Vidana soudha -The Edifice of Sin

_{Whenever there is a mistake in the village, taluk or District level Administration people look toward higher authority i.e state level administration to rectify their problems. But in Karnataka state the Administration setup in the power centre has become completely useless.}

_{The Karnataka Government Secretariat operates from “Vidhana Soudha” a magnificent stone building which gives a good impression about the government. Little do the people know that behind this magnificent stone wall lies an outdated and faulty machinery which can only slow down, not speed up the development work.}

_{However, as the media’s have becoming ever vigilant, skeletons have started to tumble out of the cupboard. It has revealed the real faces of people who want us to stop using Face book. These people talk against facebok, but enjoy Porn themselves. It is same with all the bastards who speak about morality. Mr.Nehru Olekar the president of the committee which was appointed to investigate the Karnataka Assembly porngate scandal revealed that 10 more legislators too watched those clips.}

_{Few days back another daily revealed Tax payer has to spend 80 lakhs per month to pay off the wages of the wages of people working at Chief Minister’s office. Many people defended it by saying the CM need so many people because he has to manage 11 portfolios. The truth is that all these 11 departments have got Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, Under Secretaries, Section officers and other staffs. CM need not add to this army of professionals by bringing in bus conductors, semi-politicians, teachers, second division clerks and last not the least…… brokers(of all sorts)!. Well I don’t know about CM, but I have noticed that some personal establishments have started keeping brokers  too. Well, they are called ‘officers on special Duty!’ There job is to carry an iPod and roam around Secretaries/Ministers. The office of CM is just a classic example of this rotten state of  affairs. Other departments of Secretariat too are not far behind. Just go to Chief Secretary’s office down the lane, you will find an OSD!}

_{The departments in the secretariat function as usual. The funny thing in the Karnataka government is that there is no staff where it is required. Taluk offices, D.C offices, Revenue departments, Agriculture department…. .You go anywhere, they say”sir, what can we do, we do not have staff! Government is recruiting so many people every year, where does the staff go?  These people go to vidhana soudha on deputation and stay there for eternity! Particularly this SDA’s. These sluts will never leave Vidhana soudha once they come in!. Some of them even sacrifice their promotion!.}

_{Well, I agree, the quality of staff in Karnataka government Secretariat is third Rate. Most of the officers are promoted Typists/stenos. But that can improved by better training.}

_{But alas, The Karnataka Secretariat has a training center which is used only as a dustbin to accommodate unwanted/useless Additional Secretaries.}

_{Ok, these promoted typist, go up to become Additional Secretaries, some day they might end up becoming Secretaries to Govt(a privilege which is reserved to people of IAS cadre). Now as the quality of IAS is dwindling, these group C promotes want to create the Post of Special Secretary to Government. Some day these Special Secretaries would manage to keep the post of the regular Secretaries vacant and stay “in-charge” of the whole department!}

_{Why this happens? These members of Bureaucracy and Judiciary never retire with Honor. These people always manage to get some Government appointment. With their worn out brain, they need someone to prepare reports which are ultimately signed by them. There, these stenos and clerks come handy. In past the clerks remained intellectually in-charge. Now they want to become physically in charge.}

_{In Vidhana soudha Officers become Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries when they become old. So they often Lack the zeal to work constructively. They just want to ensure that “somehow work goes on”. The KAS officers (state cadre) who come to Vidhana soudha on deputation, either want to make money or they want to stay in bangalore.They too lack interest in Administration. So they rely heavily on stenos and typists. These stenos and typists monopolize the offices. In the secretamriats the longer you stay the stronger you become! The stupid Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries won’t let them go and those people too won’t go because lack of knowledge and the creation of Comfort zones hold them back from exploring new horizons. So these typists and stenos somehow manage to hold on to powerful offices. Even when they get promotion, they upgrade their posts and stay in the same office doing the same works. This upgradation syndrome has become the biggest malady in the Karnataka state Secretariat. Govt pays higher wage for the same work!. If you are paying the wages of engineer for the work of sweeper then what is the benefit you are getting?  Who cares? It is the Taxpayers who ultimately bears the burden! Mr.S.V.Ranganath, Chief Secretary, who is heralded as a best administrator by his admirer has kept Two Section officers, Four people of the rank of Under Secretaries, One Deputy Secretaries and One Joint Secretary. It s very funny because ,in personal establishments no decisions are made, No  Government orders are signed by anybody other than Chief Secretary or his PS. (Funny but true, there are two PS’s). Post of Section officers and Under Secretaries are very important post which are supposed have decision making power and Signing Authority. While there is dearth of Officers in the Karnataka Government ,Mr S.V.Ranganath has kept  so many}

_{Officers to sweep floor, take his phone calls and photocopy the Annul Performance reports !. As it is not enough he is availing the Service of an OSD, who is a bank manager by profession advices CS on subjects like Science and technology and Public Administration!}

_{As on Jan 2012 ,there were one joint Secretary, two Deputy Secretaries, Four Under Secretaries, Two Section Officer and Five peons! .Oficers outnumber the peons!  Even the steno has become indispensable! There are more officers than peons. Can you beat it? If an honest bureaucrat like Mr.SV ranganath can promote such deviation of basic percepts of an organisation, right under his nose then we cannot expect adherence to law from corrupt officers. There is no hierarchy, No chain of command, No division of labor, no work flow chart! You name any aspect of a sound management, it is not there. It is all about good people and bad work.}

_{It may look funny, But that is the quality of IAS in Karnataka. How do you expect the Administration to be upright? These idiots go on to attend so many training programmes at home and abroad. Yet the Karnataka Government Secretariat remains lawless. The government of Karnataka released a Transfer Guideline for its employees vide  G.O. no DPAR 4 STR 2001 Dt:22-11-2001       But it left out the employees of Karnataka Government Secretariat. For the employees of the secretariat it prescribed some guidelines. However these guidelines are not binding.Hence nobody follow it.Few sections and posts have become the private property of some individualsSardar Patel had called Civil service as the Steel frame of Administration. But the steel frame is rusting (due to heat of pimps who manage to get foot hold in high offices).}

_{Karnataka has gone to Dogs because vidhana soudha the seat of Power has become a dogshed. But now it is impossible to bring change. Every one has become strongly rooted in their post as well as in ther conviction. Old bureaucrats,Judges, Senior Typist, everyone have developed their spear of influence by twisting the rules and regulations. As I said earlier …..it is a dogshed. We used to read in the history that eunuchs in the royal harem used to control state administration. Now that holds good for the Karnataka state Secretariat as well.}


Karnataka Journal of Pulic Administartion  ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಆಡಳಿತ ದರ್ಪಣ