the busy bureaucrat

the busy bureaucrat

visited bhopal and since the stay was for two weeks, thought of achieving some success in our venture.

after the visit to ujain for a seminar, the programme was  for going to vallabh bhavan and get somethings done.  one of the aims was to plead for annual grants to iipa mp branch. last year, we did not get anything. rupees ons lakh was the the big big amount we asked for. what with twenty percent cut in first quarter, only rs. 80,000 was recommended. time passed and the second quarter of the year came up, another twenty percent cut and amount was reduced to  64,000. the file (and the papers) moved to and fro and second quarter also came to an end without the money changing hands. another twenty percent cut. the fourth quarter saw 24000 sanctioned. the date was march 28. academy which was supposed to pay it, said funds ae exhausted and so we drew up a blank.

the idea of this visit to start hunt for the elusive grant early before cuts come in. no utilisation certificate was needed because no money was received. and furthermore, this year we thought of starting at the topmost level. unfortunately the day we chose happened to be civil service day. a grand speech in the academy of administration which chief minister addressed. we missed the meeting and came to know of it  when we found the roads blocked for chief minister's travel to vallabh bhavan. we missed the grand speeches.

we had rung up the chief secretary  office requesting for time for a meeting. no response despite reminders. the chief secretary must have been awfully busy as civil service day must have clipped off two hours. we waited and reminded and waited again.

finally the call came from chief secretary office. so nice of him to find time for the meeting (even if might be for the next day). it did not turn out that way. the chief secretary would talk on the phone. (which was a great favour. i could not meet his predecessor or talk to her during her entire stay in the post. must have been awfully busy).

now it is difficult to explains things (as s aid above) on phone. so all that was said was that we received a grant  from government for the past several years (the amount varied from year to year) and got nothing last year. the response – which department looks after this. gad. ok, i will tell sanjay about it.

there was another point i wanted to explain to him (not related to iipa but iccfg). iccfg conducts training courses to further karmyogi yojana (karmchari to karmyogi) for various states. the chairman shri parbhat kumar had asked me to talk to chief secretary about it and persuade him to come in. he had written to him but there was no response.

the moment i said there was another point i want to talk about, the phone was cut. did not feel like calling him again, other things might have been on his mind apart from what some ex officer was interested in.

next day we wanted to meet sanjay, additional chief secretary. after some phone calls, we were told to come in the afternoon, which we did. gave our cards to the peon who informed that a meeting was going on. we waited in the waiting hall. the meeting went on and on. must have been some weighty subjects needing not minutes but hours. the cards, we presented, were not taken to the officer. only when meeting was over, these were handed over and we went in the chamber. the meting lasted three minutes (or was it four). it was obvious chief secretary had not spoken to him and we had to tell him what it was all about. we also presented a set of books which iipa branch published annually. no response to our request, in fact no comments.

there was another point to be discussed. some data for services guarantee law. iipa has been entrusted with this study and they have chosen five states including madhya praesh. it would be secondary data because government must be collecting it regularly. we had told undersecretary about it but naturally he would need nod from above. none was forthcoming and the meeting ended there. we talked to additional chief secretary about it but ggot no response.

not disheartened, we thought of talking to deputy secretary concerned but he would not attend to phone. sent a whatsapp message also. no response. not even read (which is indicted by whatsapp with blue ticks). he has another office also and does not come to vallabh bhavan, nor can the officers in vallabh bhavan be able to get him on phone. we did not either. but somehow we got through today ( the fourth day success).. busy in the forenoon, he wanted us to come in the afternoon. the pa promised to inform us of time. finally the call did come and we went.

that does not mean, we could meet him. no, sir. he had another meeting and rushed off by the time we were there. but he was kind enough to tell someone to talk to us. the person authorised to do  so, belonged to another office, had never anything to do with vallabh bhavan and the department from where the information could be collected. but it was great of him to give us a cup of tea, whether we could convey our message through him to deputy secreatary is, to say the least, doubtful.

but then we are optimists.

before i conclude let me talk about a positive thing. we met, in the office of grievances redressal department, an assistant, jagriti patel. she recognized me because she had attended a training course in panch gani, run by the above mentioned iccfg. i was the resource person for that training course and stayed all five days in panchgani.  she offered all possible assistance, stating that information should be availible. but then she would need a nod from higher ups as indeed the under secrary had also stipulated.

i think i will tell iipa headquarters that information would not be forthcoming.