Paisa!

Do we as citizens of India have it in us to abolish corruption & bribery? Do we even stand a chance? If even 5% of India's population stands up for this cause, are we going to achieve anything? Or is this a lost cause? Will corruption and bribery be considered part & parcel of day-to-day activities? Or does it occur in every corner of the globe? Well, it most certainly does. And what can be done about it?

To the best of my knowledge, I have not taken part in any bribery or corruption. But, if you consider promising a certain someone's brother a bunch of chocolates if he would be kind enough to divulge his sister's mobile number, then I am guilty!! There have been a sudden surge of such incidents (not the chocolate bribing thing!!) in front of my eyes over the past few weeks, which prompted me to post this.

My passport is due for renewal pretty soon and with a valid visa in it, I was forced to go and apply for a fresh one in person. I was genuinely surprised that there was an online registration process for it & it quite neatly asked me to appear on a certain date with all the relevant documents at 11 am in the morning. So, armed with the necessary stuff, I found myself at the Regional Passport Office to find a queue much longer than I expected. I found myself a spot in the line after a lot of jostling & placed myself between an aged person who was appearing to submit documents on his daughter's behalf & a college student. I found out from both of them that they had appointments for 10.30 in the morning & it was way past 11 by then! The security person who is actually supposed to ensure that people don't jump lines or places was taking a bribe of 100 rupees for pushing you forward! I was quite irritated at this & voiced my opinion to the officers there & found myself pushed or rather shoved to the back of the line! So much for bravado!

It took me 3 hours to get my application processed & by that time I found myself a couple of good friends! Rebels with a similar cause, we started to have long , loud conversations about corruption & bribery and the modern marvel of mobile photography! It did get the attention of the officials there & if I am to believe the handful of agents there, my application would be put through intense scrutiny & rejected at least a couple of times! Good for me! At least I'll get to stay a few more weeks in India!!

Next stop, IIT. It has a reputation that precedes itself and produces some of the greatest minds in India. But little did I know it also had the most conniving bunch of professors & support staff who were quite adept at making a quick buck! My company has a joint venture with IIT for research & testing. We get to use their labs & they get to use our organization for projects & internships. So I recently took a product for testing & at the end of the whole jig, I was summoned to the professor's chambers and told that I was supposed to pay the support staff for their part in the testing. I was quite shocked at this & told that I was willing to pay as much as they wanted if they could provide me with a receipt for it. After 15 minutes of highly intense argument, I finally managed to wriggle myself out of there! And going out, I was stopped at the Security gate & asked to provide money for the invaluable security they provided to me and my company's asset during our stay there. I refused again & was informed that I wouldn't be allowed to take the equipment out through the gates! I quite politely informed the guards that I was quite willing & capable of sitting at the gate for as long as they wanted. They finally succumbed to my antics after a good 45 minutes and was allowed to pass through. Did I succeed in stopping an act of bribery? Yes. Bit at the cost of me being a marked man in the famous by lanes of IIT. I am not safe there anymore.

Next stop, Hyderabad. Central Power Research Institute of India is a Government owned research institute that has world wide recognition for the services they offer in the field of testing and certification of high voltage equipment. And the story was no different. I was asked to shell out close to 3000 rupees as "appreciation" money for the work the employees of CPRI. I refused again & am pretty sure I am a marked man there too. Wonder what their response will be the next time I go there.

We spend close to 2 crores every year on testing and certification & a good chunk of this money goes to Government owned institutions. Take into account that at least 3 of my company's competitors test on a regular basis, there is plenty of money that these institutions get. Where does it go? If the employees are paid on a good scale, will they resort to asking for bribes? Maybe, but as long as the money is not invested in the right places, we will get innovative usage of available equipment. For example, see the pic below :D