Sometime ago, an inspiring post was making round virally on the social media wherein a peon, the lowest-wrung functionary at any Government establishment, was sharing his experience of magnanimity of an unforgettable District Magistrate of Baleswar.
Thus goes the story: The DM had held a meeting with officials at a field location. Junior colleagues had organised mouth-watering snacks at the end of the session. As the concluding part was over, refreshments were served in the hall, the overpowering aroma wafting all around in the wind. The DM walked to the washroom and noticed a frightened peon standing pasted against the wall. He sought to know if the errand runner had been given snacks. The peon replies, “No Sir, it’s only for big staff members. We are too small and insignificant to expect that big luxury.”
The DM, on return to the room, expressed his displeasure furiously. “Our messenger class employees run errands, perform all odd, menial jobs without ever having courage to say ‘No’ even if sick or physically indisposed. Yet, most shamefully, the guys are not even given a little snack that only they may have fetched and laid out on the tables. That’s not tolerable. So, I don’t eat a morsel!” So saying, he stormed out after making it amply clear that his heart was heavy with grief and guilt due to the unkind acts of callous colleagues. The DM in question was one Ashwini Vaishnaw, the same soul who is now representing Odisha in the Rajya Sabha where everyone considers him a stellar performer beyond compare.
Vaishnaw may have forgotten this little episode by now, but the people of Baleswar and subsequently the whole of Odisha have not stopped singing praises for the DM of Baleswar that he once was. They consider him a saintly individual. When he disappeared from Odisha for some time, many people of the State missed him much.
Hence, the euphoria marked across faces of many as Vaishnaw has become a truly big Minister of India. He is boss of the Indian Railways and the national IT sector.
The joy of Odias is even more intensified because Vaishnaw has always identified himself as a proud Odisha guy unlike many born Odias in high places, who pose to be aliens in the state. Vaishnaw is a native, spiritually-revered Bairagi-caste Rajasthani born in a nondescript village near Udaypur.
Bairagis are staunch Vishnu worshippers who are culturally very pious and kind-hearted. Odisha too has a counterpart community with the same sub-caste name. Vaishnaw has made Odias extremely proud by mentioning as his permanent address an ordinary apartment in a building on plot 45 in Shahid Nagar of Bhubaneswar. Vaishnaw graduated from MBM Engineering College (JNVU) Jodhpur, Rajasthan in 1991 with a gold medal in electronic and communications engineering. Then, while doing his MTech at IIT Kanpur, he cracked the civil services exams to become an IAS officer in 1994 with an all-India rank of 27. Quite early in the IAS career, he was appointed Deputy Secretary in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s office in 2003 where he was instrumental in creating the public-private partnership framework for infrastructure projects.
The Vajpayee Government was out after the BJP lost elections in 2004, but the iconic former Prime Minister retained Vaishnaw as his private secretary because the bureaucrat was incredibly smart in solving problems.
In 2006, Vaishnaw became Deputy Chairman of the Mormugao Port Trust, where he worked for two years only as he was keen to study more. In 2008, he left for the US to do a full-course MBA from the Wharton Business School under the University of Pennsylvania. With a huge educational loan, he completed his MBA but soon realised that it would take years to pay back the big study loan. So, one fine morning in 2010, he resigned from civil service to join the much higher-paying private sector organisations. The GE Transportation grabbed him to lead the company as managing director.
Later, Siemens rolled out red carpet to welcome him as vice-president, Locomotives & head, Urban Infrastructure Strategy. After gathering enormous business experience, he quit jobs and set up his very own ‘Three Tee Auto Logistics Private Limited’ and ‘Vee Gee Auto Components Private Limited’, both automotive components manufacturing units in Gujarat.Very interestingly, though Vaishnaw had become a highly-established corporate governance guru, he never ever snapped his professional umbilical cord from Odisha.
He still talks about how beautiful Odisha is and how his strong bond with its people has never changed at any time. So, even after joining the BJP because of his political loyalty, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik chose him as a Rajya Sabha member from the State knowing too well that his heart lies in Odisha and he would serve Odias skilfully. He is evidently the rarest political genius with critical experience in every meaningful human domain. As of today, no other MP, either in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, can match the enviable credentials of Vaishnaw on record nor can any of them compete with him in clarity of core knowledge or skills of oratory.
When Vaishnaw rises to speak or respond to others in the Rajya Sabha, the House falls silent only to listen and learn logic behind every issue or idea the former technocrat is driving home. No wonder, Modi is being lauded today for having picked a real gem to lead the NDA Government to light.
Vaishnaw has been appointed a Member of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation and Petitions and the Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests.
He has argued in Parliament that the current economic slowdown is cyclical in nature and not a structural slowdown and that it is likely to turn around soon to be followed by solid growth. He firmly believes in building the country by putting most money in investment rather than in consumption. He has strongly supported the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha as a step of rationalising the tax structure to increase competitiveness of the Indian industry, thereby developing the capital base of the Indian industry.
The corporates can then deleverage and increase the earnings, reserves and surpluses that would pave the way for a quality structural growth of the economy.
He has also thrown enough light on issues ranging from Ship Recycling Bill to Women Protection stunning allies and antagonists alike. Some of the loudmouth MPs, only to earn people’s respect, must be forced to take lessons in basic behaviour skills from the kind-hearted Vaishnaw.
Naveen Patnaik obviously has played some magic, as always. The BJP and the BJD are likely to enter into a symbiotic relationship in good time, which would doubtlessly prove beneficial for the distressed communities all around.