Want to be a 'creative commando'?

This is a recruitment ad published by a newspaper. At first glance, it appears to be an ad for the armed forces.

But then the headline says join the team of "creative commandoes" at GAIL and unleash your creative prowess.

GAIL - as in "Gas Authority of India"? GAIL and creative prowess?? The company is seeking executive trainees in the field of corporate communications with a 2 year full-time diploma in Mass Comm/ Advertising or PR.

The recruitment ad takes up 70% of the page and the headline tries to convince the prospective candidate it's a really 'creative job'. But, the entire copy reads like a typical old-school government job advertisement.

The payscale, age limit, company benefits - OK, those are relevant information. But under "how to apply" there's a long list of 11 points including please send "mailing address with pin code; tel nos with STD codes".

It's a step-by-step guide on how to write a resume! Considering the profile of candidates they're recruiting, is that really necessary?

There is no job description whatsoever. Or indication of how the candidate, if selected, will be allowed to unleash their 'creative prowess'. Unless you count the 'creative commando' photo, which I would not count as a good example of creativity!

What's more, a 9 pt caption notes that the people posing in the pic are 'the creative team at GAIL led by DGM (Corporate Communications). Why the mention of DGM? Because, it's a government organisation after all. A bit of fancy dress and war paint doesn't change that...

I wonder how effective this ad will be. And why companies go to such lengths to produce 'cool sounding' recruitment advertising. A job is a serious matter. Tell me what the job is. Not just how much fun it's going to be.

And never be creative for the sake of being creative, especially if it's for a 'creative' position.

Please Make it Count!

The Telegraph reported

The Oil Sector Officers’ Association threatened to go on an indefinite nation-wide strike if the new oil marketing discipline guidelines were not withdrawn and those behind IOC executive B.S. Manjunathan’s murder arrested.

OSOA president said the government had been asked to “scrap immediately” the 2005 guidelines which place the entire responsibility of controlling adulteration on sales officers of oil companies.

The marketing directors of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum submitted a memorandum to the petroleum ministry seeking changes in the guidelines.

He said it was not possible for an oil company sales officer to carry out the responsibility the new guidelines had thrust on him as he had to supervise over 50 retail outlets stretching over a 300-sq-km area. He said oil companies would have to be backed by state governments if adulteration had to be effectively checked.

I fully understand and sympathise with the Oil Sector Officers' Association. Such lopsided guidelines do seem to put an inordinately large responsibility for checking adulteration on sales officers. And yes, if the responsibility is spread out, life would be less dangerous.

But by making this the thrust of the protest, I think the OSOA devaluated Manju's death somewhat. Manju did not die because he was the sole person responsible for checking, and neither could his death have been necessarily avoided had the responsibility been shared by others. He died because, as a colleague of his says, "he took a government directive too seriously".
That means he did his job the way he was supposed to do it.

Did he HAVE to do it BECAUSE it was his sole responsibility? Nope. Remember, he was in a PSU. He was an employee of the Government of India. His job was protected. He could just chill out at home, and still, his boss could at best transfer him. He could easily have accepted bribes, built a nice bungalow in Bangalore, and then maybe gotten a cushier posting. At the very least, if goofing off on his job or accepting bribes went against some moderate-level-principles, he could have just changed jobs. The economy is booming, and an IIM grad with 2.5 years of sales experience would have been lapped up before he could have finished typing his resignation letter.

But Manju clearly wasn't just a person who stopped at moderate-level-principles. He cared about the highest level of principles. What his father said makes it amply clear that Manju put a high premium on his integrity. He did not want the easier way out.

To use his death to ask for a collective easy way out, to me, seems like demeaning his death.

Manju had spoken about his wish that the process of allotment of petrol pumps be made similar to the way distribution channels are set up in other businesses. In other businesses, companies draw up guidelines, ask for applications, have a thorough review and then allot dealership or distributorship. In addition, there are periodic checks, which the channel partners strive to pass.

Why are things different in the oil industry as compared to other industries? Why haven't we heard of an HUL, Cadbury, TATA Motors, or even IBM channel sales manager threatened for carrying out inspection? 

