Streamlining Procedures

 

                     Streamlining Procedures

With the valley in deep turmoil, we did our best not only to adjust the current staff outside the valley so that no one is left without a means of livelihood, but also to transfer the pensions of affected pensioners to their current locations. This would mean a lengthy procedure that could take a month or so, and the pensioners would be distraught under such conditions. So, I issued blanket orders that all pensions of Kashmiri Pandits should be transferred to Jammu and pursued with the three head offices in Kashmir. Kashmiri Pandits, as is well known, raise a hue and cry over even minor things. A few pensioners who had not migrated were represented by their unions regarding the non-payment of their pensions. I asked all three HOs to collect the particulars of pensioners who had stayed back, numbering no more than ten, and to have their pensions transferred immediately to the respective offices. The accounts received in Jammu were transferred to Udhampur and Kathua Head Offices, as required. 

The next step was to help the public at large immediately access the amounts they had saved in the post offices in the valley in the shape of savings, recurring and fixed deposits, as well as savings certificates. The problem was how to get such accounts transferred expeditiously, despite an acute shortage of staff in the valley. I was shocked to learn that the migrant officials deputed in batches to the valley were collecting migrants' passbooks to expedite their transfer, charging Rs 100/- per passbook as their commission. This was done in collusion with local postmasters. It was apparent that they had forgotten their own suffering. I immediately created a ‘Migrant Cell’ in my office, headed by A K Bindroo, an honest and trustworthy official and issued orders that no account will hereafter be received or transferred directly to any post office. From then on, all accounts were routed through the ‘Migrant Cell’. This helped monitor dispatch and receipt and prevent corruption.  I was also told that the transfer of accounts was wilfully delayed by some offices in the valley. I spoke with the concerned Head Postmasters and received positive responses from the HPOs of Anantnag and Baramulla. Srinagar HO did not give a positive response. Unfortunately, most of the accounts pertained to Habbakadal SO in Srinagar, and the SPM posted there, Mr Shodda, had nursed a grudge against Kashmiri Pandits because some of his KP bosses had troubled him in the past. The SO was working on one of the counters in Srinagar HO. I flew to Srinagar and caught hold of him. I warned him to transfer all the pending accounts within ten days, failing which he would be transferred to Jammu and made to do the needful in the scorching heat there. This warning worked. Fortunately, I had very cordial relations with all communities during my career; therefore, he took my advice seriously and began transferring the accounts without delay. The accounts were transferred expeditiously, mitigating the sufferings of the migrants. 

In the meantime, a bigger problem was reported to me. People were asking for the maturity amounts of the savings certificates they possessed. According to the rules, such certificates were required to be verified from the offices of issue to prevent any fraud or mischief. This created a bottleneck. Some local postmasters took risks and paid the maturity amounts on their own without any verification from the office of issue. They were reportedly charging a commission as a percentage of the maturity amount. In yet another incident, my wife went to a refugee settlement camp to visit a relative. They were scheduled to perform their daughter's wedding in a fortnight. A migrant official going to Srinagar had promised them immediate payment of the amount, provided a 10% commission on the maturity amount was paid to him, which, as he said, he had to share with others. In yet another case, it was reported to me that a lady had approached the Head Postmaster of Jammu HO to inquire about the maturity amount of her savings certificates. He informed her about the procedure involved and asked her to apply with photocopies of the certificates. After the verification was received, she would get the amount, which could take roughly 1-2 months. She begged him, saying that she and her small children had nothing to eat or wear. Looking at the stony silence of the postmaster, she tore her blouse in front of him and offered her body for sale. These incidents struck me like arrows. I immediately contacted the Director, Savings Bank, in the Directorate, Late Raghav Lal, and asked him to allow us to encash such certificates without prior verification. He asked me, “Who will sign the payments?” I replied, “I shall do it myself”. Suddenly, it dawned upon me that it would be a huge responsibility that I would be undertaking. An inner voice guided me, and I told Raghav Lal that, since it is an ad hoc measure to meet the urgent needs of migrant depositors, let us limit the total withdrawal per individual to Rs 20,000/-. That worked. The next day, the Directorate issued orders that were circulated to all dependent offices. As a result, the migrants queued up in my office to seek payment. For this job, too, I had kept some officials known for their integrity. I must have issued orders totalling more than 4 crores during my tenure in office. No fraud or corrupt practice was noticed except for one. In that particular case, it was a postmaster who had worked in Srinagar and retired a long time ago. He accompanied the clerk concerned. I read the name on the certificate, which had the surname Razdan, while the person standing in front of me had Koul as his surname. I asked, “I remember you were working in Naseem Bagh PO, and your surname is Koul, not Razdan." He blabbered and put forward an alibi: “Sir, yes, he is a relative of mine and is currently bedridden in Delhi. That is why I have come to represent him.” 

