Two Administrarors Interaction Between Ics and Ias

'i.,.---;...

q

Contents

FOREWORD PREFACE CHAPTER

I:

Section

MY EXPERIENCES

l- :

Military Accounts Department' L943-47

2 .) A

: : : :

IAS in Orissa,1947-64

9

IAS atthe Centte, 1964-1972

55

Chief SecretarY, Orissa L972-1974

79

Secretary, ShiPPing & TransPort,

85

r974-1977

: 7 :

6

Deputy Governor, RBI 1978-1983

101

Post-retirement, 1983 onwards

tt1

CHAPTER II : SIVARAMAN'S EXAMPLE

Section

1 : 2 :

Career in ICS, 1934-1970

Q5

Post-retirement, 1971 onwards

t43

CHAPTERIII: OURTIMES

Section

1 : 2 :

rz5

r47

Orissa

t49

New Delhi, l-964 onwards

185

t CHAPTER IV: MY REFLECTIONS

Section

209

1,

Ad ministratir,le Ethics

2TT

L

Administratirie Methods

223

J

Administrative Structures

233

/l

Administrative Leadership

265

5

Administratois & Policy-making

?43

Foreword

indeThe civil service system of India at the time of tndian Behind it lay an pendence was uniu"rsaily acclaimed for its quality' added by the ancient tradition with the competitive examination from transition smooth Bri.tish. There is little doubt that ihe relatively greatly.possible British imperial rule to independent India was made - the Indian Civil Service' by the civiiservice system especially the I'C'S'

as Cabinet The last of the I.C.S. Mr' Nirmal Mukarji retired works at the Secretary in 1980. Coincidentally Mr' Mukarji currently Professor' Centr" fo, Policy Research as a Honorary Visiting successor The Indian Administrative Service was started as the recruits ofdirect batch first The service to the ICS after independence' period considerable for a was thus an interface

i"i""Jit b"t*e"n

1948. There

out' the ICS and the IAS before the ICS got phased

an able IAS Mr. M. Ramakrishnayya who distinguished himself as ablest tCS the of one official worked closely with Mr' B' Sivaraman' Mr' published official India ever produced' The CPR has already

is a comSiuuru.un', autobiography. The present autobiography

at length of the pariion volume in which Mr. Ramakrishnayya has dwclt made from the ICS nature of the interaction and how the transitionwas to the lAS.

The volume would be of considerable use to the yorrnger generation of civil servanrs especiallyin rhe IAS. It use to students d^J ^.,^r,-ri and evolution.

will

oflndian administration

Centre for Policy Research

NewDelhi June 1992

ah;;Joi"oo.la".*f"

hnd its post_coloniat transition

VJA'

PAI PANAI\DIKER Director

Preface

Being of the first batch of IAS, created in 1947 in place of ICS, I had many occasions to observe and interact with the seniors of the latter service. Of them, Mr. B. Sivaraman of the Orissa cadre exercised a great influence on me. This book is an attempt to bring on record my experiences in the practice of public administration, highlighting the lessons I learnt from Mr. Sivaraman and the interactions with other personalities including ICS officers. A chapter has been added on the political environment in which Mr. Sivaraman and I worked, so that the readers will have a proper perspective. The book closes with my reflections on some important aspects of public administration such as ethics, methods, structures, leadership and policy-making. These thoughts are offered in the hope that they will be of some use to the succeeding generations of administrators.

A word on the origin of the book. In May Sivaraman

1989,

I

met Mr.

in Madras with a view to persuade him to record his

reminiscences. When I found him reluctant, I proposed that I would attempt a book on his life and times, if he agreed to help by recalling important past events and his experiences. To my joy, he agreed. Later, after a month or two, he informed me that on reconsideration, he changed his mind and had begun to work ou his own book. It was my turn to help him in verifying some facts and details with reference to official records, etc. While this joint venture resulted in the publication of his book, Bittet Sweet in 1991by Ashish Publishing Co., New Delhi, I allowed myself to be persuaded by Mr. Sivaraman to pe rsist

with my proposed book with an altered scope. This book is the outcome.

