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MT India Digest
Moderated Discussion List
"Effective MT Forum"
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Published by:
MT India
www.MTIndia.org Moderated by:
Amit Chatterjee, SM
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Jun 11, 2002 Digest #082
.................................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... =========FEATURED POST=========== -=The Blakes Go to India - Part 8=- ~Cheryl and Joe Blake
"We nodded a few times. Nothing was said in English.
We nodded some more!" ===========CONTINUING============ -=Are we a bunch of losers?=- ~Rukmani Raghavan
"companies have understood that profits cannot and
will not come within one, two, three or even five years" =========FEATURED POST=========== From: Cheryl Blake <
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Subject: Part 8 - Where the DMV Learned the Art of
Bureaucracy Continued from MTID #81........... Where the DMV Learned the Art of Bureaucracy We need residency permits, you say? Sorry, the small print on the
visa was so small that we didn't see it. Okay, so let's get 'em.
The ensuing adventure was, bar-none, the grandmother of all DMV
like experiences. Okay, a little background, here. Written in minuscule print on the
bottom of our Indian visas reads a paragraph that states that we
must register with the police department of the city we'll be
residing in within 14 days of arrival. Unfortunately, we didn't
find out about it until we'd been here approximately 6 weeks due
solely to a travel agents request when booking plane tickets.
Gotta start reading the fine print, although I'm not so sure it
wouldn't have taken at least that long to obtain them if we'd begun
on time. We'd still be waiting for the blasted things if we weren't guided
through the process by Deepak. We thank him publicly. We were in
bureaucratic purgatory. I've never seen so many steps involved for
such a relatively simple thing. So, you think the DMV has made you
jump through hoops? Got a Civil Service job? You haven't
experienced the Bangalore Police Department. Sit tight and hang
on. The Bangalore Police Department grounds look like a military
installation. In the center of the compound on the main road was a
young sentry. He was dressed in what must be the equivalent of
"dress blues". He was surely decked out in the most spectacular
uniform I've ever seen. His headgear sported a brush-like fan of
blended primary colors. He remained at attention. He did not
move, except to salute (a different salute, but quite formal and
respectful) passing dignitaries. There was a red carpet on the
road. We'll have to go back and ask if we can photograph him. The
entire area is shaded by the most beautiful trees that tower over
everything. Hanging from nearly every branch, in huge multitudes,
are very large bats at rest. Lots and lots of sleeping bats.
Hoping that umbrellas were unnecesary we walked over to the office
that handles the residency permits. Airline gate and train
platform luck holding true, it was located at the farthest place it
could have been from the parking space. We go to an office and see a man in a uniform. I know that look.
I've seen it in the eyes of a clerk at the DMV. I've also seen it
in the eyes of my supervisor at the Marine Base. Drunk with power.
My life is in this person's hands, and he knows it. In the room is
a woman in tears, begging for some exception to the rules for
admission to Bangalore. We're next. This is beginning to feel
weird. He turns his gaze to us. Hear the "Jaws" theme in the
distance? He gives a cursory glance towards our paperwork and then
proceeds to rip his assistant a new one. He didn't create the
files properly.I have a feeling this is not going to be as easy
as I first though. He dismissed his shamefaced assistant and
turned his gaze to us. The kids are looking nervous. I'm nervous.
It's hot. He told us that we needed to do a few things before we
got started. A few things. Lets define the word few. First, we've got to document our entry into India, flight
information and dates. That part's easy. Then, we've got to fill
out some more forms, relatively easy.just don't forget to put the
date in this format.dd/mm/yy - no mm/dd/yy here. I messed up every
time I had to put the date. The white-out lived at the table while
I filled out this paperwork. Thank heaven there were no carbons.
Now comes the exercise.. Make 5 copies of your passport and visa,
5 copies of this form, 8 copies of these photographs, 5 copies of
this other form, but only 3 for each child, all cryptically written
on the back of the one form that we lost. Then, write a letter to
the Commissioner in very formal language, explaining precisely why
the delay in making the application. Do this for each application,
2 copies please. Oh, the adults have to show a recent HIV test.
Funny no one at the Indian Embassy had mentioned that requirement.
If you don't have one, you get to go to a government hospital and
have the test taken there. First you need to pick up the kit from
the pharmacy. We didn't want to go to the government hospital,
having heard not too nice things about places like this. But we
don't have much to say about that. We want to choose the hospital
we get to go to. No way. Our hospital or no residency permit.
Yassah. The next thing we have to do is find THE GUY. The only guy that can
process this stuff. We went there once. Not there. Went there
twice. Not there. Three times a charm? Arrangements were made
through Deepak, who knew someone, who knew someone. Joe adds this missing piece: Deepak fortunately believed that a
visit with an old school chum of his who is the Assistant
Commissioner of Police would clarify and expedite this
process. I (Joe) was all for anything that would speed things up.
