All's well that ends well

While living in that swimming pool - cum - house we had an interesting character called Bapanna who assisted us with household chores. One of Usha’s precious possessions was an electric iron.

One day, having previously been scolded by her for being sloppy while washing some things, he brought the shining little instrument to her saying "Madam, I have washed this thoroughly." Needless to say the thingummy never worked again.

And there was the time when, after the cyclone and heavy rains in 1969, we were holed up at home, listening to the howling winds outside, when our friend Bapanna walked in with a proud story to tell.

Apparently, he had used the umbrella to protect himself on the way. So resolutely had he refused to let go of it that, thanks to the heavy gale, he was lifted off his feet and had literally conducted in aerial survey of Bandar town before reaching our house!

Dr. C.D. Deshmukh and Mrs. Durgabai had come to visit Krishna district and stayed with the collector. Both of us were well known to them and we spent a good deal of time with them learning many things.

One morning we found Dr. Deshmukh fully suited and booted pottering about in the garden. We both work walked across and accosted him.And what followed was a lesson in botany for Usha, who herself had a postgraduate degree in zoology, having graduated with the subjects of botany, zoology and chemistry as electives.

I have always held that a stint in the government of India is a must.The system in the government of India is officer–oriented while that in the states is office–oriented.

Although I started serving in the agriculture sector with a good deal of initial reluctance, I soon started enjoying the experience. Agriculture is indeed a complex subject.

There’s physics and chemistry in the soil, botany in the plants and zoology in the insects that attack them. There is engineering in warehousing and you need a knowledge of economics to study and understand the market.

In India in particular a good 60% of the population still depends on agriculture for its livelihood. At the other end of the spectrum the state of the sector remains a cause for concern, if not alarm.

Growth rate has never kept up with expectations, capital formation continues to be at very low levels and the contribution of the agriculture sector to the economy has been falling steadily.

While a good deal has been achieved in the past, a huge effort is needed in the future if we are to stave off the scourge of food insecurity and ensure for the population of the country, an acceptable quality of life. No wonder Jawaharlal Nehru, as early as in 1951, said that "everything else can wait. Not agriculture."

It was while serving in the ministry of agriculture that I began appreciate the importance of realizing the true meaning of leadership. It is necessary, on one hand, to possess an elementary knowledge of the areas being handled by various experts with whom one is working.

On the other hand one must resist the temptation to go into excessive detail. That balance is what prevents you from getting bogged down by matters others are better equipped to deal with, while still being able to supervise and guide them and most importantly, handout praise to encourage them to excel.

My ambition had always been to become the secretary of the department one day. And it happened. And not quite uneventfully.

Excitement and suspense were in the air as more than one of us was in the race for the post and, as luck would have it, Kamal Pande (who had been my secretary earlier), happened to be the cabinet secretary at that time. He played a crucial role in my selection.

I had settled into the job and, having taken a satisfactory look all around me at the various parts of the vast and huge agriculture sector in the country.

I had just begun to train my eyes on consolidating and strengthening international relations. With considerable planning I had finalised a schedule of visits to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, as well as the European Commission (EC) in Brussels.

Also on the drawing board was my ambitious "macro-management scheme’, which was to usher in a regime of bulk-funding of states together with MoUs, bidding goodbye once and for all to the top down and rigid regime of centrally sponsored schemes.

Precisely at that moment Chandrababu Naidu, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, dropped a bombshell. I had, of course, had been hearing some rumours about the possibility of my being asked to return to the state as Chief Secretary.

The CM confirmed what I had heard by asking me whether I would be willing to come back to the state. I told him not to ask me questions but to give me orders because he was in a position to do so. He was, after all, as Chief Minister, the presiding deity of the cadre to which I belonged.

I did not in any manner wish to hold myself responsible for what the future held in store for me. In any case I was thoroughly enjoying the job which I had for long wished to hold.

On the other hand, the Chief Secretary’s position had its own excitement and variety and it was not a bad way at all to end one's career.

Chandrababu Naidu thereupon arranged for the issue of formal orders and I had to pack up and leave. My appointment had resulted in as many as eleven others being superceded in the matter of promotion.

Even while I was preparing to leave for Hyderabad Sridhar, then a correspondent of The Times of India in Hyderabad, called me and asked me, rather aggressively, “what do you feel about your unusual promotion?”

I patiently explained to him that I had no idea at all about the manner in which my appointment had been made, and that I would happily answer all questions once I reached Hyderabad.

Soon after I had taken over Chandrababu let it be known that he would be happy if I could meet Ramoji Rao, business magnate and editor of the prestigious Eenadu daily.

Quite frankly, I found myself in a bit of a fix. On the one hand, I had no wish to breach protocol by going to call on him. I knew, on the other, that Ramoji Rao was not going to come to the secretariat to my office.

I solved the problem neatly by having my office inform the management of Ramoji Film City, the sprawling complex outside Hyderabad where all manner of infrastructure had been put up for the shooting of films from different parts of the world, of my intention to visit the places.

Naturally, once he came to know the news of my plans to reached him, he invited Usha and I to have breakfast with him before commencing my tour of the city.

Thus was averted what could have been an embarrassing dilemma in the very beginning of my relationship with Chandrababu Naidu.

