Bangalore: Bhupathi Shukla, a 34-year-old engineer, working for a semiconductor company in Bangalore, teaches us a new method to fight corruption – When you visit a government office for any service, prepare well, go armed with all the required documents and be prepared to wait patiently.
This is his story and its an eye opener for all of us innocent citizens caught in the web of petty corruption that is eating at the very foundation of our nation.
Bhupathi Shukla is an engineer who lives in a posh new development called Ozone Evergreen near Haralu off Sarjapur Road. After purchasing the flat he was required to register it. The Builder in a letter to him and other flat owners, informed him that he has to pay Rs: 13000.00 split into two demand drafts, one in the lawyer’s name, and the other in the name of the law firm, apparently towards lawyers’ fees and “documentation”. He decided he would not pay that amount as he could do the documentation himself. He did so and went along with the others to the registration office at Ulsoor. His registration was delayed and postponed.
He returned to the office armed with the required documentation – and when his papers went up before the Sub Registrar, he was shown a figure on a calculator – the sub registrar did not utter a word for fear of being caught in a sting! It was left to the peon to take him outside and ask him whether he would pay the Rs:5000 indicated. He refused, and returned to the Sub Registrar’s office and told him in no uncertain terms that he would not pay. It was then that his registration document was signed.
After the registration, came the quest for a Khata. When he applied for the khata, he did not use the clerical help of the clerks in the office which is provided at fee, but used a friend’s help as the form was exclusively in Kannada. On submission, he was told that his paper would move if he paid up. Shukla waited for four hours and produced every document they asked for and finally got his khata.
Shukla had learnt a lot from his experience, or adventure in the government offices. He believed he could be of help to his fellow citizens, particularly his mates in the apartment complex. So what did he do? He prepared a ready reckoner of the process that he went through to get his khata and the various documents required and to be kept ready and he uploaded the same on Google docs, and then he shared this information with the residents of the 200 odd flats in the apartment complex.
Most of them were successful in obtaining the required documents from the government offices without greasing palms, ironically not because of the government’s sakala programme, (it is considered a joke in the offices) , but because they were armed with the right kind of information and documents. The Government officials then started getting nightmares every time they saw a resident of this apartment complex!
Visiting www.ipaidabribe.com is the ideal way to register a protest against bribe taking and spread awareness that matters.
