Projects for jobs creation: role of Bureaucracy (in context of Bharat & in particular the UT of J&K): Lalit K Kaul

 

Projects for jobs creation: role of Bureaucracy (in context of Bharat & in particular the UT of J&K)

Lalit K Kaul

This is an attempt to analyze why generally there is an inordinate delay in the completion of projects and also does it imply any change in the work ethos if claims are made for early/in time completion of the same. Lastly, specific case of the UT of J&K is discussed, in regard to development plans as envisaged by the present NDA government.

There is a good old saying: Man proposes and God disposes. In our democratic country this saying is easily replaceable by: Planners propose and Bureaucrats dispose. Bureaucratic machinery has a large inertia leading to delays in the completion of the proposed projects causing heavy cost and time overrun; the only way to ensure timely completion of projects is to grease the machinery and the only lubricant that conforms to the standards of greasing is hard currency.  Be it cash or cashless transactions the greasing mechanism is so perfected that the mode of transactions does not matter.

How does the Lubricant flow:

If all the transactions are done in cash enabling payments that become due to various vendors that supply raw, semi finished and/or ready to use materials required for execution of a given project, the vendors are obliged, as per the agreement between the vendors and bureaucrats, to pay in cash a % of their earnings to the babus working in such departments as are associated with the same. The clerks, the officers, the engineers and the supervisors etc are assured of their cut and the local politicians also get their booty.

Even if monetary transactions may have been done via Account Payee cheques to claim transparency in the dealings, for public consumption; yet the flow of lubricant does not stop. This tradition of “give and take” continues unabated even in the times of e-commerce, e-tendering and transfer through NEFT RGTS etc, because post realization of the cheques and successful online transfer, cuts/commissions are paid to where these belong.

How is this flow of Lubricant always assured?

At the tendering stage itself the prospective vendors are aware of the cuts/commissions to be paid to the powers that be and, therefore, every bidder includes these in their financial bids. This leads to escalation of project costs, but no project can get started unless the cuts have been finalized and the burden is shared by the tax payer.

This disease has spread so much that it has infected even the educational institutions. For example, the private institutions’ management directly transfers the salary in to the bank account of its faculty conforming to the norms as set by the regulating authorities and so the records remain neat for any external auditor to audit their accounts; yet the faculty is required to pay back (deposit) a % of their salary –as directly transferred to their bank accounts- at the cash counter of the institutions’ finance department. The faculties dare not dissent for the fear of losing their jobs. It may be noted that all these institutions are run by very highly “influential” people.

The managements of these institutions employed very intelligent way of converting their black money in to white by asking each of their employees to deposit cash given by the management – as an advance salary for 2 to 3 months- in their respective bank accounts; after demonetization of currency of higher denomination was announced by the PM, Sri Narendra Modi.

The Source of this Cancerous Disease: 

Funding of the political parties is the prime reason for it. Be it a public or private sector; the real estate and the construction sector etc, all are to contribute to the coffers of various political parties, the quantum of contribution depending upon their chances of winning a State and/or Parliamentary elections. If the contributions don’t come, the politicians can’t sustain their respective political outfits.

The deal is that the budgetary allocations would be done in a manner to benefit the donors so that they may recover their amounts. That’s the reason one finds the Finance Minister meeting with the organizations like FICCI and ASSOCHAM before formulating the National budget. Never has it so happened that the Finance Minister met with Farmers’ leaders/community, the weavers, the art and craftsmen, the artisans etc to know their requirements that may be fulfilled through budget allocations.

Timely/Early Completion Claim:

Of late the central government has been claiming timely/early/fast completion of projects for economic development and jobs creation. It may not be disputable, but it does not mean that lubricants have been done away with; on the contrary what it implies that the cuts/commissions have been standardized to avoid stagnation of projects. For the reason that as long as party democracy thrives, corruption can’t be done away with because no inflow of unaccounted money is a sure death knell for the political parties.

The Art of Sensationalizing:

While the system of economic development and predefined returns to the powers that be runs like a well oiled/greased machinery, suddenly one finds multiple raids being conducted at multiple places by the IT and ED to unearth “unaccounted for wealth” accumulated by the bureaucrats, the politicians, the artists, the builders/developers/contractors etc. This is dramatizing an act that could have been easily avoided had the concerned agencies been on vigil 24x7x365 and pre empted any illegal act.

