Swarup is contemptuous of such officers, but doesn’t write about any of them or reveal any names. But is policy paralysis a new phenomenon? Every bureaucrat can tell you a dozen stories of honest officers who refuse to sign files and do anything worthwhile from the fear that they might get framed later in false charges. While it may be argued that he was not in the ministry at that time, he is right in commenting on the issue as a civil servant as he feels the whole issue frightened civil servants from taking action, and was the genesis of policy paralysis. What he writes on his differences with another former CAG, Vinod Rai, in assessing the perceived loss to the exchequer through wrong method of coal allocations is merely a commentary, and not derived from his personal experience. The account of the differences with Prime Minister Modi’s principal secretary over an overseeing committee for the auctions-which Swarup resisted and had his way-is too short. However, the only details he shares are his run-ins with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, who tried to create headlines by sensationalising his audit report on the subject, only to be thwarted by an impeccable Swarup. Swarup conducted the coal auctions in a transparent manner, which was a huge success. He became secretary in the coal ministry after the coal scam in which the Supreme Court cancelled more than 200 blocks allocated since 1993. However, while he’s mentioned all the notable names who worked hard to make the scheme a success, he’s omitted naming those who tried to pull it down. No doubt, it turned out to be a success compared to such schemes in the past, which were a dud. Here also, he has disproportionately apportioned larger reams to his working in the Union labour ministry, where he worked on the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, an insurance scheme for the poor and unorganised labour force.
Swarup has covered his state postings very briefly in the book, focusing more on his tenure at the Centre. The 182-page hard cover could easily have been expanded to 200 pages more and it would have been trebly more interesting.
Having known and interacted with Swarup, I was a bit disappointed, though, going through his book, Not Just a Civil Servant, as I found him to be too economical with his stories, something which he is not in real life. In fact, he continues the rich tradition.
Meet Akash Ambani, the eldest son of Mukesh Ambani who’s spearheading the growth of Reliance Jio: Know about his education, net worth, and moreĪnil Swarup, an IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre who joined the elite service in 1981 and retired in 2018 having worked in several capacities in the state, as well as the Centre, is thus not a new entrant to the club of ex-bureaucrats putting pen to paper.
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