The God Who Failed: An Assessment of Jawaharlal Nehru's Leadership

by Madhav Godbole

I have objection to those who are specially qualified for a particular profession sitting in the office, quill-driving. I consider it a waste of their talents, knowledge and experience… Our services are steeped in a system of gradation or caste system which is probably the legacy of British rule… It is a wrong way to assess a man’s worth by the salary drawn by him or the designation attached to his post… The new age will dawn only when there are no chaparasis. But here the practice is entirely different. Nobody wants to walk even to the neighbouring room. Even in this age of telephones, everybody wants to send messages through peons. I have heard that before the [Second World] War there were only 3,200 peons here in Delhi but now this number has increased to 19,000… (JNMF 1999; pp.30–35)