Arbitrary promotion and whimsical transfer is the root cause of rampant corruption and culture of flattery to superiors. Culture of flattery to bosses and tendency to become Yesman of Ministers, MPs and MLAs is the root cause of all maladies prevailing in the society. Every employee in our country knows the bitter truth that only those who are yesmen of bosses can get elevation in their career or get cream and comfortable posting.

Most of MLS, MP and Ministers have accumulated properties worth many crores of rupees. Department of vigilance or CBI or Anti corruption cell or Economic offenders cell are silent spectators.

So many IAS and IPS officers have been found indulged in corrupt practices only because they have got the blessings of their mentor Ministers.

So many bank officers and executives have properties worth crores of rupees, which is far more than their total earning in their entire tenure. It is possible only because there is practically none to look into corrupt practices prevailing in the bank at higher level.

When Head of any department or office is corrupt, or when any minister in the government is corrupt it will be foolish to imagine of healthy culture down the line.

It is very difficult to survive with dignity when the boss is corrupt and when boss likes flattery.

Only when boss loves real performance, employees feel delighted in working sincerely.

When real performers are awarded, there will be positive motivation. On the contrary if corrupt is promoted and given good posting, it is but natural that people will be tempted to toe the line of boss even if it is wrong and unethical and against the interest of the organization

As long as we are unable to provide a reasoning based transfer and merit based promotion and as long as the wrong doers are not punished by either head of the department or by the courts we cannot imagine of stopping corrupt practices prevailing in the system and spreading like cancer in the society.

Old proverb “survival for the fittest” no more holds good. Now a day’s survival is possible only for the person who is well versed in flattery to bosses, who can earn money through ill methods and share the same with his bosses.

The bitter truth is that there is no foolproof method of providing perfectly merit-based promotion or seniority based promotion in any office. None of the promotion processes can ensure justice to all, justice to the organization and discomfort to none as long as the person responsible for carrying out the promotion process is dishonest and corrupt. When protectors become destructors, damage to society cannot be stopped,

One easy way to stop whimsical transfer and arbitrary promotion is to maintain transparency and abolish the requirement of passing through Interview for existing employees for getting promotion. Interview is such a test where Interviewers can easily spoil the candidate’s career.

During interview, key role is played by elements like bribe, gift, sources, godfathers, and flattery possessed by employee whose performance is assessed during interview. When Interviewer desires to promote an employee he raises easy questions or do not raise any question and give higher marks and on the contrary he may raises toughest and irrelevant questions before the candidate to reject him in the promotion process.

The interviewer as per his whims and fancies gives marks for interview and unfortunately there is no method to penalize such malicious interviewers or the interview team made of birds of the same feather. There is hardly any place for merit in the mind of Interview panel and this why whimsical promotions take place and a reign of injustice and that of corruption spreads like epidemic and is followed by inefficiency, frustration, depression and what not.

Last but not the least; our courts cannot deliver justice in decades. This eliminates the fear from the minds of interviewer and the aggrieved employee is constrained to bear with the rejection in promotion process. Justice delayed is justice denied. And when there is no hope of justice even from court, aggrieved person in promotion process is left with no alternative other than digesting the poison of injustice.

It is an open secret in our society that victim is afraid of lodging complain in police department against any type of criminal. Not to speak of promotions, management can torture an employee by using his power of transfer and posting an employee in the name of exigencies as per his sweet will.

I therefore request you to take immediate steps to ensure merit based transparent promotion and reasoning based transfers and posting in all offices. Only one remedy to cure disease of corruption is to award honest performers and sideline corrupt performers. Only the bearer knows where the shoe pinches is a right proverb in this regard.

Danendra Jain

Agartala

12.02.2010