I
owned a small plot in one of the villages adjoining Nagpur which I wished to
dispose off. After a little hunt, I found
a prospective buyer and all
was set for a deal to be struck. The buyer asked me to get a ‘no objection
certificate’ from the panchayat office of the village and this led me to the
gram panchayat. The office gave a deserted look at 11 AM. Having come 20 Kms, I
had no option but to wait. Till 12.30 no one turned up and this forced me to inquire. A villager directed me to the Sarpanch’s house which was close by and
on reaching I was told that the secretary will not be coming to office that
day. I made another trip the next day along with the prospective buyer and this
time I was wise enough to reach at 12 noon but the secretary was still at
large. However, we were fortunate to find the office clerk who prepares these
documents. He took my application and asked for Rs 1000/-. The manner in which
he asked, I initially thought it to be some kind of government fees but soon
enough the better sense struck me and I asked, “for what?” I was told, it is
processing charges and that it is a norm. Initially, I did not know how to
react but later I disclosed my identity, refused to follow the norm and
demanded to meet the Secretary whose whereabouts were not known to anyone.
Frustrated, I went to the Sarpanch’s house to be told that she is out of station. We decided
to come again the next day but in the evening, the prospective buyer who was
very keen in the deal called me to say that he does not require the NOC and the
next afternoon the deal was completed. I casually enquired as to why he did not
want the NOC to which he said he was scared that his relationship with the
panchayat may get spoiled because of my hard line position and that they may
harass him later when he builds his house on the plot and starts living. Hence,
he decided to pay the money and obtain the NOC based on my application later.
One
may think this to be a stray incident, but here is a sequel. I wanted the get
my house registered in the land records and hence approached the panchayat
office. As instructed, I completed all the documentation and was asked to come
after a month. After a month when I went back, my form was not traceable as the
clerk was on leave. The next two occasions the patwari was on leave and
finally, one fine day, I found both of them in office together. I thought this
was the day and as luck would have it, my application was traced, the patwari
was in good humour and did all that was required and promised to give the
certificate of registration after two days, after it is signed by the land
record officer who sits in the Tehsil office. After a couple of more trips, I
was lucky again to find the patwari who by mistake gave me the certificate
first and then demanded Rs 1000/- as processing charges. I first put the
certificate in my pocket, disclosed my identity and refused to pay. To my
pleasant surprise, the patwari disclosed his identity too, a retired Havaldar
of some Grenadiers. I was initially happy to meet an ex-comrade-in-arm and soon
enough expressed my displeasure on his corrupt practices. The later part of the episode was really
heart breaking.
He
gave me the mobile number of his land record officer and urged me to asked him
as to why Rs 1000/- is being charged. I called the number and the officer
promptly picked up the phone too and when he heard me asking him unpleasant
questions he made an excuse of being in the middle of a meeting and dropped the
phone. I tried on many other occasions but he never picked up the phone. The
ex-Havaldar went on to narrate the sordid tale. When he retired after 20 years
of service in the Army and qualified in the entrance exam to become patwari, he
was asked to pay 7 lakhs as bribe. There was no other way to get this job and
he has three daughters to be married. He paid most of what was left, after
constructing a modest house, from the retirement benefits he received for the
army as bribe to get this job. There are several patwaris in a tehsil and all
are given a yearly target, not the official kind and each tehsil officer has
his own target. Anyone who does not meet this target is on the hit list for
transfer to some godforsaken place and with three daughters studying at various
levels and after spending 20 years away from the family, he does not wish to be
kicked around. Being a psychologist, I could make out that he was speaking the
truth and was also a victim of cognitive dissonance. He went on to say, he
never felt as miserable in the Army even when he had to staying away from his
family for months as much as he feels now collecting bribes. He wished he could
continue in the Army forever.
I
always thought the government is wasting disciplined pool of ex-servicemen who
if employed in social upliftment programs of the GOI will be able to do a great
job and see to it that the benefits reach the target population. I changed my
view after listening to this story of how the nexus runs across the system from
top down and how wide spread it is. I wonder if any number of ex-servicemen and
any number of Anna Hazare can cleanse this rot. The sad part of serving in the
forces is that it insulates you so much from the realities of our society that
post retirement, which happens quite early for us, one finds it difficult to
accept the ways of the civil society and looses complete hope. At least, I have
lost it soon enough.
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