Technology promotes transparency, which poses a potential threat to unmask shady zones and erode the concentration of authority. Sadly, our system specifically aborts the penetration of technology in the public sector. Thus, instead of being proactive in adopting technology, the IT department – or any other department – has been doing its best to maintain obsolete practices. Disguised unemployment is cancer, opines Hemashri, in the weekly column, exclusively for Different Truths.

For Joyeeta, disguised unemployment was a strange phenomenon. People who appear to be employed might actually be unemployed. The professor explained this concept to her when she was an economics major in college. Disguised unemployment refers to a situation in which some employees have zero or near-zero marginal productivity. If such employees are removed, the total level of output remains unchanged. As an illustration to bring clarity, the professor gave an example. Suppose that in an agricultural field, 10 workers are working on 50 bighas of land and producing 100 kg of paddy per bigha. Now, suppose two additional workers are engaged, but the total output remains the same, which means the marginal productivity of these two additional workers is zero. This phenomenon is called disguised unemployment. In India’s agricultural sector, this type of unemployment is a common problem. The term was one of the many concepts that I had learned from college textbooks. However, in life, Joyeeta could never have imagined that such a condition might actually be a profound syndrome that she would witness while working to earn her bread.

Mahimamoyee Prodeep Das was a hard-working lady. Hard-working because she had been carrying a heavy load in the form of a hefty body that speaks of the abundance of nourishment. She was a habitual latecomer to work. Draped in costly attire, she had a soft voice well-suited to speaking sweetly, devoid of substance. She knew the art of management in many aspects, often considered crucial for the survival of a government servant. The first thing upon her arrival at the office was to switch on WhatsApp, Facebook, or Messenger. She was techno-savvy in a special way, so she confined her expertise merely to these chatting channels. With remarkable devotion, she began her day by tapping her finger on her smartphone. She was conveniently located in a department with technical difficulties.

Technology promotes transparency, which poses a potential threat to unmask shady zones and erode the concentration of authority. Unfortunately, our system does not support the public sector’s use of technology. Thus, instead of being proactive in adopting technology, the IT department – or any other department – has been doing its best to maintain outdated practices. The crucial Apex Committee meeting has not taken place for the last three years, and it appears no one is following up. “Aaj nehi toh kaal, kaal nehi toh parsu, itna jaldi kya hein, jeena hein baarso!” (If not today, then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then the day after, why rush things when we have to live for years!)

Happy Mahimamoyee either proceeded to her ever-expanding friend circle spread across various departments of the huge capital complex or welcomed a delegation of her friends into her spacious, well-equipped chamber after her engrossing chat session. Endless chat over delicious snacks would keep them pleasantly engaged. Topics could be anything from fashion, children, the next holiday destination, to rumours of colleagues’ extramarital affairs, etc.

Mahimamoyee has a costly printer that she has never used because she believes writing is a clerical task. She didn’t even waste words on her files. When it came to any form of written communication, she was on a strict austerity drive. She never wrote beyond, “Note above placed for approval”, adding a few words here and there. Ignorance is bliss. She lived in that blissful world, knowing nothing about the department where she had been working for nearly a decade. She was a hot favourite with the assistant team, relying on them for every letter and document and being overgenerous with her signature. Busy in her own world of food, fun, and fashion, she often signed without even looking at what lay before her.

Joyeeta discovered her unique style of functioning as a colleague. The contractual employees working in the cell had not received their salaries for five months, and finally, they went on strike. The whole department went on a roadshow for an event, so Joyeeta had to handle the crisis. Following up on the matter, she discovered, to her utter surprise, that for six months Mahimamoyee had done absolutely nothing to address the issue, except to send a one-sentence letter to the concerned agency. The lady officer of the nodal agency spoke harshly, complaining of inaction, and showed her that callous communication where even that one sentence had a repetition of words. Every time Joyeeta approached Mahimamoyee to discuss an issue as a junior, she found Mahimamoyee unaware of the department’s work, despite having been in the department for a decade.

One day, as Joyeeta entered her chamber, she found Mahimamoyee engaged in an animated discussion about a pay hike. She found the senior lady expressing her discontent with such a nominal salary hike. Joyeeta was thinking, “I wish we had a system to evaluate and monitor each employee’s output.” Joyeeta knew for sure that hordes of workers like Mahimamoyee were surely unemployed but disguised. Even if they withdrew from the system, the total output would remain the same.

The question is, what output does the system produce or intend to produce? Could someone please define what output this mammoth system is designed to produce? The employees of a liquor company know that their purpose is to reduce costs and maximise liquor production to earn and sell, maximising profit, and they hope that at least part of the profit will be shared. Who defines output in a government set-up? Even the intended output of this gigantic system is not defined anywhere, let alone its vision or mission. So what can these demotivated employees be expected to do, other than spend time wandering productively? Joyeeta remembered those lines she read in The Algebra of Infinite Justice, by her favourite author Arundhati Roy: “Government in India is enormous in size, like a dinosaur, but governed by a brain of peanut size, and when it moves, its movement is not even discernible… in size, like a dinosaur, but governed by a brain of peanut size, and when it moves, its movement is not even discernible…”

With the passage of time, Joyeeta realised that things she had previously treated as pure theory were actually much more relevant in real life. Who would define output or purpose in this system? When will it connect to a vision or mission that helps us understand the bigger picture? Until a great messiah arrives, we are all cursed with massive disguised unemployment. The workplace will remain a ‘gossip parlour’ for countless demotivated employees.

Why work when you could get paid for not working?

©Hemashri Hazarika

Photos from the Internet

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Hemashri Hazarika

Hemashri Hazarika is an Officer of the Assam Civil Service since 1997. Her research on Assam Civil Service brought reforms in 2015. A first-class Postgraduate in Economics from Gauhati University, she was awarded JRF/NET by UGC in 1997. Her experience as a bureaucrat has sensitised her to human sufferings. A solutionist by passion, she takes an active interest in issues related to Governance, Development, Women, Children, etc. Reading, Writing, Speaking and Painting are her hobbies.