The Govt offices in India were always known for their inefficiencies and 'babugiri'. So much so that lethargy and incompetence is usually equated to a public sector job. These were the jobs that people wanted to get into because there was no risk of getting thrown out of the job even if you don't perform. Your salaries and promotions were only associated to your seniority and your 'relationship' with your superior.
Things started changing after India opened their economy to the world. The Indian private sector was forced to compete with the global enterprises. The inefficiencies in the private sector came down in a big way (or you may say, they were forced to do that in order to survive). At the same time, monopoly of many public sectors got broken. So even the public sector was forced to compete with the Indian and the global private sector. BSNL in the telecom world, BHEL in the capital goods sector and State Bank of India in the banking are great examples of the turnaround stories. Some of them are still not up to the mark, but I have a reason to believe that they have started taking their customers rather seriously and probably for the first time we are seeing some serious efforts of their part to improve efficiency. I know they still have miles to go and I would still prefer to see the Govt out of running these businesses, but that should not stop me from acknowledging whatever good I see.
Since last few months I wanted to get a second cylinder for my Bharat Gas connection. Couple of my trips to the Bharat Gas office went useless (as expected from any 'sarkari' office). I was either told to come in the 'next' month or scared away with mention of a long wait list. So when it happened to me again last Saturday (I am told that the wait period is of 2 years!!), I got really annoyed. I soon discovered that Bharat Gas has a nice website ebharatgas.com. I signed up and registered my complaint online. To my surprise, I got a quick response from the Bharat Gas on Monday morning and without any follow up I received a mail today that my complaint has been resolved and I can go and collect my second cylinder from the dealer. The 2 years wait time is cut short to just 5 days!! Thats good enough for me to be optimistic about the system. I think, now a days, there are people willing to listen and help you out. They just wait for you to speak up. So next time if you feel helpless, make sure your voice is heard, loud and clear.
Btw, the Bharat Gas site looks promising. Check it out.
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Just to follow up. I got my second connection the very next day. What's more interesting is another friend of friend found this information, tried his luck and also got the same result in a week's time. So it wasn't just a fluke :-)
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