Sudhansu Bhusan Mishra had his Post-Graduation in Physics in 1962 from the Ravenshaw College, Cuttack and joined as faculty in Physics for two years in the same college and continued as such till he was called to join the IAS in 1965. He was Secretary to Chief Minister, and also had his debut as Joint Secretary, Health in Government of India. He had also availed the Queen Elizabeth scholarship and had his brief stint for a year at the Oxford University, after which he staged a homecoming to become the Industries and Mining Secretary in Odisha, subsequently heading to the post of Additional Chief Secretary and then Chief Secretary till his superannuation in 2001. He is still representing many committees of Government of India. He was the Banking Ombudsman. He was also NCERT Chairman for the eastern zone. At present, he is the chairperson of the Think Tank, an assembly of intellectuals from various spheres. A kaleidoscopic personality, Mishra leads a cloistered life by reading, writing and thinking. In an interview to The Pioneer, this head-honcho spoke to Sugyan Choudhury amidst the lush green foliages of his garden at Forest Park, Bhubaneswar.
What you would have been, had you not been an IAS officerIJ
I was a student of Physics. I had already obtained a research scholarship to join as a scholar in IIT. Had I not been into IAS, I would have joined as a research scholar and then as a faculty in a very prestigious university.
Could you please tell about some of the most memorable experiences in your administrative careerIJ
The most memorable experience in my career was the Super Cyclone. I was the Chief Secretary then. There were a lot of criticism on the management of the cyclone and about the prevailing political instability. Everything was destroyed in the coastal area. About 6,000 people perished owing to inundation of seawater. But not a single man died due to cholera or due to health hazard or out of hunger. Food and drinking water reached every nook and corner of the ravaged coastal belt. That was the most disastrous event of the millennium. The situation could be tackled due to tight and timely management of the affairs by the administration. That is the most memorable event I shall remember in my administrative career.
Could you please compare the administration of the past with the presentIJ
One feels very much concerned about the sorry state of administration these days. In past, idealism ruled the roost everywhere. Officers were idealistic. There were black sheep, but most officers were honest. They worked for the economic upliftment of the State and for the downtrodden people. They worked hard and sacrificed their comforts for the State. But one feels very sad seeing the trend today. Gross commercialism is prevailing everywhere in administration like any other sphere. Young officers after joining are very much keen to acquire a house or a flat or a bungalow, a sophisticated car and are very much engrossed for affluent financial positions. That service mentality is very much conspicuous by its absence. Officers are Government servants and they are paid to work for the people, but it is understood that very often money is demanded even for paying widow pension and exorbitant amounts are demanded while sanctioning land to the homeless and the hapless and even for even sanctioning Indira Awas. Corruption is prevailing everywhere in the country, and Odisha is no exception.
As far as efficiency is concerned, I think it is almost lacking. There are large numbers of meetings; targets are announced and policies are framed, but there is no implementation. Take for example the Posco project. For ten years or so, nothing has happened. For that reason Posco, which offered the largest foreign direct investment in the country, is leaving our State. Hence, I feel concerned that implementation is the casualty here. In earlier days, officers were target-oriented and they worked hard to reach their cherished goals for our State.
Officers having topped university record do also top the corruption list. What’s the lacuna behind this syndromeIJ
You are absolutely right. Excellence in academic career has nothing to do with probity in public life. Earlier, mostly people joined the IAS with liberal education and they were young having a lot of idealism in them. But today, with the enhancement of the upper age limit, mostly professional people are entering into the job late in life. They are already married and having the burden of the family by the time they settle into the job.
And again, there are changes in the value system. Electoral politics is becoming the den of corruption. Officers intending to get lucrative or prized posts have to join hands with some political leader or the other. Even honest officers fo getting good places of posting are covertly joining the political bandwagon. To prevent corruption, electronic information system or IT should be introduced in all areas of public life. For example, the subsidy amount should be deposited in a bank. Anti-corruption measures like appointment of lokayukts or lokpals should be done and illustrative measures on the corrupt may be taken to set examples for others to be afraid. Thirdly, an enlightened political class is needed to protect the honest and to keep the dishonest at bay. People get the government they deserve. But they have to elect good people for good governance and to prevent corruption. The mining scam was the biggest scam of the century and each department starting from revenue, forest and transport including the railways was involved. The entire bureaucracy was involved down the grassroots level. Similarly in the chit fund scam, about two million people lost their life’s savings and the system continued for about seven-eight years. The system means the political as well as the bureaucratic. If they are negligent and if they do not know what is happening under their very spheres then such occurrences will take place.
Do you vouchsafe for independence of the executivesIJ
In our system of democracy, the elected representatives and the Council of Ministers are paramount. Bureaucracy has to be independent, honest, upright and not partisan within that framework. As I told you, there should be an enlightened political leadership with a clean bureaucracy. Anti-corruption mechanism should be made tight so as to evolve a clean system. There are commissions like Police Commission, Administrative Commission and Public Service Commission for the posting of officers. The Supreme Court recently held that police officers should have a long tenure without being disturbed at will. Thus, systems and mechanisms are being evolved.
What’s your message to the future generation of officersIJ
My message is that they should know about their own responsibility and how to transform the low economic condition of the people of the State where a majority of people are poor. In last fifteen years, we have spent a lot of money and resources, but the result is not reaching the poor. The health profile is poor, the educational structure is not effective; so, I wish they should get nitty-gritty into the problems without being superficial. They should try to improve the condition of the poor and the downtrodden, who constitute a majority of the population in our State. The young officers should be fair, upright, honest and not partisan and be committed to the task of nation-building.