Neela Satyanarayan: An officer who valued human sensitivities

Introduction

Neela Satyanarayan was known as the first woman election commissioner of Maharashtra and an able officer who left her mark in various important government departments while working as secretary and principal secretary. Maharashtra also knows her as a sensitive writer, poetess and music director. She died on Thursday. A tribute to the multifaceted personality.

 

Once this high-ranked officer went to Siddhivinayak temple at Mumbai with herself at the wheel of her car. Traffic police fined her for wrong parking. When she was issued a receipt, she accepted it without revealing who she was, which department she was handling as a secretary. Two days later, she met me in the Mantralaya during a meeting. I was the minister of state for home then and she was the principal secretary of the home department…

After the meeting, she narrated the whole incident to me and also showed the receipt. You are the secretary of the home department. Why did you not tell this to the policeman, I asked her. She gave her trademark disarming smile and said he did his job well, how could I stop him? He fined me. It was my fault, so I paid the fine. You are the minister of state for home and I felt I must tell you that your police force was doing a good job, she said.  Had there been anyone else in her place, s/he would have gone to the extent of dismissing the cop concerned. But that did not happen. The lady officer in question was Neela Satyanarayan.

She was a studious and disciplined officer. While working in the home department we used to discuss a variety of subjects on several occasions. She had a vision to look at positively at the subjects coming up. At that time reshuffle of departments took place. The then chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde handed me the responsibility of power ministry as a minister of state, six months before the general elections. Neela continued to be in the home department. She called all officers of the home department and bade me a very emotional send-off. She spoke about her experiences while working with me. All gave me a bouquet. How many ministers might have been given such a warm farewell by the officers? I was the fortunate one to have received such honour and affection. That incident remained itched in my memory. This is what made Neela different. She never exhibited an air of being a high ranking officer. Simple living and making her point peacefully but resolutely were her strengths.  I remember an incident of 2004. When I was minister of state, I decided to felicitate some women officers on representative basis to mark the World Women’s Day. They were all capable ladies with very high calibre heading different departments as principal secretary. They included Chitkala Zutshi of the finance department, Pratima Umarji of the law and justice department, Charushila Sohoni of the general administration department, Chandra Iyengar of the higher and technical education department, Kavita Gupta of the small savings and lottery department and Neela Satyanarayan who handled the responsibility of the home department.

After the felicitation,every officer expressed her views. Neela said male officers do not face any difficulty while getting postings. However, while sending us as district collectors, proposal is discussed many times. Now, I am the secretary in your home department. It is good that the mindset is changing gradually. Even today, when a new woman IAS officer is appointed as district collector, I remember Neela Satyanarayan. In a pleasing occurrence, she became the first woman election commissioner of Maharashtra. She never hid the fact that her son Chaitanya is a special child. In fact, she changed her own lifestyle to take care of him. I always respected the determined lady for the way she used to do lot many thins for him. While interacting with Chaitanya, she began writing. She penned 13 books including herexperiences, novels and literature. Whichever department she handled, she tried to give a human face to it and through books brought to the fore experiences she encountered. While in the home department, she once visited the Nagpur jail. A prisoner met her there. She talked with him. Exchange of letters took place between them after this meeting. . She came to know that the prisoner had one daughter. She adopted this girl and gave her good education. Later, the girl became a lawyer. A film Babanchi Shala was made on this touching story. She showed what could happen if an officer decided to do something. This was her nature. I always used to communicate with her on WhatsApp. 

The writer in her felt restless during the lockdown. On July 4, I received a message from her, I am writing a lockdown diary. Everyday, I will send a page from the diary to you. I extended best wishes for her initiative. On July 6, she sent me the first page of the diary. I was disturbed after reading what she had written. That proved to be the last communication between us on WhatsApp. “It’s been three months since the lockdown. Initially, one could get vegetables. Grocery too. Now, cannot get that also. Requested one or the other person and brought the goods.  One needs a vehicle to travel to faraway localities. Buses are closed. There is fear of police on roads. They will seize the vehicle, insult me. There is a mentally challenged son in the house. He is also disoriented.  He does not understand what was happening around him and why. He is used to going for a walk every day. It is his need. I cannot explain the situation to him. I feel very helpless. We talk with each other, call up friends. What should he do? Who can understand his feelings?”

In these few lines, she presented an experience, raised a question to which nobody has answer at least today. The mental health of all has been affected by the lockdown. People are losing patience. At such a time, she could have easily ventured out thinking she was the principal secretary of the home department and election commissioner of the state and nobody could stop her. However, Madam, who never violated rules, chose to abide by the lockdown rules and gave a vent to her feelings through the diary. Today, we have lost an excellent and sensitive officer. Her memories should be our inspiration.

The author is Editor-in Chief of Lokmat Group of Newspapers.