Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson today hailed the "administrative actions" of 'Diwan' (Prime Minister) Sir C P Ramaswami Iyer of Travancore in setting up basic infrastructure in the erstwhile kingdom and said he has "great regards" for the administrator of the pre-independent royal regime.
He said this in response to a question during a presentation of operation Anantha--a flood mitigation drive undertaken under his leadership in Thiruvananthapuram.
Documents prepared by Iyer in 1935 on how to deal with floods in Thiruvananthapuram was shown in the presentation during a meet-the-press here.
"It is amazing that the farsighted Diwan could anticipate," Thomson said about the document, which helped his team to excavate the old drainage system existed in East Fort area and other parts of Thiruvananthapuram and remove encroaches over it as part of the drive to make the state capital free from woes of flooding during rainy seasons.
"I think I have great regards....His administrative actions are par excellence," the top bureaucrat said when sought his opinion about the controversial ruler who had to flee Travancore in 1947 after an assassination attempt.
Travancore known for its network of rivers, backwaters and canal, has suffered from calamity often in the past and Iyer during his tenure had built numerous bridges and road networks to deal with the situations.
Iyer, who strongly opposed Travancore's unification with the Indian union, had to face wrath of nationalists and Communists.
Leftist forces revolted against him for his ruthless suppression of the popular Punnapra-Vayalar uprising in 1946.
