- Bribe Fighter
- 13 years ago
- 2460 views
Bribe for sitting at leisure!!!
This incident happened a few months ago in Olavakkod Junction (Palakkad Junction) railway station at my home place, Palakkad in Kerala when i was trying to take the motorcycles out of the parcel office, that came as parcel in my name from Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu. I had bought these bikes on auction from Pondicherry for me and my friends' personal use. The parcel charge for a bike was Rs.300/- from Pondi to Palakkad and it was paid in advance by me to the mediator who had parceled it to me from Pondi. I checked with the porters how much they would charge to take the bikes from platform # 4 to the main exit. They said Rs.50/- for each bike and i found that reasonable considering the bad conditions of the bikes and the effort they would have to put to take the bikes from platform 4 to the main exit. I said okay and immediately the porters started to take out the bikes one-by-one.
In the meantime, i went to the clerk who was sitting at the parcel office to get clarity as to what should be done next. He said i'll have to fill-in and sign in the register confirming that i have taken out the parcels that came in my name. He continued talking while i was filling-in the register with the details available on the original bill (remember this point – I was filling-in the register). Once i got finished with my entry, the clerk without any fear, asked me to give him Rs.200/- as bribe! With a shocked face, i said i didnt understand! then he said, theres a normal routine that people used to give them some money for the HELP! to get the parcels out of the office. I was a little irritated with the way he was asking for bribe without any fear and about his HELP! to take my bikes out. I then asked him what HELP has he rendered to me for which he said normally the way i am taking out the bikes now wouldnt work so and theres a tedious process involved in it and helping me get rid of all those processes, he wanted the money. I got surprised and asked him what process he was talking about and told him that i wanted to get my bikes at my place through railway parcel service and for that i have paid the parcel charges, showing him the original bill. Also told him that to get my bikes from the platform to my truck, I am paying the porters also an amount as i thought was appropriate. But he continued with his version again and again and literally frustrated this time, asked him to tell me clearly what more process is involved in this and what kind of HELP has he done in this for that i must bribe him stressing on the fact that i had to fill-in even the register, the job he was supposed to do and is getting paid for by the Central Government. With that, smelling my frustration, he said no problem and that I don’t need to pay him anything. He then asked if these bikes were bought for my personal use or for reselling them and also asked if anymore such parcels would come in my name. I told him that’s none of his business and may be such parcels would come in future also, in the same frustrated tone.
By this time, the porters had taken all the four bikes to the main exit and I asked my friend to park the truck in such a way that the porters could easily load the bikes. Hearing this, the porters came and told me that Rs.50/- is only for taking the bikes out from the platform and that for loading they used to charge extra. And asked Rs.250/- altogether for a bike, both for taking the bike out and then loading it to the truck. I was shocked hearing this from the porters and told them that’s impossible to give and that they had agreed earlier for Rs.50/- for the whole effort per bike. But the porters didn’t bother to hear me and wanted the amount they claimed. It was unfortunate that I had gone there only with my two friends and that it was very difficult for us three to load the bikes by ourselves. So at last, we had to agree to give Rs.200/- per bike to the porters to get the bikes loaded. Only then I realized that all the time while I was talking to the clerk, these porters were listening to our discussion and that could be the reason the porters asked for more money and that the officers and the porters work hand-in-hand!
I was more than happy that I didn’t bribe the clerk but at the same time was sad for what the porters did to me though i could consider that i paid for their effort. The main reason I am posting this story is to make aware all of you about how fearless people have become in taking bribes and even started to demand for it and also about the sad condition of the people who had to bribe before at this parcel office or elsewhere that we, as people, have taken it for granted and have considered this as a way of our life!