He stood firm against pressure

The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, recruited in the 1950s, commanded great respect. Considered the cream of the nation, their integrity was beyond doubt. The writer, a 1953 batch IAS officer of the Orissa cadre, is honest to the core. He stood firm against all kinds of pressure. A Kodava by birth, he belongs to the Codanda family in Madikeri, headquarters of Kodagu district in Karnataka.

The Honest Always Stand Alone
C.G. Somiah; Niyogi; Pp 273. Rs 395

Smith may not have become the Chief Secretary of Orissa, but his innings at the Centre did help him prove his mettle. He was Secretary to the Government of India, Home, Company Affairs and the Planning Commission, the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

Somiah narrates an episode when he was the state Forest Secretary. In 1967, when Chief Minister R.N. Singh Deo had told him to give remission to the contractors of kendu leaf (a minor forest produce used for wrapping in the manufacture of bidis) on the ground of a poor crop, he refused on the ground that the contractors had made good money in the preceding two years of the three-year lease. His troubles soon started. He was shunted out to Cuttack as the Excise Commissioner. Worse, following some "adverse remarks" in his character roll, he was excluded in the panel for Joint Secretaries at the Centre.

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