From Corporate to Govt.: a small leap - Part II

MY PROJECT'S FIRST REVIEW CAME UP FOR PRESENTATION

I was at sea. My laptop did not have any reserve power. I went to Manmohan and apprised him of the situation. I was sweating. He calmly replied that this would not be a cause of concern. I was flummoxed!!!! The Speaker asked me to explain to the House on what were my plans for the Unique Identity Project. I replied that I have a plan prepared for 30-60-90-120 days' milestones and I have presentation to make for which I need a power socket, a projector and a screen. I had no idea what was going to happen after

this.

The next couple of minutes were a complete jolt for me. I was completely in a tizzy. Let me just summarize what happened. A Joint Cabinet Secretary Committee was set up to judge the feasibility of my request. The Under Secretaries for the Ministries of Power, IT and Broadcasting will prepare a Viability Report after scrutinizing National Security threats to my request. This was because the power socket comes under Power, laptop comes under IT and projector comes under Broadcasting. I have also been told to reconsider my timelines of 30-60-90 days and start thinking in terms of years. Probably, they are right. I did not have the foresight in this matter.

The summary of the issue is that I need to come up with a more inclusive, democratic, comprehensive long term plan for this project to be executed over the next five years. I have also been given a presentation slot 3 months from now (by which the issues related to the power cord etc will also be resolved). I am filled with mixed reactions. I was planning for a quick resolution; the management wants a strategic solution. I come out of the House and text Murthy.

You won't believe it but these guys work just like us. I am on a NATIONAL BENCH for the next three months!!!!!!!

That wasn't much of a transition I guess. But ofcourse, one has to compromise on factors like power sockets and projectors (like they are really going to raise security threats!).

Just for the record; terrorists have stopped attacking govt. officials (to hell with the oldies in the govt. office, they hardly represent the people), rather they have taken to tormenting real people with real lives. That is just my opinion. Theories apart, this was altogether a good read and being the complete IT professional that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed it.