The paper chase
The dead are gone, but the survivors have to struggle. The bureaucratic procedural maze really does not leave any luxury of mourning for a wife who had lost her partner in a tragedy like the Mumbai blast. Will the office give her the pension and other dues on time or will they get stuck with “audit” objections? For a dispute between two offices on an amount of Rs. 1500/- they had held up more than Rs 3 Lakhs of my dues. I told them to deduct that Rs. 1500 and give me the balance. They said there was no such provision. Finally only the threat of dragging them to court and claiming interest quickened the process. And this happened to somebody who had just left the department. What will be the plight of widows doing the rounds in our offices to claim their dues? Will somebody help them? Today we are carrying an article that I wrote more than twenty years ago on the travails of an unfortunate widow. Nothing seems to have changed. See the paper chase