Reading this article by Amit Ahuja, in which he describes interactions with the governmental bureacracy as transactions where the “government official involved establishes himself not as a service provider but rather as a dispenser of favours“, one is filled with acute hatred for the ubiquitous, corrupt babu and the venal politicians that make this possible. Says Ahuja of the damage to ordinary citizens :

“bribery robs citizens of not one but two things: cash and dignity. By submitting to an official’s demands and grovelling before him, one is humiliated and loses one’s own self-worth. “

The Indian bureaucracy is notorious for rampant corruption. According to Transparency International , even “Below Poverty Line households paid an astonishing Rs 223 crore in bribes to attain access to a set of basic public services like hospitals, schooling, and water.” Keeping in mind that the entire corrupt system rests firmly on the self-serving shoulders of elected representatives such as the MPs and MLAs, it makes the “extraction” of respect for them a ludicrous idea – but that is what the Rajasthan government wants :

Stand up and be respectful ! it says. Not to the common man ofcourse – he deserves to be trodden upon; this “respectful” treatment is reserved only for the neighborhood corrupt criminal politician. It has issued a diktat to all its employees, making it mandatory for them to stand up and greet visiting MPs or MLAs.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s government says that what the government employees are being asked to do is nothing new, but just a part of the Indian culture. How nice (and such ingenuity !) that the Indian culture we don’t see a shred of in government offices these days, can be used at will, by politicians to force (unwilling) respect out of lower officials ! When they swear in these elected officials, they might as well ask them to specify how they like their officials : pliant, malleable or just plain servile ?

Only in India do public servants, those glorious “elected officials”, reserve for themselves the antiquated tags of “VIP” – “Very Important Person”. Everywhere you go, from toll-booths on the highway to airports, VIPs demand special treatment. And what makes them VIPs ? Mostly, getting elected. You might be a criminal, have very sparse knowledge about your great land, and even lesser of your governmental duties, but you are a “VIP” because you are an elected representative. But apparently the VIPs of Rajasthan are not satisfied with their ration of importance; they want more. Thus orders for recieving respect have been issued in writing.

Among other things, according to an article in India Today, government employess aka babus have been asked to :

– stand up not just when an elected representative arrives at their office but also when he leaves
– if there is any change in a prior appointment with an elected representative, the officer concerned needs to promptly intimate the former
– if an elected leader reaches an officer’s office without any appointment, the latter should call them in immediately after meeting those who had come after fixing an appointment
– invite local representatives to all the official functions organised in the area he represents, and reserve the seat for him until the end of the function.
– not ignore telephone calls of an elected representative
– acknowledge an elected representative’s letters and act upon them. If that is not possible, properly explain to them why not.

Of course none of the above facilities are available for the common man or the aam junta. They can just wear out their chappals running from pillar to post at government offices, without being served with even basic courtesy. Gehlot and his government might do well to remember that Indian culture asks you to be respectful to all people including the citizens that elected you in the first place! He also forgets that respect is not extracted, it is earned. And if his MPs or MLAs were indeed doing their people any good, people and officials would stand up and respect them without there being a need for official diktats.