Newsmaker: Back to basics

Dhirendra Singh
Home Secretary

For a bureaucrat who was on the verge of the leaving the administrative service, it is virtually a second lease of life. Life had dealt the 1968 batch IAS officer from the Karnataka cadre, Dhirendra Singh, so many blows that he deserved a break. He's got it now.

The new Home Secretary has joined work, having come close to quitting the service after his run in with former disinvestment minister Arun Shourie.

What happened was simple. Arun Shourie wanted someone to blame for the failure of some oil sector IPOs and he chose his secretary. At first, merchant bankers seemed the culprits. When Singh protested and said that as the government had appointed them, it could not blame them for the failure of the IPO, Shourie turned on Singh.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) was asked to keep an eye on 'anti-national' elements. Briefly, Singh was one of them. He went on leave. How a habitually courteous and gentlemanly officer could have turned 'anti-national' overnight was a mystery to his colleagues and friends. What was clear was that during his stint as Disinvestment Secretary Singh was a deeply unhappy man.

Singh, who has been joint secretary in the Cabinet secretariat and Special Secretary in the Ministry of Defence in charge of procurements, should have become defence secretary.

But Defence Minister George Fernandes wanted as defence secretary a person who understood the dynamics of Tehelka and got Ajay Prasad shifted from the Deputy Prime Minister's office to serve as defence secretary. Singh was one of the persons overlooked for the post. He went to the Disinvestment Ministry soon after this.

Singh is neither aggressive nor self-aggrandising. He is not a social climber. A young reporter who tried to interview him, found him thoughtful, reticent but highly intelligent: he pointed out to her that the competition between HPCL and BPCL to increase their marketshare of the retail oil trade indicated competition which was the strongest reason for these companies to be disinvested.

There is no reason to doubt his integrity "" he lives simply, has, in his wife Veena, a wonderfully talented homemaker and cook, and a disabled child. He himself returns every telephone call and will go to great lengths to solve a problem if an ordinary citizen is in trouble and petitions him.

Dhirendra Singh's biggest drawback is: he has not been a Chief Secretary and therefore, doesn't have the hands-on experience of running a state. But then, in the Home Ministry there are myriad problems that need to be resolved with a human touch. No one can do this better than Singh.

By appointing Singh as Home Secretary, not only has the government restored balance in the civil service but also has created a New Bureaucrat after its own self image - quiet, unassuming and retiring. Principal Secretary TKA Nair, Cabinet secretary BN Chaturvadi, Defence Secretary Ajay Vikram Singh and now Home Secretary Dhirendra Singh ... none of them are showmen.

They may not have the dash and verve of an NK Singh or the swashbuckling charm of an Abid Husain. But all of them are solid old fashioned bureaucrats who believe they should be heard, not seen. This is a new tradition.