II GLIMPSES

30 MARCH 2014

The

Pric
e of
dealin
g with
rice
Workin
g with
leaders
who
look at
those
in civil
service
s as
scapeg
oats is
not a
great
distincti
on,
especi
ally for
those
who
work
hard
and
fight
against
odds to
succes
sfully
implem
ent
govern
ment
schem
es and
keep
up the
tall poll
promis
es

Reflections
of a Civil Servant
KR Venugopal

had written

last week that

as we raced
towards the
enhanced
target
required for
the rice
scheme,
reaching
16.30 lakh
tonnes by
August 1983,
the Centre
was getting
alarmed by
the success of
the rice
programme.
Also compounding the
relations was
the remark of
Chief Minister
Rama Rao
that the
Centre was a
myth. At
this stage I
had a visit by
the Managing
Director of the
FCI, Delhi accompanied by
the Zonal
Man-

ager of the
FCI,
Madras.
The
Managing
Director
(MD)
expressed the
Centres
unease at our
large procurement,
affecting
what the Centre
considered
the
overall
interests
of
the country
and
stated
that the FCI
would
not
receive
any
more
procured rice
in
AP.
Procurement
should
stop
now. All sorts
of
theories
were
advanced by
him such as
distortion of
the
normal
markets
by
excessive
procurement;
absence
of
warehousing,
shortage
of
staff
etc.
Having been
the
Senior
Regional
Manager
of
the
FCI,
Andhra
Pradesh just
six years

by the
releas
e
of
half
the
levy
free
rice
eligibil
ity of
the
millers
in to
the AP
marke
t accordin
g to a
regula
ted
month
ly rice
budge
t. The
situation
was
as
comfo
Centre had thought that the price at which rtable
the APSCSCL would be forced to buy levy
as
it
free rice at such enormously high prices that
could
it would break the back of AP, they were
be
mistaken as it did not happen
excep
ting
for
certai
n
politic
ally
influe
ntial
millers
who
also
were
memb
ers of
the
ruling
party.
They
were
consta
ntly
manuf
acturi
ng
stories
that
range
d from
extre
me
distres
s
to
the
millers
to
officers
makin
g
policy
,
ignori
ng the
party.
Unwitt
ingly,
the
CM
was
prone
to
trustin
g
them
becau
se he
was
still in
the
opposi
tion
mode.
It is
agains
t this
backg
round
that
the
APSCS
CL
had to
buy
levy
free
rice
from
the
millers
at
negoti
ated
prices
to
make
up for
the
enhan
ced
need
of the
rice
progra
mme
in
1984.
I
propo
sed to
the
Gover
nment
that
we set
up a

Co
mmi
ttee
of
Coll
ecto
rs of
distr
icts
that
contrib
ute
d
mos
t to
proc
ure
men
t to
neg
otia
te
with
the
mill
ers
the
pric
e at
whi
ch
the
APS
CSCL
sho
uld
buy
this
rice;
thei
r
reco
mm
end
atio
n
wou
ld
the
n go
to
the
Gov
ern
men
t
and
the
Cabi
net
for
deci
sion
.
The

t
h
e
e
l
a
b
o
r
a
t
e
n
o
t
i
n
g
o
n
t
h
e
f
i
l
e
.

Now, if leaders
do not read
officer
handling the
issue
files and do not
fully trust their
was the
Commissioner
and I

civil servants
either, the windid not miss the
message.
ners are those
who do not have
I had
come to the
concluthe public
interest in their
sion owing to a
number of
hearts but have
the ear of the
episodes over
several months
leaders. I
pointed out to
the in the run
up to this event
that
CM that
Collectors only
make working
with leaders,
who
recommendatio
ns; that this
looked at the
civil service as
was a collegiate
recommendascapegoats, was
not a great
tion by a
committee of
many distinction
and had sought
and
Collectors with
little scope for
gone on leave
with a view to
conferring
favours; anyway,
seeking a
different
assignment.

there was my
recommendaThere wasnt
enough recognition that a
Cabinet Sub
Com- tion of the
burden officers,
es-

mittee should
consider all the
pecially
Collectors and
their
aspects for
determining the
support staff
were carrying
price after the
subject reached
against odds
including those
the Cabinet; and
it was therecreated for
political
advantage.

