When authority conquered anarchy

While arriving at a set of priorities, it is important for one to be an effective team leader, it is equally necessary to be able to convey those priorities to the members of the team, as well as those whom the team exists to serve. It is often essential to send out the right signals by setting an example by one’s actions.

In 1972, there was a prolonged and widespread public agitation in the Andhra region of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state. The demand was for a separate Andhra state. Those in authority, as well as prominent leaders of the movement, became helpless spectators as the movement escalated.

They wanted to achieve amity politically by allowing tempers to cool. For too long, they desisted from stern action against the agitators who were emotionally charged. Such was this spontaneity of public sentiment at that time that, no sooner than someone called for a stoppage (bundh) of work, everyone responded without so much as ascertaining the legitimacy of the source of the announcement. This happened frequently and government offices, business establishments and educational institutions alike remained shut down for several months at a stretch throughout that region.

The agitation witnessed several violent incidents all over the state. On several occasions the uprising had to be quelled with measures such as lathi charges, the use of tear gas shells and even firing. Unlawful elements often exploited the situation with the innocent public suffering the consequences.

When things got out of hand at a point, the central government stepped in. The popularly elected Legislative Assembly was dissolved, the Council of Ministers asked to resign and President’s rule imposed. The Governor along with his Advisers took over the reins of government.

I was serving as the sub-collector of Ongole revenue division in Prakasam district at that time. On the 22nd of November, 1972 the police in Ongole town had to resort to lathi-charge, and firing tear-gas shells to disburse a crowd of agitators. When those measures failed, they opened fire killing four people. Curfew was imposed in the town and shoot-at-sight orders enforced.

I was camping in the nearby Chirala town (also part of my jurisdiction), at that time. In the wake of the incident the Collector summoned me back to Ongole. As I was entering the town I could see flames rising into the sky as several building were burning, having been set afire by the angry mob fleeing from the place of the incident.

A group of agitating youth stopped me from entering the town as they felt that my presence would strengthen the hands of the official machinery. It was only after patiently persuading them that I would have a constructive role to play in restoring peace and order in the town that I was allowed to enter. The Collector, the Superintendent of Police and I discussed in detail the measures to bring the situation under control quickly.

Quite obviously the administration had lost its connect with the people who were angry and upset None was willing to participate in any discussions. Several attempts to bring to the table prominent citizens who could assist in the process were of no avail. The situation clearly called for some out-of-the-box thinking.

The Superintendent of Police and I hit upon a bright idea. Shri Karavadi Venkateswarulu was a well-known lawyer and known to be of socialistic persuasion. I had cordial relations with him and he enjoyed considerable goodwill with the citizens of the town. Deliberately, we had him picked up and kept in detention overnight.

That action was both legally permissible and possible to defend under the circumstances. The move outraged the city community with both the youth and the elders expressing dismay at the turn of events. Several leading citizens sought a meeting with us the next morning. This gave us the opportunity we wanted to re-establish a rapport with the people.

Naturally we retraced the step of detaining Shri Venkateswarulu. But in the process we managed to secure the cooperation of the leaders to form a Peace Committee to oversee the measures to restore normalcy and create in the minds of people a sense of confidence and trust in the administration.

The very next day there was an abrupt deterioration in the law and order situation in Chirala town. The force earlier available there had returned along with me to Ongole the previous day. Chirala had, in fact, being the more sensitive of the two towns and witness to many major incidents in the past.

In the aftermath of the Ongole incident an enraged mob attacked the police station and was fired upon. Fortunately the situation was quickly brought under control. Barring these two unfortunate events Prakasam district remained generally peaceful. The agitation, however, continued elsewhere in the state.

Overtime, with the central government remaining firm in its opposition to the demand of the separatists, enthusiasm flagged and public support dwindled. The employees of the government and those in the private sector had to borrow in order to survive. The resources available with those supporting the movement from behind the scenes also dried up and the agitation petered out.

Traders and business establishments opened shop once again. Government employees called off the strike. Public utilities began to function normally. Private and public transport services resumed. One was finally able to breathe freely and think of matters other than maintaining law and order.

The return to normalcy was, however, a slow process. The administration which had been in slumber for several months, was limping back to the performance of its regular functions in a very tardy manner.
The government directed all the Departments and their functionaries at various levels to take steps to ensure that its presence of was felt by the public. Several regulatory measures were set in motion.

The staff of the municipalities of the cities commenced checking the quality of food stuffs in hotels and restaurants. The Department of Legal Metrology began check to the weights and measures used by traders. Engineers of the Irrigation and Power Departments moved around to ensure that the infrastructure was intact and canals, electric lines transformers and power stations were property maintained.

In the rural areas, we felt that collecting paddy from the farmers towards what was known as the Producers’ Levy would be a good entry point for the exercise. The system in the state of Andhra Pradesh at that time was (and continues to be now in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) that rice was normally procured from the rice millers who, in turn, purchased paddy from the farmers.

The millers milled the paddy and sold the rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) which was the agent of the State Government for collecting and storing rice. This time around, however, we felt that procurement of paddy directly from the farmers (as is the normal practice in States such as Uttarakhand, Haryana and Punjab in the case of wheat) would have a more telling impact.

And we did this under the provisions of the Defence of India rules then in force, more for the dramatic effect than on account of the lack of statutory authority. In one prosperous village a very well to do farmer was identified. He was a person who, even at the peak of the agitation, had remained on good terms with the administration.

I had been in frequent touch with him to preserve an ear to the ground at a time when traditional sources of information were not available. We had information that he had stored a large amount of paddy out of which the levy due would be substantial. When he wavered in compliance, the FCI moved in and forcibly took possession of the paddy.

The news of the incident spread like wild fire all over the district and large quantities of paddy began to flow into the godowns without our having resort to any coercion. The status of the individual chosen, as well as his known proximity with the administration, together with the repercussions of that followed his non-cooperation, had the desired impact.

We next turned our attention to Singarayakonda, a busy little town straddling by the national highway from Chennai to Kolkata passing through the district. There were a large number of encroachments on both sides of the road, many of which had sprung up recently owing largely to the fact that administration had been sluggish for a long time.

As a part of the strategy to convey to the public the determination of the government to enforce regulations, we decided to free the town of the encroachments. Once again, we took care to choose large areas occupied unlawfully by prominent establishments like a movie theatre and a hotel. Notices ordering the removal of the structures within 24 hours were served upon them– late on a Friday evening, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the parties to secure stay orders from courts of law.

The very next day a large contingent of labour, equipped with the necessary tools, was moved in and the encroachments forcibly removed, literally overnight. The suddenness of the action and the freeing of an important communication artery from the clogging caused by the encroachments, together with the factor of visibility that came with the identity of encroachers, mode a substantial impact on the residents of the town.

These actions, among many others, contributed in a large measure to the success of the effort or reviving the image of the administrative machinery and in invoking in the public mind a sense of respect for the authority of the government that had for long been allowed to fall into disuse.