While writing this book, I have sgught and obtained the assistance of friends and others who have had bpportunities of interacting with me and Mr Sivaraman. Wherever po$sible, I have acknowledged their help in the text itself. Here I shall record my appreciation of the assistance rendered by the Government of Orissa in tracing some old records and supplying copies of official documents. I am grateful to R.K. Misra, chief secretary and his colleagues for the courtesy and consideration shown to me during rhy visit to Bhubaneswar in May 1990. J.S. Sarma, who as economic adviser in agriculture ministry and secretary to the National Commissipn on Agriculture observed Mr Sivaraman closely deserves my thanks for putting me in touch with some foreign admirers of Mr Sivaranlan. I am particularly thankful to Dr S.K. Rau who read the manuscript and offered useful suggestions. To Dr. V.A. Pai Panandiker and the Centre for Policy Research

I

owe special thanks for eKending fina{rcial support for this venture and for making available other services to see the book through the press.

Mr R. Venkateswararao, my stenogfapher

deserves mention in this

conte{.

M. Ramakrishnalrya

CHAPTER.I

MY EXPERIENCES

Military Accounts DePartment L943-47

became an administrator not because I studied public administration in college, or perceived ahy flair for it in me after graduation. The real reason was that I was attracted by the prestige, prospects and above all the security offered by the Indian Civil Service. I set my heart on the ICS after passing the B.A. (Hons) examination of the Madras University in 1940, in first class and with the second rank' For a poor boy, orphaned at the tender age of seven and educdted through scholarships and small charitable donations, but alerted early to a bright future repeatedly by a loving guardian uncle and other wellwishers, it did not appear to be overly ambitious. However' my progress towards the goal was neither smooth nor straight.

I

My first attempt to enter ICS through the All- India competitive examination of January L942 failed' My rank being 32nd, I was consoled by iny well-wishers that mine was a good performance for a first attempt and that I should persevere. But I did not appear at the next examination of January L943, as by then the government had announced that 50 per cbnt ofthe vacancies were reserved for war service candidates and that not more than one person would be appointed from anong the exarninees of 1943. I felt it was not worth the effort and turned my attention to the other competitive examination for entry to central services like Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Military

Accgunts Department, etc. I appeaied at the examination held in Madfas in December 1942. Blt succ(ss eluded me. My rank was 18 and the recruitment stopped at the nunfber 17, due again to a reduction in the vacancies on account of war service reservation. Fortunately for me, the need for Sfoung officers in the expanding war departments brought me two offert: that of a civil gazetted offrcer in the ordinance department and a pi$bationary officer of the Emergency Cadre of the Superior Service of the Military Accounts Department. As the latter was similar to the one for which I aspired at the competitive examination, I accepted it and joined as a probationer in Meerut on JuJy'23,1943. After six months of training, I was posted to the office of Field Controller of Milltary Accounts, Pune. There I served till March 1947, when I was appointed to the A1l India Administrative Service, which replaced the ICS.

The All India ddministrative Se4vice (later reaamed IAS) was started withwar service candidates who were found fit for appointment to the reserved vacancies in the ICS. I was one of them and thereby hqngs a tale worth recording. ln l9M, some colleagues and I made representations to the Military Accountant General (MAG), requesting that our service in the Emergency Cadre should be declared as war service and thus made eligible for qonsideration for the reserved vacancies to be frlled after the war. The justification was that we were on contract to serve anywhere in Indi4 and Burma, the latter having been declared a war theatre. This request was turned down. But sometime in January 1946, I came to know that a colleague of mine called Martin, who by virtue of a higher rank in the 1942 examination was appointed against the regular vacancies in the Superior Service, had sent an application to the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC), for consideration against a war service vacancy in the ICS. I approached him for clariffcation as to how his service could be categorised as war service in face of MAG's reply referred to above. He showed me, somewhat reluctantly, the letter he had received from the FPSC containing the single sentedce: "Temporary service in the Military Accounts Department is covered by the term war service." Although I' took note of the reference number of the lettsr and collected the application form from a friend, I was not convinced of the validity of that letter and the competence of the FPSC to give such a

