Deepak Gupta - The Steel Frame: A History of the IAS

Deepak Gupta did his BA from Allahabad, MA from St Stephens college and MPhil in International Relations from JNU. From the IAS batch of 1974, he has spent many years in the field in the erstwhile state of Bihar, including two districts (Saharsa 197980; Rohtas 198688) as Collector. He served in many departments in state and centre and was also posted in India Trade Centre, Brussels and spent a year as WHO Advisor on TB in Delhi. He retired in 2011 as Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. After retirement he consulted with the World Bank and UNIDO and writes on issues of energy and sustainable development. He was Chairman of UPSC from November 2014 to September 2016.

His published works include Documentation of Participatory Irrigation Management, Covering a Billion with DOTS, Achieving Universal Energy Access in India: Challenges and the way Forward, and Caught by the Police.

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As I went through the material and historical documents, it was inspiring to see the vision and determination of Sardar Patel who was almost single-handedly responsible for the setting up of the All India Services in independent India. He believed strongly that you will not have a united India, if you do not have a good All India Service which has the independence to speak out its mind. His ideas about the role of the IAS, how the political executive should deal with it and the obligations and responsibilities of the civil servants are more relevant today than ever before. This book is dedicated to the memory of this great Indian.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Contents

Acknowledgements

The idea of the book took shape when I was in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). I was greatly encouraged to go ahead by Dr David Syiemlieh, then member of UPSC, and later, its Chairman, and a respected historian. Had it not been so, perhaps the idea may have been still born. The task of collecting books and articles for research appeared daunting but this was facilitated by Ashok Ramchandani, librarian of the UPSC, and Noor, a research assistant. I hope in the process the related documentation of UPSC got richer.

After the initial work had been done, Priya Kapoor of Roli Books encouraged me to complete the book. Gautam Pemmaraju made very useful comments to help in structuring certain thoughts. He has also helped editorially. My brother Harsh, who retired as Chief Secretary Himachal Pradesh, kept on encouraging me providing information, references and general suggestions. My brother Madhukar, who retired as Home Secretary, went through the manuscript giving detailed comments and making many editorial suggestions.

One could not have gone on without the encouragement of my wife Amita and, from across the shores, of my two sons, Diwakar and Shashank. I often tested the patience of my mother-in-law, Mrs Priti Lal, while relating to her many interesting anecdotes from the past. Every month she would ask how my book was progressing. This encouraged me to continue and complete what had started as an idea.