[Reader-list] In RTO, a licence for corruption

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear Taraprakash,

Thank you for sharing that anecdote.

I think what you say about the amnesic grandfather is pertinent just as it
is pertinent to remember the profound words of our Lord Krishna, when he
exhorts every one of us in Mahabharata about the significance Vasudev
Kutumbkam, which of course means that in fact, insofar as this earth is
concerned, we are one family. From Bible's, Torah's or Quran's perspective
all of us here are children of Adam alay salam and Havva.

Taking that line of argument forward one could wonder then why is it that if
God made one earth for all of us, then there are so many divisions? Who are
we to divide God's earth?

Don't you feel that seen from the perspectives mentioned above entities like
nation state and its residues like citizenship and identity seems so
contrived? Don't you think the idea of a nation becomes an artificial,
almost plastic, synthetic notion, if we take Lord Krishna's words as our
basic premise?

Even Patanjali, suggests us, again and again to go beyond Rajas and Tamas
and reach the state of Sattva. Go beyond to where all forms of Buddhi
(Knowledge), Anubahava (Cognition), Smriti (Memory), Prama (Truth), Aparma
(Untruth), Samasya (Doubt), Tarka (Argument), Upaman (Comparison), Sabda
(Testimony) are made redundant. Of course, as we all know, that for him,
Purusha exists in all of us. We just need to realise Yogah Chittah Vritti
Nirodah through Abhyas or practise.

One sometimes wonder had we all been followers of Patanjali, this world
would have been such a nice place to stay, however, dear Taraprakash,
unfortunately, for you and me and everyone we live in a time where it is not
so. The idea of a nation far from being contrived, is a dominant part of our
reality which we have to confront and deal with on an every day basis. We
are not coaxed or cajoled or pushed to remember that we are all part of the
one Purusha but we are reminded of a national identity and we are asked to
contribute our subjectivity to be archived in a national memory.

Multiple purpose National Identity Card is just a token of our citizenship.
But an important one though.

You mentioned-
"mere apne mere hone ki nishani maange" (my own people ask for my identity")

A slight correction, I think, Nishani is not equal to identity. Pechan is, I
think the correct word for identity and Shanakth for Identification,
Shanakthi Kagaz would be Identification Papers.

Nishani is more like a mark, a trace, which someone like Barthes, would deem
it to be like a bit of information which is used to identify or pinpoint
certain elements in time and space. The MNIC will give all us a number,
which would be more like a Saussurean signifier, you know, an arbitrary sign
which has netiher the resemblance nor  an existential relationship to its
referent. We or rather our subjectivity will be coded through an index,
which will of course not resemble us but nevertheless, will have a real
connection with us. Our photographs will be objectified as icons, which
would claim to represent us by its similarity to us. We of course know, how
successful the exercise,to issue Electronic Photo Identity Cards was. That
even after eighteen long years, since they were introduced, the Government
of India has successfully distributed photo Voter Identity Cards only two
thirds of our population.

But of course past failures must not deter us, or the fact that no where in
this world had there been a model where there has been a positive co
relationship between issuance of national identity cards and uplift of the
poor or a negative co relationship between the issuance of a national
identity card and complete extinction of illegitimate citizens must stop us.
As you rightly suggested, that an amnesic grandfather requires his brood to
be marked.

I think we also need to ask this question to ourselves. Why do we need a
Nishani (Mark) to identify ourselves to that man whom we call our
grandfather? We know who he is, don't we? We know that we are his children's
children? Maybe that grandfather of your friend was resourceful enough, rich
enough to afford the price of branding all his grand children. Ideally we
would all like our grandfather to be rich don't we.

But dear Taraprakash, we don't live in an ideal world. We live in a real
world where not all  grandfathers are that rich.

That some times the most pressing need for a grandfather is to  take care of
his grandchildren. See to it that they are clothed, that they are fed, that
they are educated, that they have a future to look forward to, so that they
can proudly go out there in this world and swear allegiance to their
grandfathers name. Not because, they have an ugly mark on their for head as
a patrimonial testimony or because they are absolutely certain that there
can be no way with which other grandchildren of their village can dare to
copy that mark but maybe because they are confident of the values that they
have imbibed, that they have a use, an ability with which they can
contribute for the betterment of their village.

