Perils of Babudom

One of things you can do to understand why India's goverment is still stuck in a timewarp of its own creation is to try getting a passport. Or renewing it for that matter. Trust me, its a pain in all the wrong places. Other ways to find out how bizzare the so called "System" works is to try getting a driver's license, or any kind of transaction at corporation/state/central goverment level.

Coming back to the passport, the place which is in-charge of anything to do with your passport is called "Shastri Bhavan". Its a building which is a throwback to the 60s with those old fans, desks arranged haphazardly & tons of files with weird numbers all over them. Imagine the change management that goes in for such a place. A newbie would take months if not years to get accustomed to working in such an office. What with files (actual papers stacked) with names like "TNG09/11W/08A/87654". The 87654 being a series. I would go mad in trying to figure out the system.

So, its no wonder the government employees basically take their work very lightly. Trying to find out which file to refer to is a task in itself. My passport has this unfortunate thing of having a "B" instead of a "K" in my address. From March 08, all passport applications regarding change in address/name/spouse name inclusion come under a behemoth called "Form 1". "Form 2" is another mammoth that deals with ECNR stamping, observations & miscellaneous stuff. So to change 1 letter in my address, the new "System" is to actually apply for a new passport. The only people who know this info (since 4 months is 'new process' for many folks) seem to be the ones manning the "MAY I HELP YOU" counter.

The MIHY counter does everything but help you. A steady stream of 100 people crowds this line starting at 3 AM every morning. People coming from far off, people who've gone through the rigors once to understand they have to come early next time and then there are newbies like me. I reached the office by 7.45 AM, to find 200 people in the MIHY counter. After 3 hours of waiting in the sweltering heat of Chennai, I finally got my chance. I told the man "Sir, I have a small correction of address" and pointed out how the ignorant guy who filled up my passport in the first place, replaced as B for a K. "Sir, you have to register online. NEXT!!". I was enraged. "Thats it? Register online? Whaaa?". "Sir, online registraion is must. Otherwise, you can wait in the 2nd counter. But I think he has stopped accepting applications now". I turned to the 2nd counter, 200 people were still in the queue. This was a snake like line running parallel to the MIHY queue. And the first counter guy said "I think he has stopped accepting" so loud that I'm sure even if I tried jumping the queue and moving into the 2nd counter, I would be out of luck. 2 hours of filling out the form, 1 day of leave, 3 hours of standing in a useless queue, all down the drain for just 1 line of information. "Register online". If I had known that was what was to be done beforehand, I would've done it. I did not go through any agents to live up to the notice advising so in the website. “Please do not encourage middle-men/ agents”. But my mails to RPO went unreturned. My calls were never answered. And after I had done everything myself, I left the place with frustration writ large on my exhausted face.

After that, I took the easy way out. I spoke to a travel agent who said they will do everything up to fixing an appointment & preparing necessary documents for a fee of Rs.300. By 1.30 PM, I had a fixed schedule of what I had to do. All this for a fee of Rs.300. Its not rocket science you know. If the passport website gives the specifics, I would not have had to go through the whole incident. I came home & my dad was giving me a resigned look. "Navin, this is India. This is how things work. You need patience to survive". I gave him a very cold look & said "I understand".

The babus of India, had their say. The same guys who stood there smoking at 9.45 AM while 200 people waited in a line for them to open a counter which was supposed to be open by 9.30 AM. The same guys who promptly work only upto 12.30 PM although their day starts only by 10.30 AM. The same guys who had union posters plastered all over Shastri Bhavan, playing petty politics & indulging in name calling against their own government. The same guys, who I hold responsible for why India continues to inch towards growth while their counterparts in China leaped towards prosperity in no-time. It is then I realized, "This is a government within a government". The peril of being a citizen & expecting a functional apparatus to make life easier for people was laid bare to me yesterday. Unfortunately, it will remain so for a long time to come.