The fact of it is that all the concerned agencies look the other way, if not be a party to the whole business of loot and plunder, while all make hay while the Sun shines. The dishonest business is done very honestly transcending all divisions of cast, creed, colour, gender and religion. The problem comes up when there is a default in an expected payment and/or the committed amount is not duly received. In such a situation, the multifarious agencies are activated – on a tip off the gullible are told - to put the concerned individual/”accused” in his/her place and the activity is proclaimed as anti corruption drive. “Nobody will be spared” thus goes the uproar and then the gullible find the accused roaming on permanent bail! The reason: the dues were settled while the “anti corruption” drive was on.

The UT of J&K as a Special Case:

The “Crown” has an undisputed special place and is held in highest esteem and therefore does not get questioned unless the scandal is too embarrassing to be hidden. The special status afforded many liberties to the loot and plunder mafia as there was not to be any accountability.

The UT of J&K has a bigger problem at hand insofar as timely completion of development projects is concerned. The mechanism that ensures seamless flow of the lubricant is no different from that adopted in rest of the country, but there is an additional attribute of the bureaucracy in J&K.

The J&K bureaucracy has political affiliations and is politicized:

While the system of finalizing % cuts/commissions is fool proof and therefore may not be as much a delaying factor as bureaucrats’ covert political affiliations. The GOI plans - to counter insurgency inclinations amongst a section of the society in the UT of J&K by flooding the UT with investments leading to infrastructural/industrial developments leading to opening up of tremendous job opportunities for the educated youth - may be impeded, if not thwarted, by the bureaucrat- politicians combine who contribute to the political ideology of cessation from the Indian Union.

The politicians have already let loose the ghost of demographic change leading to targeted killings; this is surest way to discourage outside investments in the Valley while it may happen in Jammu region and Ladakh.

It can be nobody’s thesis that in the past 75 years no, or insignificant, infrastructural development took place in Kashmir. That the face of the valley has changed due to infrastructural development undertaken by the successive central governments even while the erstwhile State faced most turbulent times, it is for all to see with their naked eye.

The investments to be made by UAE in the UT are surely going to see unprecedented increase in job opportunities and increase prosperity levels in the region. While the GOI may try hard to realize their envisaged plans, the politico-bureaucracy combine that professes cessation is not an easily dispensable political force. The fossil political leadership which succeeded in dehumanizing and traumatizing the Kashmiri society will have to be politically isolated and the bureaucrats sympathetic to them identified to be posted at innocuous positions insofar as shouldering and discharging of responsibilities is concerned.

The isolation of such combine that is inimical to the very concept of India is going to be a long drawn process and if that has to be hastened then the forces that are politically aligned with India will have to play a very crucial and important role.

The Importance of Grass Root level Leadership:  

The immediate requirement of people has been 1) fulfillment of their day to day needs, 2) search for avenues that enhances their income and hence the physical comforts in life, 3) good educational institutions for their children to study, 4) good health care facilities and 5) job opportunities for their educated generation next.

The corruption that prevails in the government offices and that deliberately delays implementation of welfare and economic development schemes can be reduced substantially over a period of time only if the grass root level leadership takes up peoples’ issues with the politicians and bureaucrats and persuade them to ensure completion of various schemes in time. There is bound to be peoples’ support if the issues raised are for their well being.

The grass root level leadership may run a campaign for public audit of the funds supposed to have been spent on various public schemes; they may ask for the presence of a peoples’ representative in a decision making body that allocates funds for various projects in the UT as also in the monitoring committee that monitors inflow and outflow of funds assigned to a project.

If at every level – village, block and district- the Sarpanch/Panchs, the BDC and the DDC get involved in monitoring the progress of projects in their respective areas; the corresponding allocation of funds and their use/misuse; it is bound to make bureaucracy work for the benefit of the people and not that of their pockets.

The active involvement of the grass root level leadership in day to day affairs of governance is bound to neutralize such politico-bureaucratic nexus that opposes unification of the UT with Indian Union because the initiative would have shifted to peoples’ hands and peoples’ empowerment is the only force capable of facing any challenge.