Prime Minister’s visit to a District always meant a lot of activities for the District Magistrate. Minute details have to be attended to, to ensure that the visit passes off smoothly. Despite meticulous planning and utmost alertness, there is always a possibility of something going wrong.
This is what had happened in my case while I was District Magistrate in 1975 in Sundargarh. Prime Minister was to reach Rourkela. Shrimati Nandini Satpathy was the Chief Minister. She had come; so also did the Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr Ramakanta Rath.
District Magistrate had to issue Pass for selected persons to be present at the Airport when the Prime Minister arrives. The list of the selected persons had been prepared and the Passes were prepared accordingly. These needed to be sent in closed envelopes with a letter to each one of them. The letters were also signed by me. Normally a letter would start with Dear Shri/ Smt/Mr/Mrs. A responsible official was to write the surname or the name of the recipient. In that process some Ministers of Odisha (then Orissa) also received the passes with accompanying letters. Suppose a Minister’s name was Anirudha Misra. He received the letter from the District Magistrate where the officer had addressed him as mere Mr. Misra.
After the visit of the Prime Minister passed off smoothly, a few Ministers decided to point out this act of impropriety to the Chief Minister. Clearly this act of the District Magistrate had compromised their august positions. Chief Minister listened to them. I had no inkling of what was going on though I heard whispers of resentment over the issue.
Later in the day, I accompanied the Chief Minister in her car to Sundargarh. Mr Ramakanta Rath was also in the car. She consulted her Secretary if she would speak to me on the subject. Mr Rath’s advice I could hear. “In such a situation, District Magistrate’s address to the Ministers can be viewed reverential and appropriate and the issue needs to be closed” he said. The Chief Minister agreed, with a laugh.
We had a pleasant journey to Sundargarh.
*******
January 15, 2012
This is what had happened in my case while I was District Magistrate in 1975 in Sundargarh. Prime Minister was to reach Rourkela. Shrimati Nandini Satpathy was the Chief Minister. She had come; so also did the Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr Ramakanta Rath.
District Magistrate had to issue Pass for selected persons to be present at the Airport when the Prime Minister arrives. The list of the selected persons had been prepared and the Passes were prepared accordingly. These needed to be sent in closed envelopes with a letter to each one of them. The letters were also signed by me. Normally a letter would start with Dear Shri/ Smt/Mr/Mrs. A responsible official was to write the surname or the name of the recipient. In that process some Ministers of Odisha (then Orissa) also received the passes with accompanying letters. Suppose a Minister’s name was Anirudha Misra. He received the letter from the District Magistrate where the officer had addressed him as mere Mr. Misra.
After the visit of the Prime Minister passed off smoothly, a few Ministers decided to point out this act of impropriety to the Chief Minister. Clearly this act of the District Magistrate had compromised their august positions. Chief Minister listened to them. I had no inkling of what was going on though I heard whispers of resentment over the issue.
Later in the day, I accompanied the Chief Minister in her car to Sundargarh. Mr Ramakanta Rath was also in the car. She consulted her Secretary if she would speak to me on the subject. Mr Rath’s advice I could hear. “In such a situation, District Magistrate’s address to the Ministers can be viewed reverential and appropriate and the issue needs to be closed” he said. The Chief Minister agreed, with a laugh.
We had a pleasant journey to Sundargarh.
*******
January 15, 2012
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