By Khagesh Agarwal:
Time and again, we have been a victim of the corrupt practices of the “sarkari babus.” This time, I would like to take the opportunity to narrate my personal experience of the same. A couple of days back, I was on my way back to dwarka from CP and was in the metro, where 3 young guys were sitting besides me. They were from Lucknow, and had just moved to Delhi for some academic purpose (I guess). Among the other commuters was a constable dressed in his uniform. One of the three guys initiated a small talk with him (the constable), and enquired about the procedure for getting a police verification done. It was quite natural for him to ask the constable for the information, because he was at a much better position to advice them. However, to my surprise, he answered in such a way that it came as a shock to me. He said that “Ye sab toh formality hota hai. Jo banda aapke paas aata hai verification karne k liye, uski jeb garam kar do… sab ho jaata hai…” (these are all formalities and to deal with it smoothly, just give some bribe to the concerned person who comes for verification).
Although India is one country that has its name featured among the topmost in the list of corrupt nations (sorry to say this, but this is a fact. I feel ashamed of this being an Indian), the dealings with regards to police verification of people from other states is an issue which should be taken up with due diligence. The reason being that we hear and read of numerous instances of guys misbehaving with girls, and other unidentified crimes, and this lacuna could possibly be one complement to these instances. People who don’t have the correct verification are free to do anything without the fear of getting traced, leaving victims at their mercy.
I sincerely hope that this message of mine reaches out to those thousands of people who come to the national capital for studies or in pursuit of a job, and also to the concerned authorities to keep a strong vigil on such instances and prevent the same from happening again. Given its track record, a small misdeed is enough to dampen the credibility of the entire police force.