The Last Word

Reaching Out To Men Who Matter…. !

Rajen Kumar
Aug 2012
The belief that the higher a bureaucrat goes in placement, the more inaccessible he becomes may not hold wholly true. However, there are always those few in whom inaccessibility is ingrained mostly influenced but arrogance and ego.
 
In Media, visual or print, an exclusive interaction with power-wielding officers is anybody's hunger. It benefits both the personage interviewed and the audience keen to hear what's in the offing from the horse's mouth. This is where my preceding years of editorship has sent me into a tail spin. I have tried every mode: telephone, fax, email, even personal visits. But a hard to praise show!
 
I can state with perfect honesty that unmindful of the sundry expenses involved, I have led the SME WORLD to set up platforms for useful interactive sessions at prestigious venues with a cross section of men who matter namely the bureaucrats, the CEOs, the CMDs at the helm of top rung public and private sector organizations. And it required door knocks too!
 
Let me share the accessibility quotient. With an immense and everlasting sense of relief I can state that the easiest to get through to were the officials at the top of the ladder. It never took me more than 48 hours to get an appointment with a secretary in the ministry of interest to the sphere of SMEs. But when it came to the middle rung bureaucrats, I was stuck in 'evasions'!
 
The lament worsens at the top. One particular incident has exercised my mind no ends in the preceding four years. Thrice, I wrote to the Development Commissioner of MSMEs ministry for an appointment. A 'regret' may have mollified me. But there wasn't even an acknowledgment to my emails. As recent as in May last, I emailed the DC office as yet another 'attempt.'
 
“Sir, what happened to the appointment I had sought with the DC?” I called his office very politely. The answer from an officer who was presumably incharge of appointments was even more polite: “Saheb bahut busy chal rahe hain aaj kal.” The only conclusion I could draw was that the Development Commissioner was busier than the Secretary or that he was being 'kept in isolation' having no access to his own emails by 'someone' at his best in the shallowest of arrogance.
 
Moving on, two years back, thrice I sought to meet the Chairman of the Khadi & Village Industries Commission for an interview, if possible, or an off the record interaction at the least to update myself in editorializing the ups and down of the Commission. No acknowledgement has come till date. I also ventured to try to get appointments with the Joint Secretaries in at least three ministries in the last two years. But all I got was blank: a story in itself!!
 
Contrast this with a pleasant experience I had last year. At a seminar, I introduced myself to the Secretary of the Ministry of MSME. Warm handshake was met with a warmer handshake. I said “Sir, I sent an email to your office yesterday for an appointment with you.” His response was instant: “Please take my mobile number and you can always talk to me. Let me know when you want to come” I was moved beyond words.
 
I've shared some select experiences. May readers draw their own conclusions!
 
 
Ayush,7 Dies Hunting PM's Relief Fund

The Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was established with public contributions initially to assist displaced persons from Pakistan but the resources of the Fund are also utilized for rendering assistance for medical treatment like heart surgeries, kidney transplantation, cancer treatment, etc.
 
How cumbersome the procedures for availing financial assistance by the deserving poor are is evident by the experience of Ratnesh Pandey. A technical assistant in the electronic media, Ratnesh's 7 years old son had both his kidneys damaged probably by an overdose of medicines for treatment of allergy.
 
Shattered, Ratnesh started making rounds of hospitals for treatment of his son. He was advised that the only alternative is transplantation. He offered to donate his kidney. But the transplantation in itself was cost prohibitive. He started exploring avenues for financial assistance. His son was already on weekly dialysis which meant a whopping Rs.20,000/- per month.
 
A holder of BPL card, he went to the office of the PMNRF carrying all the papers including recommendation letters from the doctors, area councilors, MLA etc. The PMNRF sought an estimate from the hospital which will transplant the kidney. He went to the hospital (AIIMS) but the doctors told him to first admit the child for tests and only thereafter the estimates could be give. It meant yet another Rs.50,000/- in costs.
 
But Ratnesh had no money left. He had borrowed as much as he could from friends and relatives. He again went to PMNRF office lamenting his pathetic plight: “I don't have Rs.50,000/- to admit my son to get the estimate.” The response from PMNRF's Director was blunt: “We can't help you. We have to have a proper estimate to consider your request.”
 
A teary eyed Ratnesh called on our office. “How long can I pull on with dialysis I don't know, I have a wife and three school going children to support ?” We did help him with whatever we could. Seven years is no age to go. I hope readers with a heart would reach out to Ratnesh: 09958343403 (ratneshpandey16@rediffmail.com.)
 
STOP PRESS:
As we were ready to go to press came the sad news that Ratnesh's son Ayush has expired. Ratnesh may not need any assistance now from anyone or the PM's Relief Fund but Ratnesh's tragic experience raises many questions on the credibility and working of PMNRF. How many genuine and deserving people are able to avail this assistance is anybody’s guess.
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