Recently, a controversy has been kindled over the system of orderlies in the police department, in which officials recruited through the constitutional body, the Public Service Commission, have to do menial jobs in households of senior officials, who are also public servants. This is alien to a democratic society, but is the hard reality. The steel frame of bureaucracy is a colonial relic, willingly taken over by independent India, considering it as essential for an orderly functioning of administration, but not administrators functioning with orderlies. It is hard to believe that the elected leadership has been oblivious to this. It is a mutually feeding practice. Feudal order thrives in the best possible shell of bureaucracy, which is a part of a republican constitution.
Paraphernalia and camp followers add glory to the undemocratic hierarchy. Hierarchy in the state is something which Mahatma Gandhi detested and he was in favour of power structure in concentric circles. Feudal perks are taken for granted and any resistance to that is taken as punishable insubordination. We are a fast developing democracy. Twenty two years ago, the morning news bulletin of All India Radio brought the news that Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme was shot dead while walking back home with his wife after watching a late night movie. We do hear about political leaders walking around and cycling from many parts of the world.
The unwritten rule in our bureaucracy is that one should not carry one's own bag or even a file. 'Protocol' demands are made on field officers, who naturally would have to indulge in less than ethical practices to meet these demands. Purchase and hotel bills would have to be footed. Vehicles will have to be arranged for free. All these are done under threat of pain of disturbances, at professional and personal level. If the loot is the tax, protocol is the surcharge on that.
In India, the moment a person becomes a part of administrative setup, her/his hands would not move to open the door of the car, lift a bag or for holding an umbrella, even though medical fitness is a condition for recruitment to the bureaucracy. Paying bill for services is considered infra dig and this is nomenclature as 'protocol' work of junior officials. Till date this has been a rampant practice. Protocol is considered as their birthright by many senior officials. They live in an eighteenth century glass cage, without realising that times have changed. There are of course exceptions to the rule.
Pandit Nehru could carry sheafs of paper and walk to Parliament. Many today need at least three attendants; one to carry the file, another for the mobile and a third for the charger. But the large number of conformists to the rule is frightening. Some officials even physically torture juniors. Do we need a system like this? If this cannot be reformed, can we abolish this and look for alternatives?
The hypothesis that 'There is No Alternative' (TINA) is not acceptable. Nothing remains in vacuum. Rot needs to be removed for something better to come in. Stern steps are necessary. But we need clean hands to do this. Fewer such hands, the more difficult the job is. One incident has opened up a can of worms. More incidents need to come to light as sunlight is the best disinfectant. Kerala takes pride that it is a society which has abolished feudalism. The tendency of re-feudalisation is rearing its ugly head in the realm of public service. We cannot afford to have the exorcised ghosts coming back and finding a place in our society. Those who try to turn the clock back, need to be turned away through legal means. This is expected in a swift and decisive way from our leadership.
PSC to recruit camp followers
The state government has decided to recruit camp followers in the police department through the Public Service Commission. The long pending demand for PSC recruitment for camp followers has been approved by the government in the backdrop of the ongoing controversies over IPS officers forcing camp followers to do their household jobs. They would be posted in the last grade category, said sources. At present about 1,200 camp followers are working in the state. They are supposed to be working at police camps for jobs like cooking, cleaning and hair cutting. All of them were recruited through employment exchanges.
There were widespread allegations of irregularities in the appointments. Many IPS officers were allegedly forcing the camp followers to do their household activities, including cooking and taking care of their pets. Owing to the temporary nature of their jobs, the camp-followers were also forced to oblige to the unlawful orders of the bosses fearing job loss. Sources said that though the previous LDF government decided to make camp follower appointment through the PSC, it was not implemented as the rules were not framed.
Though the plight of camp followers had been an open secret, it gathered much attention subsequent to the recent assault of a police driver, A. Gavaskar, by the daughter of ADGP Sudhesh Kumar. A series of instances of IPS officers making civil police officers and camp followers do their purely homely duties had surfaced subsequent to this. Even wives of camp followers had come in the open couple of years ago against the exploitation faced by their husbands.