We went back the next day, but to no avail, Assist. Commissioner
Reddy was not available. No problem, we made an appointment and
went back a third time. The protocol involved with getting admission to the office was
very formal. After standing and sitting around outside of his
office for a short time, we were allowed entry. I imagine it was
not unlike having an audience with the Pope. An assistant stood at
the ready outside the door in anticipation of admitting approved
visitors. The Assistant Chief would push a buzzer under his desk
and the Assistant to the Assistant Chief would just about jump out
of his skin and leap through the door seemingly in an attempt to
land on the floor at attention in front of Commissioner Reddy's
desk before the Commissioner's hand could leave the button. Our business was stated and we were allowed entry. We sat silently
as our paperwork was handed from the Application clerk to the
Assistant to the Assistant Commissioner. He looked it over briefly
and talked with Deepak like an old friend he was then asked the
clerk what was needed to complete our application. The HIV test?
Oh no, that is only necessary if you are going to be here for 12
consecutive months or longer. Strange, a couple of days ago that
was mandatory. As we are planning a trip home sometime this year,
it won't be necessary. I of course had brought my CHP flat badge so I could establish some
common ground with the Commissioner and share a tale or two. He
was quite adamant about his plan to straighten out the traffic
situation here in Bangalore. Implementation has already begun
with a two-year time frame to completely change the driving habits
of the local citizenry. Fighting off convulsions of incredulity,
I politely observed that he had his work cut out for him. We then returned to the office of bureaucrat number two in order
to complete what could be completed at this time. We left with a
clear understanding to return with multitudes of passport photos
and completed forms and no need for an HIV test. We were
encouraged that the end of the process was in sight. Our next appointment (as close as you can call an appointment here)
was for a Saturday morning. We arrived on time. Same place as
before. Where's the guy? Oh, he's not here. We had an
appointment for today, we say. Civil servant says, for today?
Saturday? We nod. Today is the second Saturday, a holiday.
Holiday? What holiday? Second Saturday holiday.
Apparently after a few tries, he finally got the point across
to us that every second Saturday of every month is a day off,
aka "holiday". But we had an appointment. Oh well, better
luck next time. As we were leaving, we caught the eye of another clerk-type.
The old school chum had left word with someone after all.
We're gonna get it done! But first, we need to organize
the paperwork. A civil servant in a saree starts to give
us some trouble about the untimely nature of our application,
but a look from the co-worker who knew we were coming
squelches that notion. Look, we have 4 letters explaining
our lateness. She was the epitome of petty bureaucracy.
She demands to know where the HIV certificate is.
We don't need one. Yes you do. No, we don't. She made
several attempts at denying our application, from us not
having enough photographs to having too many photographs.
We foolishly neglected to cut our photographs into individual
single photos and left them still on the contact sheet.
Just about tilted the whole dang machine! We painstakingly
folded and creased the photos and tore them apart.
Whew! For lack of a pair of scissors, the whole thing
could have been rejected. After "ahem-ing" a few more times, she admitted defeat and put her
little stamp of approval on it. One more hoop jumped through
successfully. She announced,"You must now be presented to the
Deputy Commissioner. He will decide if he wants to see you. If he
wants to see you, you will be presented to him. If he does not
want to see you, we'll process your papers. You wait here. She
vanished. She came back a while later and said the Deputy
Commissioner was in a meeting, but that we must still wait. Almost
2 hours passed. She rustled into our waiting area and motioned
that we should go to the Deputy Commissioner's office. Guess he
wanted to inspect us personally. So, we trot back to the Assistant Deputy Director's office, where
the Deputy Assistant Deputy Director is anticipating his superior's
every move. A little bell rang. We quietly filed into the man's
office. I was afraid I might have to curtsy, but I don't remember
how. No curtsy necessary, he looked Joe and I in the eye and then
promptly ignored and dismissed us. We waited 2 hours for the man
to barely look at us, though he did inspect each of the approx. 8
stamps and signatures adorning the piece of brown paper serving as
a folder for our papers. Home stretch.only one more thing to do, right? We were ushered
into another office. We stood in the back of the room. They
crammed every person who put their hands on our papers into that
room. Saree lady, and 4 other civil servant types. We nodded a
few times. Nothing was said in English. We nodded some more. The
man warmed up his signature at least 3 times on each page, top,
bottom and sideways. Looks like we're really legal. It only took
about five more minutes and we left with the papers in our hands.
What an experience! Reminds me of the time at the DMV that, well, never mind. ........to be continued. (c) Cheryl and Joe Blake
39685 Mountain View Road
P.O. Box 205
Yermo, CA 92398-0205 Comment?
