“Me & The Reality of Society- The Harsh Truth” Part 2

Introduction:

Every job in society is worth respecting whether it’s a rag picker, fruit vendor, street hawker, actor, dancer, elite businessman etc. The way no religion is bad, it’s their devotees who make it bleak. Similarly, there are people in a particular profession who have made it pathetic or even worse by their wrong doings.

Let’s understand it with an example. You must have heard about the Top most government hospitals in India viz. G.B. Pant hospital, G.T.B Hospital, Safdarjung hospital etc in Delhi. You must be wondering that I have taken the wrong track in this blog. But I am trying to join the dots to tell you that how things are not working and have become so difficult for a common man because of corruption.

Corruption & Free Biscuits:

I would like to share a real life incident of a shopkeeper who runs a shop in a government hospital. It sounds very wealthy and influential when a person holds such a facility that too in a government hospital. Often people say to him, “Aapko to koi tension nahi hai. Aap to sabko hospital mein jante honge. Zara hamare bhi kaam karwa dijiye”. In English it means that people often tell the shopkeeper that he is tension free as he knows everyone in hospital. He can do anything he wants to! But there is a very popular saying that “Grass is always greener on the other side”.

This shopkeeper has to deal with a rag picker to the top official of hospital on daily basis. It is so because he has to run his business and provide bread and butter to his family. Here when I say “deal”, I am using this word with respect to a negative context. Every morning a rag picker comes to his shop to pick the garbage. He asks for eatable items like biscuits, tea and sandwich for free.

The Free Fetchers:

If the shopkeeper denies, he has to face some serious consequences. The rag picker will not pick his garbage. On the contrary, he will spill other peoples’ garbage outside the shop and inform the sanitation department. The officials will go to the shop and click many photographs with the garbage. They will then file a false complaint against the shopkeeper for keeping the surroundings dirty. This can lead to the cancellation of the shopkeeper’s license to run the shop.

Just imagine, all this happened due to the denial of shopkeeper for providing free tea, biscuits and sandwich. Now, think about it. This is a beginning and how the ending would be! Let us talk about the life saver, “The Ambulance Driver” of the renowned government hospital. No doubt, he performs a very noble job for the society but there is a black side to it which is also asking for “free chips, water bottle and sandwich”. If the shopkeeper again denies for the same, the driver will call his bouncer friends working in the same hospital allotted for better security. They altogether harass and threaten him which ultimately leads to the bowing down of shopkeeper.

Are Police reliable?

This question may bother you that why will someone bear it? Why is the shopkeeper not lodging a complaint against them in police station? But my dear, this is not a reel but real life! Things are not the way they are shown in society. The incident which I mentioned above of ambulance driver and bouncers, they will be escorted by police personnel. But don’t be mistaken! The police are there not for the shopkeeper but to help the bouncers and the ambulance driver so that they can also fetch some free items from the shopkeeper. Are they surely the saviors of the society?

They have their own way of harassing him. The police become so responsible that they start performing those duties that are not allotted to them. For instance, the police will call shop keeper with the license documents to police station to waste his time and money. They actually ought to get the documents from the hospital authorities and not from the shopkeeper. This actually creates an unnecessary mental pressure so that he cannot run his business efficiently.

This further can lead to financial losses and even worse mental state. You would have seen many hawkers sitting on the boundaries of government hospitals such as Safdarjung in Delhi. No wonder the police and hospital authorities allow and help them to sell the unhygienic items without any legal license. The tea sellers and the hawkers are allowed to reach different wards of the hospital so that they can earn good.

Bribery and The Hospitals:

Do you think all the above doings are possible without any help or “Bribe”? Now just imagine the devastating situation of a legal licensed shop keeper as his sale is hampered majorly because of all this. Despite paying the shop rent, electricity and water bill, license fee etc., he is still extremely helpless. What should he do? Should he look after his family or these free fetchers?  Can you guess who is the next one in the free fetcher queue? It’s the hospital guards.

Imagine a truck loaded with goods reaches his shop and it’s time to deload it. The guards neither allow the truck to stop there for a second nor the goods to be put on ground. The shopkeeper’s condition is vulnerable as he cannot organise his goods in shop. Now again the guard will be accompanied by police personnel who will start throwing his goods here and there leading to huge damages. So, never underestimate the power of guards. Just give them Rs. 500 and receive the services which you have never dreamt of in a government hospital. They will provide free parking space, medicines, gloves, polythene garbage bags and many other entities to you.

The Harsh Truth

Now the department which provides more energy to such happenings is the electricity department of the hospital. They have their own electrifying techniques to disturb the mental peace of a common man. They will simply cut off the electric supply of the shop if the shopkeeper doesn’t listen to them.

During late evenings, I have seen many drunkards and drug addicts roaming in and around such reputed hospitals. They also torture the shopkeepers by demanding free eatable stuffs. No Police or Hospital Authorities chuck them out of their premises. This is really shocking!

Let me tell you that I am also a doctor and I am not defaming anyone here. I believe in working for the upliftment of the society as much as I can. But it’s the harsh truth of our system which is getting worse day by day. I have seen doctors and nurses of many hospitals misbehaving with the shopkeepers in order to get free eatables. I, as a responsible citizen of India have never done and will never do such activities ever in my life!

A shopkeeper who wants to earn his living, his whole time and energy will be consumed in writing complaint letters against officials of various departments. Things will even get worse. If you think that he will get the justice once he reaches the top officials of the system, you are dead wrong! The system will only listen to him if they are also getting a chunk of his hard-earned money.

Corruption and The Sufferer:

Ultimately this all leads to the rise in corruption and one has to become a part of it.  This brings us closer to a truth that all these shops are owned by those who have such contacts and power to deal with them. Our Society will soon enter the Black hole if this humiliation continues. You must be wondering that how I know this bitter truth! Well, “I AM ONE OF THE SUFFERERS”.

If You Are Reading This Blog For The First Time, You Need To Go Through My Previous Blog >>> “Me & The Reality of Society – The Harsh Truth” Part 1 For Better Understanding.

Disclaimer:

This article or blog is created on the basis of real life experience. Dr. Priyanka Jain (PT) w.r.t. http://www.drjainpriyanka.com has not done this to defame anyone. Here she has just tried to express her views.