It was an unusual first task for the man charged with providing unique identification cards (or is it just numbers now?) to all Indians, but the news photograph of Nandan Nilekani reaching to remove a towel from his office chair (The Indian Express, July 24) was an amusing and important reminder of the quirks of government office, literal and metaphorical. How many offices outside the government have nicely upholstered, probably leather, chairs covered with white towels, or as in Nilekani?s case, a rather more colourful towel? Probably none. But then, it isn?t very often that you find piles of files, held together by the now proverbial red tape, filling up the entire desk space of senior executives in the private sector. The inbox and outbox have replaced the in-tray and out-tray everywhere, but not in government offices. Governments have computers, of course, and many of the computers work. But you can?t e-mail a decision. You sign the file, the peon logs in the departure of the file from you, the recipient accepts the file, the peon logs in the acceptance. Then, and only then, will a decision be taken on whether or not your decision should be looked at. So, yes, Nandan Nilekani may have to get used to the quirky and unique operational style of the venerable government of India.
Nilekani, who has reportedly said he doesn?t want a red beacon on his official Ambassador, is unlikely to be too impressed by other trappings of sarkari power. But it is time the government starts thinking about them?this is the 21st century and a bit of time has passed since the sahibs left us on our own. But we still allocate several dozens of sprawling bungalows in Lutyen?s Delhi at virtually no cost to any number of sarkari people, ministers downwards. There?s still a small army of personal staff attached to every big babu. The government, unlike the corporate sector, doesn?t have to think about productivity and cost savings. Assistants and peons continue to be a key part of governance. And they are all just a ring away?Cabinet ministers usually have an old-fashioned, manual, desk bell to summon staff. What about the red-green light system outside VIP rooms? Red means the sahib is in a meeting, the visitor must wait even longer than he already has; green means the sahib is ready to meet visitors, but better to check with the peon first. Nilekani?s likely battles with the bureaucracy will be about bigger issues. But for the government, these are not small issues. Changing them will mean the government is finally catching up with the country, which is changing.