In the very first few days of my tenure I had a bit of a face-off with the Chief Minister. As he was often wont to do, he complained to me in an irritated tone, “your honeymoon is over.

Better to get down to serious work. Everything is getting loose and shoddy here.” Frankly I was taken aback by this outburst.

Smoke was coming out of my ears when, with a somewhat shaking voice, I told him that I really never wanted the Chief Secretary’s job. In any case, compared the seven years for which he was the Chief Minister, I had been there not even for seven days.

Also no one had ever spoken to me in that manner, including my parents and teachers. I told him in no uncertain terms that I had put in thirty five years of service and had barely another two ahead of me.

I would gladly sacrifice the remaining two and a half years so that I could retire while preserving the valuable memories of the years that had passed, and he could have my resignation then and there.

Having managed to say that much without losing my cool I got up and walked away. A flustered Chandrababu Naidu then sent S.V. Prasad after me. Prasad had been present during the discussions.

He assuaged my feelings and persuaded me to go back. I reluctantly returned. The Chief Minister looked repentant and said with a half-smile, "look I was only being myself. Those words were not meant literally.

I am sorry if I hurt your feelings. Don't take my words to heart. Please start working and you will find that you have my full support.” By that time also I had also cooled off and was feeling somewhat sheepish about my earlier overreaction. We shook hands. My tenure as CS really began after that meeting.

Prasad had actually played a crucial role in Naidu's decision to ask me to return to the state. He was also aware of my approach to relationships with politicians, as we had worked together earlier.

After a few such incidents, an exasperated Chandrababu Naidu once exclaimed "do you realise I have treated no other Chief Secretary so well?”

My reply was to point out that that mattered little to me, as I compared his attitude towards me with what I expected and not with reference to his approach to other predecessors of mine.

One of the first things I noticed was that the interaction between the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary was far from organised. The CM would often feel the need to send for or call the Chief Secretary.

Similarly the CS would offer need to consult or seek instructions from the CM, sometimes on more than one occasion during course of one day. In order to infuse a sense of certainty into the situation I sought a fixed appointment with the Chief Minister every day. It was agreed that I would call on him at nine every morning.

The system worked remarkably well. During those meetings I would raise issues on which I needed instructions and also detail what I proposed to do that day.

Similarly he would mention to me the matters which he had noted for consultation with me. We would thereafter hardly ever feel the need to disturb each other until we met the next day.

The system went to the extent of my office sharing with the CM's office (as the week ended) a draft of all my engagements for the coming week. The CM's schedule would then be organised in such a manner that there were no overlapping commitments.

A few days after I had taken over a conference of district collectors was organised at Hyderabad. In sharp contrast to what the practice was in the early days of my service the CM not merely inaugurated the conference, but his cabinet colleagues and the CS sat through the entire proceedings.

After the inauguration there was the customary tea-break. Upon reassembling I noticed that representatives of the print as well as the electronic media continued to be present.

This surprised me as that part of the meeting was supposed to be in camera, and not for public consumption. I mentioned this to the CM whose the reply was that this was in accordance with the instructions in force, and the practice had been followed for the last several years.

I protested and told him that the spontaneity which was essential for an interaction of that nature would be impossible to preserve if the entire proceedings were in the public domain. He readily agreed, another sign of the increasing willingness on his part to accommodate my suggestions.

On a similar note when, sometime later, a video conference was on with the district collectors and heads of departments, I found press reporters furiously scribbling down notes, and representatives of the visual media busy recording the proceedings, while the conference was going on.

Once again I told the CM that such conferences should not be conducted in full view of the public if a frank exchange of views was to take place. Thereafter, at least during my tenure, such interactions were kept out of bounds for the media.

I also started having my say in the matter of transfers and postings of All India Service officers. The earlier practice was for the CMO to send down orders to the CS. I made it clear that I needed to have the last word in such matters.

I explain to the CM that no responsibility could be discharged without the requisite authority, and I could hardly be held accountable for the performance of the administrative machinery if I did not decide who should be where and for how long.

It is a tribute to the confidence Chandrababu Naidu had in me that, even this somewhat important matter was settled in accordance with my wishes.

Another sphere of administration in regard to which disagreement arose between the CM and I was the manner in which monitoring of programs and projects should be done, and the performance of officials assessed.

The practice in vogue favoured quantification of the performance, while I felt that due weightage should also be accorded to the quality of effort.

Although the CM appreciated the distinction between output and outcome, the two very often blurred into each other. As a result officials strove to exaggerate the results of their work and, very often, a distorted picture emerged of the overall situation.

Chandrababu Naidu was, and continues to be, a workaholic. Days and nights merged into each other as he ceaselessly applied himself to his work. I mentioned to him on one occasion that perhaps he ought to rest a little more, and also spend some time on diverting his mind from official duties.

He merely smiled and said "my wish is to keep working like this, and while working, pass awards." Little wonder, then, that his tenure was marked with many achievements and accomplishments of a lasting and enduring nature in several aspects of public administration - from primary education to major irrigation, and from sports, culture to science and technology, the removal of encroachments, and making of roads to making Hyderabad a major Information Technology (IT) centre of the world.