What is Red Tape? Is the Military Affected?

Definition
Red tape is a derisive term for excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making. It is usually applied to government, but can also be applied to other organisations including Ex Servicemen or Veteran Organisations.

It generally includes the filling out of seemingly unnecessary paperwork, obtaining of unnecessary licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting one’s affairs slower and/ or more difficult.

Where did it originate from?
The origins of the term are somewhat obscure, but it is first noted in historical records in the 16th century, when Henry VIII besieged Pope Clement VII with around eighty or so petitions for the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The pile of documents were rolled and stacked in original condition, each one sealed and bound with the obligatory red tape, as was the custom. The tradition continued through to the 17th and 18th century.

The English practice of binding documents and official papers with red tape was popularised in the writings of Thomas Carlyle protesting against official inertia with expressions like "Little other than a red tape Talking-machine, and unhappy Bag of Parliamentary Eloquence." To this day most barristers’ briefs are tied in a pink coloured ribbon known as red tape.

Why was it termed red-tape?
The colorful term used to refer to the seemingly endless parade of paperwork that accompanies many official matters got its start back in old England. Thick legal documents were bound or tied with red cloth tape. So when someone spoke of cutting through the red tape, they meant it in a very literal sense.

By the 19th century, however, the term had become much more figurative in meaning and referred to "any official routine or procedure marked by excessive complexity which results in delay or inaction." Governments are notorious for excessive red tape.

IAS: Indian Asphyxiated Service
Clearly, the Indian bureaucracy seems to have emerged as the single biggest obstacle to India achieving the twin goals of prosperity and social welfare. Not only are bureaucrats arrogant, they are so full of themselves that they stubbornly remain oblivious to what India needs.

How did the steel frame of India descend and fall into such disgraceful disrepute? Dozens of Commissions and Committees have been formed over the years and decades to look into the issue. Their conclusions lie forlorn in forgotten cabinets and almirahs in dusty offices, with not a hope in hell of being implemented.
IAS: Indian Asphyxiated Service

SCPC: Does the SCPC Empowered Committee and the Anomalies Committee foot the bill of Red Tape? Have any of our ESM/ Veteran organisations ever championed for the Cause of Veterans or initiated a libel suit in court to fight for a Soldiers Right?