Cash Cache

By the time you read this, your vehicle would have been stopped at least once by the flying squad for a thorough check on whether you are carrying cash with you. In case you have not been checked, The Man from Madras Musings expresses his sympathies because then you do not count in the social order. MMM notices that for several in the city it is a matter of prestige to have been stopped and searched for cash. That is not the sole badge of honour. A bigger one is to have been found with cash beyond the permissible limit and then allowed to drive on, after dropping a few names of course!

It amazes MMM that the Election Commission (EC) and the city police should assume that those who are responsible for the disbursal of cash for election purposes should be carrying it around with them in cars. And the quantum too is rather puzzling. The upper limit specified by the EC for you to be able to carry cash around is Rs 50,000. And that amount has to be the sum total of all the cash that can be found in your vehicle and therefore if you are carrying Rs 49,999 you are all right to be cleared and you can drive on. But if you are carrying 50,001 then you are in trouble unless you can drop the correct names and then be allowed to go on. MMM wonders as to what would happen if a vehicle had five people traveling in it and each one of them was carrying the sum of Rs 12,500. Would it amount to a violation and therefore will the vehicle be stopped or is it okay because individually each person did not have Rs 50,000? Even worse, what happens if the owner of the vehicle sitting in the back seat is carrying Rs 49,000 and his chauffeur in the front seat is carrying Rs 1001? Will it then amount to violation of the present rules, and will the cash be confiscated? These are all matters to be pondered over.

MMM is informed that once your vehicle has been checked and cleared, then the authorities make note and you are then immune from further searches. It is like being vaccinated. Or even better it is like being afflicted once by an infection and then you develop immunity to it. Such at least is the belief of our law enforcing authorities whose innocence is touching. Technically therefore, once a vehicle has been offered for inspection, those in it acquire the freedom to carry around cash of whatever denomination because they are then secure in the belief that they will not be stopped once again and searched. Does this mean that all the vehicles belonging to our political parties can be checked once and then released so that the economy can remain in a healthy state of liquidity?

MMM has not yet had his brush with the law enforcing agencies and his vehicles have thus far remained uninspected. There is an entire posse of policemen belonging to a flying squad which for whatever reason, does not fly but remains seated under a very convenient spreading banyan tree not very far from MMM’s residence. Each time MMM drives by, he expects to be stopped by these people but thus far he has not had the privilege of being searched. And here is a hint for those who are bringing cash to give MMM – the best time is in the afternoon when the flying squad, having had its lunch, parks the car under the banyan tree, lowers the windows, and goes into a communal nap.

Off With Their Heads

The Man from Madras Musings as you can see, cannot get the elections out of his head. There is so much to smile at during these times, denied elsewhere especially with wars of many varieties in progress all around the globe. And so, having picked up his lyre and sung of the cash transfer process, MMM now ponders over the official transfer process.

It is now accepted as customary that whenever an election is called, officialdom will undergo a rotation, no matter how temporary it is. For that matter, there is another rotation – one that happens after the election results are announced. If the same party wins then the officials return to their old seat and if it is an upset, then there is a further set of transfers. Those who served the earlier regime in senior capacities, no matter how impartial they were in the execution of their duties, will be viewed with suspicion. A fresh set of favourites gain the upper hand, and the earlier ones get shunted – usually to such attractive posts as heading the war graves commission. These are referred to in local parlance as waterless forests.

MMM, who now knows quite a few civil servants and police officers, keeps tab on where they end up, and if it is a leg up he congratulates them. The response, after a civil thank you, is usually a footnote – the tenure they expect is until the next election. This has come to be accepted as a necessary evil and by that MMM does not mean his note of congratulation but the resigned acceptance of a transfer.

What puzzles MMM is the Election Commission wanting to transfer senior civil servants and police officers when the electoral process is on. Does this imply that they have no faith in the incumbents’ impartiality? Are these senior transfers now an expected side effect of elections and so would the EC be seen to be failing in its duty if it does not transfer the officers? And what exactly is achieved by these transfers? As is well known, in fact it is so well known that even MMM knows about it, the top bureaucrats rarely have any effect on ground reality. It is the lower division clerk, the peon, the vendor of tea and the doorman who have ears to the ground and impact developments. Have you not heard of the man-eating tiger that sheltered in a government office for years devouring a senior officer each day and nobody took any notice? One day it killed the tea vendor and all hell broke loose. A search was organised and the tiger was found.

The EC would be better off in MMM’s view – transferring all lower grade staff and sub staff. This can cause a real churn and destabilize pre-existing loyal chains and networks. And then all will be well with the electoral process. And once the election process is over, all of them can be brought back to their original seats. They can also be given a hardship allowance during the transfer period. This will encourage them to voluntarily accept the transfer and make the EC popular among them. That way, it is not just the political parties that can command loyalty.

On the other hand, what exactly is achieved by transferring senior officials? They get their salaries and perks. And one air-conditioned office is no different from another, is it? Some may even welcome it, as election time postings are temporary at best and may not be so demanding. In MMM’s view the EC should try this transfer trick with the clerical cadre and see the impact it has. It could rename itself as the Exciting Commission and do wonders to its working.

– MMM