October 22, 2012

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

The little town of Pavagada in Tumkur district may perhaps never have thought that a son of their soil would one day be a senior advisor in World Bank, the premier international financial institution.

Luthfulla Khan Atheeq, hailing from a humble agricultural family, is presently the joint secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and has been appointed senior advisor to the executive director of World Bank. He will be taking up the post in Washington DC at the end of this month. He has served in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), New Delhi for the past five years, joining first as director and going on to become the joint secretrary. Prior to that, he served as project director of Sarva Shikshana Abhiyan in Karnataka, and as the deputy commissioner of Mandya and Hassan.

Though Atheeq hails from Tumkur, he has strong ties with Mangalore. He not only began his IAS career as assistant commissioner in Mangalore, but also married a Mangalorean -  Faiza, daughter of well-known chartered accountant Sheikh Abdullah. The couple is blessed with two children - Fahad (16) and Yusra (12).

The journey from Pavagada to Washington DC, however, was not an easy one. All through his almost 20-year career as an IAS officer, he has been known for his upright, honest and spotlessly clean image. In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his journey has been what fairy tales are made of - those tales that end with the cliched phrase 'honesty is the best policy'. His integrity, connection with the 'aam aadmi' and commitment to duty have made him stand apart from the crowd, and earned him respect and recognition not only in the corridors of power but even among the common people he has served. When he was transferred from Mandya as DC, scores of people had gathered to pay rich tributes and bid him farewell, and when he was transferred from Hassan, much before the completion of his tenure, the move was protested by the people.

In a candid interview to Daijiworld during his visit to the city to attend a private function, L K Atheeq spoke about his journey so far, the system he has had to deal with, his views on corruption and so on.

Excerpts

DW: You hail from a family that was basically into agriculture. How difficult was it to pursue education, and who or what motivated you?

Atheeq: My father Kaleemulla Khan was a primary school teacher in Pavagada and had to support a large family. He emphasized a lot on education, and we studied in the same government school that he taught in. At that time we had no conception of where we would go or what we would do...there were no big dreams. My father's emphasis was on devotion to learning.

My father was transferred to Akkirampur (a small village in Tumkur district), where there was no high school. We had to travel five kilometres, often on foot, to reach our school which was in a bigger village. After high school, I did my PU in a nearby town. My father was fond of agriculture, and after his retirement he took up farming. He involved me too, and I would help him with various tasks like taking care of cows, ploughing and so on. He wanted me to pursue my studies in agriculture, and hence I joined the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad for my BSc. It was there that I first heard of IAS, as a senior student had got into it. Everybody was talking about it, so I too decided to give it a try. However, I wanted to finish my post graduation first, and did my MSc in agricutural economics from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore on a national fellowship provided by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. I completed it in 1988 with a gold medal and wrote my IAS prelims, which to my suprise at that time, I cleared. In my third attempt I passed IAS exams (Atheeq secured the first rank in Karnataka and 54th in India) while I was working as research assistant in the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

DW: With lack of facilities in the town you came from, how did you groom and prepare yourself?

Atheeq: I studied in Urdu medium, where six classes used to be conducted in a single hall with just two teachers. However, for good education, all you need is a good teacher. You will find all sorts of modern facilities in schools these days, but committed teachers are hard to come by. Though we had no facilities, our teachers were committed. Moreover, I had a good grounding in English thanks to my father. When he taught other children, I would listen and learn, and by 8th standard when we had to switch over to English medium, I was fairly familiar with it. Yet, when I joined college I couldn't speak a single sentence in English, but by the end of the final year I managed to graduate with top ranking. This was possible because we created a group which used to meet every week to hold debates and discussions. Also, we developed an interest in literature and read a lot. We had a hunger to learn and were self-motivated.

My elder brother always told me - it doesn't matter what you study, be it literature or science or economics, reach for the top and be the best. This has inspired me all along.

DW: Your role model?

Atheeq: I can't say I have consciously considered anybody as a role model, but I guess my father shaped my thoughts. He instilled the value of hard work and dignity of labour: when he took up farming after retirement, all of us were involved in all aspects of farming including handling cowdung with our hands! We (my brothers and I) were reasonably good students, but my father never hesitated in asking us to do menial tasks at home because we studied. Somehow, it was assimilated in our subconscious that we need to be humble, work hard and have keenness to learn. There were no clear-cut milestones. I would sometimes feel bad doing menial tasks like clearing cow dung, taking cows to graze, but looking back now, I realize those were valuable lessons I learnt outside the classroom.

