AGARTALA, July 30 (TIWN): After 3 decades long public service, current Chief Secretary Dr.S.K.Panda will be leaving state tomorrow to join as Union Government as Secretary of Textiles. Today in a press meet he thanked Tripura and its people. Tripura's next Chief Secretary G.K.Rao will take charge from tomorrow.

The 1980 MT cadre official served for 20 years in Tripura in his 33 year career.

Speaking to reporters at the civil secretariat the Chief Secretary, on his last day in the state in his chair, said that the state is full of potential. Dr. Panda joined as Block Development Officer (BDO) at Khowai during the tenure of Late Nripen Chakraborty as the Chief Minister. He served as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Dharmanagar soon afterwards till 1988.

Dr. Panda moved out of the state in 1989, shortly after he met a serious accident in the Atharomura range. With his family out in Orissa, he had a tough time recovering from the accident and the shock. Dr. Panda came back in 1994 and was put in charge of the Department of Handloom and Handicrafts.

“During my tenure at the Department of Handloom and Handicrafts, I tried to unite the unorganized sector of handloom and handicrafts”, Dr. Panda said. The state’s production in the handloom and handicrafts sector exponentially grew in the following years.

Chief Secretary Dr. Panda recalled the construction of the High Court building at Lichubagaan and its operationalization in March, 2013. He said that the state government achieved a number of major success including 95.16 percent literacy rate – the highest in the country. “I attribute these to positive mindset and attitude, team work and use of proper technology in the proper time”, the CS said.

Chief Secretary Dr. SK Panda was in charge of the post from 2009 till date.

Speaking on the last day as Chief Secretary of the state, he today wished Tripura a great time ahead and said that he would try to extend all possible help from his new portfolio at Delhi. 

Chief Secretary sent a detailed note of his experiences at Tripura over two decades :

1.        As per Government order, I shall be handing over the charge of Chief Secretary, Tripura on the 31^st July 2014 and leaving for Delhi for joining the Government of India. This is as per the service conditions of the All India Services, which envisages officers serving in different capacities in the state and the centre – a usual process. On the eve of handing over the charge of Chief Secretary, I would like to convey my deep sense of gratitude to the people of the State from all sections of the society for the love and affection I got during my tenure.

2.         I took over the charge of Chief Secretary on the 30^th April 2010 (afternoon). I shall be completing four years and three months, which is a reasonably long tenure as Chief Secretary of any State. I feel privileged as in the Indian Administrative Service posting as the Chief Secretary of a State, who heads the administrative set up, is a rare opportunity. Further, my tenure has been long and saw many good things happening in the State, which made the stint extremely interesting, rewarding and satisfying.

3.         Out of my thirty-four years of public service, I spent about twenty years in Tripura in four spells. The first spell (1981 – 1989) related to field postings dealing with implementation of the various plans and programmes. I was the first IAS officer to be posted as Block Development Officer during training. I worked as BDO, Khowai Block in March-April 1982. This provided me the rare opportunity of working under Shri S.R. Sankaran, the legendary Chief Secretary and Shri Nripen Chakraborti, the legendary Chief Minister. When I came back from training in August 1982, Shri Chakraborti, the then Chief Minister, had wanted me to be posted as BDO. However, Sankaran Saheb told that after training an IAS officer has to be posted as SDO. One of the memorable events of Dharmanagar [as SDO] relates to the SPT Bridge over Deo River getting washed off in the early rains, which made Kanchanpur totally cut off. I remembered the way, rice was transported in half gunny bags across the river to maintain the Fair Price Shops. Later, as the DM & Collector of erstwhile North Tripura District in 1987, I had to face extremely difficult situation due to insurgency. One of the memorable event of the period relates to dedicating the newly constructed district collectorate building at Gournagar (Kailasahar) to the people in a colourful ceremony on the 13^th November 1987 by the legendary trio – Shri Nripen Chakraborti (Chief Minister), Shri Dasaratha Deb (Tribal Welfare Minister) and Shri Baidyanath Majumder (PWD Minister).

4.         Later, while coming from North Tripura District to Agartala, I  met with a serious road accident in the Atharamura hill range in April 1988 in which I sustained serious injury. Then my wife and children were in Odisha. The care, concern and affection shown by my colleagues, doctors of GBP Hospital, local people of the district and the then Chief Minister, Shri Sudhir Ranjan Majumder, and Home Minister, Shri Samir Ranjan Barman, are deeply imprinted in my memory. Our doctors in the GBP Hospital had done a splendid job and I could return back duty without any major handicap.

