Four to five decades before, the procedures followed in offices were totally different from what we see in practice in present day organizations. Most of the works were manual and machines had not enslaved us in carrying out our activities. There were such strange practices that seem to be impossible today. In offices, there were present already made forms and other documents. These forms and documents took many days to be made when a clerk spent many hours with a pen and a scale (ruler) to draw the lines and make rows and columns. As these documents were made with much effort, so they were treated as a treasure and kept very secretly and carefully. Whenever anyone needed a document, its copy was drawn on another paper with the help of a carbon paper.

Similarly, there were clerks who used to feel proud on the forms they made in which they had drawn exact number of rows and columns. On the other hand, some specific terms were used in the office documents that were known only to the limited number of people and a newcomer took years to learn and understand them. It was the reason why that old and experienced clerks and office staff always carried an air of superiority on the newcomers and tried their best not to disclose the secrets of the game.

Almost the same condition was present in schools where the unit plans, weekly plans, annual plans, attendance registers, mark sheets and other documents were made by the help of a pencil and ruler and the established procedures were followed while making them. As these things were all new and somewhat revolutionary in those days, they were taken as very advanced and worthy enough to be proud of.

But then a long war started. This war of three decades completely jammed the wheel of improvement and we remained where we were before the war. Our condition and status before the war was acceptable and up-to-par but after three decades, they had become obsolete and out-dated. When we made our offices functional after this long war, we discovered that everything had changed. Now the documents that were kept secret and regarded as sophisticated were made on computer in a short period of time. Similarly, the procedures used in offices had become very quick and user-friendly.

But here a conflict started. After the restoration of peace and democracy, all the people who were working before the war, returned to their posts. Though they had got old and did not know about the modern equipments and techniques, yet they were not ready to give up. On the other hand, young men who had learned English and completed some computer courses entered the offices and started functioning more efficiently and productively. They had with them an international language and expertise of a very smart machine that provided them with an edge over those who were unaccustomed to these. This condition was not acceptable at all for the old fellows. It was a great blow to their authority and feelings of superiority. The young men that once they never took into consideration had excelled them in their own field and this situation was both frightening and unacceptable. In old days, they used to term them as ‘stupid and immature’ and now same immature and stupid men were challenging their superiority.

We are not sure about it but it seems as if these old men and women of our offices made a secret cartel and came up with a deal that they will never let the young men to belittle their importance. There were two ways to adopt; one by learning latest technology and languages and beat the young men in their own field which was impossible because learning English and computer without any school base is next to impossible. Second, keep sticking with and imposing those things in which they are experts and never open your door to the improved and latest techniques.

It is the reason why, when a teacher goes to a website and downloads a very interactive lesson plan and presents it to the school authority, he is badly discouraged and directed to make the lesson plan according to ‘our traditional and typical standards’ which means, making a plan in which you make the same number of rows and columns and use the exact words that were in use some four decades before.

In the same way, when a young man introduces a latest and user-friendly format of application and request processing, his format is thrown into the dustbin and he is asked to use the format which was in use before the civil war erupted in the country and in which such difficult and literary terms are used that both common public and our young clerk cannot understand. These old documents and forms are the weapons to defeat the easy and effective documents developed with the help of latest technology.

Except these two ways, they had two more options; first to leave the ground for those who were better than them and who had knowledge needed by the time and secondly, to find and settle on a mutual path in which they should not only keep their posts but also let the young men come up with easy and quick techniques but unfortunately, they refused to go with either of the above options and thus paralyzed the whole system of government.

Our government is ranked among the most corrupt governments in the world and this is not just because of the corruption and bribery but also due to the lack of effective and quick processes that should solve the problems of people and function to meet the aims of their existence.

Let’s take the example of taking a simple permission for any official work. In almost all the developed countries, when you go to any public office for any such work, you are given a computer-generated form and as soon as you fill it, it is entered into the system and things proceed in a swift manner and in a day or two, you are given the permission but if you have to acquire any such permission in Afghanistan, you keep visiting different offices and become successful after a month or more, giving bribe at a number of places. You pass through a number of blood-drenching processes. Sometimes, you don’t find the office clerk, at times, he fails to find the required form, then there starts the long process of getting the necessary signatures and again, sometimes the officer is not found in office or the clerk doesn’t come to office who should write the orders on your request or any other similar problem is created. Due to all these processes, when you get tired and ask a clerk to show you an easy way, he does so by pointing at your pocket. Similarly, when you go to a large number of desks and officers, your work doesn’t move to the next position until you don’t pay anything to excel it.

Anyhow, this is a long story making evident the laziness, greed, incompetence and other sinister practices of our bureaucratic system.

We can’t say when and how this old and rotten system will be mended but it is a stinking issue that needs to be given attention just like bribery, corruption, terrorism and other burning issues of the country.