Mititary Accounts Department, 1943'47 privilege of government in the ruling. Everyone knew that it was the apart' the iast date ;;#t"di-"nt to make such declarations' This already fo, ,uUtoirti"g upplications against war service vacancies,was from an application frled ou.r. t *u, no't .*e if any good would come to my 18-year-old wife' at that stage. When I conveyed this dilemma harm if I applied' I any was ri" *t"Jr"""cently whetier there reason indialthough harm ,r"r*"ify ."pfi"d that there would be no own loving her in she cated that it wouldbe a waste of time. Thereupon, stronger *uy tot""a me to apply. Perhaps, her faith i" Tyj::tTl*as interpreter ;h?t;;;*". I had to swallow'my pride as an infallibleof my superiorsof ,ot"r.lurt U"fore this event, I hadwon the appreciation Bombay for my stand in a controversy with the Accountant-General' Service' Medical Indian the to relating o"n ,fr" in,"rpr"tation of a ruie -"ttp,t"rf"r and Auditor-General upheld my viel' My pride in ifr" on insolence' My my intafect was always very high, almost bordering beyond *if" b.ooght me down to earth and made me aware of forces the ken of man.

AccountantIt was indeed providential that Pearlby, the Military petition for recognition of Ceneral, who had earlier turned down our as he was a as war service, held back Martin's application' ;;;* comments to the iJgufu, uppoiotee and forwarded mine with adverse

effectthathewasnotawareoftheinclusionoftemporaryservicein On receipt of the ii" *fft".y accounts department as war service' it should not be why uoofi"utioo, FPSC called me to show cause I ili'*i.J""tl" ground that it was too late' To this' replied' tongue-

the application within six months of the date of my service as war of the Commission's letter declaring the eligibility

i"l"i""t, ,ft" f .ltumitted

time limit in the original of eligibility' viz.' age' condition ofanother sovernment order inrespect with my explanationsatisfied was ilJai",fy, ,ft" aommission's office In the middle of prc'cedures' and i was called to attend the selection department accounts military iSqA,rh.temporary clerical staff of the for demand their of support Jro"t *o.t tirrouihout the country in hesitation' some After i""ogrritiot of thelh service as war service' notificaaccepted the demand and issued the necessary ;;;;;;" later months some iion. Thus, when I appearedbefore the Commission position' ior inl nnuf int"rview, I thought I was in a fairly comfortable

."J"", ti" months being the prescribed

Two Administraton : trnteraction Bettveen ICS and

IAS

But, by then, the Commission,seems qo have found out that accepting my application was a mistake. The c$airman confronted me with the question as to how I could apply in Jaduary, as a war service candidate,

when the notification was issued in August or so.

I

cited the

Commission's letter. He countered by saying that the letter was issued by mistake and I should know that the ltome Ministry alone could make such a declaration. He blamed it on tlte temporary staff in his office. I was taken aback, but with some presqnce of mind, said that I refused to believe that FPSC could commit mi]stakes and added that it was rrv lot too in Poona to carry on the war effort with the help of te-oor# staff and that all of us did our best in the circumstan""r. Th"."upoo. the Commission changed the subject and asked why I did not appi fo; services other than the ICS. I replied that obviously I was not irterested

in them and that I was confident of getting selected for the ICS. However, it was obvious to me that the Commission could quietly

correct the mistake byjust not selecting me. providence seems to have intervened again at that stage. Eventqally, my name appeared in the list of successful candidates. Although I applied in accordance with my wife's advice, I was not sure of success. In that mood, I consulted a palmist called Sharma. an

upper division clerk in the FCMA dffice, whose predictions were known to have come true in the case of some friendi. He assured me of success and added that the result would be published on November 20,1946. Duly impressed with his reqdtngs of my past, such as the real date of my birth' and a silly mistakez in one of the papers of the ICS examination of L942, followed his advice to eichew cereals on Thursdays and salt on the day of the interview. I was assured that mv interview would tall rntervrew fall on a Thursday, my my lircky day. Thursday it was when the Commission grilled me as I have d0scribed. The palmist's palmist,s predicoredic_ tion as regards the date of publication of the resulf also came true. Although these events strengthened my faith in providence and pal_ mistry, I did not like the idea of knowing the future in advance, except when placed in a real dilemma.

