Govt staff checked for badges

They are out to expose officials who collect bribes under a cover of anonymity

Groups of activists are visiting government offices and doing a citizens’ audit to see if officials are wearing their identity badges.

The Karnataka Rashtra Samithi, a political party, has been working with Lancha Mukta Karnataka Nirmana Vedike, a forum with the objective of building a corruption-free Karnataka, to organise these visits.

As part of the effort, volunteers have collated a checklist with 20 points for municipal, sub-registrar and taluk offices. Teams have visited Bommanahalli, Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar Zonal offices in Bengaluru.

“These are the offices that common people visit regularly and we want to make them transparent and efficient,” says Ravikrishna Reddy, president of Karnataka Rashtra Samithi. Some of the points in the checklist include access to toilets, drinking water, and availability of information on Lokayukta and the Right to Information.

“Often, you find agents and brokers sitting in the chairs of officials and collecting bribes from citizens. Since there are no nameplates or badges, citizens are unable to identify them and register complaints,” he explains.

In 2018, following a visit to the chief minister’s office, chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar wrote to all departments, pointing out various points of inefficiency.

On July 15, 2020, the government issued an official memo mandating every government employee to wear a badge that showed their name, designation and department while on duty.

An earlier memo, dated February 15, asks government officials to treat citizens with dignity, and offer them seats.

The Regional Commissioner’s Office was tasked with the responsibility of addressing complaints, conducting audits and taking action.

Social media attention

An incident in Nagamangala, which grabbed the attention of Bengalureans, is helping create awareness about citizens’ rights in government offices.

“Now people are aware of the memo asking officials to wear identity badges, and have started demanding their rights,” says Ravi Krishna Reddy.

Officials are complying. “The video has around one million views on Facebook alone. Many people say they pulled up officials for not wearing badges, and they have complied,” he says.

However, as of now, no officer has been disciplined or penalised for not wearing a badge. Reddy says his party will file formal complaints in due course if the problem persists.

“Most government officials don’t like to take action on other officials and choose to simply reprimand them,” Reddy says.

Citizen action

Citizens who find officers not wearing a badge should simply note down the room number and department and write a letter to the tahsildar and ask for an inquiry.

“Collect an acknowledgement slip so that they will have no choice but to provide an explanation,” he says. It is the responsibility of the Lokayukta to address such grievances, but in many areas, they are not functional. It is inaction and inefficiency that fosters such behaviour, he says.

What happened

On March 10, members of the Karnataka Rashtra Samithi (KRS) and Lancha Mukta Karnataka Nirmana Vedike visited the Nagamangala taluk office as part of their informal social audits of government offices.

When they asked officers to wear badges, as mandated, the tahsildar got agitated. The officials registered a complaint saying the activists were blocking government officials from doing their duty.

Police arrested the activists. However, a court granted them bail. Footage of what happened at the office has gone viral on Facebook.