To be fair to them, put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you're one of these bureaucrats.
Now tell me, would you want an Anna Hazare(though I do respect the man) or any other self-styled messiah or an RTI activist to ruin your career, your post-retirement life, your pension, your saving, your family, your social status i.e. everything you have, just because you tried to serve the country better by quickening up the procurement process.
I, for one, would not.
If I were in their place, I would say, "To hell with MMRCA, to hell with the country's security needs, I'm going to save my own a$$ first and I will go exactly by the book so that tomorrow, no self-styled social activist can accuse me of corruption and ruin my life."
Since the past few months, a government official has had to think a thousand times before he signs on a piece of paper, the delay to the project etc. notwithstanding.
Let there be delay, why should they risk their job for it?
...and I wouldn't blame them for it.
What is the guarantee that tomorrow an RTI activist or an Anna Hazare won't file a case of corruption against these two ordinary government servants just because he suspects them of corruption?
In India, it takes decades for cases to conclude in courts. These poor guys will end up with their lives ruined if anything like that happened.
To hell with procurement, they should save their own a$$ first.
