swim against the tide. It is due to these minuscule tribe that people have not lost complete faith in the administration.

 

However, coming back to our Goliath, the epidemic has reached levels that it seems impossible to breach. But certainly it can be broken - with simple acts.

 

The first act has to be to limit time and place a different measure for success.

 

Step 1

 

Any problem placed before the administration has to be underlined with a sign off within just two days between the petitioner and the official so that the understanding of the problem is common. trying to pluck and orange from a banana tree is impossible and has to be avoided at all cost. If the understanding is not signed off within two days, it has to be escalated within a day and signed off. If even that cannot be achieved, the administration has to put its understanding on paper and along with the petition send an acknowledgement to the petitioner that it failed to understand the actual problem. This document becomes the basis of court intervention which needs to appoint a standing committee on perpetual basis to dispose off this matter on the same day that it is brought to them by the petitioner. This committee will have one junior judge and two people from the common population (on rotation basis for a month) to decide if the official understanding is in line with the actual complaint or not. In either case their decision will be binding on both sides. If there is a wide divergence in understanding the real issue by the administration, the concerned official has to pay 10% of his monthly salary for each such case. If more than three such cases are decided in favour of the petitioner with wide difference in understanding the official should be either demoted or terminated on grounds of incompetence. This will not only force the official to be more in sync with the real issues, but will also create a common man with hope in the system. As a byproduct, this may also result in reduction of avoidable litigation in the courts.

 

Step 2

 

Once the common sign off of the problem has been done the administration will have to identify the source of the problem and the corrective measures to address it within three days. If there is understanding of the complaint a prima-facie verification and chalking out the course of action can certainly be done in three working days. If the administration does not find the prima-facie grounds for proceeding with the case it has to inform the petitioner in writing the reasons for not doing so. This written admission, signed by the head of the organization can serve as a means of scrutiny by the courts about its correctness and if negligence or collusion is found by the administration it should result in fine, termination and jail for the concerned official. This will serve as a strong deterrent.

 

if prima-facie grounds for action are accepted by the administration, the steps for addressing should be clearly defined along with realistic timelines for each step and conveyed to the petitioner. The actual steps may take longer to implement but the responsibility for followup has to still lie with the department and failure to do so will also result in daily penalties, which have to be paid by the department by deducting salaries proportionately from the officials concerned, including the Head of the organization.

 

If other Departments are involved in the correction process it will be the responsibility of the initial department to follow the same action as the petitioner along with the same timelines as defined in Step 1.

 

Step 3

 

If a problem is identified as a general malaise a blanket order for implementation of solution has to be issued covering the same class of disputes. This will effectively ease the pressure on the Department in tackling multiple complaints of the same nature over a period of time.

 

Ideally the legislature, either at the state level or at the Central level should every quarter assess the prevalence of the malaise and enact common laws to prevent it. This will curtail replication of the virus and ease the pressure on the administration.

 

The epidemic of corruption and inaction cannot be treated with minor actions. It needs surgery and that surgery involves pain and at times amputation. Left untreated, it has the potential to kill ordered society and create a lawless state. god forbid, it may result in widespread chaos which can result in great harm to everyone - as has happened many times in history.

 

Step 4

 

The courts have to especially vigilant, empathetic and in touch with the value of work alloted to them to retain and increase their relevance. Firstly, they will have to stop taking up activities which are in the domain of the executive and if they find that the executive has been lagging in performance, they have to keep an arms length correction.

 

Courts have to also consciously refrain from being selective in taking up cases depending on the persons involved - which can invite irreverence from the common man.

 

The courts have to get rid of the feeling of superiority because they deliver judgment. Each professional does it daily and repeatedly in his domain and under severe time constrains in their own domains. The courts do so in the domain of interpretation of law, which is more structured and they face virtually no time constraint. Hence, they are performing a job as per the skills that they have been trained in, every professional does the same thing, nothing special about that.