The question we need to ask is that, can our grandfather afford the luxury
of a Nishani (Mark)?

Warm regards

Taha










On Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 3:50 PM, taraprakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:

>  Dear Taha and all. You have raised very valid questions in your mail.
> "Why is it that everyday millions of poor of our country have to bribe in
> perhaps millions to get that piece of paper? If our State is a welfare
> state, then why do we, even in the middle-classes, have to undergo bouts of
> insecurity, apprehension, fear in the absence of identity documents? When we
> know who we are or do we? When as far as our subjectivity is concerned, we
> can be pretty sure and confident in telling others about not only ourselves
> but histories of our families?"
> I wish I could answer those questions. In an ideal society all this should
> not be the case, but we are not living in an ideal universe. A friend of
> mine from Pakistan has many anecdotes about his amnesiac grand father. He
> had 24 sons. To differentiate his sons from other kids in the neighborhood,
> he had got tatooed the names on their hands. I wish the modern states were
> not as large as they are now. But since we are, I believe all the children
> need to remind our amnesiac father that they too belong to the family and
> therefore, need being provided for.
>
> Yes sadly we have reached in the state of "mere apne mere hone ki nishani
> maange" (my own people ask for my identity"
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Taha Mehmood <2tahamehmood at googlemail.com>
> *To:* taraprakash <taraprakash at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* reader-list at sarai.net
> *Sent:* Sunday, December 28, 2008 10:05 AM
> *Subject:* Re: [Reader-list] In RTO, a licence for corruption
>
> Dear Taraprakash,
>
> Thank you for your mail.
>
> The question is not whether you agree or disagree with me. Please do not
> consider my posts as an exercise in public persuasion. Far from it, I would
> rather think of them as an exercise in public questioning. If we are a
> democracy then as citizens of a proud country we have a duty and an
> obligation in following the rule of law. If a National identity card is
> introduced then I will accept it. But as citizens we also have a duty and an
> obligation to engage in public processes. Hence if the Government of India
> has proposed that it intends to issue a National Identity card then I
> believe all of us must think about it. And talk to each other about the
> nature of that process, its history and so on. Reader list gives us this
> space. And there is no harm in talking about it.
>
> Having said that, please allow me to say that I share your anxiety
> regarding the need to have an identity document rather than not having one.
>
> Have you ever wondered that when individual family histories of most
> Indians out date the history of independent India by many years then why do
> we sometimes feel this insecurity or fear if do not have a piece of paper, a
> token really, certifying who we are?
>
> Why is it that everyday millions of poor of our country have to bribe in
> perhaps millions to get that piece of paper? If our State is a welfare
> state, then why do we, even in the middle-classes, have to undergo bouts of
> insecurity, apprehension, fear in the absence of identity documents? When we
> know who we are or do we? When as far as our subjectivity is concerned, we
> can be pretty sure and confident in telling others about not only ourselves
> but histories of our families?
>
> Why is it that when we have in India a fairly rich history of the failure
> of the State to capture all Indians under some sort of a documentation
> regime, that goes back last one hundred and thirty years, that we still seem
> to have faith in the Idea of a passport or an identity document some sort?
>
> Maybe if we start asking even more rudimentary questions about the history
> of the passport or history of the ration card then we could perhaps have a
> more distilled understanding of this need, which sometime seems inevitable
> isn't it, to have an identity card rather than not have one.
>
> Warm regards
>
> Taha
>
> On Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 1:05 AM, taraprakash <taraprakash at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Now, I agree with you there for sure. Corruption is really a big problem
>> of the country. I don't read much discussion on this kind of corruption on
>> this list. In fact corruption does not seem to be part of any intellectual
>> discourse these days.
>> Still I don't consider corruption to be a good enough reason to outrightly
>> reject this plan. As your mail suggested it is possible to make fake
>> passports and driving licences but still the driving license and passport
>> regime is on and we can't think of an alternative to it. Moreover, as far as