DW: Wherever you went, whether as CEO of Karwar zilla panchayat or DC of Mandya and Hassan, you had a special connection with the people. How did you manage that?

Atheeq: It was not a conscious decision on my part that I should adopt any particular style of functioning. When people would come with grievances there was no way I could ignore them or turn them away. I would call the tahsildar and ask why a particular work wasn't done and why there arose a need for people to come to me directly. The word probably spread and more people started approaching me. Sometimes it would be very difficult to handle.

DW: They say the system changes the person. How did you manage to preserve your intergrity and not be influenced by the system?

Atheeq: Yes, the system probably changes a person, but one should keep one's individuality and fight the system. You have to make efforts to bring about lasting and sustainable changes in the way the system works - this is difficult. It is difficult to create a system where people don't need to come to you - in that I couldn't succeed. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

DW: In a system that is replete with corruption, you have been known for your upright and clean image. How did you fight corruption or keep yourself away from it?

Atheeq: Corruption is endemic in our system. Where there is discretion, where you have power to dispense favours and have monopoly over services - where only you can give birth certificate, only you can give a ration card - in such services as we perform, we cannot create competition. Where there is absence of competition and presence of discretion, corruption will breed.

I must say I tried to fight corruption in these ways:

a) Through my actions I demonstrate that I don't make money, and this word spreads fast.
b) I tried to ensure that there was no pendency - ensure that we work in such a way that files are cleared quickly and efficiently.
c) Create a system where first-in, first-out principle is followed. When a paper comes in first, it should go out first. Also create a system where papers received before a particular day are not pending in the office, and you monitor these strictly.
d) Tour around the district extensively, meet people. Create forums for bulk disposal of cases through melas, drives etc.

By doing these, you can fight corruption to some extent. But this is not a lasting solution, because the moment you are transferred, things have a tendency to return to status quo ante.

Lasting solution for corruption is to create systems using technology to deliver services efficiently and in an impersonal manner, say online, sms etc. Even better is to dispense with certain things - if certain certificates are not required to be given every year, you give a permanent certificate, so that people do not keep coming back again and again. If the interference of the state in the affairs of the people is minimised, corruption will come down. This is the approach we should follow.

The approach of punishment I have found just doesn't work. You suspend officials, they will wait for two months and come back. The Lokayukta traps people, but such people do not get convicted for various reasons and they will come back to service. They will fight the cases and series of appeals will follow, and at some stage the prosecution's case will fail. Therefore, the effectiveness of such a method is doubtful, unless you attempt to reform the entire criminal justice system, not just the Lokpal or the Lokayukta. The Lokpal cannot be the investigator, the prosecutor and the judge. That's not how civilized societies function. In a civilized society you need to have an independent judiciary. When the cost of corruption measured in terms of getting caught and getting punished is low and the the benefit enjoyed through corruption is high people are willing to take risks. The effectivenss of Lokpal system becomes doubtful if it is not followed by swift prosecution and punishment through an efficient criminal justice system. Karnataka has one of the most effective Lokayuktas in the country, but corruption level in the state has not gone down. It is not because of any lack in the Lokayukta institution itself, it is because corruption is a complex phenomenon and it thrives dues to multiple reasons and Lokayukta or Lok Pal tackles only one aspect.

DW: How was your experience in the PMO in New Delhi?

Atheeq: It was a very interesting experience, very different from the kind of work I did in the state. Here (Karnataka) I was implementing, in Delhi I got the opportunity to contribute to policy making  and be part of the process of how policies are conceptualized, formulated and approved for implementation. We even got opportunities to contribute and change the direction of policies. Prime Minister's Office is the fulcrum which oversees what the ministries are doing. Each ministry is independent to carry out programmes, but the PMO being the political office, and Prime Minister being the chairperson of the cabinet, and most crucial policy decisions are taken by the cabinet we get a chance to see how key policies get formulated and key programmes get implemented. I also got to learn how competing interests are really balanced to produce a good policy. As an officer, this was a very rewarding experience for me.

Since I primarily dealt with development and social sectors I got a chance to witness some key developments of this government like the Right to Education Act, like health being given the prominent place in the 12th Five Year Plan, approval of a series of programmes for minorities, following the Sanchar committee report, formulation of a new and restructured programme for integrated child development services (ICDS) etc. The PMO is also working towards reforming and streamlining subsidy disbursement along with the finance ministry.

DW: Tell us about your new responsibility in World Bank.

Atheeq: I don't know many details about the new post. There is an executive director for India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. I would be joining as his senior advisor. Executive director sits on the board of the Bank. All crucial decisions of the Bank are taken by the board. Basically we will assist the executive director in the performance of his duties.