fore unfair to
make remarks
There was the
illusion on the
about Collectors
who were part
of the leader
that the rice
leading
unprecedented
efforts
programme was
happening
to make the rice
scheme suconly because
the leader had
ceed. The
response of the
CM merely
wished it to
happen.

was
that
the
pric
e
sho
uld
be
The
har
d
wor
k
and
hon
est
y of
disc
uss
ed
wit
h
cert
ain
lea
der
s
the
offi
cial
s
invo
lve
d
had
no
of
his
Part
y
and
he
men
tion
ed
role
in
that
suc
cess
.
Tho
se
of-

spe
cific
ally
the
na
me
of a
fice
rs
sho
uld
eve
n
put
up
wit
h
part
y
lead
er
agai
nst
who
m
the
distr
ust
and
ther
e
was
no
nee
d

ad
min
istr
atio
n
had
initi
ate
d
to
sta
nd
by
the
m
whe
n
the
y
acti
on
only
a
little
whil
e
earli
er
wer
e
unfa
irly
atta
cke
d.
Whil
e

earli
er
and
exp
and
ed
the
oper
atio
ns
of
the
FCI
in
the
regi
on
enor
mou
sly,
as
expl
aine
d by
me
in
one
of
my
prev
ious
article
s, I
was
not
impr
esse
d by
any
of
thes
e
argu
men
ts
but I
kne
w
the
real
reas
on
was
that
the
Cent
re
was
unc
omf
orta
ble
with
the
succ
ess
of
the
rice
prog
ram
me.
I
cou
nter
ed
the
argu
men
ts of
the
MD,
FCI
by
stati
ng
amo
ng
othe
r
thin
gs
that
it
woul
d be
entir
ely
in
the
inter
est
of
the
FCI
to
be
part
of
this
unpr
ece
dent
ed
effor
t in
AP
but
if
the
FCI
did
not
wan
t to
coo
pera
te
then
we
woul
d
use
the
And
hra

Jeevan Reddy mentioned in my lastbuil

article had made our positiont-in
impregnable as we entered intosub
negotiations
with
the
millers sidy
regarding the price at which wein
would buy the additional quantities the
we needed through the APSC-SCL. Cen
Still, one good thing that helped us tre
in the midst of all this confrontations
was the commitment of the Centre Con
to stand by the original agree-ment su
of letting AP procure 15 lakh tonnesmer
of rice on central account and Issu
drawing ten lakh tonnes from out of e
them al-lowing AP the considerable Pric
e,
exFCI.
Wit
h
that
qua
ntit
y of
rice
we
wou
ld
be
abl
e to
run
the
pro
gra
mm
e
for
part
of
the
cro
p
sea
son
but
co
me
Rab
i
sea
son
we
had
to
ma
ke
arra
nge
me
nts
for
pur
cha
se
of
levy
free
rice
fro
m
the
mill
ers
at a
neg
otia
ted
pric
e
hig
her
tha
n
the
levy
pric
e.
A
s
we
fou
ght
on
agai
nst
divers
e
forc
es
ther
e
was
gre
at
unh
appi
nes
s on
the
part
of a
sect
ion
of
the
mill
ers
and
thei
r
polit
ical
patr
ons
that
the
way
law
was
bein
g
enfo
rced
limited
thei
r

m
u
t
u
al
b
e
n
e
fi
ts
.
N
o
t

all
the
millers
though, for
there were
millers
from
certain
districts
like
East
and
West
Godavari
who were
gen-uinely
inclined to
cooperate
with
the
administrat
ion.
This
was
because,
thanks
to
the
relentless
pressure on
rice
procurement,
the farmers
benefited
with
buoyant
prices and
the millers
benefited
be-cause of
the prices
outside the
state being
kept
high
by
our
regulating
the outflow
of
the
Andhra
Pradesh
rice, armed
by
the
decision we
had won in
the
High
Court. The
domestic
rice prices
were kept
in check

