My sign comes at a cost: gazetted official
One of the serious forms of monetary harassment a student undergoes is that posed by the government official, designated as a gazetted officer. In a total desperate condition to despatch certificates for a degree or a job, the student does not hesitate to part with whatever is demanded of him or her. In this incident reported from Noida, the student was asked Rs 20 a page by the officer, a Chief Medical Officer in Gautam Budh Nagar. With 14 signatures required, the individual ended up paying Rs 280 for the simple job (http://ipaidabribe.com/bribe-central/photocopy-atetstation). Inspiring to read was this reportage from our respondent in Hyderabad, who refused to pay Rs 90 as bribe to get his certificates endorsed for a post-graduation in http://ipaidabribe.com/bribe-central/getting-attestation-gazetted-signature.
Apart from the crime of demanding someone’s else money, these officials are committing a greater crime by making young people learn firsthand that nothing in India can be done without illegal gratification. This damage caused to young minds stays with them all through life. No wonder, a few of our student respondents ended up paying kudos to those who did not take a bribe! It has got so deeply ingrained in their minds that bribe is taken for the precious signatures that one who does not ask for it was someone noble!