A few days ago, I applied for my passport. I was supposed to fill out a form and submit it at the passport office in Varanasi. When I arrived at the office and presented all my documents, I realized that I had made some mistakes on the form. I thought it would be best to fill out a new form, so I asked the officer if he had a fresh one. To my surprise, he told me that the office did not provide new forms, which seemed absurd. The officer asked why I needed a new form, and I explained my situation. He then suggested a solution: he used whiteout to correct the mistakes and asked me to overwrite the errors.

I was relieved not to have to go out and purchase a new form, but I was puzzled by his willingness to help, as I did not expect such assistance from a government employee. I suspected that something was amiss. After I completed the corrected form, I handed it to a person at the office, but he told me to wait for the officer. I inquired if he was an official employee, and he revealed that the officer had hired him personally to assist with the paperwork. This raised my suspicions further. When the officer finally arrived, he stamped and signed my form but did not give me a receipt. Instead, he handed it to the other person and instructed me to speak with him for the next steps.

The man turned his face away and mumbled something I couldn’t hear. When I asked him to speak clearly, he eventually said that I needed to pay for the stamp and postage charges to send my application to the regional office in Lucknow. I questioned why the government did not cover these costs, and he simply replied, “No.” I knew that postage should not be so expensive and argued that Rs. 200 was excessive. He insisted that the fee covered bribes for all officials who would handle my application. Reluctantly, I negotiated and gave him Rs. 100, which he snatched eagerly. He assured me that he would forward my application by the evening.

It was disheartening to see how the officer had cleverly outsourced the bribery process to avoid direct involvement. The next step was to obtain a no-objection certificate from the local police station. The passport office sends the documents to the SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police), who then forwards them to the local police station. When I visited the police station to check if my application had arrived, I was told to return after two days. During my visit, I observed a man retrieving his car, which had been confiscated by the police two years earlier. He had received a release order from the court.

I knew that the police would demand a bribe to return the car, but I was curious about how they would solicit it. Despite my presence, the policeman loudly instructed the car owner to give something extra to the next officer to receive the car keys. The car owner reluctantly paid Rs. 500, but the policeman demanded more, eventually settling on Rs. 700. The next day, when I returned to the police station, the officer had my application. He reviewed my documents and asked for my father’s village address, even though I had never lived there. When I questioned this, he explained that people sometimes commit crimes in their villages. I realized he was likely trying to delay the process to extract a bribe.

I insisted on a faster process, and the officer mentioned he knew a way to expedite it. He took me to the head of the police station, who interviewed me and asked various questions, including who would pay for my trip to the US. After attesting my photo, the head of the station sent me back with the original officer. The officer then demanded a bribe, stating that I could pay whatever I wished. When I suggested Rs. 200, he dismissed it, saying it was insufficient. Eventually, he asked for Rs. 600, which I reluctantly paid, knowing that without this bribe, I might never receive my passport.

This entire experience left me disheartened. I wonder if there is any government service in India that can be obtained without paying bribes.