Today I experienced first hand the dire inefficiency of Government and the experience gave me increased appreciation of a few aspects.
First the glaring examples of poor service. I was issued a bogus petition by our beloved IT department, the response to which apparently can only be submitted 'by hand' (it is amazing that we live in the world of 4G mobile broadband and the best we can do is this amazing concept of 'by hand'). So I went 20 odd kilometers to the income tax office, situated in such a lane where parking your car means no one else can pass through! And they will not accept my response because everyone is sitting outside accepting IT returns, from everyone who forgot that 31st was the lat date for submissions, 'by hand' - to all those 'by hand'ers, "Please submit online, the facility is available and makes for lesser waste of time of sheer stupidity." My query to the Income Tax office, "if you had time to goof up and send me bogus queries, you should have the time and resources to accept a response; it is the least service you can offer for the tax money that you collect and live off of."
Then I needed to notarize some official documents (I assure you that the whole process of notarization is the government's conspiracy to generate pointless employment for the idiots who study law and cannot actually apply intellect to make an honest living!). After an unreasonable fee, 40 rupees for parking and a 1.5 hour lunch, I was able to get my notarization. The advocate convinced me that lunch was quintessential and my needs are secondary since he needs a typist who is out at lunch (The guy needs a typist to print out a Word Document from a USB Pen Drive)! The idiot is sitting and stamping and signing but he will not type his own stuff!
The shameless dude was even attesting documents as True Copies without originals (of course without originals it would cost twice as much). He made about Rs. 500 in the 20 minutes I waited for him to turn his attention to my documents. Conveniently located just outside the Passport office and close to Symbiosis at the Patrakar Nagar crossing, Advocate Kale is making a killing; and doing a service. I say, doing a service since he is probably the only one who, for a little extra money will attest whatever you want him to! It makes one wonder what the point of it all is, doesn't it?
Now to what I've come to appreciate. I am in awe of the fact that India is progressing at all from one day to the next! How we make any progress with the burden of such massive inefficiency, corruption and crookedness is something that has been haunting my mind for the last 2 hours. I am forced to conclude that there must be some very efficient people somewhere (the honest and efficient ones you never see out in the open, never) pushing us ahead! My sincerest gratitude to these true patriots...
I started with attorneys (advertised on multiple sites, no less) who had their shops shut (at 11 AM) and "9 AM to 6 PM" printed on their shutters, went to one attorney who told me that she there was something lacking in my documents and then to another who did what needed to be done for Rs. 500. This brings me to the second wonder as to how a simple process like notarization can have altering meaning, depending on the level of greed you are willing to satisfy. What is the bloody point of the process if the sanctity of it is as fungible?
First the glaring examples of poor service. I was issued a bogus petition by our beloved IT department, the response to which apparently can only be submitted 'by hand' (it is amazing that we live in the world of 4G mobile broadband and the best we can do is this amazing concept of 'by hand'). So I went 20 odd kilometers to the income tax office, situated in such a lane where parking your car means no one else can pass through! And they will not accept my response because everyone is sitting outside accepting IT returns, from everyone who forgot that 31st was the lat date for submissions, 'by hand' - to all those 'by hand'ers, "Please submit online, the facility is available and makes for lesser waste of time of sheer stupidity." My query to the Income Tax office, "if you had time to goof up and send me bogus queries, you should have the time and resources to accept a response; it is the least service you can offer for the tax money that you collect and live off of."
Then I needed to notarize some official documents (I assure you that the whole process of notarization is the government's conspiracy to generate pointless employment for the idiots who study law and cannot actually apply intellect to make an honest living!). After an unreasonable fee, 40 rupees for parking and a 1.5 hour lunch, I was able to get my notarization. The advocate convinced me that lunch was quintessential and my needs are secondary since he needs a typist who is out at lunch (The guy needs a typist to print out a Word Document from a USB Pen Drive)! The idiot is sitting and stamping and signing but he will not type his own stuff!
The shameless dude was even attesting documents as True Copies without originals (of course without originals it would cost twice as much). He made about Rs. 500 in the 20 minutes I waited for him to turn his attention to my documents. Conveniently located just outside the Passport office and close to Symbiosis at the Patrakar Nagar crossing, Advocate Kale is making a killing; and doing a service. I say, doing a service since he is probably the only one who, for a little extra money will attest whatever you want him to! It makes one wonder what the point of it all is, doesn't it?
Now to what I've come to appreciate. I am in awe of the fact that India is progressing at all from one day to the next! How we make any progress with the burden of such massive inefficiency, corruption and crookedness is something that has been haunting my mind for the last 2 hours. I am forced to conclude that there must be some very efficient people somewhere (the honest and efficient ones you never see out in the open, never) pushing us ahead! My sincerest gratitude to these true patriots...
I started with attorneys (advertised on multiple sites, no less) who had their shops shut (at 11 AM) and "9 AM to 6 PM" printed on their shutters, went to one attorney who told me that she there was something lacking in my documents and then to another who did what needed to be done for Rs. 500. This brings me to the second wonder as to how a simple process like notarization can have altering meaning, depending on the level of greed you are willing to satisfy. What is the bloody point of the process if the sanctity of it is as fungible?
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