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===============CONTINUING=================== From: rukmani raghavan <
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Subject: The Medical Transcription scene in India Hi all! The Medical Transcription scene in India, I believe,is now getting
a new lease of life. What commenced here in the 1990s as a motley
group of inexperienced, but ambitious and often unscrupulous,
self-styled entrepreneurs and consultants, (barring the exceptions,
of course) is now emerging as a healthy, competitive industry.
After the successful elimination of most of the bogus units, the MT
industry is all geared to perform better. There are still some
victims whose unhappy voices can be heard on the message boards,
but I hope they will die down, once the MT industry starts
functioning in right earnest, with its refurbished image and in its
new avtaar. This MT 'experiment' has several useful lessons for
those who failed in their venture and for those who wish to start
anew. I have endeavored to list them below, briefly, with the
earnest hope that it will act as a check-list for the uninitiated.
It will also be a 'caveat emptor' of sorts, ensuring that they too
do not become victims like many of 1) When setting up a new business venture, a company or an
entrepreneur needs to do a thorough research on the product or
service that he/she intends to offer. An intensive and extensive
study of all that goes into ensuring a qualitatively superior
product/service, is a must. A cursory study will not suffice - it
has to be an in-depth one, covering every aspect of the new
business. It is evident, that a few million rupees, some hundred
computers and several thousand sq.ft. of posh office space, does
not a business, make. In the early stages of the Medical
transcription industry in India, there was much chaos, little
knowledge and a lot of avarice. We saw the disastrous consequences
of this short sighted approach to making a fast buck. 2) A proper 'employee policy' has to be worked out before
commencing operations. It is necessary to bear in mind that
employees are the backbone of an organization. No amount of
financial capital and computers can create an enduring business
model, without the backing of an efficient and committed work
force. We also witnessed what a poor wage structure can do to the
morale of employees. Many transcriptionists who were promised
fabulous salaries and broad avenues for promotion, quit, when they
found employers did not keep their word. 3) Excessive dependence on self-styled consultants, whose only
purpose was to make a quick killing, was yet another cause for many
units to close down. A sterling lesson to be learned here is that
either one relies on one's own resources or one does a proper
'research' before hiring a good consultant. When a consultant
claims that he has set up six units, it is necessary to visit those
units and physically verify his statements. Most companies took
these so-called consultants on their word and later realized their
mistake. These "consultants" were also instrumental in painting a
poor image of India and thereby driving away many American clients
who were eager to do business here. 4) Most institutes that set out to train had the vaguest idea of
Medical Transcription. Training is not only essential, but has to
be continuing. Companies devised abridged training programs, with
no refresher courses, but with the expectation of excellent
performance from their transcriptionists. Again, training implies a
rigorous, carefully planned program, keeping in mind the specific
requirements of Indian MTs, laying special emphasis on American
English, spelling, grammar and idiomatic expressions.In actuality,
however, training was a poor mix of medical terminology, a small
dose of English grammar and typing tests for enhancing keyboard
skills. Some didn't even include American English lessons in their
program. The grading system was poorly designed.Assessing student
performance on the high marks they procured in their tests, without
stress being laid on actual transcription of different kinds of
medical reports, was a grave error that showed up much later in
their poor performance. 5) While garnering the necessary skills and building infrastructure,
companies should have started making contacts with American companies
for work. The two activities had to run concurrently, so that by the
time the company was ready to take up work they would have identified
their client/s. Provision for adequate financial reserves were/are
necessary, since clients would certainly insist on free trials, and
earnings could not be expected, until some measure of client-confidence
was built up.. Using Indian intermediaries without proven credentials
was yet another blunder that could have been and should be
avoided. 6) Another grave error was the mistaken assumption that profits
would simply flow in within a year of commencing operations, and
then they would sort out "other" problems like employee incentives,
wage increases, better facilities for staff, whether in ergonomics
or air-conditioning, or leave packages. It is only now, that
companies have understood that profits cannot and will not come
within one, two, three or even five years, and there has to be some
cushioning in the shape of extra finance to sustain the organization
until the break-even period, which would later lead to profit. I think the writing on the wall is clear - if only people will
take the time to look at it. No half-hearted measures or half-baked
knowledge can make Medical transcription work the way it really
should. It needs capital, infrastructure, excellent training
program, qualified manpower, marketing skills and the sustained
efforts of owners and companies, along with medical transcriptionists,
editors and managers, to create a viable unit.
Above all, a business needs a stated mission and a belief in the
ethical conduct of its affairs. If one is building one's business
on a "quick profit" philosophy then, I am afraid, neither will the
profits come quickly nor can the business succeed Rukmani Raghavan Comment?
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