- Bribe Fighter
- 13 years ago
- 1352 views
Did not pay bribe for verification before passport issue
This was in the mid nineties, when I was staying in Jayanagar. I applied for a passport with the idea of future requirement (i.e., I had no immediate travel plans). One policeman visited my home for "verification" purposes, and then said I had to make a trip to the police station.
So, I visited the police station. I sat and waited and listened while the policeman "chatted" casually with another visitor sitting comfortably opposite him at the station; this was apparently a kerosene dealer who liked to adulterate his kerosene. The policeman was questioning this man casually on why he adulterated kerosene, and the man was providing a detailed explanation that it cost him a lot of money to maintain his "keep" in addition to maintaining his own family. In other words, he was an adulterer in addition to being an adulterator. Apparently, neither offence was punishable under Indian law; all it required was a little money transfer into the policeman's pocket to make everything legal.
Finally the policeman turned to me. He flipped through my application, then plainly asked me for some money (he would have been happy to receive 100 rupees). I just told him bluntly that I had no money to give him. He didn't look very happy about that. I asked him if there was anything else, then walked out.
I got my passport after 8 months (the normal waiting period was about 3 months at that time). I never bothered to enquire about it, as I was not in any hurry to go abroad at that time.
However, the passport office still managed to play a cheap trick on me. They had stamped "emigration clearance required" on my passport, even though I had submitted proof of not only graduation but also postgraduation studies from top institutes. Clearly, I did not require emigration clearance with my qualifications. To get my status changed to "emigration clearance not required", I had to submit another application with a form designed for this very purpose, and pay a 100 rupee fee for this "service". I just went ahead and did this.
So, the passport office engaged in cheap daylight robbery of 100 rupees; I believe this was their standard procedure with all graduate applicants just to cheat them of an extra 100 rupees.
It occurred to me that I shouldn't let them get away with this thievery; I should question the officials at the passport office. But when I went there, the sight of the massive crowd of desperate Indians thronging the passport office, all ready to blow their entire life's savings for a passport and the magic visa to the Wonderland called Dubai made my own problem appear rather trivial, so I just left it at that.
Maybe I should have at least sent a written complaint to the customs office on their incompetence and shameless legalised thievery. I didn't do that. My fault.
No doubt any reader who reads this today will wonder about such a fuss over 100 rupees. Well, it is the same 100 rupees of those days that has grown into tens and hundreds of thousands of rupees in bribes demanded today by government officials just for doing their work. It is not about the amount; it is about the reasoning behind demanding the amount.
-**********