Dr Hrusikesh Panda, an eminent litterateur and a former Indian Civil Service topper of 1979 batch, now spends his time in his village in Bhadrak district. He had opened his innings to his career as Sub-Collector, Angul, and held many key positions in the Government of Odisha as the Commissioner, KBK, and as SRC. He worked in the Union Ministry of Textiles and in Indian Parliament until he had his superannuation as Secretary to the Union Government on April 30, 2015. He is a creative writer of fiction and plays in Odia. His writings have been translated into many Indian languages and in English. He is known for his intense understanding of rural and ethnic myths and situations, bold and authentic handling of societal issues, powerful imagery, deep humanism. A person who calls a spade a spade, Panda is also described in a jesting sobriquet as “a bureaucrat who lives off with two suitcases”.

In an interview to The Pioneer, Panda spoke to Sugyan Choudhury.

What was your plan to spend your retired life?

The retirement is over since long. I had no plans to accept any government assignment after my superannuation. I handed over the charge of Secretary at New Delhi and next morning I was at Bhubaneswar. I continued to work on literature which is my passion, but then I also continued to work on field education for tribal people. I wanted to help the tribal people through a project how to cure sickle cell anaemia and I have been trying my best to inculcate awareness among the tribals against such an incurable disease. I had built up a system when I was Secretary, Health. The PM had said then that it should continue, but after sometime I discovered that I have forgotten about the system. After my retirement, one day, the Secretary, Bio-Technology, GOI, requested me to continue on the work. All the protocols had been met with when I was working in the Health Ministry. That is one part and the other part is literature on which I have been working. Besides, there are many forest strikes as the tribal people are not getting their rights. I have been working in order to help them growing strong legally, so that they are not put into trouble. They should be able to get their ‘Pattas’. As for example, when I began as a Sub-Collector at Angul, the problems continued to exist until after my retirement. I went there and got the problems of the people solved. This is how I am spending my retired life profitably for the sake of the tribal people with a sense of pleasure.

You are an eminent litterateur. What are your creations?

I have produced nine novels, four plays and about a hundred short stories. Besides, I have produced short video films of 45 minutes duration or some of the docu-dramas. My first novel was ‘Shuna Sange Samayika Sandhi’ and it has been translated into English as ‘A temporary truce with zero’. My second novel is ‘Harina Pithire Ajana Suryasta Ku’ which has been translated under the title ‘Unto the deer back to an unknown sunset’. My third novel is ‘Subarna Dweepa’ or the ‘Golden Island’. In between came ‘Sunaputa Ra Loke’ translated into English as ‘The People of Sunaput’. My other novels are ‘Sruti 1994’ or ‘Sruti,1994’, ‘Hasa O Itihasa’ or ‘Laughter and History’, ‘Samaste ta Janithile’ or ‘Everyone Knew’, ‘Dasyu’ or ‘The Demon’ and my last major novel which has been published ‘Garba Karibara Katha’ or ‘Let us be proud’. It is a six hundred-page novel touching the history of Odisha from 1400 AD to 1900 AD.

Could you please tell about one of your most memorable experiences during your long innings in administration?

Once while I was going by train from Bhubaneswar to Sambalpur, a young man who boarded the train suddenly touched my feet. Then, he narrated me that ‘I know about you Sir as what you did for Angul is a part of our folklore’. Today we have prospered as you had brought sanity and probity to the civil society at Angul. I remember, each day was stressful at Angul as everyday there used to be a Minister on his visit to Angul as Angul stands half way between Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar. It so happened once that a government woman employee was molested in presence of her husband in front of the circuit house when they were coming back after attending a meeting. You must remember that no woman could be seen at the Angul city after evening. I studied the scenario and took steps slowly and steadily till law and order reigned supreme. Once, a minister had returned without being able to hoist the National Flag. Such was the situation. The politicians had pressurised the then Chief Minister to transfer me all at once, but the CM declined to do so. He censured them by retorting that ‘he is the one Odia guy who stood as the real topper in IAS exam and what for he would find his time to join in political group or party’.

We need Indianised bureaucrats than anglicised Indian bureaucrats. What is your response to this?

You are absolutely right. I used to work speaking to men in their own languages. I used to write court orders in Odia. How many bureaucrats in administration can speak a correct sentence in Odia? It is a shame indeed. The bureaucrats should have knowledge of Indian history. They should not be biased by alien historians that everything in Hindu religion is bad. What does Chanakya say in his ‘Arthasastra’ relating to the Sudras. The Sudras and the Brahmins used to work together while the Sudras who were artisans, metal workers and skilled persons assisted the Brahmins in Puja. Similarly, why should we read the history as ‘Akbar the Great’ when he had six thousand women in his harem? The present generation of bureaucrats should be well-versed in Indian history and should speak to their own men in their own languages.

What’s your opinion on the present Odisha administration?

I am simply disappointed.

How could you join the BJP?

You see, very many political parties used to come to me even during my service period. After retirement also, I was invited. The sorry state of affairs in Odisha politics and administrative setup has deeply disturbed me. I see Odisha being colonised, its mines looted and it is in an era of exploitation. I can’t help the situation alone. I need support. That is why I have decided to be with the BJP.