Some lesser known facets of former CAG Vinod Rai's IAS career :::: He could not join Nagaland cadre state as offered initially

New Delhi:

In cricketing season, this would be an interesting way to kick-start the piece. When a fielder misses a few catches in one position and the irritated captain changes his position, you should not be surprised that again the ball would chase the same fielder in his new position. And yet again the catch would be dropped. 

These things happen in life too. Don't believe it ? Take a closer look at the life and times of Vinod Rai, the illustrious and former CAG.

Yes, Mr Vinod Rai is again in the news and now for 'wrong reasons' perhaps. He has tendered an apology to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam for having said that he (Rai) was pressurised by Nirupam to drop the name of Manmohan Singh in the coal bloc scam.

Manmohan Singh: The Day he presented historic first Reform Budget

Vinod Rai's stint as the CAG would be always remembered for two major 'scams' - the coal blocs and on the 2G spectrum allocation. It may not be erroneous to remark that the CAG reports during the tenure of UPA under Manmohan Singh had played stellar roles in harming the reputation of Congress party seriously. 

To many it helped two key political protagonists of our time - Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal.

In 2017, there was already a court order acquitting all the 19 accused in the 2G scam including DMK lawmaker and the then Telecom Minister A Raja.

But that could have been argued as legal matters and something the prosecution - the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) could prove in the court of law. But the latest episode is a sad saga as it is an unconditional apology from Rai.

Of course, the apology is not about the CAG reports but rather Rai naming Sanjay Nirupam at a media briefing. 

But here, one is referring to Vinod Rai's early days in the IAS, and this brings us to the cricket-miss the catch phenomenon.

Once in controversies and in 'excitement' career worlds, some people can always be into these. 

Way back in 1972, on allotment of his 'cadre' after enrollment into the IAS, Vinod Rai was denied 

'permission' to join the Nagaland government. "Five IAS (Indian Administrative Service) probationers reported to Dimapur railway station. Since the state government has not agreed to accept them in the Nagaland cadre, they have been directed to go 

back and report to the department of personnel, Government of India," says Rai's popular book 

''Not Just An Accountant: The Diary of Nation's Conscience Keeper'.

"That year (1972)," wrote Rai - "Nagaland had no insiders among the successful candidates; all five of us 

were from the outsider category. The government of Nagaland, a Congress-led ministry with Hokishe 

Sema as Chief Minister, was of the view that the state, which had only three districts at that time, 

could accommodate only two or three officers in a batch". 

Four other officers were A.P Sharma, Ravi Dhingra, N.G Laloo and R S Pandey, who later became Chief Secretary, Nagaland and also Union Petroleum Minister. 

In the words of Rai, "we were in no man's land, figuratively and, in fact, even literally. We had been allotted a cadre which refused to accept us, were effectively unemployed and without pay, far from home….".

Then he recalls the "stay of uncertainty" in the police mess in Kohima (Nagaland capital) lasted for 53 days 

till Prime Minister Indira Gandhi intervened and advised the Chief Minister (Hokishe Sema) to accept the 

officials for 'training period' and that after the training three of these officials could be shifted to other states.

Vinod Rai was moved to Kerala.
In the southern state too, Rai had a rather interesting beginning.

"I was a trifle baffled to find a glass of pale yellow liquid on Menon's table (then Kerala Chief Secretary KPK Menon). Coming from Tuensang in Nagaland, where the redoubtable John F Halliday (Mizo officer and DC Tuensang in 1972) started his early lunch with a glass of beer, I had not expected to witness the same trend in distant Kerala", Rai wrote in the book which other throws statistics on 2G and coal allocations.

Rai could only realize at a later stage that: 'contents of that glass' in Kerala was different. "People of Kerala prefer to boil their drinking water (to make it safe for consumption) and add some flavor to it…".

Well, that's how things had begun - in excitement and in thrilling situations. Rai's date with 'excitement' (read controversies) is far from over.

Many years after his retirement and having stolen all credit for fighting graft, sadly - he had to tender an apology to a practicing politician.

The ball has again propped up, one could still miss the catch.

Figuratively, in cricket it is said, catches win matches. In the shenanigans of power politics, one never knows unwittingly, you might have helped someone, you might have harmed someone.

I generally tend to endorse T N Seshan's definition of 'IAS' cadre – I am Sorry! 
Of the 'civil servants' I have also read: they are servants to the devil and civil to no one of everyone. 

For public memories of course, Vinod Rai's calculation of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss and Kapil Sibal's 'zero loss' theory would continue to be debated.

Fights against corruption are often won, the fights are at times lost; but some drama of life and professional career for a civil servant could be paradoxical in more ways than one.

ends 

Blogger