Memoirs of a bureaucrat: One head, many hats

The crop holiday was a self–imposed stoppage of growing of the paddy crop in Andhra Pradesh's rice belt, largely in East Godavari district and, to some extent, in West Godavari district and parts of the Telangana region of the State. It was the first such declaration in the region's agricultural history, prompted largely by falling support prices and a steep rise in production costs, apart from acute shortage of labour caused by the somewhat short sighted implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) programme. The main grievances of the farmers were the shortage in availability of labour caused by the MNREGA programme, delayed closure of canals resulting in shortage of time for carrying out repairs, non-procurement of rice by the millers and also non-payment of the Minimum Support Price (MSP)

In an earlier piece, I had referred to the need for keeping ennui at bay and, in that context, mentioned about my state of mind, soon after returning to Hyderabad after completion of my tenure with the NDMA. Fortunately, many things came my way.

I got in touch with RP Aggarwal, (who had earlier, when I was the Chief Secretary, been Special Commissioner, Andhra Pradesh in New Delhi and subsequently retired as the Union Education Secretary). After an introduction by him, the IIT Delhi offered me a position as a Visiting Professor in Disaster Management. That really was a good assignment. I found it difficult, however, to get the students to be attentive and interesting, possibly because it was a subject which carried no credits.

Aparna, my daughter, had earlier introduced me to Professor C V R Murty of IIT Madras, who, thereafter, did some outstanding work, in relation to earthquakes, for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) during my tenure as a member of that authority. Upon learning of my interest, he put me in touch with the management of Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and I became a member of the Indo German Centre for Sustainability, an organisation attached to the Department of Human and Social Sciences of that institute.

Among other engagements was an opportunity to serve on the Board of Supervision of National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development, to sit on the Board of Governors of the Satya Sai Institute of Higher Education at Puttaparthi and the Central University of Rajasthan at Ajmer. I also took up an assignment with the Sri Chaitanya IAS Academy, Hyderabad, to give lectures to civil service aspirants on the subject of Ethics. Encouraged by that experience, I also lectured in similar institutes later on. Those included the 21st Century IAS Academy, the Dr Lakshmaiah IAS Academy and the Dhanvantari Foundation, Hyderabad.

I accepted an invitation from the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to be the Chairman of a committee to adjudge the best Telugu television channel in terms of portrayal of the problems being faced by the 'girl-child'. I found it an exhilarating experience. Although the work was arduous, the interactions with the experts on the committee were, in particular, very illuminating and educating.

I continued, for the 16th successive year, as Chairman of the Delhi Telugu Academy (DTA), an organisation that promoted Telugu culture and the fine arts. Nagaraju, the Secretary of DTA is a livewire of a person, and externally resourceful in mobilising volunteers, persons and persuading important dignitaries to grace functions organised by the academy.

Dr U S Awasthi, Chairman of the giant National Cooperative Federation Indian Farmers Federation Cooperative Limited, rang up one day asking me to join as an Independent Director of a subsidiary company known as IFFCO-Kisan-SEZ. (Special Economic Zone). On account of my interest in the cooperative movement, as also out of respect for my long-standing friendship with Awasthi, I accepted. The experience, in fact, has turned out to be extraordinarily rewarding, as the activity is located in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. I have been able to further the interests of the organisation on account of my own personal contacts in the administrative circles of Andhra Pradesh State, as well as the related Ministries of the government of India.

In more recent times I also accepted an invitation to become the President of the Bhagavatula Charitable Trust, a Non-Government Organisation dedicated to the cause of rural development and welfare of the downtrodden, especially in the backward areas of Visakhapatnam district.

I turned down several offers to accept engagements in the private sector, but did accept a request from my old friend, Ashok Kundalia, to serve as the Chairman of one of his companies, Astha Corporation.

One morning, in April 2011, Nagireddy, Principal Secretary, Agriculture of the (then) Andhra Pradesh government, called up, to say that he wanted to meet me. I always had a special weakness for Nagireddy, whom I had always regarded as an exceptionally forthright, straightforward and dedicated civil servant. So I told him he was most welcome to come. He came almost immediately. After the customary small talk and a cup of tea, Nagireddy mentioned the purpose of his visit. Apparently, Kiran Kumar Reddy, the then Chief Minister, wanted me to head a committee to inquire into the causes behind the declaration, by the farmers mainly of some mandals of the Konaseema region of East Godavari district, as also some other districts, of a 'crop holiday'. Having always had a passion for the subject of agriculture, and also feeling happy to find something interesting to do, I promptly agreed. Within a few days thereafter, formal government orders were issued constituting the committee. The Vice- Chairman was Dr M V Rao, distinguished agriculture scientist, who had done internationally acclaimed work on wheat, had earlier been the Special Director General of ICAR, where he had headed the Technology Mission on Oilseeds and Pulses. Rao had also worked as the Vice-Chancellor of the (then) Andhra Pradesh Agriculture University, when I was Secretary (Agriculture and Cooperation) of the State. Usharani, the Commissioner of Agriculture was to be the Secretary of the Committee.

The proceedings of the committee included visits to the field where we studied the conditions at first hand and also had a long meeting at Amalapuram with the farmers, their representatives, the local political leaders, and the district officials led by the Joint Collector of the district, Babu Jacob, who was representing the Collector, Ravi Chandra.

The crop holiday was a self–imposed stoppage of growing of the paddy crop in Andhra Pradesh's rice belt, largely in East Godavari district and, to some extent, in West Godavari district and parts of the Telangana region of the State. It was the first such declaration in the region's agricultural history, prompted largely by falling support prices and a steep rise in production costs, apart from acute shortage of labour caused by the somewhat short sighted implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) programme.

The main grievances of the farmers were the shortage in availability of labour caused by the MNREGA programme, delayed closure of canals resulting in shortage of time for carrying out repairs, non-procurement of rice by the millers and also non-payment of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) therefore, inadequacy of the scales of finance adopted by banks for agriculture operations and the need to expand the coverage and improve the abilities of the extension system, among others.

Shortly thereafter, after discussions among ourselves, we finalised the report and presented it to the Chief Minister.

The main recommendations of the committee related to the demands of the farmers, as stated earlier, in addition, specifically, to the opening of 3,000 agriculture centres in the State, a hundred of which were to be in the Konaseema region.

All in all, if I had once been a Jack of all trades but master of none, I gave that expression a fresh meaning, post superannuation!

(To be continued)

(The writer is former Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)