Today we had to get the supplementary deed of ShikshaDaan registered. So the person who knew the procedure called us to the mini-secretariat in Gurgaon around 1030. We had to go with two witnesses and we had Neelu and Seema who agreed to come and sign as witnesses. Seema came home around 1045 and we all went together to the mini secretariat. I called up Neelu and naively told her she might have to come around 1130… :):)
We went and stood at the district court entrance as our contact told us to come there. He was getting the deed printed on a stamp paper. We waited and waited and waited and finally he told us, we had to come near the mini secretariat. So we walked across and then waited near the license office. Still no sign of our contact. When he called back he said he wasn’t getting stamp paper so he will print on regular paper and put the revenue stamp. We said fine and finally after standing in different places we finally caught up with him …. He clearly didn’t know the workings of this office and he also seemed lettered but not literate as Seema said. All this took nearly an hour and a half. So I called Neelu and told her to go ahead with her work ! Then we got down to signing the document and then the wait started.
Krishnan went and stood with the contact at the various counters while Seema and I sat on the chairs there. We got to see interesting sights… A baba with his Trishul, Kamandal and a saw ?!?!… How was he allowed inside with a saw ? Here’s his picture
Nothing is written on the counters and the process is not clearly explained so many people just stand around and there are some people who know what needs to get done and they do it. The officials sitting at these counters are fine. Krishnan saw that they never allowed anybody to jump the queue, no money got exchanged and they followed the rules. The only thing that needs to change is clearly spelling out the instructions and automation. We had to get our photos clicked and fingerprints taken. But both these counters were separated by several others …. Easier to put them together ! And get some sanitizer next to the finger print machine.
Finally after much waiting we got the process done and got the receipt for having submitted the deed at about 2.30 pm and the three of us were really famished. We got home and for the first time, I just parked the car in somebody else’s parking and we all rushed home to eat some food :):). The mini secretariat doesn’t have eating options that are clean and safe :(. Also while walking out we saw a mountain of papers bundled and left in the corridor. Perfect for losing them and making common citizens like us run around yet again.
Why can’t these offices have clear instructions and processes laid down in 3 or 4 languages ? Get a few graduates to sit in a series of enquiry desks to answer queries and also manage the traffic flow … Keep the counters in a logical sequence of what needs to happen and don’t let people mill around and certainly don’t let baba’s with saws inside :). When will the cleanliness drive “swach bharat” reach these offices ? Happy to help, but we need some action from the government too.
We just managed to do this one thing today .. Important, but we got so tired in the process that we couldn’t do any of the regular stuff. Getting a document registered should not take the whole day. PM Ji, CM Ji – Change needed and quickly.