centre-state relationship: a floor level analysis

Centre-State relationship: a floor-level analysis

What will you think when a ‘lift’ does not lift you to a particular floor especially when you are occupied with your important work? In first go, probably you would not bother and you may walk up-stair. This kind of situation you would get every day and in every walk of life, once you have landed up into the lord Budha’s Vihar. The ordinary residents of this place are so adapt to these situations that not only their mundane life seems normal but their I.Q. levels have also been sharpened. I need not look for example to prove my point but RBs (Resident Biharis) and NRBs (Non-Resident Biharis) have already proved their mettle and high I.Q. level.

You may be thinking what this has to do with the centre-state relationship, you may be right for a moment. But I would illustrate the relationship by an example. This is a story of a building called Pant Bhawan- a landmark on the Baily road in Patna. The building is well known by all the Central as well as the state government officials residing in Bihar. This building has one lift which is indeed in proper shape and is functioning well. But it does not stop on all the floors. The sixth floor is the only floor with which the lift is familiar. It plies between ground and sixth floors without stopping any other floors in between. The persons who have to go to floors 3^rd, 4^th , or 5^th they go to sixth first and then descend down to the respective floors. So the ‘law of gravitation’, ‘conservation of energy’, etc., they have learned in their school days are tested here every day. Their smart play reminds us their adherence to the principles which they have really memorized and have kept close to their hearts.

The very first day, without bothering about the lift, I walked up to the fifth floor through staircase. The next day again, I had to go to the same floor. What I did! I started counting the number of steps I came across while I was climbed up to the fifth floor. I did it deliberately to engage my mind in counting rather than giving it liberty to feel pathetic situation. It treaded on 101 steps.

However, story does not stop here. A question stated bombarding me again and again, why does the lift not stop onto the other floors? Suddenly, an intuition flashed to my mind, lo! there may be a central government office on the sixth floor. My interest did not die down. I proceeded to some peons of the building. Let me tell you that peons and babus (class III and IV) are quite well versed about the administration of offices and officers. So I approached a peon. Its amazing! I really found that sixth floor houses PWD office.

I contacted one of the peons of this office and inquired about the lift. He told me that other offices (state government) do not pay for servicing and therefore it has been set to stop only on the sixth floor. The persons who have to visit to the other than sixth floor have circumvented the restriction by using their own high level I.Q. where as, how the two sets of the offices have resolved their conflict in this regard is still to be explored ? I hope a reader could get the answer and would share with us.

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