High insecurity

The first man to `note’ in theadministrative hierarchy is an Assistant. Since he is not a gazetted official, the next division line manifests itself and appends a signature. In my 11-year stint in the military and intelligence wings of the Cabinet Secretariat, I saw daily evidence of this procedure.

In the file’s long journey, precedents are sought and other ministries consulted. Throughout, the emphasis is on seeking unassailable reasons for rejection. This is, indeed, the unwritten law of ethics in administration.

In the case of the nurses, since the request was made by a Cabinet Minister to a colleague, it had to be made totally foolproof by pages of laborious notations. The crucial man involved was a near-legendary lower-decker who had joined as an Assistant in the Central Secretariat Service and risen to become a Joint Secretary, which is easily classed as an unusual occurrence.

Sardar Fateh Singh was a man of unbeatable standards who did his homework with bureaucratic precision. He was in great demand for his professionalexpertise in many other ministries and respected both during and after the Raj.

Armed with many volumes including the Fundamental Rules, with many frayed pages, he called on Home Minister Pant to obtain his decision. Sardar Fateh Singh had unambiguously classed the visit as a grave security risk to the nation.

Pantji browsed through the file and asked the obvious question: "How could three women jeopardise our security by a week’s visit to Kashmir?" The undaunted Sardar Fateh Singh replied: "You don’t know, Sir, what havoc three women can cause." Some more discussion followed and finally Pantji gave in. And so the nation’s safety was apparently ensured. Sardar Fateh Singh, obviously, was a more than consummate civil servant.

To strike a more contemporary note, we have three or even four persons of the nurses’ gender, all stalwarts on the national scene, who continue to confound and confuse seasoned politicians. First, there is the Puratchi Thalaivi from Poes Garden who has had her way, tantrums,controversies and all. But remember, she is a tinsel queen of yesteryear and has now been restored to her former eminence by the people’s court, as Kumaramangalam says with the zeal of a convert.

We also have the widowed mystique from 10, Janpath who, after making waves on the campaign trail, has now acquiesced to the pleas of her loyal sycophants. And there is Kumari Mayawati, who believes in the creed of dynamic instability. They are all the darlings of the media.

Let us be reminded here of what our sages said thousands of years ago: Stree charitram purushyus bhagyam/ Devoh na janati kuto munashyu. Even the gods do not know the nature of woman or of man’s destiny; how can mere man comprehend it? So our sympathies are with bachelor Atalji in his plight, with the constant shadow of uncertainly hanging over his mantri mandal.Satyindra Singh