I

I must add that when I decided to apply as a war service candidate to please-nyrvife, I told some colleagues in pune to act likewise. But they did not. Perhaps their wives advised them differently. I was the only one in the military accounts depadurent to apply and jet selected.

Mililary Accounts Department, 194147

One of.my,fiiends used to say jokingly that I had hitched rnywagon to a star,,,Equal$ hurro:qustry, he describgd me .as a "gate crasher", when news of n'y succoss was,out. Two othe-rs reacted:differently. One wrote a letter. to the E ditor, Bombay Chronrcle ingrqotost,eg*i.'st a 'ikite-flier" being selected. Another sent a represeatation to govemment, requesting that either'a fresh opportunity be given to the;lites of me to apply and be selected or rry selection should be caacelled' I later'learnt that all the facts relating to my application and selection had to be placed before Sardar Patel, the Home Minister, for final orders.in March 1947' He ruled that it was not practical to allow others to apply at that stage and reconstitute the special selection boards and that there was no case for cancellation of my selection as Independent India needed the servi€es of many young officers like me. It is interesting to note how diverse were the reactions of ftiends and colleagues.

Although my selection was notified on November 20, 1946, as predicted by the palmist, the letter, appointing rne to the All India Administrative Service and allotting me to the Orissa cadre, arrived towards the end of February 1947. The uncertainty led my wife and mother-in-iaw to invoke divine intervention by promising my first monthts salary to god Venkateswara and a pilgrimage to his shrine at Tirupati. The delay, we later knew, was due to the decision of the Inteiim Government headed by Pandit Nehu to close down the ICS and constitute a new service in its place. This required consultation with provincial governments. Bengal and Punjab, which were then ruled:by Muslim League governments, did not aglee to the creation of a rrew All-India service. Some of the Congess-ruled provinces were also.not very enthusiastic in their support. It was entirely due to the foresight, administrative wisdom, tact and persuasive skill of Sardar Patel, the central Home Minister that a consensus could be hammered out at the ionference held at Nagpur in December 1'946. It was decided that the ploposed new service should be created, leaving out of its

scope the dissenting provinces under the control of the Muslim League. Accordingly. the war service candidates selected for the ICS frorn the participating provinces only were appointed to the All India Administrative Service and directed to undergo training in Metcalfe House, Dclhi.

Between ICS and IAS

Notes :

1.

I was born on May 2, I9?Lblt my uncle got my date of birth recorded as February 2, on the advice of his fellowteaqhers when I was in the fifth forrh. They feared that I would be barred from appearing for the SSLC examination in March 1935 if my age was allowed to remain lesb than fourteen. They thought that the incumbent District Educational Officer. known to be a strict man, would not be persuade{ to grant condonation under his special power. Whatever migdt have been the reasons that prompted my uncle to back- date mf birth, I decided to live by this

lie throughout my career. When ifr 1972, Government .of India gave an opportunity to its officers tO change their recorded dates of birth by producing fresh evidence, I did not fall to the temptation, because I had great respect for my uncle under whose loving care and expert guidance I glew up, having lost my mother at five and my father at seven. I also belifved in the adage, "God does

everything for our own good". In fact, my recorded date of birth made me senior to V.S. Mathews of the same year of allotment, in the Orissa cadre of IAS and proved iuseful when the latter with his political clout tried to claim promotion as Commissioner before me in 1960.

The mistake was to answer all thie ten questions when I was expected to answer six only, thereby diluting the quality of every answer and earning a low mark for Oach of them.

