- I Paid A Bribe
- 12 years ago
- 275 views
The documents presented for passport verification were all sound…
- Police
- Background or Personal Verification
- Paid INR 200
The documents presented for passport verification were all sound and clear, but the officer who was verifying it was not satisfied by it. We visited the police station for about 2 to 3 times, yet were sent away and asked to come the next day for trivial reasons. Standing in the queue early morning(as early as 8:30 am) and then waiting till 10:30 am, when finally your turn came was becoming tedious and hectic for us and we had to reschedule our whole day for it. When finally our documents were verified and the officer seemed satisfied, my father generously gave him Rs. 200. I thought that was really inappropriate and questionable as there were other people present, who might have watched it and would have definitely objected to it. Though nothing like that happened, it felt wrong to me and I voiced my opinion to my father on our way back home. My father explained that the officer's job was tedious and largely thankless; and that many in police force are over-worked and underpaid. I knew that my father had a point. I was not wrong in my assessment either, but I let it go. I was somehow glad that our work was done. When we were called one last time, I got to meet with other people who had applied for passport. Even they said(rather unabashedly) that they paid him up to Rs. 500. In one case, I got to know that the policeman asked the girl to put whatever money she had in his desk drawer. They were obviously okay with it, but I realized just then that I was the stupid and naive one who had certain reservation about bribes. My father was smart enough to understand the situation. Since it was the first time I had seen someone give and accept bribe, I was definitely disturbed by it. I always knew that bribing is literally a way of life in our country, but seeing and experiencing it was something else. The shame of it stayed with me for sometime after that. Yes, it is wrong; but when majority of people are okay with it, who am I to object to it????