Chief secretary who helped Meghalaya tide over Covid crisis, retires

Rao has served as a civil servant for 34 years and first came to work in Meghalaya in 2000 when he was made the secretary in the state’s agriculture department

When MS Rao took charge as the chief secretary of Meghalaya on the first day of 2020, the state government had been in power for less than two years, the economy was growing and there was a general sense of optimism in the air, except over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which had engendered protests in capital Shillong.

Rao left the post of chief secretary when he reached superannuation at the end of September but by then the pandemic had been contained to a degree of satisfaction in the state (HT Photo)

However, within months the Covid-19 pandemic plunged Meghalaya into its greatest ever crisis. Rao had to draw on decades of experience to help the state tide over it by making quick and exceedingly complex decisions. Rao says his mantra has been to understand a challenge first before one starts tackling it.

“The uniqueness of the IAS [Indian Administrative Service] is that one gets to do a wide variety of assignments. Every new assignment brings its own set of challenges, but it is important that in the initial days of every assignment an extra effort is made to grasp the subject as quickly and as thoroughly as possible,” Rao said.

Echoing his senior, principal secretary of health Sampath Kumar said the former CS stewarded state officials brilliantly in implementing the three-prong approach towards handling the pandemic.

“Though right from the very start, we collaborated together as a team and since the pandemic was such a dynamic situation where people wanted quick solutions and answers, certain tough decisions keeping the overall interests of the people had to be taken and he (Rao) was there always egging us on,” Kumar said, and added, “He was an integral interface between the chief minister, Group of Ministers and the department at all times and was always available.”

Rao left the post of chief secretary when he reached superannuation at the end of September but by then the pandemic had been contained to a degree of satisfaction in the state. He is now the first chief commissioner of the Public Service Delivery Commission, tasked with the delivery of notified public services to the state’s citizens within a stipulated time frame as per the Meghalaya Right to Public Services Act 2020, which also provides for liabilities for government servants in case of default.

“It is a very progressive law which demands direct accountability of the administration to the citizens,” Rao said as he took charge. “My role would be to facilitate and enforce this law which will benefit the citizens immensely. Since I am the first incumbent, I will have to set up the office and get things moving fast. I intend to bring the whole framework under e-governance to make it prompt and efficient.”

Rao has served as a civil servant for 34 years and first came to work in Meghalaya in 2000 when he was made the secretary in the state’s agriculture department.

Under his watch, the government launched some “high-impact initiatives” other than the Right to Public Services Act, such as the Meghalaya Enterprise Architecture, Health Policy, Youth Policy, Public-Private Partnership Policy, direct flights to New Delhi and postgraduate diploma courses to address the shortage of specialist doctors in the state.

“On the overall state performance during my tenure, I would like to specifically mention three sectors - immunisation, NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and Jal Jeevan Mission - in which we were among the best performing states in the country,” he said.

A keen bridge player and an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and Indian Institute of Management (IIM)Kolkata alumnus, Rao spent two decades in Meghalaya. He said that while coalition governments have a tendency to be unstable, he enjoyed good working relationships with all the chief ministers he served. Outside the government, Rao feels the quality of local labour must be improved to bridge the gap in skill set compared to migrant labourers.

Talking about Mehgalaya’s culture, he said It was very important to understand and respect the local culture and customs while making decisions that impact the community. “Community bonding beyond family systems is unique to the society here, which impressed me immensely. People are warm, friendly and cheerful, which made it easy for me to forge many good friendships.”

Rao also offered some parting advice for those to follow him through the ranks.

“The key thing is to maintain high levels of motivation and be conscious of their accountability to the citizens. It is also important to keep oneself abreast of the latest developments in the relevant sectors and cultivate the habit of continuous learning,” he said.

“I strongly believe that technology is a great enabler, and we must make full use of it to improve the quality of governance and, in turn, the quality of life of the citizens,” he said, before signing off.