C
o
m
m
itt
e
e
of
C
ol
le
ct
or
s
c
o
nd
u
ct
e
d
th
es
e
n
e
g
ot
ia
ti
o
n
s
a
n
d
th
ei
r
re
c
o
m
m
e
n
d
at
io
n
s
w
er
e
p
ut
u
p
to
th
e
C
hi
ef
Mi
ni
st
er
th
ro
u
g
h
th
e
C
hi
ef
S
e
cr
et
ar
y.
W
hi
le
e
v
er
yt
hi
n
g
w
as
th
u
s
b
ei
n
g
d
o
n
e
sy
st
e
m
at
ic
al
ly
a
n
d
h
o
n
es
tl
y,
th
e
C
M
fo
u
n
d
fa
ul
t
wi
th
th
e
C
ol

lectors forfor
having
viol
recomme ati
ng
nded
excessive the
price inpro
favour ofvisi
ons
the
millers. of
He clearlyon
lea
hinted
ve I
that they
had
were
tol
favouring
d
the
the
millers,
CM
which wasthe
completel law
y
rela
incorrect.
tin
I
found
g
out during
to
my
the
discusrice
sions with
tha
him that
tI
he
had
wo
come to
uld
that
pre
conclusio
fer
n
even
a
without so
ligh
much as
ter
reading

asmill
ing
ind
ust
ry.
It
req
uir
ed
no
sig
nm
ent
wh
en I
ret
urn
ed
gre
at
ana
lysi
s to
un
der
sta
nd
fro
m
lea
ve
but
he
had
bee
n
the
mo
tive
sol
d
to
the
CM
by
em
pha
tic
tha
tI
sho
uld
con
the
forc
es
beh
ind
this
ide
a.
For
tinu
e
as
Co
mm
issi
one
r.
No
w,

the
m
the
tim
e
had
co
me
to
rethe
CM
wa
s
ma
kin
g
unsu
me
con
trol
ove
r
the
mill
ing
fou
nde
d
co
m
me
nts
on

o
ffiin
du
str
y
an
d
th
e
ci
vil
su
pp
lie
s
ce
rs
.
W
hil
e
thi
s
ki
nd
of
ad
mi
ni
str
ati
on
ne
ed
ed
to
be
bl
o
wi
ng
ho
t
an
d
co
ld
mi
gh
t
dis
cr
ed
ite
d.
W
ha
t
be
tte
r
th
an
wo
rk
for
po
liti
cal
le
ad
er
s,
thi
s

de
m
ot
e
th
e
in
sti
tu
tio
n
of
th
e
a
m
bi
gu
ity
w
as
no
t
so
m
et
hi
ng
Co
lle
ct
or
th
at
le
ad
s
th
e
la
w
en
o
ffi
ce
rs
co
ul
d
or
ne
ed
wo
rk

for
ce
m
en
t
fro
m
th
e
fro
nt
?
In-

wi
th.
I
ch
an
ge
d
m
y
mi
nd
,
ter
es
tin
gl
y,
th
e
C
M
at
thi
s
th
er
ef
or
e,
to
on
e
of
le
av
in
g
th
e
sta
ge
sta
rte
d
usi
ng
th
e
ex
pr
essta
te
go
ve
rn
m
en
t
alt
og
et
he
r
in

sio
n
o
ffi
ce
rs
int
er
ch
an
ge
fa
vo
ur
of
a
po
st
in
th
e
Go
vab
ly
wi
th
Co
lle
ct
or
s.
Th
e
on
ly
er
n
m
en
t
of
In
di
a.

CENTENARY SPECIAL
W

them that way for the T

h
last
e

one month.
p
One day Swami toldo
et
me
s
that he wanted to teach
of
me
th
Soundaryalahari. Then
e
I
was working as a clerkot
h
in
er
re
State Bank of India at
Kadapa. I used to go togi
o
his
house every day at 9 ns
lo
am and
ok
he used to teach me for
e
one
d
hour and one sloka per
d
day.
It went on for 100 days.o
w
After
a few months Swami n
u
told me
that he wanted to teachp
o
Panchakavyas. But I was n
hi
transferred to a different m
as
place I
lost that opportunity. h
e
The
h
days I was taught under
ail
his
e
d
fr
o
m
a
b
ac
k
w
ar
d
re
gi
o
n
lik
e
K
a
d
a
p
a.
H
e
w
as
h
u
m
bl
e
b
ut
n
e
v
er
le
ft
th
os
e
w
h
o
di
sgr
ac
e
d
hi
m
or
hi
s
pl
ac
e
wi
th
o
ut
sh
at
te
ri
n
g
th
e
m
in
to
pi
ec
es
.
W
h
e
n
G
u
nt
ur
u
S
h
es
he
n
dr
a
S
ar
m
a
w
as

