A PRO-ACTIVE GOVERNOR OF CHHATTISGARH

                         


  Those who are serving state universities might have experienced the behavior of our  chancellor or Governor of the state towards the state universities and their work . Whenever a teacher is experiencing some injustice in the hands of the university or vice chancellor , he has no option but to address his grievances to the chancellor  of the university ; however, in most of  the times, the teacher complains of not getting any attention from chancellor’s office and he has no alternative except to lodge a writ petition in the court of law. It is surprising why our  Governors are so alien to the academic activities and academicians ; and why they are not taking  expertise of the academicians in the development of the state to which they are the first citizen.

Under this background , one is witnessing dynamic and visionary leadership of  Governor of Chhattisgarh  Shri Shekhar Dutt who is decisive in his actions  ,all of which are diverted towards improvement of the well being of Chhattisgarh  . He is well aware that Chhattisgarh is very rich in fauna and flora including medicinal plants hence it will be beneficial to encourage cultivation of known medicinal plants in the state to fetch good  remuneration . Simultaneously, it is more important to search some new plants with new pharmacological activities as this will tremendously increase market value of that plant extending great benefit  to the farmers. With these aspects in mind, a workshop was arranged on 11^th May,2014 at Indra Gandhi Agriculture University , Raipur in the presence of Director General, Indian Council of Agriculture Research Dr S.Ayyappan and others  to which he was the chief guest- hopefully we may hear , in near future, identifying a new plant by the Chhattisgarh scientists  showing altogether new pharmacological activity .
 There was no veterinary university to look after livestock, poultry and fishery  in the state though its proposal was pending since some years. The governor took special interest and Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu Vishwa Vidyalaya , Durg came in existence in the year 2012.

He did not stop after inaugurating  the university but continued gathering information about livestock population and  their production data . He was of the firm opinion to analyze present situation and how we can improve the livestock  to eliminate poverty in our hinterland.  And he was able to gather all the imminent Agriculture Scientists, administrators of the country on 12 and 13^th May, 2014 to participate in the  national brainstorming workshop on “ Strategies for enhancing livestock and fisheries production in the state of Chhattisgarh”.

In the  inauguration program , where  Governor Shri Shekhar Dutt  was the Chief guest , the Director General of Indian Council of Agriculture Research , New Delhi Dr S Ayyappan  addressed the audience and informed how honorable Governor is keenly interested in improving livestock of the state and to chalk out a road map for future work which should be integrated from all corners. Dr Ayyappan  informed the secret of the governor  for being so much interested in the academics that the governor belongs to an illustrious academic family- his father Dr SC Dutt was a distinguished Scientist  who received ICAR Rafi Ahmed Kidwai national award in 1964-65 which happened first in animal husbandry  (prior that the award always went to Agriculture scientist) for his outstanding work  on parasites and parasitic diseases ; further his uncle Dr Hira Lal Choudhary was the person who initiated fish breeding first time in India  The  fish farmers’ day is celebrated in all the States and Union Territories on 10th July every year. It was on this day in 1957 that Dr. Hiralal Choudhary, a pioneer in the induced breeding technique in Indian major craps, achieved this feat.

On this occasion , it  was amusing to hear the address of shri Shekhar Dutt  as he narrated many scientific instances making it difficult whether we were hearing the speech of a scientist or a politician or a past  bureaucrat . Though many of us know that he is an IAS having rich experience of Government functioning , certainly , it was amazing to hear his speech which was full with scientific facts and how human civilization has progressed. Perhaps many are not aware that he has echoed “ a number of developmental issues with an open and creative mind “ in his book  “Reflections on contemporary India” published by  Har-Anand Publications Pvt Ltd, New Delhi in 2014 (he has published another book " India's defence and national security in 2014 ).

The workshop ran for two days where all the scientists of ICAR , administrative officers of the state government , faculty members of  Kamdhenu university etc participated actively and finally recommendations were prepared by taking in puts from different sessions. The governor was keen to know the recommendations hence asked the Deputy Director General (Animal Sciences),ICAR , Dr KML Pathak , the Vice Chancellor Dr UK Mishra and me to come in person for appraisal of the recommendations and meeting was fixed  in his office at 4.00 PM on 13rd May,2014 . In this personal discussion , it was clear that he was well aware that the state GDP can be enhanced many folds without Agriculture, by exporting iron ore , increasing steel production and electricity , a simple task by the state looking to its resources. But this increase in GDP will not touch life of the poor and for fulfilling  their expectations  it is important to increase livestock and fish production of the state where our marginal and landless farmers are involved. It is not sufficient merely to increase milk or fish production but equally important is its marketing which will require cold storage and transport of the produces to the stakeholders. In nut shell we need an integrated improvement in all these activities so that our poor and middle class can participate in  the growth of state prosperity .

And when we came out from his office , everyone of us was thinking alas if our other governors and chancellors may also start taking such  interest in alike activities.

A beginning has been made in Chhattisgarh state and it is necessary that all the stakeholders put all their efforts in achieving these goals so that our poorest of the poor may enjoy the fruits of development.
I was under dilemma whether I should post above facts on my blog though it may be important to emulate such actions by other policy makers. However, the dilemma vanished when I read following news in the Economic Times , Indore dated 16th June,2014  ' WELL DONE, GUV' ....."Governors are not known to help in calming frayed industrial nerves. But an exception was Chattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutta who along with SAIL chairman CS Verma visited a SAIL plant in the state that had witnessed a terrible accident. Tempers were naturally running high. Workers felt they were getting the rough end of it all. The guv stepped in and said even officers have been injured  and no one was in especially dangerous situation. Tempers cooled down almost immediately. Would that all our governors would prove to be equally useful."

He has resigned from Governor of Chhattisgarh on 19th June,2014 and  again broke first time the welfare custom  by disallowing his vehicle to be pulled by the staff. He donated a unique table  ,made of shells of the bombs which he captured while fighting Indo-Pak war in 1971 as Captain , to the Chief minister of Chattisgarh ; he was a force to construct a "Shaheed Udyan" in Raipur that pertains to the martyrs , belonging to the state.
Every one ,including university faculties love to take guidance from such custodians .