He was reluctant. It was rather a penal posting for a young man from Punjab who was a Jat Sikh born, brought up and educated in Punjab. Confesses Sardar Jarnail Singh after serving 35 years in Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in Manipur Tripura cadre: “When the officer announced Manipur Tripura cadre for me, I was shocked! A total of three officers were allotted Manipur Tripura cadre. While P. L. Thanga belonged to Manipur, V. Ramnath and I were ‘outsiders’. All I knew about Manipur was that it was in the North East near Nagaland. The allotment of any North Eastern cadre was considered bad.”
This was in November 1974. Even after so many years the knowledge about the North East is limited among most of the people living in western India. After resuming his duties gradually Jarnail Singh, trained as an Engineer, not only fell in love of Manipur but also found his beloved wife, Seraphina D. Lolia, a local woman, here with whom he married spending just Rs.660 taking half day’s casual leave from the office! He became the Chief Secretary of Manipur state in 2004, served in this capacity till 2008 and later as an Advisor to the Chief Minister. Jarnail Singh was fortunate to serve as a Joint Secretary to the Prime Minister from 1996 to 2004 under four PMs. In Manipur, some of the officials considered him as the PMO man and kept watch on him too.
“My first impression of the people in Manipur was very positive. People were friendly and smiling. While going from the airport to the State Guest House, I saw some ladies catching fish from the roadside ditches with a strange net I had not seen earlier. I did not know Manipuri language and it was difficult to converse with people,” Jarnail Singh writes in his book “My Tryst with Manipur: A Memoir” published recently by K.P.R. Nair of Konark Publishers. The book is an honest account of an Indian Administrative Service officer who landed in Manipur not out of choice, therefore literally walked into unknown, and how ultimately grew to love the place and came to consider it a mission to work for the betterment of its people. Every page of his memoir narrates different story but his human touch remains constant. Even as Sub- Divisional Officer, he was keen on helping out the deserving poor and rural people. Even when he was Secretary or Chief Secretary, he focused on evolving innovative schemes to serve the people quite efficiently. Even while dealing with Naga insurgents, he was hardly scared.
The book presents historical as well as socio-political picture of Manipur. It has humour too. Jairnail Singh describes his experiences as a liaison officer with Raj Narain, who became Union Health Minister in Morarji Desai Ministry after defeating the then PM Indira Gandhi. He had gone to Manipur to lay the foundation stone of the district hospital at Porompat. When the Minister came to know that Jarnail Singh was a vegetarian, he became informal and was happy. “At night when we reached Raj Bhawan, it was late and past 10 p.m. After reaching Raj Bhawan, he said he would sleep only if someone massaged his head. We were at our wit’s end. Luckily, one officer brought a barber from Teli Pati area. It was around midnight when the barber massaged Raj Narain’s head for about half an hour.” Since Raj Narain was wearing a turban like green cloth on his head and Singh was also wearing turban, some had the impression that he was Jarnail’s relative. Singh was sent twice to the Harvard University on study leave. He describes how he tried to implement his innovative ideas for the betterment of people. He deals with Naga and Kuki clashes. As a no-nonsense officer, he presents the picture of his efforts to strengthening the bureaucracy even when the warring groups of the militants were active in the state.
Jarnail Singh left Manipur in March 2017 as a most satisfied person who had served the people of the state with a missionary zeal. Out of the twenty six chapters of the book, the chapters “Bandhs and Blockades” as well as “Some Qualities of a Good Civil Servant” touched and attracted the most. He simply does not preach. He practiced and asked others to follow him. Frequent Bandhs and blockades called by different organizations or Joint Action Committees were leading to economic disaster of the state. He got the losses due to Bandhs and Blockades calculated. The total loss to the economy due to bandhs and blockades during 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 (till 31,1,2007) was Rs.246 crore, Rs.553.23 crore and Rs.520.73 crore respectively. The total loss to state economic stood at Rs.1, 319. 96 crore.
He was keen to file a case to recover the loss from organizers of any bandh or economic blockade. The political leadership would, more often than not, negotiate rather than incurring the wrath of a group or community by going for a court case. When Jarnail Singh prepared a note for the government suggesting legal battles against bandh organizers, senior ministers were against taking a confrontationist approach. “At that stage, I lost interest. I felt disheartened. We had not worked for six months just to appeal. I was sure that those who call bandhs and blockades would not bother about government appeals,. But the filling of case for recovery of loss would have permanently deterred the persons who indulge in economic blackmail and enforce bands and blockades.”
In the last chapter, Jarnail Singh gives golden tips to be good civil servants on the basis of his own experience. “I feel that to be a good civil servant, one should have the following qualities in addition to others which one may have: Be absolutely politically neutral, Be a determined person, Quick decision making, Innovate wherever you can, Be helpful and kind to your colleagues, subordinates and public, Work with dedication, Never give political advice to a politician, Listen to public representatives carefully, Pursue mid-career study options, Learn Public Policy Analysis and Project Management skills, Be proud of knowledge but do not be arrogant, Share knowledge with whomsoever you can, When you leave a post, leave with good memories behind.”
“We, as bureaucrats, may have our person liking for a political person or party, but we must perform with same zeal under all governments. I have noticed some bureaucrats have rigid thinking and likes and dislikes and have difficulties. We should show same respect to all political persons.” Jarnail Singh recollects the advice given to him as IAS probationer by Habib-ul-lah, the then Secretary of the Department of Personnel in the Government of Manipur: “Never cross the path of a senior bureaucrats in your service career. If you ever do, you will suffer. If you antagonize any politician at any stage, You may be able to patch up with him, but not with a bureaucrat.”
Next Column: Vithalbhai Patel: The Forgotten Hero of India
(The writer is a Socio-political Historian. E-mail: [email protected] )