t
h

py of
it.
Putta
parth
i
simpl
y
nodd
ed
his
head
and
aske
d
them
to
leave
the
manu
script
there
.
When
Valla
mpati
went

asked him, Do
you get it
completely by
heart? Yes,

sister, he replied.
It was
P
written by a
u
Brahmarak-

t
t
a
rakshasas like me
p
who learnt
a
it by heart.
r
Vallamapati once t
told me
h
that he saw
i
N
Puttaparthi pora
r
a
y
a
n
a
c
h
a
r
y
u
l
u

shasa and there

are plenty of

I
s
t
a
y
e
d
i
n
t
h
e
h
o
u
s
e
o
f
t
h
e
r
e
g
i
o
n
h
a
d
t
r
e
m
e
n
d
o
u
s

to
him
sep
ara
tely
and
remin
ded
him
of
the
intr
o,
he
furiou
sly
chi
ded
him
for
rec
om
me
ndi
ng
a
ma
n of
the
oth
er
regi
on.
But
wh
en
he
we
nt
to
him
for
the
thir
d
tim
e,
he
gav
e
the
intr
odu
ctio
n
and
sai
d,
Th
is
you
ng
ma
n is
a
tru
e
poe
t.
So
met
ime
s I
get

c
ing over a huge volume
when
a
he went to his home
n way
W
back

h
in 1980s. He asked
t
e
him,
t
n
ar yo reading
o
What e
u
l
I
Swami?
e m

r
e
Its Paisachi
a tan

of
th
e
ar
de
nt
st
ud
en
ts
of
t
Pu
tant literary language
e Sof tclasw a
ta
sical India. A month
h s
pa
back a
e i
rt
person from the n s
hi
audience in a
s r
w
meetin raise
o e
hil
e
literary g
m
e
,
doubt related to ite and I he
realo
w
o
ized that I had to get
n an
as
sound
e e
wr
scholarsh
s
iti
a
ng
ip
Paisachi
y
a
answer that. I have
s
m
been at it
t
on
since then, he replied.
h
og
After
ra
a few minutes hea
t
ph
added, I
I says on
dont mind if anyone
a
hi
that
m
s
I am not a good poet.
te
But I
n
ac
o
he
t
r
a
fo
s
r
c
C
h
en
o
tr
l
al
a
Sa
r.
hi
I
th
t
ya
i
Ac
s
ad
li
k
e
e
m
d
y,
e
he
a
sh
t
o
h
w
f
ed
o
m
r
e
m
an
e
ol
.
d

so
H
ile
i
d
s
no
q
te
u
bo
e
ok
.
s
It
t
w
f
as
o
on
r
e
s
a
c
m
h
on
o
g
l
th
a
e
r
in
s
nu
h
m
i
er
p
ab
i
le
s
no
s
te
o
bo
m
ok
e
s
t
of
h
Pu
i
tt
n
ap
g
ar
a
th
m
i. I
a
fo
z
un
i
d
n
th
g
e
.
en
H
tir
e
e
w
Pa
a
ra
s
di
a
se
p
Lo
o
st
l
in
y
Pu
g
tt
l
ap
o
ar
t
th
w
is
h
ha
o
nd
w
wr
a
iti
s
ng
fl
in
u
it.
e
It
n
w
t
as
i
th
n
e
1
w
4
ay
l
th
a
at
n
he
g
us
u
ed
a
to
g

manu a o
y p t t
time,s e t a
t e c
b n c
Puttaparthi
y t u
in an i s
t He
view.
o is
e
a h n
greao
a
s o
t
e n w
cian
r
w that
think
l i
he h i t
o
didn
t e
t
r e r
u r
centratea f
b
literatur
b t o
e e u r
mucd r
h
e n
o
m
had on
e a t
music
n

e
s
i
n
T
e
l
u
g
u
a
n
d
E
n
g
l
i
s
h
)

o
and I d d
n
perfect foilo to him as I
neg-t o i
n n and dance
lected
h music
g
for e
o
my love for literature. He
was w n s
morr e o
m
e o
o e
n
g r t
s
i
d
e
.

h
t i
w n
o g

g
e
P n
u r
e
t
s
t
a
p w
e
a
r
w
t
h o
u
i
w l
d
r
o
h
t
a
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