5.         The second spell (1994 – 1997) gave me the opportunity to plan and implement programmes. Based on my experience of working as the Director of Textiles, Odisha (for about five years), I took organization of weavers, handicraft artisans and sericulture rearers into clusters and providing them required forward and backward linkages. In subsequent years, these activities gained roots, became stronger providing a good income to the primary producers. It is extremely satisfying to see that implementation of the Special Tripura Women Sericulture Project in 1994 led to development of sericulture on a sustainable basis with production of bivoltine silk yarn as well as silk fabrics, which has created name for itself in the entire country. I fondly remember my association with Shri Ramendra Chandra Debnath (the then Chairman, TAWCS and present Speaker) during this period.

6.         In the third spell (2005 – 2009), I was privileged to have the opportunity of dealing with development of human resource. ICDS was universalized on the Poila Baisakh (15^th April 2006), which in due course grew providing Angan Wadi Centre in each and every habitation of the State. I pursued welfare of the children, mothers, women, persons with disability, aged with enthusiasm. The guidance and support extended by Shri Manik Dey, the then Minister, Social Welfare and Social Education, was a rewarding experience. During this period, higher education scaled new heights with setting up of the Central University, National Institute of Technology, Tripura Institute of Technology, Polytechnics and degree colleges all over the state. The affection and guidance I got from the aged, poet Minister, Shri Anil Sarkar, was a rare thing.

7.         In the fourth spell (2010 – 2014), I was privileged to lead the bureaucratic setup as the Chief Secretary. Sitting in the room next to the Chief Minister and working closely with Shri Manik Sarkar, one of the most honest, efficient and effective Chief Ministers of the country with deep concern for the poor and transparency, has been a unique experience and opportunity. During the period, large number of new buildings, schools, hospitals, market-sheds, bus stands as well as at the state level new buildings for the Assembly, the High Court, the State Guest House, the new museum were inaugurated.  Achievements of the State in various fields was recognized and awarded at the national level. The state achieving highest literacy rate (95.16%) in the country was a rare moment of glory. A major reorganization of administrative units was taken up on the 21^st January 2012 with creation of four new districts and more Subdivisions and Blocks. It was a challenging task. However, excellent support, hard work of my younger colleagues working as DM & Collectors enabled us to overcome the teething problems. In this context, I would remember our meeting at 10-30 am on every Monday through videoconferencing had become a habit, which paid rich dividends.

8.         Providing public services on an inclusive manner covering each and every family and individual in terms of provision of ration commodities, work under MGNREGA, safe drinking water, sanitation, immunization of each child, institutional delivery of each pregnant mother, bank account with internet facility, etc. were initiated on a pilot basis in the Mandai Block. Learning from this experience and replicating it to the other parts of the State will further strengthen the journey in empowering the people and developing the human resource of the State.

9.         With about sixty-percent of land under forest, forest and forest dwellers have been an important plank of State’s development. We had started bamboo plantation, agro-forestry on the RoFR land, medicinal plantation on a commercial scale along with Panchakarma which had yielded results and can be exploited further for providing return to the forest dwellers to the similar extent as rubber plantation and providing alternate livelihood opportunity to the shifting cultivators.

10.       One of the fascinating innovations we had initiated relates to creation of water bodies by harvesting rain water in the non-covered habitations in the interior areas where rigs cannot be taken. It was taken up jointly by the Forest Department and district administration. Completion of this process would not only make Tripura free of uncovered habitation (drinking water), but would also pay rich dividend in raising the water table, pisciculture and consequent enhancement of the Gross Domestic Product from agriculture and allied sector.

11.       I think the list of sweet memories would be incomplete without mention of my close association with the women sericulture rearers, mostly from Scheduled Tribes, who have made one of the most difficult things possible by producing improved Bivoltine variety of silk yarn in Tripura, a rare achievement as compared to the experience in other part of the country. Further, our team work making the Heritage Park green with indigenous trees, local sweet-smelling flowers, medicinal plants and pristine lustrous green bamboo backdrop will always hunt my memory.