 

Most importantly, they will have to value time of the petitioners and the respondents, otherwise they are not upholding the law, which by constitution has been allocated to them. What is the reason for giving unlimited deferments for a variety of reasons. The decision has to be taken on the basis of facts presented before the courts at the allocated time and deferments do not serve any purpose. If there are unavoidable genuine reasons, one deferment for each side may be allowed at the limit but the next hearing should be held at the latest within 15 days, where is the problem with that? A decision after years serves no purpose. And if the courts believe that taking early decisions may lead to wrong judgments, that is not an argument. Even after taking a long time, courts do make mistakes as any human is likely to do. What is important to see that the decision has been taken within reasonable tome and properly based on the facts of the case.

 

The courts also have to receive briefs, not epics in the form of briefs which hide more than they reveal. Each petition must mandatorily start with a brief points which form the basis of the arguments. the main petition may be detailed, but there must be no dissonance between the summary and the main petition, that will be treated as misrepresentation and the petition should be summarily dismissed with strictures and penalty for the lawyer doing so. To protect the petitioner, the lawyer shold be directed to pay a fine to the client and the client be permitted to file the petition again.

 

The courts should have a preliminary hearing level and frivolous cases should be rejected outright to give the courts time to concentrate on real issues. People filing cases which are primarily frivolous should be heavily penalized as a deterrent. The lawyers filing the cases should act as officers of the court and before filing any such cases should do a primary assessment. Even after this if they file such frivolous cases strict penal actions, including suspension and disbarment should be initiated against them.

 

Lastly, why does the court need hard paper filing in this day and age? are they still living in the stone age? Wastage of paper, difficulties of storage space constraints are completely avoidable indulgences which the nation can hardly afford.

 

This will, in my view not only help enhance the trust of the common man on the system, leave the system more time to perform its allocated duties and therefore reduce stress all around. This will also help get rid of the feeling of lack of fear and respect in the offenders for the rule of law.

 

But, I am afraid, this might all be wishful thinking, because we seem to have lost the one thing essential to make all this a reality - a genuine intent!

 

 

Thoughts - Amoral Times

 Hello!

 

I am Amit and this is my story - or at least part of it.

 

I am a property developer - to the world, but actually I am a scammer and, a highly accomplished psychologist. I know how people think and I am a good judge of their price. In all ages, people had their price and today the price has gone down. The values had vanished long ago, now the prices are falling too.

 

When I advertise my wares, I sell dreams - not big ones, but small dreams, which appear  big to  these people. A very large number of them are pining for dreams, which appear far away. Give them a small portion of it and they are trapped. Even when I dont give them the rest, they will crib about it, but that is all. No one has the guts, the risk taking ability or the time to take me on.

 

If by chance some of them do get together, it is easy to break it up by buying off a tiny bit from the group.

 

Let me tell you a story. I sold a dream to a large number of people to provide them residential flats with amenities like high quality security and maintenance, clubs, gyms, sports facilities, greenery, walking areas, pools.....you name it.

 

I did deliver some of these units initially - just to attract more of these fools. Then, I carried out a small test. I sold off the ground level guest parking spaces which were actually part of the undivided common areas, prohibited from sale. The buyers were happy - do not really know why because there were enough units in the authorized basement parking.

 

How could I sell these off when they were not allowed to be sold? Easy! You just needed to assess and pay the price of the registrar and the development authority. Some cash here, a flat there, a holiday, a watch, a cellphone.....So everyone was happy. No hue and cry, not even a whimper.

 

Next, I completed a few flats and gave possession to some people. I also took the money for registering the flats, but did not get it registered. I had also defaulted on the payments to be made to the Area Development Authority for the land on which I was doing the construction.

 

Why did they allow me to continue? As I said, the price was paid. Each notice for payment was delayed, no follow up was done when i did not respond, hearings were delayed or deferred..... After all, those in positions of power also were part of the same society and therefore had similar dreams which needed to be realized.

 

When the Authority was under pressure to realize the outstanding amounts, they invoked what as per them was the last resort - they stopped registering the flats which had been sold! Just as I had planned! I had the money of the buyers, I did not need to spend the same on the registration charges - an all round win for me.

