At the home ministry, officials are busy preparing detailed strategies on how to tackle insurgencies in the northeast, how to battle Maoist rebels – and what to do with the growing mounds of wastepaper in North Block.

A letter has gone out for granting “Annual Contract for Disposal of Waste Papers/ Raddi Papers in the Ministry of Home Affairs for the year 2010-2011”. The letter runs into meticulously drafted five pages and then of course how can an official communication be complete without an annexure?

Sealed quotations are invited for (and we quote) (i) Newspapers (Hindi/Urdu/English etc.) , (ii) Newspapers cuttings pasted on plain paper, (iii) Gazette and loose Papers (Govt. Publications), (iv) Books and Magazines, (v) Record files torn into pieces (including File cover), (vi.) Shredded papers, and (vii) Office Sweepings.

What follows is the usual detail of the tender process, conditions for “quotationer” and “tenderer” and so on. Sampler: “Erasing and overwriting in the rates quoted will render the tender void and save as above, all alterations in the rates shall be signed in full or otherwise the quotations will not be considered.”

Now we come down to the raddi business. See how no detail is insignificant for the bureaucrat, how no possibility is remote for the official. This part is about “DELIVERY/REMOVING”:

“(i) The waste paper i.e. Office Sweeping Papers/Shredded papers must be removed from the godown/Raddi Store at least twice a week on working days during normal working hours so that the store may be kept empty. However, the firm will have to remove the waste paper, in between too, if any notice is given for that subject to availability. An authorized disinfectant should be sprinkled twice a week in the godown by the contractor.

“(iii) Failure to remove the waste papers after weighting will be treated as breach of contract, this Ministry have right to cancel the contract at any time without giving any prior notice at the risk and expense of defaulting contractor and to forfeit the security deposit to recover the loss suffered from the security deposit and from the contractor if the loss suffered is more than the amount of security deposit.”

Note that there is no (ii) between (i) and (iii).

And now for “ARRANGEMENTS FOR WEIGHTING ETC”, all sic sic and sic:

“(i) The necessary labour etc. weighting the waste paper will be provided by the contractor. Weighment operation will be carried out under the supervision of one of the Gazetted Officer of this Ministry. Rebate of one kg. will be given for the weight of gunny bag or bale. The decision of the Head of Department regarding the quantity delivered to the contractor will be final and binding on him.”

The contractor should be careful: they “will not be permitted for sorting of daily sweeping papers/waste papers etc.” Also, “the contractor will not allow waste paper etc. to spoil the office premises in the process of weighing and loading and the premises will be thoroughly cleaned off all waste paper after weighting and loading has been completed.”

Want to read the whole letter? See the attached PDF file.