AMONG the myriad nightmares that Indian bureaucracy serves up for citizens, one of the worst is getting your legitimate provident fund (PF) and pension claims. The situation is bad enough to have shocked the government to take some unprecedented measures.
It has announced that every PF and pension claim has to be formalised and settled within 30 days. PF commissioners will now be personally liable for any failure to do this, and penal interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum on the benefit amount would be deducted from his salary for any delay. The aim, says the government, is to cut out the unnecessary delays due to bureaucratic red tape and corruption and "provide prompt, time-bound, and trouble-free service to the people".
But will it work? The backlog is enormous. According to official data, the number of pending PF and pension-related cases was 85,431 in the beginning of 1995-96. By end 1996-97, it had increased to 146,409. By September this year, this has gone beyond the two-lakh mark. And trade unions claim that official figures present only a partial picture, if not merely the tip of the iceberg.
Just in West Bengal, which has the worst PF performance among all states, as many as 26 lakh 'slips', or individual account statements, have not been processed in the last few months. Here, the CPI(M)-backed CITU-affiliated union rules the corridors of the West Bengal provident fund office. When Outlook's photographer tried to take pictures of the office, one Shankar Chakrabarty, a self-styled dada, seized his camera roll and told him: "I'm in charge here. I decide what goes on."
Currently, Chakrabarty and gang are on the warpath against state PF commissioner H.K. Khanna and his deputy. Their crime: they issued a circular urging employees to report on time and carry out their assigned duties. Even CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta, who went to discuss matters with the authorities, was made to wait for over an hour by politicised employees who insisted that he talk with them first!
As it is, officials claim PF offices across the country are grossly understaffed. "As a result, one month's work takes up to six months to be completed," says an officer. Haphazard data collection and maintenance methods make things worse and at state and local levels, there is no coordination and supervision of work. And then, there are the dharnas and strikes. Making sure that many Indians get their claims settled only posthumously. Many companies too may be grossly misusing PF money. According to Nimai Rout of the All India Trade Union Congress, several crores of rupees have not been deposited at the PF department by private and public sector companies, despite collecting it from their employees.
The government now wants to sort this whole mess out by the end of the current financial year. A recent brainstorming session between the Union labour minister and state PF commissioners came to the conclusion that only 'hard' measures can help tackle the problem. And the tough new announcement may be having some effect. PF commissioners have been told that they can go to any length to get employees in line and working, even to the extent of closing down the office if necessary. Files have to be cleared 'at any cost'.
To aid the commissioners, the government has also developed, with the help of National Informatic Centre, a Computerised Payment Accounting System to help streamline all income, PF and pension-related data in the country. All 16 regional and 76 sub-regional offices of the PF organisation are being computerised under this system. In addition, a new concept of facilitation centres, manned by assistant provident fund commissioners, is being introduced in the states. These centres have been entrusted with the task of receiving claims and grievances and complaints as well as providing information regarding the status of claims and complaints.
According to sources in the PF department, the government is also toying with the idea of decentralising all PF and pension related work by forming district and local offices to encourage fast work at the lowest levels. The facilitation centres are the first step in this direction.
But how effective will all this be? It's the easiest thing in India to be cynical, but maybe we should just hold our sneers for a bit and hope that the government succeeds. As of now, it seems intent on achieving its goal. And if it does, it will be making an enormous difference to the lives of a vast number of people.
