HYDERABAD: One fine day when BP Acharya, then the MD of APIIC, was in his office, two visitors including a retired bureaucrat called on him. Even as they were discussing things, Acharya received a phone call. “It’s the CM,” Acharya whispered and excused himself for a while.Upon returning, Acharya shared with the duo that the chief minister wanted him to pass a certain order within the next two hours. Surprised, the retired bureaucrat told him: “Bhibu (Acharya), how can you do this without even examining the issue? You should take enough time to examine any matter.” To this, Acharya replied: “Sir, you are old fashioned. I am interested in industrialisation and I do not like to delay matters.”Years later, when Acharya came under the CBI spotlight, the first man Acharya approached for advice was the same retired babu, V K Srinivasan. “After the CBI registered a case against him, Acharya came to me with all files and documents, told me that I was right and that even his wife (Ranjeev Acharya) had been telling him to take time before signing orders. I told Acharya that he was stupid,” recalls Srinivasan, who retired from service as special chief secretary to the government.Citing this and many more examples, Srinivasan, who himself has said a stern ‘no’ to many ministers including former chief ministers NT Rama Rao and T Anjaiah, says that whenever anything goes wrong in a department, both the minister and the secretary are to be blamed.In an exclusive interview with Express, the former top bureaucrat says that the contention of the IAS Officers Association that only the ‘small fish’ are being targeted and the big ones let off, is not a wise statement to make and it only implies admission of mistake or guilt.“Political representatives are capable of correcting their mistakes and the civil servant should use his skills and knowledge to improve the level of understanding of the ministers,” says Srinivasan.Unlike in the earlier days when babus prepared notes running into 15 to 20 pages after analysing things minutely, Srinivasan says that these days bureaucrats depend on subordinates and prepare one-page notes before passing the order.He recalled that former chief minister NT Rama Rao had once asked him to issue orders pertaining to release of funds to Nagarjuna Fertilizers and to increase the government equity from 11 per cent to 19 per cent. Though Srinivasan, then secretary, industries, told him that the increase in equity would not be advantageous for the government unless it is 26 per cent or 51 per cent, Rama Rao ordered him to go ahead.NTR wrote a note to Srinivasan in Telugu: “Oka varam lopala, karari cheyavalenu.” Not someone to follow orders blindly, Srinivasan was equally terse in replying to the note. “Cheyalemu” (cannot be done), he wrote. “NTR was angry. I was summoned and shouted at. I told him that I was prepared for a transfer and by evening, I was shifted. Though the next day I was asked to return to my earlier post, I refused.The point here is that there is a way to make the government realise its mistake,” Srinivasan said.The retired babu is all praises for the ongoing CBI probe and the agency joint director VV Lakshminarayana.“The CBI JD is doing a meticulous job. But the agency should also look into the events in the parallel circuit (meaning probing the role of one person who signed no files but gave oral instructions).The real difficulty is obtaining tangible proof for misdeeds of a departed Congress leader.”
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