An exemplar of good conduct and conscience
Dr Manmohan Singh was one of the rare Indian politicians whose inner goodness was evident to even his political and ideological opponents
M Damodaran
I first met Dr Manmohan Singh when, as the then member-secretary of the Planning Commission, he visited Tripura to understand the problems of tribal communities. After we had ploughed our way through muddy roads to a tribal village on a rainy day, he showed considerable interest in understanding and appreciating the seemingly minor issues that were placed before him. He had a number of questions for me. Later, in a casual remark, he observed that what he first noticed was not the mastery of information, but the passion with which it was communicated. Coming from him, there could have been no better encouragement or motivation for a young civil servant in a remote state.
A few years later, he, along with two other Union ministers, AK Antony and PM Sayeed, visited the northeastern states to understand the problems of the civil services, while getting a firsthand idea of the developmental issues. On behalf of the All India Services, I spent close to an hour taking the three ministers through the situation, as it then existed, the major obstacles, and the minor pinpricks, and what needed to be done expeditiously to ensure that the All India Services remained the unifying instrument in the northeastern states. After the meeting, he enquired whether he would be seeing me at the dinner that the Governor was hosting for them. When I confirmed that I would be present, he indicated that he would like to speak to me alone. At dinner, he took me aside, enquired where my family was, and wanted to know whether I was due for a central deputation. I mentioned that it would take me at least one more year. He then stated that when the time came, I should not forget to meet him. I did not take it seriously at that time. I had heard that leaders from Delhi make many promises to the civil servants posted in the northeastern states when they come there for tour, only to forget these on their way back to Delhi. I was to discover that he was a glorious exception.
I accompanied the Tripura chief minister (CM) to meet him when he was the Union finance minister. After patiently hearing the long list of demands the CM read out to him, Dr Singh indicated that all of them would be given careful consideration. In the CM's presence, he advised me that I should engage with the senior officers of the ministry to see how many of these demands could be met. When the meeting was over, he insisted on walking with the CM to the lift on the first floor. In the car, on our way back to the state guest house, the CM enquired whether seeing off visitors up to the lift was a normal practice for Union ministers. When I put him wise, that it was not the case, he mentioned, more to himself, “He is a very good man." Even to a hardened Marxist, whose ideology would have clashed with Dr Singh's, the latter's essential goodness had come through clearly.
When the state government, for its own reasons, decided that I should be dispensed with, I visited Delhi, but had no serious intention of calling on the finance minister. As luck would have it, I ran into him in the corridors of North Block while he was going out. Stopping me, he enquired whether my name had been offered for central deputation. When I confirmed the position, he asked me to meet him at 4 pm that day. As soon as the interaction commenced, he enquired whether I would like to work in the ministry of finance. He added that any officer who had, in a short span of two years, restructured and strengthened the financial position of a relatively poor state, would be useful in the finance ministry.
Rejecting, in uncharacteristic fashion, a panel of names which was already with the ministry for filling up a vacancy, he asked his officers to get another panel, and to ensure that my name was among the three included. When the revised panel came to the ministry, it had, in addition to mine, the names of two officers who were senior to me and had reasonably good credentials. Against the advice of his senior officials, he recommended my name for appointment, and personally followed up, to ensure that the proposal went through. In my first meeting with him thereafter, I made an attempt to thank him, but he disarmingly brushed it aside.
A few months later, I had gone to his office and discovered that he was in a somewhat pensive mood. With some prodding, he indicated that Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then an Opposition leader, had brought to his notice the fact that the State Bank of India (SBI) had gone back on its commitment to open a branch in a rural area, and that the people there were hugely disappointed. He added that he could not afford to let down a respected person like Vajpayee. However, when he brought up the matter with SBI, he was told that the branch was not a viable proposition. When I enquired whether I should follow up the matter with SBI, he seemed to indicate that it might be a futile exercise. Nevertheless, I brought up this matter with the then-Chairman of SBI PG Kakodkar, who, to his great credit, said that he would get the matter re-examined. A couple of weeks later, Kakodkar informed me that SBI had reconsidered its decision, and would be opening the branch. I requested him to mention that to the finance minister. A couple of days later, when I had occasion to meet him, the finance minister referred to the decision of the SBI to open that branch and added that he hoped the decision was taken on merits, and not because he had expressed an interest.
I have never ceased to marvel at that observation, when, for most others in his position, it would have been a non-event. Some years later, when I was the chairman of IDBI, the political setup at the Centre changed, and the Congress had come back to office. One senior political leader had prepared a long list of matters that the new ministry should immediately address, and I had the dubious honour of being on that list as a person who should be immediately moved out of IDBI, on the ground that I was a civil servant, and did not know banking. When he saw the list, he asked the officials concerned whether there was anything wrong with the way IDBI was being run. When they answered in the negative, his response was “Why make a change if it is not needed?"
Later, when there was to be a vacancy for the post of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman, he ignored the various pressures brought on him and ensured that based on the recommendation of a committee, I was appointed to that post. I must add, for good measure, that in none of the assignments that I had got because of his blessings, any request was made either by him, or on his behalf, to get any matters attended to.
When Sebi's new building was to be inaugurated, I approached him to do the honours. Some people present in his room immediately advised him that it would not be overkill for the PM to inaugurate the Sebi office. He turned to me and said that I should give him one good reason why he should inaugurate the office. I told him that Sebi as a statutory body was his creation, and it was only fair that he should be present when it moved into its own home. He dismissed whatever objections had been raised, and resultantly, Sebi's spanking new office in the Bandra Kurla Complex was inaugurated by him. When I left Sebi after a three-year term, I wrote to him, thanking him for his guidance and encouragement over several years. He wrote back saying that in all the assignments that I had, I had served the public well, and that he hoped that I would continue to serve the public thereafter too.
A month or so after I demitted office as Sebi chairman, I received a call saying that I was expected at the PM's residential office the next morning because the PM desired to see me. I indicated to the caller that I was scheduled to leave for Chennai that evening to meet my mother, and that I would seek an appointment as soon as I was back. A week later, I got the appointment as soon as I had requested. The freewheeling, no agenda conversation, which lasted quite a while, commenced with his enquiring about my mother’s health, and whether I would now be able to spend more time with her since I was, in his words, a free man. It was only thereafter that he brought up some other matters on which he desired to have my point of view. During that conversation, he said that he was very keen that I should accept some assignments in order to put my varied experience to good use. I declined the offer since I had no savings, and I needed to do work which would get me a reasonable income, without sacrificing my principles. He immediately responded saying that that was a legitimate expectation, since a long career with reasonable success could give you only satisfaction, and not a reasonable bank balance.
Looking back, I often wonder why a person in his position, with nothing in common with me, would at every stage, do what he thought was right by me. Was it his way of ensuring a level playing field for a civil servant from the Northeast without any administrative or political Godfather?
As a role model for good conduct and good conscience, there could hardly be a better exemplar than Dr Singh.
M Damodaran is former chairman, Sebi, UTI and IDBI. The views expressed are personal
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