12.       There were some unfortunate incidents, as well – the death of children in waterborne diseases in Kanchanpur (June 2010), death in fire accident in Naisingpara Relief Camp of North Tripura District (March 2011) and the recent malarial deaths (June 2014). After the Kanchanpur incident, we had taken steps for gearing up service delivery with participation of people in the rural and tribal areas centering around the Angan Wadi Centre and organizing Village Health and Sanitation Day with help of the Panchayati Raj institutions. However, occurrence of malaria in June 2014 indicated that what was done was not enough and it is required to be pursued with greater vigour and commitment by both the officials and the people’s representatives for empowering the disadvantaged segments. In this context, I feel ensuring presence of Angan Wadi Workers and ASHA karmis at their place of work by selecting them from the local community along with close supervision by the departmental staff of the Social Welfare & Social Education and Health & Family Welfare Departments along with support of the District Administration, 3-tier PRIs and ADC committees would make a difference in the coming days.

13.       One of the most visible things in the rural areas today is that there is hardly any thatched house and any beggar. Provision of work under MGNREGA (Tripura has been consistently heading the list in generating man-days in the country) and vibrant Public Distribution System (action taken for distribution of sugar following abolition of levy has been acknowledged at the national level) have been making impact on malnutrition. Taking these ahead with provision of preventive healthcare, sanitation, safe drinking water, quality education and skill for development of human resource would take the state to new height in the coming years.

14.       I am thankful to the members of the ever vigilant print and electronic media of the state for their reporting particularly on issues relating to the poor and happenings in the interior area.

15.       During my tenure, the new High Court of Tripura building was inaugurated (November 2010) and full-fledged court was set up (March 2013). This not only fulfilled one of the long cherished dreams of the people, but has been helping in providing justice to the people in time with lesser cost.

16.       I have been lucky all along in getting the cooperation and affection of all segments of people, for which I feel deeply indebted. On the police and paramilitary side, Shri Pranay Sahay, Director General of Police (2010-11) and his successors, officers of BSF, CRPF, Assam Rifles have extended unstinted support. During the period, Tripura achieved may success including the highest literacy rate (95.16%). I had attributed these successes to (i) positive mindset and attitude, (ii) working in team and (iii) use of appropriate technology, which I had the opportunity to pen along with my colleagues in a book titled “Making One Plus One Eleven” which was released by the Hon’ble Chief Minister on the 1^st February 2014.

17.       At the time of departure, this note, I feel, will be incomplete without mentioning a word about myself. I was born in a poor family in Cuttack, Odisha. My father died when I was one year old. I have no brother, no sister. My mother brought me up under extremely difficult situation, but taught me to be polite, kind and helpful to others. I always remember a quote from my school teacher, Kishore Sir, which had profound impact on my life, “It is mindset which is important in life. A man with positive mindset looks up and achieves bigger things, whereas one with negative mindset goes down and gets poison”. I have been pursuing it in my service career along with being honest and hardworking with perseverance. I pursued education in Cuttack and became the best graduate of Utkal University of Odisha in 1974 and topped post-graduation in Chemistry in 1976. I did tuition to finance my college education. I would like to mention one incident – at graduation stage, our neighbour was kind enough to provide me one electric bulb connection for studying (1972-74). Following some development, it was discontinued. But I continued my post-graduation in lantern light and topped the university. Later, I am lucky as my wife and our two children share my philosophy and attitude towards life – to remain simple, hardworking and helpful to others with a soft corner for the disadvantaged.

18.       Looking back during the period 1981 to 2014, Tripura has come a long way since I first arrived here. In the field of physical infrastructure in terms of building, road, bridges, power generation, the improvement is visible and too obvious. Success in controlling insurgency has made Tripura a case study at national level. In the social sector, education and health, there have been improvement. I have no hesitation in mentioning that all this is due to a dedicated team working with commitment for the peace loving people of the state. As a proud member of this team, I am of firm belief that the good work will be taken forward with renewed enthusiasm making Tripura a model developed state in the entire country. 

19.       Out of my thirty-four years long service, I have spent about two-thirds – over two decades in Tripura. Even though I was born and brought up in Odisha, I had spent the major productive part of my life and service career in Tripura. Today, I know more people and more people know me in Tripura than in my so called home State Odisha. Working in Tripura has been a wonderful experience. We have developed a relationship with Tripura and it is said that “in a relation what matters is affection, not perfection”. So, friends, while bidding good-bye in my present capacity as a humble public servant, my wife joins me in thanking all of you for the affection. We would look forward to visit Tripura and be considered, in the words of Rabindranath Thakur, ‘Aami Tomader Lok’ (I am one among you).