Trust in the time of turbulence

SV Prasad, who was chief secretary till the other day, belongs to a different class of IAS officers. From the day he began his career as sub-collector at Gudur in Nellore district in 1975 till he demitted office as chief secretary on Sept 30, he served in a variety of capacities and with political leaders of contrasting styles.In a career of 36 years, the East Godavari native has worked under chief ministers of the TDP and the Congress, and had no difficulty in adapting to their different styles of functioning.In a freewheeling interview with Express, Prasad, now appointed the Vigilance Commissioner, went down memory lane and recounted the peaks and valleys of his career. Excerpts from the interview:How were you drawn to the Civil Services?My mother wanted me to become a doctor and I was selected for a seat in medical college. But I didn’t take it. I can’t stand the sight of blood. It was my uncle -- my mother’s brother, an engineer himself who persuaded me to take up engineering. After my engineering degree from Kakinada, I went to IIM Ahmedabad for an MBA. But then I thought the IAS was a great way to work for the people and I took the exam. I was selected.Do you recall how you felt when you were sent to Gudur for your first posting?Gudur was a thrilling experience for me. I was fresh from my training. At that time, the rocket launching station was coming up at Sriharikota. I had to ensure that people displaced from the land taken for the project were properly rehabilitated. Then there were Sri Lankan and Burmese refugees who too had to be rehabilitated in the spinning mills that the government had set up. It was a great experience to help those people settle down.You served in several districts as collector. Which district was special to you?Oh, I worked in Visakhapatnam, Kadapa and Nellore and I had a satisfying experience in all of those places. But the Visakhapatnam assignment was special because I could do something for the tribals. That’s where I learnt that a collector has to be a team leader. One must respect one’s colleagues, trust them and give them freedom to work. My team there did superb work. We started coffee plantations for tribals. It gave them a good source of income. We discouraged podu cultivation and made them switch to jackfruit orchards.And we involved the Grijan Cooperative Corporation to market their produce.I think we played a part in making the lives of tribals better. I loved that assignment.You worked closely with six chief ministers. What’s the secret?There was no secret. They just trusted me. NTR, N Janardhan Reddy, Vijayabhaskar Reddy, Chandrababu Naidu, K Rosaiah and Kiran Kumar Reddy were all mature politicians. They wanted efficiency and not a yes man. I had no problem with any of them at all. In fact, I didn’t have to adjust to their style of functioning. They adjusted to my style of functioning. If I worked under them, it was not my choice. It was their’s.You have the reputation of being a workaholic.Hard work goes with this job. When I worked under Naidu for nine years, I worked on all Sundays. Naidu was a workaholic and I had to match him. In my entire career, I never availed LTC.With which chief minister did you enjoy working the most?I’m not saying it just for effect, but all of them were enjoyable to work with.Each assignment gave me something new. For example, when I worked under NTR, I was also the information and public relations commissioner. That gave me an opportunity to interact with heads of departments and know the issues related to those departments. Whether it was Chandrababu Naidu or Vijayabhasakar Reddy, or Rosaiah or Kiran Kumar Reddy, I never came under pressure to do anything that was against the rules. I also made it a point to withdraw when my job tended to cross the thin line that differentiates government work from party work. When I was working under Vijayabhaskar Reddy, he used to have me around all the time, even when he was meeting Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. He never took notes. He used to rely on me. I felt that he trusted me not to do anything that might land him in trouble.You became chief secretary at a difficult time for the state.Yes, those days were turbulent times. There were cyclones, storms, floods, the Telangana movement, the financial crisis. The chief minister, Rosaiah Garu, used to rely on me to interact with the revenue generating departments. I used to go by Rosaiah Garu’s instructions on which scheme ought to be given priority. Getting the state’s finances back on track was a challenge and I think we did well. The Planning Commission gave AP plan assistance of Rs 44,000 crore in recognition of the effort to ensure that development did not slip in spite of the turbulence.You were offered an extension. Why didn’t you take it?I didn’t want to disturb the system. After superannuation one should demit office. I was offered an extension but if I accepted it, I would be blocking the next man in line. Why should I become the cause of heartburn for others. Now everyone is happy and I am happy too.Did your assignments deprive you of time with the family?That was something that I had to take in my stride. The government took its share of my time. My family too wanted their share of my time but I never gave it to them. I never went to my sons’ (Vardhan and Sailesh) school. My wife (Lakshmi) used to complain that I never took her to hospital when she was was ill. She used to take the help of her brother, who is an IPS officer (laughs).