Landing in India this time was quite different from landing in India before. Since this time it is
permanent, we started looking at things more critically than ever before. I am
not sure if this is the right thing to do. Fortunately or unfortunately I have
come to a place where the systems and protocols are very much tangled in a
mess. I have been associated with govt. organizations before, but this one
appears like much different.
From USA, I have been sending documents from time to time
for signature, but did not know until I arrived here that they have actually
lost some of them!! Let alone sending it the right place. That is kind of
shocking. I was surprised to see that people are still dealing with papers and
files for procedures. Nothing works through email. You must make your presence
felt, stand there and actually literally walk along with your paper, so that it
moves from one place to another.
Here are few things that took me for surprise. I realized
there was no sitting place for me, there was no id created for me, there was no
email id and so on. What about computers? I must be kidding, that is even far
away… Who is supposed to do all that? Looks like me. I have to run around
between places and speak with the departments and make my case. For my
fellowship to be released, I need a piece of paper to be signed and sent to
DBT. But that will not happen until I go grab the paper, get it signed and send
it personally. I thought that was the job of the admin staff, but hey who
cares.
Something I saw yesterday, I think should be documented
here. There are a lot of admin staff sitting on the downstairs in a big hall.
Each of their tables are filled with files and and files. I was told that I
should have my medical card ( I am not sure if this is equivalent to a
insurance card). Then I asked a fellow scientist whom should I contact for
this. He gave me a name and a department. I went to that department only to
find that she is on leave. The I asked another fellow in that office about the
card. Then he gave me a conditional statement – Go to billing dept -> meet
Mr. X and if he is unable to do it then come back here. Okie Dokie, I went to the
billing department, met Mr. X and at 2.30 PM, he was having his lunch. He said
casually without even looking at me come after 4.30 PM. I obliged and went
again at 4.30 PM. This time he asks me if I were a permanent staff. To me
permanent has no meaning, no one is permanent, this term is actually obsolete.
In a govt. institute no one gets a permanent position before a years time and
people issue their cards much before they complete a year. So, in order to
simplify things, I said yes, I was permanent. Then, they say, they have
received no circular about it and feigned ignorance about my whole existence.
Then another guy from behind tells, she is Ramalingaswamy fellow. To that, the
lady sitting near by makes a ridiculing gesture and tells “you should not say you are
permanent, you should say you are a Ramalingaswamy fellow”. Well, I had to
brush her aside and asked that guy that we are entitled to all benefits, now he
takes out a thick note book and looks for names that were Ramalingaswamy
fellows and had health cards. Luckily that day I spoke to a R fellow and knew
about his joining date. Mr. X looked at the register for some time and coolly
said his name is not on the list. Then I had to tell him to look at year 2010
records. There you go, it was there. Then he reluctantly dragged his feet, got
up and went to the other side of the room opened an almirah overflowing with
papers and notebooks, pulled out a big form and handed it over to me. In these
last few days, I have mastered filling these forms, so not an issue for me…
Job Redundancy:
I think much of the problem stems from job redundancy. In
other words no one knows their responsibilities and boundaries. One job can be
performed by many people technically. So, that leads to passing on
responsibility from one desk to another. For my guest house stay extension, I
asked one of the section officers and in the end, I said I was not sure if that
was his responsibility. Then he tells, OK, you go to section X in room No Y
meet Mr. Z ask him for a letter. I was testing the water, so did not follow
what he said. Went to Director’s assistant and asked him, if he could draft a
letter and get it signed by the director and he said he would!! Well, now I
wonder why then it has to follow this circular route.
Another instance I faced today was about getting my R letter
signed by director and send it to DBT. The section officer emails me saying the
letter is ready please come and get it signed by director. I went down and
asked the concerned person and he says, we will get it signed, so don’t worry.
In the end of the day, just to check I went to that section only to find there
was a summit of all admin officials. They are having a gossip session. I asked
him if the letter was signed.
No comments:
Post a Comment