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Secretary Calls Kashmir’s PM N G Ayyangar Foolish || By Sh. N L Wattal || LIVE IMAGE |
It
sounds incredible and it can safely be presumed that either the writer has gone
bonks or it is far from the truth.
Dear
friends, the story is to tally true. It happened in our J&K State,The State
was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh, and the year was 1941/1942. The
Prime Minister was Sir. N Gopalaswami Ayyangar, I.C.S., and the Secretary was
Pt. Bishambar Nath Ambardar. From the corridors of Secretariat the news spread
to the public. It had become the talk of the town. To ascertain the truth of
the news , Daily “HAMDARD” ( Owned by Sh. Prem Nath Bazaz ), deputed
the then budding journalist Sh. N L Wattal, to meet Sh. B N Ambardar. Here are
some of the excerpts from the said meeting :-
N
L Wattal ( NLW ):- Mr.Ambardar, the rumour is doing rounds that you called the
Prime Minister Sir. N Gopalaswami Aiyyangar , Foolish. Do you confirm or
contradict it ?
B
N Ambardar ( BNA ) :- Neither I am confirming it nor contradicting it.
NLW
:- Sir, there must be some basis for it .
BNA
:- Let me tell you in detail. last week a file was circulated in
the Secretariat, among the Secretaries that State Government has permitted
the export of grains from the state to British India. When the file reached me , though as
Political secretary, I was not directly involved with the decision, but having
been earlier the revenue Secretary, I had some reservations about the said order. I wrote on the
sideline of the order WHO HAS ISSUED THIS FOOLISH ORDER. The next day I was
called by the PM, Mr.
Aiyyangar, for a meeting. I went to see him thinking some political matter
related the state has to be discussed. Entering his room , PM gave me an icy look and came direct to
the point. Why do you say that the Export order of Grains is FOOLISH.
Taken
aback, I told him that the Secretary concerned does not seem ———– , he cut me short and told me
that it is he who has issued the order. I became more cautious and had to dig
in my revenue Secretary days. I conveyed to the PM , that this is the harvest time and an impression is
created that we have surplus grains. But the fact of the matter is that this
euphoria lasts for a month or two and we are back to square one ———- the
state is deficit in grains. If we allow the export this time the prices of the
grains will go up in the local market which will be beyond the capacity of the people and will lead
to crisis.
Mr.
Aiyyangar calmly listened to me and after a pause conveyed that he
agreed with my views and the said export order will be withdrawn. I immediately
retorted that again this
will be FOOLISHNESS on the part of the Government. Raising his eyebrows, he
said how? I told PM, Sir, our local dealers have taken advance for the supply of grains , if we suddenly
withdraw the order , they will not be able to supply to their counterparts and
their credibility will go down. Agreed, the PM said then how dowe go with it ? Sir, I replied we
will issue an order, the export order will be withdrawn after one month,
and this period will enable the traders to fulfill their commitments. The PM , in
fairness to him thanked me for the advice and accepted that the said order was
nothing but FOOLISH.
NLW:-
Sir, had you known that PM was the brain behind this order, would you
have written the same thing on the sidelines of the file?
BNA
:- No, Mr. Wattal, No, I would have refrained from writing such a
comment, may be I would have spoken about it. But , you are well aware, that
such leg pulling is a continuous process in the corridors of bureaucratic power. I
would request media not to read too much between the lines.
NLW:-
Thank you, Sir.
To
the readers, I would request to express their views keeping in view the present
prevailing situation in our country. The readers might be interested to know
something about Sh. Bishamber Nath Ambardar. Let me give a very short resume :-
Shri.
Bishamber Nath Ambardar was born in a reasonably well to do family at Zaindar
Mohalla ( Neighbourhood of Sh. B K Dass ). His father was a revenue official
and so were his uncles.I have been told that it was a large combined family. It
is said that he was quite brilliant in his studies and after getting B.A.
degree joined the govt. service as a clerk. It is said that he had
exceptionally good command over English. With the passage of the time he rose
from the ranks to occupy such positions as revenue secretary, Political
secretary, wazir-i- wazarat Baramulla, Kathua. He retired in 1948/49. During his
later years he had shifted from zaindar Mohalla to his newly constructed home
at Exchange road. His only son Sh. Prem Nath Ambardar,a lawyer by profession
died in the prime of his youth. His only daughter Smt. Sonabatni Bhan, was
married to Pt. Prem Nath Bhan, who retired as Inspector J&K police.
I
leave it to readers to compare the bureaucracy of pre 1947 to post 1947.
It is quite obvious that bureaucrats of pre 1947 era were not I.A.S. officers.
They would rise to higher ranks by didn’t of hard work , sincerity and
honesty. ( This for the information of readers that J&K State under
Maharaja Hari Singh was considered the best administrative state after
Travencore).One can compare them to the ground level workers who have their
ears firmly to the ground . Today’s bureaucracy especially the IAS Cadre and
other state cadres which have been created by different states have
glamour and charm. Pre 47 bureaucrats were not accountable to
politicians who after winning the election become ministers and largely are
uneducated or at best semi educated. Their main interest is first their
families and relatives and then the constituency from where they have been
elected. The bureaucrats being more clever than those come to know their
weaknesses . They are more like “YES MINISTER” and always want to be
on the right side of the minister.While the minister is looking after his
family the bureaucrat is also buttering his bread. The honest ,
sincere, straight forward having a straight spine are
dumped or are constantly transferred.
By Sh. N L Wattal
Courtesy V.K. WATTAL