 

In fact, I had the Authority direct me to stop further construction, which was great! The only losers were the people who had paid for buying these flats. They had taken loans, they had paid from their savings, they had to continue paying their rents and EMIs, and had no idea if they would get their flats, ever. So what?

 

I had their money, I had nothing to pay off immediately, I could start other projects and continue the scam, and nobody was willing to act so that they could hurt me - after all I was fulfilling their dreams. great times!

 

I then embarked on assuring my income to meed my day to day expenses. Those who stayed in the flats had to pay in advance for the electricity that the complex consumed as well as for carrying out maintenance activities and security services.

 

They had to pay in advance, but I certainly did not. In fact I could delay all this a fair bit so that I only paid in part when things came to a head.A great way to meet running expenses for my family - both the principal amount and the interest or returns on the principal as a tidy sum. Some would call it thievery - but that is ok, you cannot live by what people call you. To each his own I say!

 

I had taken this to a level that was so big that I could now say no to all the demands that the residents asked me to meet. I could say no without doubt, fear or shame. I had left them no option - or so they thought!

 

After all making all those in position of power look the other way is no mean feat. One has to be aware of what each wants. money, of course! but that is not all. It is surprising to see the amount of depravity that some of these government officials can have.

 

After all, not many understand the nature and character of the Government - and I am not just referring to the ministers and their secretariats but also to the large hydra like government machinery - the local bodies, the MPs the MLAs, the Corporators, the Govenment employees in the Authority, the District Magistrate, the Police, the various other bodies and finally the judiciary and the quasi judicial bodies like the regulators.

 

Each has its own price - money, proximity, little favours, cars, holidays, medical and school admissions, household appliances, mobiles, sometimes revenge...... I deal with all of these, no discrimination for me.

 

I understand that there are so many factors that will not allow these people to come together against me - ego, personality clashes, self doubt, indifference and sometimes a little favour here, a little cash there. If all else fails, there is always fear of personal safety - perceived or otherwise for the residents.

 

For those in authority the reasons are a little different. Usually the tendency to be indifferent, a contempt for the middle class (to which they also belong), the tendency to ingratiate those that they perceive as being “big people”, cash or equivalent, sometimes a hint of blackmail ...... all work together to keep me safe.

 

And lets now talk about the victims. The people who hope and pray for help and justice - my clients. The people who buy my houses, the people who are directly or indirectly employed by me, the people who enter into contracts. They are willing to suffer lack of services, unpaid wages, unfulfilled contractual payments with nothing more than a whimper. When they make feeble attempts to rally around - all I have to do is either bribe a select few to break up the consolidation or remind them of the loss that they may be facing in unpaid dues. The administration, police and judiciary play their part well to help me reinforce this perception. After all they have been frustrating these people for ages. The leaders, when approached, are masters of this game - they have played it far longer than i have.

 

I have to be careful though - not to push them over the edge. I have to just give enough leeway to keep the hope alive but not enough to push them for drastic action - which has the capability to destroy all that we have built. As long as these people have hope that their so called protectors - the politicians, the judges, the administration- will help them, we are safe. If we push just a little bit harder - our whole super structure will come crumbling down.

 

This carefully built up perception is fragile - it needs careful handling History has taught us this. The balance is critical and if disturbed it has the potential to destroy all of us.

 

Lets hope this ignorance of their strength sustains forever.

 

All that is required is a set of basic questions to be asked loudly and repeatedly so that it can no longer be ignored. The questions are - are you doing your job fairly and diligently? Why should you continue to enjoy our support? Why should you not be punished for corruption or indifference? Why should you not pay for years of corruption or indifference?

 

Fortunately for me, there is no one around yet who has asked these loudly enough or repeatedly enough.

 

This is not my story. It is a story of two nations which exist in the same land. One is a nation of oppressors and the other is a nation of the oppressed. The members of these two groups are individually interchangeable. A member of the oppressed group in one situation can be a member of the other in a different situation.

