Old timers recall, which is now consigned to history, on how they all fought for getting professional status for AIR & Doordarshan which Government always dithered to grant. Many still active reel out instances of unqualified bonhomie, unparalleled camaraderie, and unending agitations by Professionals demanding an exclusive stream which catered to media requirements for these arms of Public Service Broadcast.

               There was unstinted open support from outside from all free thinking minds which made the issue more prominent. In fact, it was the unease for babus who did not want thinkers, writers and media makers to opine with freedom as they perceived it to shake their citadel. But it was one arduous but concerted march to PMs house, which blacked out screens that created the desired impact and the then Government realized futility of its opposition. Thus came a new cadre of Indian Broadcasting Services, a Group A service which was to have separate streams for Programmers and Engineers.

                But the brouhaha was short lived, as the wily babus like boa constrictor suffocated functioning and peyotes more than willing became servile by its dominant presence. The autonomy became a word for record books and the organization was once again subjugated to whims of untrained, domineering and irritatingly overweening bureaucracy. Soon names like S S Gill, R K Basu, R K Singh, Rakesh Behari, Anil Baijal, R R Shah, K S Sarma, Aruna Sharma, B S Lalli started to ring all over. Supporting them were other junior cadres from CSS, Forest Services, Income Tax, DANICS, Gas Companies who all donned the media hats and started yelling Silence, Camera, Action ! But it was more of silence than any other thing !!

              The glamour of media made these satraps unmanageable and each in his bid to outshine the other, experimented with the system. Resultantly the system floundered, organization collapsed and they decamped without being questioned. While Gill was sacked for ineptitude and foul mouth, Basu, RK Singh resigned before getting exposed with numerable blots and spots, , Rakesh Behari despite CVC indictment was finally had an FIR against him in another matter, RR Shah ordered for ‘major penalties’ by CVC managed reprieve, KS Sarma too had skirmishes with investigative agencies and Anil Baijal’s was as usual insipid and lustreless tenure.

                The icing has now been provided by B S Lalli whose recent indictment by CVC has once for all established the fact that howsoever high and mighty they claim, this bureaucracy is not worth its salt at all. They are all a bunch of ill trained officers who could not even subvert the Rules with grace and brains where each one was caught with his pants down !

  
               Indeed a shame where once stalwarts like L K Jha, A N Jha, Dharamvira, KPS Menon and many others were respected for their astute sense of dedication, objectivity, honesty and patriotism. This bureaucracy is now being governed by mere lure of lucre with avarice as the underlined principle. A stream of administrators whom the nation looks upon as their well wishers are plundering their faith and innocence. No wonder, the fabric of governance is bursting at seams and there are holes in administration all over.

 

             The nation is at war with an inept bureaucracy which really needs fresh lessons in governance before the baton slips to other undesired elements. We shall soon be celebrating another Independence Day. But would there be any other reason to rejoice ?