For the past 12 years I have been traveling to India periodically. Because of this I had to apply for a visa through the Indian Consulate in the US. The very first time was super frustrating, but after two years applying for both me and my father was pretty straight forward and easy.  I was impressed with how on-line websites were becoming more of the norm. My dad reminded me of how when he was in India it was always a laborious process: going several times to offices, standing in line and trying to avoid getting business done without bribing. 

When I got to India it was also impressive that banking was starting to go on line. The ATMs worked pretty well. But then in 2016 "demonitization" began the week I arrived. This was allegedly to curb corruption by getting all the "black money" out of the money system. It was a moderate hassle for me, who just had to wait in a few lines to get to the ATM to withdraw a limited amount of money out. But for those who relied on the cash economy this was a huge hassle and caused serious economic grief to millions. When I returned after that, It was apparent that the money economy was being wiped out. Now one could buy a cup of chai on the side of the road using PTM. Soon other pay systems, such as Google Pay etc, became options, and PTM got in trouble for corruption, so it closed down.

During this visit to India in 2023-24, I had to apply for residency permit. The whole process began with first registering at JNU, which I described in previous post. Then to my surprise again there was an online application! How nice. But after waiting one week for me to get my registration papers I started getting worried: did they even get it? How long does it take?  It just so happened that G20 was happening in India and the agents who process foreigners were transferred to the airport to deal with the huge amount of VIPs and their entourage entering over a few days. That meant that all our Fulbright applications got put at the bottom of the pile. Because after all there was a bureaucratic process of several people to sign and check off acceptance of the application. Maybe without G20 it would have been more efficient, for the Indian Bureaucracy CAN function smoothly (if everyone does their job).  Other Fulbright scholars in Delhi waited over a month.

I was getting impatient, because I had to move on with my research, so I figured going to the Foreign Resident Registration office would help get my file to the top of the pile, a tactic my dad had often used decades ago.  So I went in the morning to a reception room that was packed with people from Bangladesh and different countries in Africa. After taking a number I eventually found a seat. As soon as I could I moved to the seat that was right in front of one of the officers who were calling people up one by one. I just stared at rher and smiled every time she looked up. But... sigh ... it was then lunch time. During this time I realized that the clock on the wall had nothing to do with what time it actually was. I continued my tactic of smiling at the woman clerk behind the desk. Just before my number was called she took over duty on the computer. The Bangladeshi people didn't seem to understand that they had to wait for their numbers to be called.  So the man officer had to get up and yell at them to sit down and wait like everyone else. The woman was very happy that finally my number was called. I explained that I didn't get a notification that my registration was complete so that I was free to travel. Their computer said that I had been approved, but that it was backlogged to get an email sent to me to let me know that. So they said, not to worry, I could travel and I'd eventually get the email.

This is one thing that I kept encountering that the bureaucracy in India for both the public and private sectors is huge. Digitalizing any of it, simply helps with keeping track better, but there is still tons of paperwork and various positions that any such paper has to go through for approval. In the US there is a drive to make government smaller, but the Indian people survive on government positions. One cannot rely on the private sector to find security. Tests for every level of the government are given and those with the higher scores are the ones who get the positions.  The security of position is the same for the Americans that I know working in American government. Right leaning politics tends to want the demolition of government to the point where even the private sector takes over the Schools and social services! I think it is also the aim for the Modi government, but the bureaucracy is so entrenched that I don't think India will ever see that happen. 
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