 

Hence the act has to be questioned, not the person. If the act is questioned and the perpetrator is punished irrespective of who it is - I become obsolete.

 

I, therefore, pray all the time that this does not happen, but I fear that it may!

Illusions

The organization was typically traditional and the way things were done had to be “propah”! 

The way people spoke, the ideas that were put forth, the practices that were followed or incorporated had to be tested on the anvil of correctness. Anything that was recent or untested with rigour was deemed radical.

 

In this environment, it was seldom that the people were exposed to fast moving, loud presentation by anyone and even the criticism of such action had to be subdued.

 

The change, however, was unavoidable and soon a multinational conglomerate was contracted to train a small group of officers about some new work practices. Ten of us were chosen to attend the first phase of the program in Bombay - as Mumbai was then known- for a week.

 

The first day is always either very boring or very interesting. The multinational trainers were obviously putting in all efforts to not have a boring start and to open proceedings they started with a presentation by a very interesting character. An elderly Parsi gentleman, straight out of a Hollywood movie. Short height, extremely fair - almost reddish complexion, bright twinkling eyes, quivering pink lips, and a thick bushy moustache with pointy ends which moved as he spoke.

 

He looked like a man full of energy, and all his remarks were followed by a bright smile and sometimes by a naughty wink. He was instantly surrounded by the people present there and it seemed everyone wanted to have a word or two with him. He seemed to be used to this attention and for a senior person to be so open to mixing with everyone was something that we were not used to.

 

Shortly, things quietened down and the serious business of the week started. apparently, this Parsi gentleman was not part of the training per se, but was present there to start off and set the tone of the programme with an introductory speech.

 

What a start it was! He started with a flourish and the energy that he brought in was infectious. Moving all over the stage, speaking in clear precise tone, animatedly using his hands, his eyes and of course his moustache... he kept everyone captivated. There were comical parts some bordering on the lewd, and there were parts which appeared serious and to the point.

 

He spoke for about fifteen minutes and at the end of it all received a standing ovation - which he seemed to expect and enjoy. Only later did i realize that his entire speech was not even remotely connected to the subject at hand. The content of his speech was obscured by the brilliance of his presentation.

 

We wanted to know more about him and his role in the organization. We gathered that he was in a senior position but there was little clarity about what he was responsible for or what his area of expertise was. in fact, his colleagues seemed to know very little about him, though they all seemed to know him well.

 

However, the rest of the course was not remarkable but the top level of our management appeared sold on it. Being the traditional organization that we were, before committing fully, they wanted a summary presentation by the trainers to our top management team.

 

This was easily arranged and a week later the core group of trainers led by the Parsi gentleman arrived for the presentation.Our select group was also invited to be present and on the morning of the presentation, we saw a replay of the same scenes that we had witnessed in Bombay. The centre of attraction was once again the Parsi gentleman and everyone wanted a word with him. After the usual tea and introductions were over, people settled down.

 

The Parsi gentleman took the stage and started with his usual flourish. The audience was quickly captivated, but i was puzzled! It was as if I had been transported back in time to a few weeks earlier in Bombay. It was an exact replay of the act there. Not an inch of deviation, the sentences and the jokes were the same, the order was the same, even his movements were the same!

 

It was apparent that it was a well rehearsed act that he must have repeated hundreds of times. It was mechanical, boring and shallow. Not impressive at all and certainly not linked to the subject at hand.

 

It became apparent why everyone knew him, but knew very little about him. He was the court jester with one fixed act which he had performed over and over again. There was no connect, no relevance and certainly no spontaneity.

His appearance and his gift of the gab had been used by his organization again and again as a attention grabbing strategy.

 

His presence was an illusion that his company presented repeatedly to divert scrutiny from the content, but they made the mistake of presenting it to the same audience.....twice!

 

I rather felt sorry for him and the image that I hold of him is not one of an erudite, impressive speaker but that of one of the clockwork spring toys that starts beating its drums as soon as it is wound up.

 

Pity!