We were all happy when National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rode to power. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had really messed it. I was personally thrilled when I got to know that Mr Nripendra Mishra would be the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and would head the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). I had worked with him as Director, Information and Public Relations when he was Secretary to Kalyan Singh. Chief Minister of the largest State, Uttar Pradesh during 1991-92. Mr Mishra was sharp with grasp and ability to get to the bottom of most complex issues (there were indeed many of them). It was a period of enormous learning to me. He was always available to guide. Much later, he was instrumental in pushing me to come to Delhi on deputation despite my reluctance. It transformed my career path.
When Mr Mishra took over as Principal Secretary in PMO, I was still looking after the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) created by the previous government to fast-track projects. Though UPA itself was floundering, the PMG seemed to be doing well. In the 15 months of its institution, it had managed to facilitate clearance worth Rs 5 lakh crore. Both the Apex Industry organizations, FICCI and CII had appreciated its working in their letters to the previous PM. When I went to meet Mr Mishra for the first time at the PMO, I was extremely surprised to find that he appeared very distant. Very unlike the Mr Mishra I knew, he continued to be engaged with is papers when he spoke to me. He had doubts about everything that was being done at the PMG, even questioning the outcomes. I was perplexed and the conversation did not last very long. It was much later that he recognized the role played by the PMG in fast tracking of projects and considering its utility, the PMG was shifted from the Cabinet Secretariat to the PMO.
I wasn’t aware that I was being considered for the post of Coal Secretary to clear the mess in the sector. One of my batchmates approached me to convey that I should meet the Coal Minister. As a matter principle, I didn’t meet the Minister. One day even the Mr Mishra asked me why I wasn’t meeting the Coal Minister. I politely told him that I had not met any Minister before being posted (this included my posting as Secretary to Mr Kalyan Singh during his second tenure as Chief Minister) and I had no intention on “calling on” the Minister before being posted. I was none the less posted as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the rank of Secretary on the 16th of October, 2014, a fortnight before my predecessor superannuated.
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The initial forays at the PMO weren’t very smooth
The focus of the government was the auction of coal blocks that had been cancelled by the Supreme Court. There was no precedent available anywhere in the world and the whole process had to be developed from scratch. The process being evolved for the auction of coal blocks was complicated. Not many were convinced that it would withstand scrutiny and the expectations associated with it. It was too sensitive a matter to be left entirely to the officials of the Coal Ministry.
Mr Vinod Rai had been responsible for pointing out the irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks in his role as Comptroller and Auditor General. It was suggested that a committee be constituted under his Chairmanship to oversee the coal block auctions in the hope that he would give his judicious ‘rai’(advice) to the Coal Ministry in the conduct of coal block auctions. Ironically, perhaps aware of the risks entailed in such a sensitive sector, he was not keen to give any decision on his own!
The atmosphere was charged. Discussions were held in the room of the Mr Mishra’s room at the PMO. It was his suggestion that there should be a committee to oversee coal block auctions. I was taken aback as I deemed this as a lack of confidence in me. Hence, I did something that was not normally done in the context of a very powerful PMO. I opposed it.
I was not willing to have any such committee breathing down my neck. I was clear that the task of carrying out the auction was that of the Coal Ministry. Therefore, we were prepared to take all the responsibility associated with it. A heated debate ensued as I continued to resist. Normally no one argued with the PMO. The PMO was the final arbiter in all sensitive issues. Everyone was heard but the final writ came from this office. In this case, it was the Principal Secretary himself. However, even at the risk of being considered too impertinent, I stuck to my guns. I was clear that if I was to be in charge, I would lead the way. I was not opposed to seeking advice or consulting those around. But there was no way in which a formal consultative, supervisory or advisory committee was acceptable to me.
Having worked with me in the past, he perhaps knew that I would not relent easily. After a lot of fireworks, bordering on unpleasantness, the idea was shelved. We were spared the structured council of the ‘Rai Sahebs’ though we continued to benefit from informal advice right through the process of auctions.
In retrospect, it turned out to be a masterstroke as we had a lot of freedom in evolving the process without someone telling us to go strictly by the rule book. The process required that flexibility. There were a number of meetings at the PMO to assess how the auction process was going. We did arrive at a broad agreement on the process. The problem was that in the absence of any precedence, the process was always evolving. It was difficult to keep the PMO posted all the time. There were decisions taken at the Ministry itself. However, had the auctions been a failure or had something gone wrong, I would have been sacked. It was a crucial call that I had to take on the spur of the moment. I had taken a huge risk.
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The Coal Block Auctions were a resounding success. All the newspaper sang praises about the transparent manner in which the entire exercise had been accomplished. Extensive use of technology also came in for praise. When the call from Mr Mishra came, I had expected a few words of praise from him as well. He was, however, upset. His complaint was that the PMO was not kept informed. I tried to explain to him that a note had been sent to him which he may not have seen do far. This conversation was late in the evening. Hence, I sent across yet another note to Mr Mishra, enclosing copy of the note that I had sent to him earlier. He immediately called up to compliment me and the entire team for the wonderful work we had done.
Apart from Mr Nripendra Mishra there was another Mishra, Mr P K Mishra in the PMO. As Additional Principal Secretary he was tasked to handle the human resource matters. As allocation and posting of all the officers in the rank of Joint Secretary and above required clearance of the PM in his capacity as the Chairman of Appointment Committee of Cabinet, I witnessed that Mr P K Mishra’s room was full of files. However, despite the pressure of work, I always found him smiling and ready to lend his ears. During the first year as Coal Secretary, I visited him on a number of occasions to discuss and seek assistance on personnel matters. He was always forthcoming. On a few occasions I even made requests to Mr Nriprendra Mishra for a few officers to be posted in the Ministry little realising that he had virtually no role to play in such matters. I discovered this incidentally when on when one occasion while sitting in his room. He was browsing through the papers when he came across an order regarding transfer of a Secretary in a crucial Department. The expression on his face revealed it all. He wasn’t aware that the concerned Secretary had been shifted out.
{Excerpts from “No More a Civil Servant”}
