I was fortunate to have benefited from the knowledge, wisdom, affection and love of B.P.R. Vithal garu. He enhanced my understanding of things, people, issues, institutions and ideas in a wholesome manner with a memorable built-in humour.
The range of subjects that we discussed over five decades have indeed been wide and continues to encompass society, politics, religion, history, economics and of course public finance. Most of the learning happened in a chatty manner, through examples and anecdotes rather than pontification or enunciation.
I had the privilege of listening to Vithal garu in 1961 when he presented a paper in a seminar on Applied Economics in Osmania University. At that time he was registrar of Osmania University and I was a full time research fellow.
His presentation combined a deep understanding of history, politics and economics, and I was very impressed with it because it went beyond the standard recourse to research methodologies or personal experiences.
That approach had an influence on my subsequent presentations in various seminars. I joined the IAS in 1964 and moved on to become deputy secretary, planning, in September 1969, which gave me a golden opportunity to work under Vithal garu.
I came to know later that he brought me into his fold to spare the chief secretary from the predicament that he was facing due to my “difficult” way of functioning in Guntur district as Collector in charge at that time. In a sense, therefore, Vithal garu virtually took me under his protection and chose me to be one of his shishyas.
I would like to recall a few memorable things that I learnt from Vithal garu during my days in planning department. He never disagreed with his deputies on the file without discussing the matter.
Early in my career, when he called me for discussion and expressed disagreement with what I proposed, I mentioned to him that he could overrule me on file and that I have no objection to his views at all. He clarified that in his view, all of us are endowed with similar intelligence and devotion to work.
Therefore, he would like to discuss so that we appreciate each other’s point of view. In his view, reasonable people should be able to come to an agreement once the facts and assumptions are clarified.
He explained that the issue of overruling will arise only when differences cannot be resolved through discussion. He added that even when a subordinate is overruled, it does not mean that the superior in the office is more intelligent but that is the only convenient way in which organisations are run. Vithal garu always used to call for discussion whenever he disagreed.
This has a lasting impact on me and I have internalised it, both in office and my home; even with my children and grandchildren. Whenever there are disagreements among my grandchildren they say “like tattaya, let us discuss and decide.”
Vithal garu was a very soft-spoken and pleasant, but he could be very assertive when warranted.
There was an occasion when a political leader complained about delays at my level when I was deputy secretary, planning. I was present and there was an accusation of some motives on my part for having delayed the papers. It is true that the papers were delayed and it was also true that it was deliberate.
But it was done in what we considered to be public interest. The moment the political leader mentioned about a deliberate delay on my part, Vithal garu promptly asserted that he takes personal responsibility for any delay in his department and that there should be no passing of responsibility on his deputies in such matters.
Yet, I was annoyed and decided to resign from the service as a protest. Vithal garu appreciated that my feelings were hurt and persuaded the political leader to apologise to me so that I withdrew my intention to resign from service. This episode shows Vithal garu’s generosity as well as commitment to ensure that public interest is served, while respecting the professional roles and dignities of all people concerned.
He could advise, assert and deliver, by virtue of the trust and confidence that he commanded from the political leadership and bureaucracy in equal measures. I tried to learn from him the art of expressing disagreement without being unpleasant.
When I started as deputy secretary, planning, I wanted to do significant analytical work on regional planning. At that time Vithal garu was not convinced that these were of any practical use.
True to his nature, he did not keep his reservation a secret but at the same time he explained that I was at liberty to pursue what I thought was right course of action as long as there was no harm done to the system. I was granted freedom to pursue analytical and theoretical interests as long as they were of relevance to my job. He adopted a similar benign approach to my completing the thesis For PhD during my stint in planning department,
Above all, he was very liberal in allowing me to participate in national or international seminars without demur, provided there was no financial burden on the State, He had trust and confidence in me that I would pursue academic interest in a way that does riot adversely affect performance of official duties,
There has been one area in which, despite my best efforts, I could not reach the standards set by Vithal garu and that relates to the quality of drafting.
From the time I started working with him in 1969, he was always urging me to improve my drafting, be it notes or papers. I think that have been improving, but I am acutely aware that I am still short of the high standards that he set.
I look up to him for guidance, wherever I happened to be Government of India, Reserve Bank of India, World Bank, International Monetary Fund or Finance Commission. Vithal garu bestowed on me the honour and privilege of being one of his shishyas.
B.P.R. Vithal, a veteran economist and 1950-batch IAS officer who was finance and planning secretary to the Andhra Pradesh government, and also served briefly with the IMF, died in Hyderabad on Friday, aged 93
Y. Venugopal Reddy is a former governor of the Reserve Bank of Indi