“Sorry, I cannot permit it; he can present it in Delhi itself.”

“Sir, this is in a joint account with his wife.”

“Then produce the joint account holder.”

“Sir, she too is in Delhi.”

I suspected some foul play. Since he had been a postmaster, I thought he might have stolen an investor's certificate. I got furious. Now that he was a public man, I couldn’t do him any harm, but I threw the entire file, almost 400 pages, at the concerned postal assistant and shouted at him. Further, I called the staff clerk and asked him to transfer this fellow to Udhampur immediately. Whether he had done it on purpose or not, I couldn’t verify. He was otherwise a well-educated person with a PhD in Sanskrit and was not known for any misconduct in the past. Subsequently, many staff members came and pleaded on his behalf, so I revised my orders and posted him to another branch in my office, with no monetary involvement. I would often come out of my office to check on the assistants posted in the migrant cell to ensure they did not indulge in corrupt practices, especially by using my name. 

Some mischief was also committed by a few staff members who were temporarily provided shelter in vacant government accommodation in Jammu, Udhampur, etc., on an ad hoc basis, with the condition that they would shift as soon as possible. After some time, it was noticed that there was a likelihood of such people losing their HRA on account of occupying government accommodation, howsoever uninhabitable it might be. I asked all the occupants to find alternative rented accommodation immediately, but a few of them resisted, and it took me considerable time to persuade them to vacate the said accommodation.

Yet another unresolved problem was the adjustment of Extra-departmental Agents (EDAs), now redesignated as Gram Dak Sewaks. The EDAs used to assemble in front of our office every day and raise slogans. I, in turn, would inform the Directorate and the PMG of the developments, as I had no power to negotiate with them. DDG Establishment, K Diesh, came to Jammu, and so did the PMG, N D Dayal. Surprisingly, K L Moza, erstwhile SPM of S R Gunj PO, Srinagar, on deputation as General Secretary of the National Federation of Postal Unions, Delhi at that time, also reached Jammu. All of them discussed the matter in the inspection quarters over drinks and dinner. I heard Diesh prompting Moza to persuade the leader of EDAs to call off the protest. Moza came to the venue the next day and directed the EDA leader to call off the strike. The leader wisely asked for some time to think and consult the protestors. He quietly came to my office to consult me, knowing fully well how I had been helping the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandit migrants. He had high expectations of me, but my problem was that I could neither say ‘Yes’ nor ‘No’ as a responsible officer. All I did was remind him of the Kashmiri Pandit agitation of 1967, in which the KP leaders informed the agitating public that they had reached an understanding with the Sadiq Government and that their demands were settled. Papers signed by the private secretary of D P Dhar, and not the Minister himself, were flaunted from the stage. The people believed them. Once the agitation was over, no fruitful results ensued. The leader of EDAs got the cue. I told him that since he had come to my room, it would tarnish my image as an officer, so I advised him not to go back the same way he had come but to take a route through the railway station and spend a few minutes there before joining the agitators. He did as advised, and once he was back, he told Moza that he had thought over the matter and would not like to call off the agitation before orders are issued, which infuriated Moza as it belittled his authority. Diesh and Dayal came to my room and informed me that the leaders of the EDAs did not agree to call off the agitation, so the only option was to adjust them. PMG asked me whether we could do it immediately. I replied affirmatively and told him that we have many EDAs vacancies outside the Kashmir valley, against which we can adjust many. Once that is done, we can transfer the remaining posts from the valley and deploy them to offices where the workload has increased due to population migration. This was agreed, and by the same evening, orders were issued for the first set of EDAs, which satisfied them, and the protest was called off. Other EDAs were gradually adjusted, and the entire problem was solved. The local and valley unions created some problems, but I convinced them and dispelled their doubts. 

 After some time, the problem of migrants, both departmental and extradepartmental, was resolved, and we began concentrating on other areas of postal activity to increase the department's efficiency, which had been overlooked until then. Streamlining the system required a Herculean effort, and I must confess that late Meena Dutta, then APMG (Staff), contributed significantly. Moreover, the reorganisation of the PLI section was carried out meticulously by VB Abrol, the then AD (PLI). In fact, the exercise we undertook could be a perfect example of ‘Crisis Management’. I made an important decision while overseeing the circle in the PMG's absence.  I issued orders to stop the booking of inland and foreign parcels throughout the valley. All the circles were informed about it and told not to book parcels addressed to post offices in Kashmir. No prior permission was taken from the Directorate. This was aimed at reducing the vulnerability of post offices against parcel bombs and stopping drug smugglers from using postal channels to carry drugs to and from the valley. After a few orders, when I was working in the Directorate, the then DPS, Jammu, asked me over the phone who had authorised the stoppage. I avoided saying that the same must have been noted in the relevant file, knowing full well that records were not readily available for those emergency days.  (to be continued)... 

                                                   *****