E. A. S. SarmaHonesty is best policy for him
Dr E. A. S. Sarma belongs to the rare breed of bureaucrats which has been fighting against the deficiencies in the Indian democratic system both during the service and after retirement.
The Supreme Court recently upheld the public interest litigation filed by Dr Sarma for declaring the deployment of Salwa Judum - a private army to fight the Maoists in Chhattisgarh - unconstitutional, which speaks volumes about his crusade against human rights violations by the government.
In its judgment, the apex court wondered how the government could treat a reputed bureaucrat like Dr Sarma as a Maoist, especially when he had done his job as a member of the expert group constituted by the planning commission to study "development challenges in extremist-affected areas". "We had to move the Supreme Court because neither the Centre nor the state government acknowledged our findings on the war in the heart of India," Dr Sarma said. The 1965-batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre had to face several such challenges during his career. A testimony to his honesty is the fact that he was transferred 26 times in his 35-year tenure.
In 1994-95, when the Telugu Desam Party government wanted to set up a large number of power plants without any competitive bidding, Dr Sarma strongly opposed the policy.
When he could not overrule the government, he went on leave and later applied for a central posting. Had he compromised with the TDP, he could have easily become the state chief secretary. "If a bureaucrat is honest, nobody would dare influence him/her. At the most, the politicians can get him transferred...and one has to be prepared for it if s/he has to survive in the system," he said.
In 2000, Dr Sarma quit the finance ministry over differences in the public policy issues with the A. B. Vajpayee-led NDA government.
A post-graduate in nuclear physics from the Andhra University and in public administration from the Harvard University, besides having a doctorate from the IIT-Delhi, Dr Sarma has been fighting against projects affecting environment and public health, including the setting up of power projects along the coastal line and illegal mining in tribal areas.
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Dr E. A. S. Sarma belongs to the rare breed of bureaucrats which has been fighting against the deficiencies in the Indian democratic system both during the service and after retirement.
The Supreme Court recently upheld the public interest litigation filed by Dr Sarma for declaring the deployment of Salwa Judum - a private army to fight the Maoists in Chhattisgarh - unconstitutional, which speaks volumes about his crusade against human rights violations by the government.
In its judgment, the apex court wondered how the government could treat a reputed bureaucrat like Dr Sarma as a Maoist, especially when he had done his job as a member of the expert group constituted by the planning commission to study "development challenges in extremist-affected areas". "We had to move the Supreme Court because neither the Centre nor the state government acknowledged our findings on the war in the heart of India," Dr Sarma said. The 1965-batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre had to face several such challenges during his career. A testimony to his honesty is the fact that he was transferred 26 times in his 35-year tenure.
In 1994-95, when the Telugu Desam Party government wanted to set up a large number of power plants without any competitive bidding, Dr Sarma strongly opposed the policy.
When he could not overrule the government, he went on leave and later applied for a central posting. Had he compromised with the TDP, he could have easily become the state chief secretary. "If a bureaucrat is honest, nobody would dare influence him/her. At the most, the politicians can get him transferred...and one has to be prepared for it if s/he has to survive in the system," he said.
In 2000, Dr Sarma quit the finance ministry over differences in the public policy issues with the A. B. Vajpayee-led NDA government.
A post-graduate in nuclear physics from the Andhra University and in public administration from the Harvard University, besides having a doctorate from the IIT-Delhi, Dr Sarma has been fighting against projects affecting environment and public health, including the setting up of power projects along the coastal line and illegal mining in tribal areas.
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