Politics, reprisal and convenience!

@RavikiranRKD

Mumbai: A lot many questions are being raised and will be raised in the future too, about the involvement of Mumbai police officers in the murkier saga of explosives-laden vehicles near the residential tower of the richest industrialist of the country, Mukesh Ambani. But questions such as, why powerful political parties favour such officers, why they want to usurp their services, and when the practice of harbouring such elements will end, may remain unanswered. 

Such an episode happens in the commercial capital of India at a time when public opinion about the work culture at government offices and the agenda of political parties is not very enthusiastic. Rather faith of the people into our system is dipping by each day. The onus is on the political parties to restore, preserve this faith, and if they don’t who else will?.

If you ask a government officer, known for his straightforwardness (this tribe is of course in the minority) why bad elements from the administration keep prospering, most probably he would say it’s the need of the both- such people and the political class. In a jocular vein, officers who prefer to follow the balancing act would say, the superiors in our system need people who get two extra things done when asked to do just one.

A daring misadventure by a junior police officer like Sachin Waze, as he is just an assistant police inspector, has shaken the entire government and not just thrown a powerful Mumbai Police Commissioner out from his chair. The government is tottering and finding it difficult to save its face, raising questions over its survival.

A lot many things have been written in the last few days about the role of Waze and the mysterious death of Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the explosive-laden vehicle. The fact is that people like Waze who can get certain things done are not in the minority. There are official as well as unofficial people engaged in doing things for their protectors.

In the parlance of corridors of power, people known as private staff exist. Such people are not the official members of the state administration but purely private people. They can always be found in some of the important offices where the public footfall is high or the office handles some crucial public issues. In the police force, those are called volunteers.

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The private staffers are said to be connected with people engaged in unlawful business activities. It’s very difficult for a common man to differentiate between the official and the private staffer. At the state government headquarters known as Mantralaya, some people appear like employees but may not be official. At ministers’ offices, services of the employees from the state department are taken on a loan basis. It means they draw their salaries from their parent offices but work at the minister’s office.

Apart from this, a minister can engage the services of two private persons of his choice as his staffers with the approval of the Chief Minister. Such people are recruited on a co-terminus basis as personal assistants (PA) or officers on special duty (OSD). During the BJP-led government between 2014 to 2019, a few people from the private sector were appointed, which invited criticism from the Opposition. They were termed as members of the RSS but the fact was not entirely true.

At times people who are neither on a loan basis or official rolls can be found with the nature of responsibilities best known to their masters. A few incidents from the past can throw some light on such people. Approximately 8 to 10 years back a squad with fake identity as government officers was trapped red-handed while collecting money from the kerosene dealers and ration shop owners in the district of Nandurbar. It was reported that the squad was intercepted by the BJP workers with incriminating proofs. But the matter did not reach the logical end for the reasons best known to the people concerned.

Similarly, another squad was intercepted in the Nashik district a few years back. This squad was using a red beacon vehicle to visit petrol pumps in the name of checking the adulteration. Much hue and cry were raised and the matter died its death. In both these cases, it was said that the squads had instructions from Mumbai.

In another case, a few people were traced in Mumbai and they were using red beacon vehicles to visit restaurants and bars to demand money. Later it was found that they had blessings by the then Minister of State (MoS) in charge of the home department. Amidst huge controversy when the MoS was asked about it, he denied it and said as far as the amount being reported as demanded by these people, the estate manager at native place chew paan (betel leaf) of that much.

In an interesting matter, a private person engaged by another MoS was officiating as his private secretary (PS) which is never accepted in the government. A PS has to be from the government as he is the administrative head of the minister’s office, going through the official business on his minister’s behalf. When the fact became a talking point at Mantralaya, he was removed.

When all these matters came to light, BJP, along with Shiv Sena was occupying Opposition benches and the Congress-led Government was ruling the state. The answer to a question as to why these matters did not reach to its logical end, is best known to them only.

Coming back to the case of explosives, besides this case some other grave issues concerning people were needed to be highlighted and should have been asked to the government. But, the melee over the involvement of Sachin Waze issues such as rising prices of petroleum products, growing unemployment and loss of business activities due to COVID19, the precarious financial health of the government, public anger over toll recovery and implementation of Fast-Tag technology, outrage among parents over school fee hike, the resignation of vice-chancellors of two universities purportedly overpressure from the Mantralaya, some crucial matters are taken to the court due to no-response by the government remained unanswered.

In our democratic setup changes in the government are inevitable but by and large issues remain the same and only the priority (which issue to be raised until when) keeps changing. It’s rather a sad affair.