On budgeting, little has changed

The annual government budgeting exercise often reminds me of the predicament of a revenue officer posted in a not-so-lucrative tehsil. This officer had been selected as tehsildar and this had excited his relatives who garlanded him and took him in a procession around the village piloted by a rural wedding band.

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Everyone was guessing the income which he would be earning. After a training of two years, the villagers noticed a perceptible change in the lifestyle of the family. His first posting was on the sidelines as tehsildar on special duty. Since the work pertained to the audit of tehsils, the lack of influence and no extra income not only dampened his spirit, but also that of his immediate relatives.

At long last, he got posted as tehsildar, Anandpur Sahib. The very first week of posting saw the visits of 11 dignitaries, which entailed an expenditure of Rs 20,000, besides wastage of time and the resultant harassment of the public because of the non-availability of officers.

Before joining the new station, he had met his predecessors. Even his discreet consultations with tehsil officials on lucrative positions did not yield encouraging dividends.

In the very first month, expenses on state guests crossed Rs 1 lakh. He not only had to spend the money, but also had to receive and see them off, as per the protocol. After three months of posting, the debt on the tehsil mounted to more than Rs 1 lakh, besides actual payments of about Rs 2 lakh. The tehsildar was worried that he had spent so much, but no extra money was coming. He was restless also because of the visits of VIPs at odd times and the demands of their family members and accompanying staff.

He wrote to the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, ‘I am indebted to your good self for posting me as tehsildar of an important tehsil and it is my privilege to serve the department under your dynamic and honest leadership. Many dignitaries visit the area frequently. A lot of money is to be spent to properly look after them. There is no provision in the government budget to incur such expenditure. All the money spent comes from fleecing of the innocent citizenry. The area being very poor, we fall short of this money, which is forcing us to borrow. You are therefore requested that either the expenses be borne by the government or I may be transferred to some other tehsil.’

The Commissioner was about to mark the letter down without reading it, but it was written ‘Very very important’ on the top in red ink. He was not impressed at the impudent straightforwardness of the officer. He asked about the vacant position of tehsildars and immediately posted him as the principal of Patwar School, Jalandhar.

My friend rued his tactlessness as he had to languish as the principal for about two years before he could get back a lucrative post. The system has not changed a bit.