Reporter’s Diary: When official hierarchy affects collection of info for reports

Recently, when this correspondent was talking to a senior official from the Corporation, he unknowingly provided a good story idea. When the reporter requested the official to instruct a deputy commissioner rank official to provide the information needed for the story, he agreed.

But, the deputy commissioner directed the scribe to meet an executive engineer who had all the information regarding the story. The executive engineer was reluctant to share the details and said that he reports to the chief engineer and not to the deputy commissioner. “Deputy commissioner is only the administrative head,” said the executive engineer.

Disappointed, the correspondent tried to meet the chief engineer several times, but in vain as he was busy in meetings. One day, the correspondent decided to contact the chief engineer over the phone. 

Thankfully, because the scribe had a good rapport with the official, the chief engineer readily agreed to share some details and directed his subordinate to provide the rest of the information.

Interestingly, after receiving instructions from the chief engineer, the tone of the executive engineer changed completely. He provided all the information in detail required for the news story. 

Although this reporter was happy that he could finally write his report, he could not help, but wondered how the work could have been accomplished faster, only if the officials did not follow hierarchy when it came to sharing information.