This Indian official is NOT an exception. Most of Indian bureaucrats are just like him--they act like princes/kings. This is applicable from the low level clerks to the top level officials; the difference is who bear the brunt.
The people who pumped out the water need to thank the official that at least he made them do with a water pump. Because if he wanted he could have ordered them to drain the whole dam using buckets, and they would have to do it.
The sheer power the administration wields in a country like India is stuff of the legends. Dictators would envy at having a fraction of this sort of power. They are largely invisible, wield nearly unlimited power. With the stroke of a pen they can bring whole bridges into existence and have them vanish. There are industrialists who have committed suicide out of sheer torture subjected to them by the bureaucracy in India [1].
That is just the power and influence they wield. The money part is another thing that would blow the minds of anybody who isn't familiar with the Indian society. These days in as little as a decade, even the least ranking bureaucrat in the hierarchy can be worth up to $100 million. Their children are known to run think tanks and policy groups all set to shape policy decisions for decades to come.
At this much power and influence, you are pretty much like a king of princely state domain in India.
This letter detailed the unbearable pressure he was subjected to over the years and the harassment he faced under the "previous" Director General of Income Tax (Investigation) (referred to as DG in the letter).
It says he's been suspended. Do you think that's not actually the case or very significant? I guess it's still strange he was able to empty it and only got in trouble after.
>>Do you think that's not actually the case or very significant?
Suspension doesn't mean getting fired from the job. I guess they serve a 'show cause' notice, which you need to defend in front of a committee(your own colleagues), you get handed a token transfer to some far village location. Then in a year or two you just work your way back.
Being suspended is a badge of honor. Sometimes, people get suspended for silly reasons (just to please some politician or official). When officials from Anti corruption bureau busts some officer, people say that because the latter officer is not sharing bribes properly with higher-ups, he was caught up by these anti-corruption guys.
It costs 80 crore rupees (or $10 million USD) to contest in local elections to order to become a member of legislative assembly, MLA, (a legislature body at the state level, who elects the chief minister). These contestants distribute money to voters to convince the latter to vote for them. The going rate is about 6000 rupees per voter (say, $75 USD). Voters collect money from both contestants.
Today's 80 crores = 160 Crores ($20M) 5 years later, as these MLAs serve five years. Consider this as a business. To break even, these MLAs to make $20M (or 160 Crores) in five years. How do these politicians make money? By collecting 10 percent commission for any public works contracts in their constituencies (say, building roads/buildings, digging tanks, patching roads, cleaning, even including transfers of public officials). So, one has to bring in $200M worth of public works contracts in his/her constituency. In India, every chief minister of a state (like the governor of a state in the states) is so big on dolls: sending money to people because the latter is 55 years old, or a woman, or unemployed, or poor, or belong to a certain castes. There is no money left in the public coffers, as the taxes they get don't cover these doles, freebies. So, there is no more money left to do any solid public works in their constituencies. In other words, these MLAs are not getting $200M worth of works in their constituencies. (I heard in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the average public works are at $15M for 5 years, so many MLAs are in deep loss). So, what do these politicians do: sand mafia, liquor mafia, drug mafia, mandatory bribes flowing from the bottom to top, bribes for transfers, bribes for reinstating suspensions, bribes for this and that. There is a deep collusion between politicians and bureaucracy, affecting the quality of life of average people in India.
This is the state of Indian politicians and bureaucracy. There is no shame being in suspended, just pay off the right politician to get reinstated.
Please tell me you’re joking. I don’t want my phone turning into a lifeboat because I dropped it in a puddle. It would also take out a ton of space to hold the inflatable bag and inflatable chemicals.
I'm concerned that he had to install a diesel pump to drain the dam and had to dump the water into a random canal. Is there no spillway? How would they drain the dam during normal operation?
The amount of energy wasted to do this has mitigated what thousands of households have tried to save to avert climate change. Sad. No wonder there is never any progress on climate change and greenhouse gas reductions.
Meant to say, the efforts households have made to mitigate climate change have been canceled out by the terrible waste of this government employee to find a phone.
