Bureaucracy humiliates chess luminary Viswanathan Anand
University of Hyderabad was supposed to confer Anand with the honorary doctorate at the ongoing International Congress of Mathematicians but red tape played spoilsport and sowed the seeds of a needless controversy.
INDIAN BUREAUCRACY has often been criticised for being cumbersome and stretching procedures to sanction projects and files. In a shameful incident, the worst form of red tapism took its toll on chess luminary and one of the best sports persons country has ever produced, Viswanathan Anand. Reports indicate that bureaucratic procedures created superfluous hurdles in clearing his nationality. As a result Anand wasn’t conferred the honorary doctorate on Tuesday by the University of Hyderabad.
University of Hyderabad was supposed to confer Anand with the honorary doctorate at the ongoing International Congress of Mathematicians but red tape played spoilsport and sowed the seeds of a needless controversy. As per procedures laid down for the purpose, the university has to take permission from the Ministry of Human Resource Development before awarding honorary doctorate to anybody.
The file containing relevant documents was forwarded to the ministry; where one of the bureaucrats raised the issue of Anand’s nationality. The university further deposited supportive document including the passport copies of Viswanathan Ananad. Shockingly the file proving Anand’s nationality wasn’t endorsed timely and the university decided to postpone the conferring of honorary doctorate on Anand.
Now you can imagine, if a person like Anand’s stature has face through cumbersome red tape, then what about an average Indian.
Just ponder on this, within a week parliamentarians’ (MPs) salary was increased three fold and then Rs 10,000 more, where were the procedures then. Bihar is facing severe drought, but Lalu is more concerned about his package. UP has reached nowhere in terms of development, unemployment, poverty, and political tug of war are characteristics identified with it, but Mulayam Singh Yadav wants higher pay.
The issue of bureaucratic red tape that wreaked humiliation for Anand soon broke out into a controversy and leading news channels and news papers took government to task and criticized it for raising fingers on Anand’s nationality issue. Cabinet minister for human resource and development, Kapil Sibal sensing the gravity of the issue, came forward and apologized to Anand. Many sports persons and leading personalities have also come forward in support of Anand and criticized the bureaucracy for dishonouring country’s leading sports personality.
Matching his tall status, Anand modestly took the development in his stride and said for him the issue has been resolved and he will definitely receive the honorary doctorate in future.
Now you can imagine, if a person like Anand’s stature has face through cumbersome red tape, then what about an average Indian.
Just ponder on this, within a week parliamentarians’ (MPs) salary was increased three fold and then Rs 10,000 more, where were the procedures then. Bihar is facing severe drought, but Lalu is more concerned about his package. UP has reached nowhere in terms of development, unemployment, poverty, and political tug of war are characteristics identified with it, but Mulayam Singh Yadav wants higher pay.
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