Civility of a Civil Servant

Pradeep Biswal

Slices from the life of Odia IAS Officer late Bighnaraj Patel

I am fortunate to have enjoyed the company of some of the bright civil servants of our state starting from my student days till date. Each one is different in the approach and style of functioning. So, there are a lot of things to learn from each of them.

To begin with, I am reminded of late Bighnaraj Patel who retired as Member, Board of Revenue. Later, he became Vice Chairman of Central Administrative Tribunal at Cuttack.

My association with him was established when I translated a play written by him in English named Torso. He was an accomplished poet and playwright writing both in English and Odia.

I met him in Delhi in early eighties when he was the Secretary, UPSC. (I also met poet Ramakant Rath for the first time in his residence. He was then Joint Secretary in Agriculture ministry in Union Government and was being repatriated to the State after completion of central deputation.) The relationship continued till his death.

I enjoyed his love and affection all through. I accompanied him on tour sometimes and enjoyed his company. He hailed from a most humble background out of the backward Aghriya community in Bolangir district and managed his studies with a scholarship from the King.

Bighnaraj Patel was a brilliant student and got into IAS in the first chance. Interestingly, when he was a student in Pruthiraj High School in Bolangir Sardar Amar Singh was the SDO there. He got prizes from the SDO as a meritorious student in the annual function of the school. Later, after cracking the civil services, he was posted as Collector, Mayurbhanj. There Sardarji was the ADM.

Once R N Singhdeo, the CM visited Baripada and called the local leaders for discussion. He was proud that a boy from his place was the Collector of the district and his erstwhile SDO was the ADM. When he asked the local leaders about the problems of the district they complained about the unwanted behaviour of the ADM. Sardarji was habituated in frequently using the word ‘Sala’ (represents brother in law in Odia but taken as slang in general) which was not acceptable to the people. Although unintentional, he talked like that. The CM called the ADM and enquired about the complaint to which the ADM retorted – “Which Sala was complaining, Sir?”

The CM just smiled. He then pacified the people telling them about the typical style of the ADM.

However, Patel Saheb, as he was fondly called, retained his simplicity and down to earth approach till the last. Recently, Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, the former Chief Secretary, said in an interview that a civil servant is expected to be honest, impartial and efficient. Bighnaraj Patel was very much respected in the state administration for his honesty, neutrality and efficiency.

He was the Home Secretary during the Emergency era. Most of the top leaders in the opposition were in the jail during those days. While going on district visits he used to meet these leaders in the jail and enquire about their health. Nobody had any grouse against him for his courteous and cool manner. He never loses his temper and addresses everyone very politely whether in office or at home.

He married Usha Devi, a fine and sophisticated lady, who hailed from the noble Narendra family of Kendrapara. The couple had shown broadness in their life. Both their daughter and eldest son happily got married in Brahmin families. Bighnaraj Patel along with both of his sons Babloo and Sibloo attended the barat at my in laws place at Nayagarh when I got married. My father in law was the Sub Collector there although they are originally from Cuttack and then settled down in Puri.

By a twist of events, Bighnaraj Patel was denied the post of Chief Secretary giving an impression to the Cabinet Secretariat that being a Patel he didn’t belong to Odisha. The Cabinet Secretary thought that he belonged to Gujarat and never bothered to verify his antecedents. An officer junior to him was made Chief Secretary and he was posted as Member, Board of Revenue at Cuttack. He was shocked but had no regrets about it and continued to work as usual.

Once I was sitting with him in his office while a powerful minister telephoned him and wanted to send a list of candidates for recruitment as auditors under Board of Revenue. He politely tried to convince the Minister that it was not desirable to interfere in the recruitment process. When the minister further insisted he took the plea that he has delegated it to the Secretary and he can’t intervene in the matter.

The minister was adamant. He then begged excuse for not being able to accommodate the request and put down the phone. As an administrator he was both polite and firm in his decisions. One should be.

On another occasion when he was the Vice Chairman, CAT, a case was pending before him regarding seniority of IPS officers. One fine morning we were sitting in his veranda and chitchatting. Then one senior IPS officer arrived. He received him very affectionately, arranged tea for him and requested him to join for breakfast with him. He enquired about his children and family members, their health, education etc.

Then the gentleman tried to raise the issue relating to his promotion. But Bighnaraj Patel advised him not to discuss the matter since it was subjudice in the court. But the gentleman was not in a position to accept it. Then Patel Saab politely told him to place his points in the court through his advocate and not to tell it personally to him further. The gentleman had to go back disenchanted.

This is how a civil servant is expected to behave in the public life.

Bighnaraj Patel is no more. I had dedicated one of my poetry collections to him. But before the book reached me from the publisher he had left for the heavenly abode. I placed a copy near his photo in his residence on the 11th day and paid my tributes to the great soul.

The Story is Third in a series of articles.

(Mr. Pradeep Biswal is a bilingual poet writing both in Odia and English. His poems are widely anthologised. He is also an editor and translator of repute. A retired IAS Officer, Shri Biswal presently holds the position of Member, Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority and stays with his family at Bhubaneswar).