I was privy to an American NRI and an American sharing their Indian international airport experiences. The NRI spoke of Indians trying to cut the long queues at the immigration counter; of immigration officers waiting to check the passport once it was stamped on entry. Hand baggage was X-rayed by Customs, and then after checked-in baggage was collected that was X-rayed along with hand baggage, Green and Red Channel notwithstanding. The departure process included his passport being checked at least four times before he entered the aircraft.
The American had another story. Whilst in India, her flight between Delhi and Mumbai had been cancelled but she hadn’t read the message so she had gone to the airport. She was to fly out of the country from Mumbai. She requested the lady at the check-in counter to give her details of the next flight. The lady could not as she claimed she did not have permission to access that information on her console. She therefore had to call someone else who provided one alternative which was not suitable. Ultimately, they called someone senior enough to access the information who was then able to give the alternatives available.
Multiple checks
One would assume that the Security checks the passport and ticket at the door of the departure building to ensure only those supposed to fly enter the terminal. At the counter, the passport is checked to ensure the name on the ticket matches with that on the passport, and the passport and visa it contains is valid for the country where one is heading to. A similar process is conducted by the immigration officer before he stamps the passport with the exit date. This stamp is sometimes checked by another immigration officer after one passes through the immigration counter. The passport is then checked as one queues to board at the boarding gate. Then it is checked for the last time as one enters the aircraft.
On entry into the country, the passport is checked twice by immigration officers. The checked-in and cabin bags are also checked twice.
Is at least one check unnecessary?
A rationale?
For the passports, a case can be made that these are checked to ensure only travellers enter the airport, then only travelers for a particular flight and destination enter the plane. This could be important in India given that there are many first-time fliers. Any mistake is costly for everyone. But does that require this many checks? Is this a way to keep passengers occupied and slow their movement towards their departure gate?
What of the Customs routine, and that of the airline staff’s inability to access information at the check-in counter?
I think a lot of these procedures and systems have to do with the lack of trust. Are officials checking each other to ensure they are performing their jobs or are they double-checking passengers because they assume passengers will gyp the system?
These examples suggest that systems in India are created and function on the suspicion that people will deceive. Systems distrust people and people distrust systems.
There is a history.
This dysfunctional relationship between Indians and systems that are supposed to facilitate Indian society and economy is not new. Elections were once conducted by ballots. To prevent electoral rigging Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were introduced. But many allege that EVM’s can be made fallible. To prevent political horse trading, the Anti-Defection Law or the 52nd Amendment to the Indian Constitution was passed. But recent political history shows there are ways to circumvent this law. What is worse is there have been news reports of police and investigative agencies being used to achieve political and business ends.
Forget politicians, even in the everyday, there is a constant endeavour to circumvent the system. Let’s not even talk about the habit of not following traffic laws or laws that directly benefit citizenry.
This cat and mouse game seems to be a way to keep large sections of the economy occupied. But does it do India any good?
Politicians and government servants take an oath of allegiance to the Indian Constitution. But there is enough occurring and reported on to suggest that they lean towards a lesser but more immediate calling.
Nationalism, trust and corruption
If nationalism is on the rise, why hasn’t it resulted in an increase in mutual trust between citizen and system? It’s pointless asking why nationalism has not increased trust between citizens for the simple reason that nationalism is devotion to the state and to one group of people above all else. Thus, nationalism inherently creates schisms amongst people. But what of that between people and systems? Has the increasing number of Indians stridently declaring love for India translated into respecting systems?
Societies grow on trust. Corruption is one consequence of distrust and not valuing administrative, political and legal structures. This leads to the addition of systems which causes inefficiencies.
What does all the pride in the country translate to? Reducing corruption? As per Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), India ranked 96 out of 180 countries. Per CPI, the country was less corrupt last year. CPI ranks countries based on ‘perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people’.
Respondents to the CSDS-Lokniti 2024 pre-poll survey blamed both the central and state governments for the rise in corruption. So here in lies the paradox, respondents to the CSDS survey also indicated that corruption was not high on their priority list when voting.
Potentially, the country is fine living with distrust and corruption. This could be because everyone seemingly benefits by participating in it in one form or another. Thus, the love that one claims one has for one’s country is separate from, and does not influence, action towards its betterment.
Will becoming a multi-trillion-dollar economy enhance trust and reduce corruption? Currently the increasing GDP does not need enhanced civic duty. But for how long? The only way to teach trust is to act on it. Any takers?
(Samir Nazareth is an
author and writes on socio-economic and
environmental issues)