Bureaucratic Activities, is human value absent?
A citizen enters into service at young age for serving the people and for the welfare of the country. She/he then spends the most valuable time of his/her life in the service and ultimately at age of 57 years retires from service because of old age. Being adjusted in a specific and formal life profile, a government servant after retirement cannot adjust with the other occupations of the society. She/he cannot normally accept any other occupation. His/her working capability gets reduced. Besides many government officials become handicapped or die because of this. His/her dependent family members face serious financial delay. There is definite necessity for social security for the handicapped alive retired employee or for the dependents of the dead employee.
For this humanitarian ground the government has introduced pension, privilege, group insurance, benevolent fund for the retired government officials and their dependents. With this system the retired persons or their dependents do not have to depend on others for their survival.
Till sometimes back only the government servants were entitled to pension in Bangladesh. But at present in the case of many autonomous organizations namely universities, nationalized enterprises, banks, etc, pension system has been introduced. In this blog I want to talk about real picture of our pension system and the delay payment of pension, corruption, pains which is relates with the pension. Let’s start with my experiences;
My uncle was a dedicated public servant. Dr. Zakir Hossain retired as associate professor of Comilla Victoria College in 2004. He applied for his pension the same year. He died in 2007. Neither pension nor his provident fund money he could enjoy during his lifetime. Five more years passed, his wife somehow drew G.P. fund money and 12 months pay after undue persuasion as well as paying enough bribe. She and her unemployed son are still waiting for the pension money long overdue. Perhaps none in the education ministry reviews the pending pension cases even once in seven years. Dr. Zakir Hossain died without pension. His widow a diabetic patient is languishing in poverty in these hard days waiting for her husband’s pension. Corrupt officials are extracting money in every possible way. My aunt tried her best to get the money for her son. She went to many people for help, went from one desk to another in the government office.
As we look into this situation, the administrative department, our bureaucracy, is totally corrupted and the officials is inhuman. We know the procedure of doing the work to get allowance money is lengthy and time consuming. It is because of the rules regulations. But there should not there be some special consideration for the people who are suffering. Actually humanity is absent its covered in bureaucracy by their absolute rules and regulation. Even if a government official feels pity for a person but they cannot act according to his own will of humanitarian feelings. Because he has to answer his superior to break the rules. So, anyone does not want to take the risk. This is because of hierarchical system. Then what can I say about the corruption? Max Weber talked about the impersonality of the officials of bureaucracy but here they took bribe for their own good and did nothing after that. They are also violating the professional rules. They say they cannot act quickly because of their jurisdictional area and hierarchy, but they are taking bribe and bribe can make them breaking their jurisdiction and everything.
My aunt an old women, she always curse the government officials for her family sufferings. Many people like her also do that. I don’t know when she can get her money. I even don’t know if she can get it or not. Even if she gets it one day, the suffering she faced, who will pay for that? Who will be guilty for that? Of course, the corrupted officials and the whole corrupted bureaucratic system in our country. I hope corruption will be reduced and people’s sufferings will end soon.