We all know about politicians and ministers having criminal records. Some enterprising journo should find out this stat for petrol pump dealers. Petrol dealerships aren't earned like the dealerships for HUL, Cadbury, Tata Motors or IBM. They are "alloted" like political capital. And once measurable parameters go out of the window for the selection process and are replaced by political influence, is it surprising that many shady characters get the allotments?

Errant channel partners who indulge in adultery, fudging of records, margin tampering, etc, are an exception in all other businesses. But they are the norm in the oil business. It has nothing to do with the guidelines that OSOA obejcts to. It is to do with the fact that the process of allotment itself starts with so much underhanded skullduggery. Is it surprising then that the skulldugegry continues and grows?

I hope someone from OSOA reads this and makes the demand for a complete overhaul of the system for alloting petrol pump licenses, making it more transparent and parametric.

IOCL is supposed to be one of the "navratnas". A "ratna" is supposed to have no imperfections, no blots. Manju's murder is a blot on IOCL which has its origins in certain archaic systems of the Petroleum Ministry. If IOCL is to be truly considered a "ratna" it should embrace standards of professionalism in every aspect of its business.

The Death of Honesty

Manjunath Shanmugham (27) , an IIM-L alumni and IOL employee, was killed by the owners of a petrol pump he had recommended be shut down for adulterating oil in 2005.

Yet, only one mainstream newspaper carried the story.

It was very pathetic to point out the callousness and total loss of focus on part of the mainstream media for not carrying the story of a man who died for his honesty. On the other hand, I would like to thank the mainstream media from shielding us from this piece of disturbing news.


Because I want to be entertained. Because I want to tell my next generation:” Always speak the truth. Always be honest. Remember truth always wins. ” without the gnawing feeling at the back of my mind ” Will this advice, if taken to heart, kill the kid?”


That’s why I don’t need to know. But I do. Because of an incident that took place a long time ago. We as Indians have learnt our lesson—look the other way. Cowardly. Sure. I prefer being a coward than having a broken nose or being dead. And I am sure I am not the only one who feels so.

That's why these stories deserve to be suppressed because they can only convince more people that honesty does not pay. Now, we dont want them to lose their idealism, do we?

Am I being cynical here? I think not. A few articles will be written on Manjunath’s death, a few readers will say “chuk-chuk look what India has come to”, a few of us will burn with righteous indignation before we bury ourselves in the sordid Abu Salem trial. He shall be forgotten, by most of us, in a day or two.

But his family wont forget him. They will always live with the feeling that their son died for being honest—-something he could have avoided without much ado. If he only had taken the money, he would have been still breathing. Like the rest of us. What a waste of a fine human being.

So here’s my advice to everyone. Idolize Manjunath. Shed a tear for him. Discuss his honesty and the petrol-pump-allotment policies of the government over a cup of coffee.

Promise not to steal office supplies for a week. Err make it two days.
But do not under any circumstance try to follow him.
Remember that “Satyameva Jayate” is nothing more than a crappy Vinod Khanna movie.
Remember that.
And stay alive.

NDTV on Manjunathan

NDTV had an excellent story on the Manjunathan murder case refering to as the "IIM Murder Case".

The channel visited the petrol pump in the interiors of UP where the killing took place. It even got a witness to declare - on camera - the names of the two people who shot Manjunathan. One of them was the petrol pump owner's son, Monu Mittal.

Ironically, the top story - preceding this one - was also about a man dying simply for doing his job. M R Kutty, 36, was a driver working for the Border Road Organisation (BRO) which was building roads in Afghanistan.

The Taliban ain't too pleased about roads reaching their part of the world - so what do they do? Abduct Kutty. The demand: "BRO, return to India, or else". Kutty learnt the cruel meaning of 'or else'.

His decapitated body was found "dumped by the roadside in Delaram, a district in southern Afghanistan's Nimroze Province".

Dangers ahead
There are apparently 290 employees of BRO still in Afghanistan - and work on the Zaranj-Delaram road project must continue...

Should they stick to their jobs or petition the government to be brought home? What would you advise if someone you loved was in such a dilemma?

We all know the answer...

And Manjunathan's father was on his son's case too. "I often pleaded with him that he should give up this job in that part of north India where the border with Nepal and the forest terrain made mafia operation conducive," Shakumugan told The Telegraph.

"But he would not listen," he sobbed, "and he would say he loved Lucknow which gave him his management degree, and that he was ready to give his life for Indian Oil..."

And he did.