File of Bentinck’s time traced in Kashmir!

A file from Lord William Bentinck’s time has been traced in Kashmir!

Going through the contents of the file, it is seen that a junior assistant initiates a note on a matter. He submits it to a senior assistant who agrees with the note written by the junior assistant and remarks, “I concur” and sends the file to the head assistant. The head assistant in turn remarks, “I concur” and sends the file to the superintendent. The superintendent marks it to the administrative officer after stamping “I concur”. The administrative officer sends it to the secretary who, after putting the same remarks, forwards the file to Bentinck who served as Governor General of India from 1828 to 1835.

After going through the contents of the file, Bentinck is amazed and writes on the file, “I concur with the concurers.” He further marks on the file: “However, the file should have been disposed of by the secretary himself.”

After around 200 years of this incident, there hasn’t been any change in the work culture in the government offices as the offices in Kashmir have carried forward the tradition. A note initiated by the junior assistant goes through the same procedure even today.

It takes months together and sometimes even years for petty matters to be resolved in the government offices.

Case 1: Suhail Jan whose name is wrongly spelt on his matriculation certificate as Shuheel John, requests authorities of the J&K Board of School Education (BOSE) to make the necessary corrections. His application moves from table to table and goes from section to section. After wasting three months in the process, Suhail is asked to publish in some local newspapers the “fault”, which is actually committed by the BOSE authorities. Only after doing so, will the necessary corrections be made.

Case 2: For obtaining a land passbook from the Revenue Department, Nisar Ahmad Bhat first gets his application written by a petition writer. He then secures the proof of being a citizen of Jammu and Kashmir. Afterward, he submits his papers to the Tehsildar who orders a Pathwari to verify the antecedents of the applicant. After about six months, the papers are completed in the Tehsil office. Only then is the file sent to the Deputy Commissioner for his signature. The cumbersome procedure takes a long time and like a bumblebee, Nisar moves from one official to another.

Case 3: In the Sadder Treasury, the Treasury Officer does not sign Abdur Rashid Mir’s pension file despite the fact that two Accounts Assistants have already verified the file. The Treasury Officer asks Rashid to first have the file signed by the Section Officer. Although the Section Officer never checks the file, he simply puts his initials for the pleasure of the Treasury Officer.

Bottom Line: There has not been a discernible change in the system and people continue to move from pillar to post in the government offices to get their cases disposed of.

The age-old culture in the government offices continues to be anti-people and common people feel no relief as the show goes on.

(The names of the people mentioned in three cases have been changed at their request)