The much maligned 'red tape'................by K J S Chatrath

 

Canada has ministries and enactments that aim to reduce red tape, including the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction in Ontario and the Red Tape Reduction Act at the federal level. Going back in history I found that as way back as in 2012, Canadian Government had prepared a 'Red Tape Reduction Action Plan', so it seems to be 'work in progress' 


Mr. Param Gill, a Canadian of Indian origin was the   Minister of Red Tape Reduction from June 24, 2022 – January 26, 2024


 In 1994, the European Union introduced a rule stating that bananas must be “free of abnormal curvature.” This was widely mocked as an example of unnecessary bureaucracy, though the EU insisted it was about quality control.

 In 2021, the UK’s Companies House (which registers businesses) still required some forms to be sent via fax. The catch? The UK government’s own offices no longer used fax machines. So, to comply, people had to buy outdated machines or find a business that still had one.

And what about India, one might ask. Having worked in the Indian bureaucracy all my life, I will give a guarded reply. Yes it would be fair to concede that I did come across some cases. However  timely  and vigorous efforts are on to make India a totally red-tape free country. But it reminds me of an interesting initiative taken by the Chief Minister of one of the Indian states decades back. He ordered that all fresh purchases should be of green coloured tape and not of the offending red coloured tape. 



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