So you finally landed on silk? Thought just your mom was here, and she's become a regular in such a short time :) Welcome.
> 3) Perceived social hierarchy of govt. officials. (Where did the > termGovernment Servant come from ?). Many do not consider them equals It is more like bureaucracy and red tape. My inlaws are both minor officials in local government (mother in law works for the madras corporation <- city hall basically, and father in law used to work for the state housing board). So they'll probably tell you more, but there are several processes in place that are hidebound by red tape and not very transparent at all. There's further not all that much incentive to do anything more when the senior officials are political creatures, and the mayor + city corporators are again politicians, some with inconveniences like pending warrants against them that make it a bit impractical for them to actually attend corporation meetings. This fine soul for example, the deputy mayor of Madras - http://in.rediff.com/election/2006/apr/13ptn4.htm [Karate because he's a karate black belt and runs a rather profitable chain of dojos <- some of it is of course hired muscle as well] srs
