Footprints on the Sands

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About the Book "Lives of great men all remind us, We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us, Footprints on the sands of time". These lines are from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life". They are the inspiration for this book. We all leave our footprints on the sands of time. Some are transient while some others are more durable. In the sunset years of his life, the author reflects which of his initiatives as a civil servant have proved to be sterile and which others have bome ample fruits. Footprints on the sands is a chronological narrative of the evolution of a civil servant from his days as a district officer, through his stint in the State Government, moving to his final destination as a Secretary to Govt of India, This truly represents his ascent from operational to managerial and thence to conceptual skills. The early chapters are anecdotal in style but the later ones are more cerebral.

This is not just another memoir consisting of random recollections of a civil servant. The book transcends the boundaries of an autobiography in as much as it is replete with several well researched monographs on matters germane to the knowledge domain of the author's work area. The knowledge domain keeps changing with assignments handled by the author.

The growing complexity of modern day management is thoughtfully shared by the author with the readers. These are in the form of monographs on general, historical, management, technology related topics. The noteworthy ones are as follows: Nawabs of Awadh and their Landmark Monuments: Century long Shia-Sunni Rancour and it's Resolution by 1998 Accord; Varanasi's Antiquity on International Timeline; Kala Bhawan Varanasi -A treasure-trove of Indian Miniatures, History of AMU and AMUSU.

Management essays are on Communal Riot Management; Also Communal Stress Management; Burnishing India's Commercial Brand Image abroad; Blueprint for National Disaster Management Architecture (NDMA); Bridging the Digital Divide, and Hamessing the Demographic Dividend.

In order to carry the lay reader along his thought processes the author has provided technology related monographs on some basic technical concepts: Analogue versus Digital; Story of Computers; High speed Computing; and Info-Bio-Nano-Cogno- Knowledge drivers of 21st Century; Bio-informatics and the mysterious world of Genes & Chromosome; Nano-informatics and the exciting world of Sub-molecular particles. It has been the author's endeavour to make the reader's journey through the different knowledge domains as smooth and effortless as possible.

About the Author Rajeeva Ratna Shah, the author of this autobiography, joined the haloed portals of India's "steel frame in 1967. A graduate from St Stephens College Delhi, an MA from Allahabad and an MBA from New York, he is held by his peers as a civil servant cast in a classical mould, politically neutral, result oriented, problem solving, a determined doer, and a successful management practitioner. He is equally admired for his cerebral and conceptual skills which enable him to comprehend the big picture.

With six years of service, he had to manage the prestigious Kumbh Mela Haridwar and thereafter he was posted as Administrator Lucknow. These jobs earned him the sobriquet of a dependable doer. He made his mark as a crisis manager when he was airdropped to take charge as District Magistrate Aligarh in a very dangerous situation of communal frenzy compounded by police revolt. While serving the state of UP he also served as Principal Secretary Home and Power departments and Secretary to the Chief Minister, VP Singh.

During his unusually long eight year stint as Secretary to Govt of India he occupied several important positions, As CEO Public Service Broadcasting Corporation he was responsible for introducing Private FM channels, DTT or Digital Terrestrial TV, and laid the regulatory foundations of DTH (Direct to Home) TV. As Secretary Disaster Management he handled the aftermath of Bhuj earthquake and generated the blueprint of an All Hazard National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). As secretary IT he created new institutions, viz NISG (National Institute for Smart Goverance), CERT- IN (Computer Emergency Response Team), NIXI (National Information Exchange of India) and the Public Key or Digital Signature Infrastructure. Two of his game changing innovations were UID and NEGP.

He retired on 1st January, 2008, as Member Secretary Planning Commission, joining the galaxy of predecessors like Dr. Man Mohan Singh, Dr. Arjun Sen Gupta and Dr. Bimal Jalan. His last contribution as a civil servant was the submission of the Eleventh Five Year Plan, approved by the Cabinet and the National Development Council. After retirement he worked as Adjunct Professor Camegie Melon University. Pittsburg, Pa. USA.

Foreword The fact that distinguished Civil Servants are writing their autobiographies is most welcome because they throw significant light upon political events that is not readily available, thereby giving us a fresh understanding of them. Shri Rajeeva Ratna Shah joined the administrative service way back in 1967 which was precisely the year that I joined Shrimati Indira Gandhi's cabinet as Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation. In his long and distinguished career Shri Shah held a variety of assignments culminating in rising to be the Member Secretary of the Planning Commission.