)

IAS in Orissa, L947't964 1'947' Soon service' active seen had my colleagues I found, that barring a few, all by the tempered however, was, Our joy at getting the appointments new service' for the pay fixed di.appointtiettt at the lower scales of the So-e gave exp.ession to the injustice and invidiousness implicit in possible its different levels of remuneration for the same work and would deleterious effect on the morale of the members of AIAS, who sensed have to work with ICS officers who had stayed on' Some others leaders the of compulsions the understood the mood of the time and

I reported to the AIAS Training School on March 20,

issue' ofthe freedom movement. The latter advised not to make this an opporof vista at the rejoiced of us This view finally prevailed' All

with Independence' Some ' tunities and chailenges that had opened up

could ask of us (and I was oni of them) had the idealistic streak and less pay for work more rhetorically, who was more noble, he who did I however' retrospect, or he who iook more pay for the same work' In the and would permit myself ihe thought that the lower emoluments responunconscionable delay in making corrections for inflation were of mandarins old the that in standards fall for the sible, at least in part, hard a what experience my from know I lament. India and otheri often struggle it was for honest officers to stand firm against the temptations uod!."rsu."s of the corrupt and the powerful and how the idealistic wife streak alorre sustained them in the struggle' I was lucky in having a making from refrained and children who respected my values

and

10

Two Adntinistrators : Intaruction Between ICS and

unreasonable demands on me. Itwas recognised that a good administration made some improvements in pay and

I value my days in the Training Sch and criminal law

I gained and the

officers from different provinces and Urdu, which was at first compulsory for announcement ofPartition, as parJ ofthe

IAS

in the eighties that the nation an

appropriate price tag and

on,

for the knowledge of civil ity I got for mixing with ith different backsxounds. was dropped soon after the

ion ofindependence. I remember heaving a sigh of relief, with others, at the dropping of Urdu. The riots that broke out in i and Puniab in the wake of Partition put an abrupt end to our traini4g schedule. We were drafted

for special duty as magistrates. After ave;y short stint at the Paharganj police station in Delhi, I was posted, alorig with four others at Kurukshetra, under the overall supervision cif the deputy commissioner, Karnal (East Punjab). To receive the large influx of refugees daily, provide rations and shelter to them and maintain law and order were ourtasks. The district administration was under great strain and could come to our assistance only intermittently. The resources at our command were grossly inadequate and we had to improvise. As we had no formal designation we began to call ourselves Assistant Refugee Commissioners. At the instance of our Principal, M.J. Desai, who was also additional secretary in the home ministry we used to send fortnightly reports. I was in charge of writing them. We made use of these reports to convey frankly our difficulties, the problems ofrefugees, our efforts at improvisation and the need for a massive programme and better administrative arrangements. Desai sharedour reportswiththecentral Ministry of Refugees and Rehabilitation. Minister K.C. Niyogi and Secretary Kripalani took our observatidns seriously, visited Kurukshetra, saw for themselves the'dark spots'hitherto played downby the

dcputy commissioner, Karnal but highlighted by us, and initiated remedial measures immediately. As part of our duties, we had to face iiowds eager for shelter and.impatient at the slow pace of the erection of tents. Persuasion and public relations were the only instruments at our disposal. One of us, who had a sten gun and loved to display it, was made to hide it, lest it should lead to provocation. We had to contend against human frailties such as petty thefb and false claims for woollen blanke ts. We dispensed quick justice for petty crimes. To ensure that

IAS in Oissa" 1947-1964

woollen blankets would go to the needy we ventured out at night to identify the really deserving persons and gave them slips of entitlement. On one occasion, one of my colleagues was assaulted due to a misunderstanding of his mission. We also found some refugees dissimulating in anticipation of our visits. Indeed, it was not easy to do good to the deserving. These early experiences of coping with difficult situations without adequate resources and back-up support, through impiovisation and frank reporting to higher echelons, taught me useful l-essons for the future. I leatnt that to play down difficulties in the field and to highlight a few good points for the sake of presenting a good face for the occasion, would be very wrong and indeed unprofessional. I began to attach great importance to the fortnightly report as a means

years, I tried to introduce this kind of reporting wherever it did not exist. I also encouraged field officers to write frankly without any inhibitions. The last such occasion was in the Reserv€ Bank oflndia, where there was no previous practice ofbranch managers located at state capitals communicating with headquarters

of communication. In later

about their problems and the economic situation.

I remembered Kurukshetra for a long time as the heart-rending I saw used to haunt me even in my dreams. The words 'nikl