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The untold bureaucrats

 As we commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, commonly known as the Iron man of India for his massive efforts and direction in the Integration of India into a few states, from 565 princely states.

 Thought would take this occasion to remember and pay tribute to some of the bureaucrats who had been instrumental in such missions for the nation's development. Of course, the credit needs to be given to the political leaders in identifying the right talent and giving them right positions and giving them free hand in carrying out their duty, we are remembering some of them which we got a chance read about somewhere.

 Firstly, many people know through media that Sardar Patel was an integral part of the Integration of India. But behind there is an untold, civil service officer VP Menon who was appointed the Secretary to Government of India, identified by Patel Ji. VP Menon acted as an envoy of Patel on the ground in integrating the 565 princely states into the Government's purview by getting the royals to sign the accession on the ground. His role is pivotal especially in the integration of Malabar state, Junagadh, and Hyderabad into India. 

 And a couple of others which we got a chance to know from PV Narasimha Rao's time Mr.Naresh Chandra IAS and Mr.Amar Nath Verma, who during first two years of his tenure were like left hand and right hand. Mr. Amar Nath Verma who was appointed as the principal secretary to the PM by Mr.Rao continued till his tenure. He was instrumental in carrying out the economic reforms on the ground ruthlessly overcoming all bureaucratic obstacles. 

 Mr.Naresh Chandra was appointed as Cabinet Secretary by Mr.Chandrasekhar and was the cabinet Secretary during India's interesting times. He must be given special credit. When Mr.PV Narasimha Rao was chosen the Prime Minister of India in June 1991, his first briefing was given by Mr.Naresh Chandra in which he was able to clearly articulate the economic situation of the country and the blueprint which a subset of people in the Government had prepared. He was able to clearly articulate and convince Mr.Rao who was from a socialist background but a pragmatist. His 30-minute briefing had convinced Mr.Rao which made him look specialized economist who has a reasonable voice here and abroad for the post of Finance Minister, Mr.Rao's first choice was Dr.IG Patel but since he didn't accept, Mr.Rao convinced Dr.Manmohan Singh for the post and hence he became the Finance Minister, post that all the headlines speak. But the seed was down by Mr.Naresh Chandra to clearly articulate the situation on the ground and the solutions to the PM without any hesitancy. And also some people call Mr.Rao has an indecisive man, but he acted within 30 minutes and took a politically important decision that would transform India forever.

 And there is one important aspect to Mr.Naresh Chandra's bureaucratic career, he was chosen by Mr.Rajiv Gandhi in 1989 to oversee the nuclear program of India which was a top-secret known to maybe 3 people in the political spectrum outside of the scientists, Mr.PV Narasimha Rao, Mr.Naresh Chandra, and Mr.R Venkatraman until 1996 when Narasimha Rao opened the news to the President-elect Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996. But the development capability of the program was completed in late 1995 or early 1996, only to be tested in 1998 and it was Naresh Chandra who oversaw the operation and kept it as a top-secret.

 Just felt we must give the minimum tribute to these unsung heroes though it was their duty to carry out, they carried out to perfection. 

 These are some of the unsung heroes which we got a chance to come across, but there might be many on the ground.

References:

VP Menon -> India after Gandhi, Ramachandra Guha

Naresh Chandra and Amar Nath Verma -> Half Lion by Vinay Sitapati

 

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