Getting a private ward sarkari style

A retired civil servant explains how officialese is used by bureaucrats to hold up files or to slow down casesjust to cover up their own laziness or non-performance.

By NC Mishra

I was a middle level central government officer working in New Delhi. My 18-year-old son Mahim was found to have a brain tumour and surgery was to be done at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. I applied for a private ward for him, which was allotted after a few days. I was asked to complete the formalities. This was necessary because even though my son was entitled to the benefits of the Central Government Health Scheme, specific permission was needed from the health ministry for allotment of a private ward for him.

The next morning, I went to the health ministry where I was given an application to fill. I was told that this application would have to be forwarded by my office to the ministry where it would be examined. If approved, my application would then be sent to the registration section for despatch. The whole procedure would take at least one week.

With the date for my son’s operation having already been decided, I was taken aback by the bureaucratic procedures that a simple application entailed. In an effort to speed things a bit, I got the application forwarded from my office by noon the same day and had it sent to a close friend, an IAS officer posted as a joint secretary, with the request that he find somebody from his batch or from his cadre to facilitate its approval.

Not aware of how the bureaucracy functioned, an apprehensive Mahim wondered whether the formalities would be completed on time. Much to the astonishment of my son, by about 3 pm the same day, the necessary permission was delivered by my friend’s aide.

I then explained to my son that for any such work, the concerned official first creates a file— literally putting all related paperwork into a file cover — work that takes less than a minute. This file cover is then assigned a number that is also entered into the department register — another 2-3 minutes. The file is then examined and a request form initialled by the section officer for forwarding it to the appropriate authority, who is his senior. This official also initials the file if everything is all right and approval can then be given. Thus, if all officials are on their seats and the paperwork is in order, the necessary permission can be given within 10 minutes.
Sometime later, I asked my IAS friend about who he had talked to get my case approved — his batch mate or an official from his state cadre. Actually it was neither. My friend’s personal assistant knew the personal assistant to the health secretary.

In the years following this incident, whenever any of my officers said ‘I am examining the case’, or ‘the case is being put up,’ I would narrate this incident and say that a case ‘being examined’ or being ‘put up’ was just another way of delaying a case for no valid reason. So, the next time you hear that a case is being processed, examined, or being put up, you can infer what exactly is happening.