I have never met Kalyan Singh except for official functions. during most of his first term Chief Minister UP started in 1991, I was District Magistrate (dm) on Sitapur. This means there were fewer opportunities for face-to-face interaction with the CM.
My first direct experience of his style of work came at the beginning of my tenure. The farmer-friendly agenda of the new government was getting dented as sugarcane arrears of farmers increased as sugar mills were lax in paying them. As a result, the government authorized the means of coercion and, acting with urgency, I attached two private sugar mills and confiscated their property. All hell broke loose because this hadn’t happened before and powerful interests were involved. Some Mandarins in Lucknow teased me for my ‘immaturity’. But the Chief Minister, I learned later, was firm in support of the action taken in public interest. Weeks later, the CM spoke to me and said, “Very well done aapke jo karya.” (Whatever you did was fine). Imagine how this boosted my morale for the rest of my term in the district and beyond.
Kalyan Singh’s sense of fairness and justice and the extent to which he supported honest officers was evident on another occasion. In one tehsil, with the connivance of revenue officials, a big racket of land belonging to marginalized sections was being seized through forged documents. Criminal cases were registered, scores of pradhans and lekhpals (patwaris) were abolished, and efforts were launched to restore the land. As expected, there was a strong push back from vested interests. In an unprecedented move, the local MLA, who belonged to the ruling party, threatened a fast unto death till the DM was sacked. But the CM stood firm. Rajendra Gupta, the finance minister, who hailed from Sitapur, and was also the state BJP president, later told me that the chief minister had told a delegation that the legislators were free to go on hunger strike, but “yaad koi anhoni ho jai”. So I am not “responsible.” (I will not be responsible if an accident happens). Such was the subtlety of the man.
Kalyan Singh was a big picture man, ready to take the toughest decisions and willing to do much to do what was good for the state. His anti-mafia campaign was one such initiative and education reform was another. He, along with Education Minister Rajnath Singh, launched a statewide campaign to stop the rampant copying, which was rampant in UP. This had an immediate beneficial effect on the quality of undergraduate classes, despite the average marks obtained and falling pass percentages. Many years later, as District Magistrate of Varanasi, some candidates while recruiting clerks on the basis of graduation marks said: “I am a graduate of Kalyan Singh’s era”, (I am a graduate of Kalyan Singh era) – compared with The number of people who passed while copying as opposed to leaving was massive.
Not many have forgiven Kalyan Singh for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992 under his watch. The jury is still out on whether he could have done more to stop the demolition. But there is no doubt that he was one of the biggest CM of UP. A man of iron integrity with fair play and a strong sense of justice who did not hesitate to criticize. In 1993, I was appointed as the Staff Officer to the Advisor to the Governor, during the President’s Rule, after his government was dismissed. Records relating to decision making on the day the mosque fell clearly show how solemnly and unequivocally all responsibility was taken for all of them, while one less person was motivated to give money to the local administration and the police. could have been done.
Kalyan Singh is no more today. UP and India have lost a symbol of good governance. But his legacy as an administrator and statesman lives on and many will cherish his leadership. RIP sir.
(JS Deepak is a retired IAS officer from UP, who worked as Secretary Telecom & IT, Government of India and was Ambassador of India to WTO)
My first direct experience of his style of work came at the beginning of my tenure. The farmer-friendly agenda of the new government was getting dented as sugarcane arrears of farmers increased as sugar mills were lax in paying them. As a result, the government authorized the means of coercion and, acting with urgency, I attached two private sugar mills and confiscated their property. All hell broke loose because this hadn’t happened before and powerful interests were involved. Some Mandarins in Lucknow teased me for my ‘immaturity’. But the Chief Minister, I learned later, was firm in support of the action taken in public interest. Weeks later, the CM spoke to me and said, “Very well done aapke jo karya.” (Whatever you did was fine). Imagine how this boosted my morale for the rest of my term in the district and beyond.
Kalyan Singh’s sense of fairness and justice and the extent to which he supported honest officers was evident on another occasion. In one tehsil, with the connivance of revenue officials, a big racket of land belonging to marginalized sections was being seized through forged documents. Criminal cases were registered, scores of pradhans and lekhpals (patwaris) were abolished, and efforts were launched to restore the land. As expected, there was a strong push back from vested interests. In an unprecedented move, the local MLA, who belonged to the ruling party, threatened a fast unto death till the DM was sacked. But the CM stood firm. Rajendra Gupta, the finance minister, who hailed from Sitapur, and was also the state BJP president, later told me that the chief minister had told a delegation that the legislators were free to go on hunger strike, but “yaad koi anhoni ho jai”. So I am not “responsible.” (I will not be responsible if an accident happens). Such was the subtlety of the man.
Kalyan Singh was a big picture man, ready to take the toughest decisions and willing to do much to do what was good for the state. His anti-mafia campaign was one such initiative and education reform was another. He, along with Education Minister Rajnath Singh, launched a statewide campaign to stop the rampant copying, which was rampant in UP. This had an immediate beneficial effect on the quality of undergraduate classes, despite the average marks obtained and falling pass percentages. Many years later, as District Magistrate of Varanasi, some candidates while recruiting clerks on the basis of graduation marks said: “I am a graduate of Kalyan Singh’s era”, (I am a graduate of Kalyan Singh era) – compared with The number of people who passed while copying as opposed to leaving was massive.
Not many have forgiven Kalyan Singh for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992 under his watch. The jury is still out on whether he could have done more to stop the demolition. But there is no doubt that he was one of the biggest CM of UP. A man of iron integrity with fair play and a strong sense of justice who did not hesitate to criticize. In 1993, I was appointed as the Staff Officer to the Advisor to the Governor, during the President’s Rule, after his government was dismissed. Records relating to decision making on the day the mosque fell clearly show how solemnly and unequivocally all responsibility was taken for all of them, while one less person was motivated to give money to the local administration and the police. could have been done.
Kalyan Singh is no more today. UP and India have lost a symbol of good governance. But his legacy as an administrator and statesman lives on and many will cherish his leadership. RIP sir.
(JS Deepak is a retired IAS officer from UP, who worked as Secretary Telecom & IT, Government of India and was Ambassador of India to WTO)
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