>> I know, it is not a norm but an aberration. And finally I believe it is
>> safer to have multiple (even fake) identities than to have none. Such an
>> identity card regime will be useful to remind the state of the existence of
>> the forgotten multitudinous citizenry.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Taha Mehmood" <
>> 2tahamehmood at googlemail.com>
>> To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 5:00 PM
>> Subject: [Reader-list] In RTO, a licence for corruption
>>
>>
>>   Dear Taraprakash,
>>>
>>> I am still not convinced about giving competence of data gathering
>>> agencies. Please read the story below for more.
>>>
>>> Best
>>>
>>> Taha
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/In_RTO_a_licence_for_corruption/articleshow/3898438.cms
>>> The Times of India. Nagpur Edition
>>> In RTO, a licence for corruption
>>> 27 Dec 2008, 0111 hrs IST, Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN
>>>
>>>
>>> In the year 2000, MLA Devendra Fadnavis had exposed the corruption at
>>> the regional transport office
>>> (RTO) Nagpur when he 'managed' to get two
>>> driving licences issued. The first was in the name of a dead man. The
>>> second licence — intended to be a political barb — was made for the
>>> then chief minister, without the CM being present for the mandatory
>>> driving test.
>>>
>>> However, a sting operation by TOI in August revealed that things have
>>> failed to change even after eight years. The trail of corruption
>>> continues in a more organised way in the RTO office which has been
>>> virtually taken over by touts, enabling any person to obtain as many
>>> number of duplicate licences by bypassing all rules.
>>>
>>> In the second week of July, my boss called me and narrated a mishap in
>>> Mumbai in which three persons were crushed to death by a rashly driven
>>> truck. When the driver was arrested, police seized nine driving
>>> licences from him. This exposed the corrupt affairs in Mumbai RTO
>>> office. Taking a cue from this incident, he asked me to check if I
>>> could get a duplicate licence issued in my name even though I very
>>> much had the original licence.
>>>
>>> When I went to the RTO office, I was greeted at the entrance by a
>>> tout. I told him that I wanted a duplicate licence and lied that I had
>>> lost my original one. He asked me to bring a copy of the police
>>> complaint for the misplaced licence. "If that's not possible," he
>>> said, "it would cost you Rs 500." The official charges to get a
>>> duplicate licence are Rs 200. I protested that Rs 500 was too much.
>>>
>>> The broker gave me a neat break-up. "If you stand in the long queue,
>>> it'll take time and the RTO staff will ask you copy of FIR. If you go
>>> through me, it'll be easy. Out of Rs 500, I hardly get Rs 100, after
>>> paying Rs 150 to the woman at the counter for out-of turn clearance of
>>> forms. Rs 200 is paid towards smart card
>>> fee besides Rs 50 to the computer clerk at the thumb impression
>>> counter for early processing of cases."
>>>
>>> I trusted the broker, who has a pucca shop at the RTO gate, and gave
>>> him Rs 500. He promised to deliver the licence in two days and asked
>>> me to come around 4 pm for the thumb impression and photograph. Due to
>>> load-shedding, I had to visit twice for this. The RTO staff hardly
>>> works for four hours as the office doesn't have a generator.
>>>
>>> The next day, the broker made me stand in a long queue despite
>>> promising otherwise. But even then, it took him almost 25 days to get
>>> me the licence as against the couple of days he had sworn.
>>>
>>> Frustrated by the affairs, I finally told him I was a journalist and
>>> that I would now take my duplicate licence directly from the RTO. The
>>> broker was shocked. He grabbed me by the hand and took me to the woman
>>> clerk, who issues licences and told her about me. Stunned, she said,
>>> "Why did you approach him? You could have directly come to me."
>>> However, all said and done, I got my licence in 10 minutes. The next
>>> day, I went to officiating RTO Raj Bagri and offered to surrender the
>>> duplicate licence. He returned it saying it was of no use to the RTO.
>>> I told him the entire story. He laughed and could only say, "It's a
>>> worrying factor."
>>>
>>> There were brokers who were ready to issue even more than two licences
>>> to me. In the huge scale of corruption in our country, getting a
>>> duplicate licence issued fraudulently may not seem like a big deal.
>>> Until, that is, you remember that the hijackers of the Air India
>>> flight from Kathmandu in 1998 had also obtained their bogus passports
>>> on the strength of the driving licence procured through touts.
>>>
>>> Scary, isn't it?
>>>
>>> (While covering transport, Vijay Pinjarkar often goes the extra mile)
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>>
>>
>