In a time when all we seem to read in the newspapers are Scams ranging from Army rations to Spectrum, what I witnessed today has established my faith in the Indian Government more so in the Indian Postal Department. I had gone to the Post office this morning to cash some NSCs (National Saving Certificates) that I had purchased some years back and being very sceptical about government offices was expecting to be shuffled from desk to desk before I could get my money back.
I arrived at the counter and was instructed by the clerk to fill in the discharge details at the back of the certificates, which I did but unfortunately with a green pen which was the only pen I could find in my bag(something in my head kept going that using a green pen was taboo, but I did it anyway). When I presented the certificates to the clerk blew his top and literally threw the certificates at my face, at that point I felt that I was really lucky to be a woman as I am sure he would have manhandled me had I been a man. He was like, "Are you an accountant, who asked you to fill in the details in green ink ??"(I wonder what he would do to me if he realised that I was in fact a CA). I apologised but he continued ranting "Sorry is not enough, speak to the In-charge, I am not paying this".
I spoke to the In-charge, who said, kindly instructed me to write out the details in blue pen, accordingly I wrote out the details in blue pen, but being the ass that I am at time, I wrote over the green, so there I was holding a discharged certificate with instruction in green that have been overwritten in blue. When the clerk saw this he literally hit the roof, he was like, "What is this ?? ( accompanied with a look that said, are you mad or something), all this overwriting it looks like someone forged it". I will not pay out based on this. He took the certificates went and conferred with the In-charge for a while. Then he came back and handed back the certificates along with a blue pen and instructed me to fill in the details on the left hand side of the certificate. When I returned the certificates he calmly explained that he had to answer to his superiors and they would not look kindly to such mistakes and he took the certificates away and within fifteen minutes the In-charge called me and with a smile handed me my cheque. In fact if I hadn't messed up in the first place I think my cheque would have been handed to me in five minutes... faster than any bank (nationalised or private). Their efficiency and diligence has left me floored, humbled.
The working conditions at these government offices are far from comfortable. However in the thirty minutes that I spent at the post office what I witnessed was a sense of camaraderie, they were laughing, smiling, joking and helping each other get the job done to the best of the abilities. I overheard the In charge tell another customer "We are here to serve you, of course we want you to come back to us". I for one will go back to them and soon...
I arrived at the counter and was instructed by the clerk to fill in the discharge details at the back of the certificates, which I did but unfortunately with a green pen which was the only pen I could find in my bag(something in my head kept going that using a green pen was taboo, but I did it anyway). When I presented the certificates to the clerk blew his top and literally threw the certificates at my face, at that point I felt that I was really lucky to be a woman as I am sure he would have manhandled me had I been a man. He was like, "Are you an accountant, who asked you to fill in the details in green ink ??"(I wonder what he would do to me if he realised that I was in fact a CA). I apologised but he continued ranting "Sorry is not enough, speak to the In-charge, I am not paying this".
I spoke to the In-charge, who said, kindly instructed me to write out the details in blue pen, accordingly I wrote out the details in blue pen, but being the ass that I am at time, I wrote over the green, so there I was holding a discharged certificate with instruction in green that have been overwritten in blue. When the clerk saw this he literally hit the roof, he was like, "What is this ?? ( accompanied with a look that said, are you mad or something), all this overwriting it looks like someone forged it". I will not pay out based on this. He took the certificates went and conferred with the In-charge for a while. Then he came back and handed back the certificates along with a blue pen and instructed me to fill in the details on the left hand side of the certificate. When I returned the certificates he calmly explained that he had to answer to his superiors and they would not look kindly to such mistakes and he took the certificates away and within fifteen minutes the In-charge called me and with a smile handed me my cheque. In fact if I hadn't messed up in the first place I think my cheque would have been handed to me in five minutes... faster than any bank (nationalised or private). Their efficiency and diligence has left me floored, humbled.
The working conditions at these government offices are far from comfortable. However in the thirty minutes that I spent at the post office what I witnessed was a sense of camaraderie, they were laughing, smiling, joking and helping each other get the job done to the best of the abilities. I overheard the In charge tell another customer "We are here to serve you, of course we want you to come back to us". I for one will go back to them and soon...
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