PROFESSIONS, CHECKERED CAREER, AND LESSONS-PART SEVEN (From Librarian to CPRO to CM KCR) ....... A Journey from Khangi School to Center for Excellence : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

 PROFESSIONS, CHECKERED CAREER, 

AND LESSONS-PART SEVEN

(From Librarian to CPRO to CM KCR)

A Journey from Khangi School to

Center for Excellence

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Prefatory Note

(These reflections arise from close observation and lived experience during a defining phase in the history of Telangana. They are offered with deep respect for Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao, a leader of rare intellectual depth, political courage, and unwavering commitment to the idea of Telangana. What follows is not merely recollection, but an attempt to record how vision, resolve, and governance converged to shape a people’s destiny.

While this narrative draws upon a professional journey that spans eleven organizations and multiple institutional settings, it consciously begins with the final and most consequential phase of that journey. A brief reference to my academic formation is included at the outset only to provide essential context, before the account moves directly into the concluding chapter of my professional life.}

During his meeting with the Chairman of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, NK Singh, on February 19, 2019, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao referred to the Telangana Model of Development, which had by then taken center stage nationally. He asserted that States were sufficiently mature to formulate their own plans, prioritize expenditure, and, in fact, were often more fiscally prudent than the Centre. One of his most compelling observations related to the Cabinet Resolution that led to the formation of NITI Aayog.

KCR mentioned that it had raised expectations of building ‘Team India’ by making States equal partners in the nation’s development and by promoting cooperative fiscal federalism. He categorically pointed out that the promised departure from a one-size-fits-all approach had, over time, largely remained unfulfilled. Significantly, the Finance Commission Chairman described the irrigation projects designed under KCR’s leadership as ‘Engineering Marvels.’ Both KCR’s observations and NK. Singh’s appreciation have remained etched in my memory.

I vividly recall that the Economic Survey 2018-19 made a singular reference to Telangana’s Samagra Kutumba Survey (SKS) as a notable lesson in federalism among governments. The document compared the SKS digital initiative with Transport for London (TfL) and the digital transparency policy introduced under President Barack Obama in the United States in 2009. This comparison received wide media coverage in July 2017.

One of the most unparalleled and intellectually demanding exercises initiated and successfully accomplished by KCR was the Samagra Kutumba Survey, conducted on a single day, the August 19, 2014, to ensure objectivity and eliminate duplication. Conceived as an integrated, database-driven platform, the initiative was highlighted in the Economic Survey’s chapter on data convergence, titled ‘Data of the People, By the People, For the People’ as an exemplary model of harnessing data for social use.

Almost the entire field-level government machinery was mobilized for the SKS and actively engaged in the data collection process. The survey employed a simple yet effective format, which added to its uniqueness. Information was collected on a voluntary basis to avoid litigation and covered eight broad areas comprising ninety-four items, making it a comprehensive exercise. Chief Minister KCR declared a holiday and requested citizens to remain at home on the survey day. My colleague Vijay Kumar and I prepared the first conceptual press release following the review meeting held at the NIRD Guest House, away from the city. The acumen displayed by KCR during that meeting was truly impressive.

Being present at several review meetings and extended discussions conducted by KCR with concerned officers and subject experts, prior to the landmark Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019, which was passed by the State Legislature on July 19, 2019, proved to be an enriching learning experience for me. These interactions vividly recalled my MA (Public Administration) student days, particularly the classes on Local Self-Government. I had a similar experience earlier during the formulation of the new Panchayati Raj Act.

The Municipalities Act was a citizen-friendly, transparent, one-time, and well-conceived piece of legislation. KCR envisioned the establishment of an Urban Centre of Excellence as a hub for urban-sector innovation and research. He also introduced a forward-looking Urban Policy to work in tandem with the Act, aimed at addressing complex urban challenges and enabling improved citizen services. Similarly, KCR’s unwavering commitment was evident in the formulation of the new Panchayati Raj Act, passed in the same year, which sought to transform every village into a progressive, prosperous, and ideal habitat, characterized by greenery and cleanliness.

Citizen-Centric Good Governance was the hallmark of KCR’s administration. It has always been the common expectation of citizens to experience an administration that is efficient, open, responsive, accountable, clean, and dynamically adaptive at all levels. Governance, in essence, must correct the negative perceptions of public services as apathetic, insensitive, dilatory, corrupt, or discriminatory. Accountability, transparency, and the cleansing of public services are interlinked imperatives for ensuring a responsive and trustworthy administrative system.

This philosophy was consistently insisted upon by KCR from the very beginning of his tenure. In matters of crisis management, his administrative acumen stood unmatched. The manner in which KCR handled the COVID-19 pandemic deserves to be documented as a textbook case and process guide for future generations. From day one, he adopted a practical and balanced approach, without triggering panic or resorting to alarmist measures. He neither frightened the public nor pressed panic buttons.

In this regard, many, including myself, drew valuable lessons from his leadership. During a press meet on April 11, 2020, when KCR referred to concepts such as ‘Quantitative Easing (QE) and Helicopter Money,’ these terms quickly entered popular discourse, to the extent that even laypersons began discussing them. He reinforced this approach by writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after the Cabinet meeting held the same day, emphasizing that ‘distressed times need desperate measures.’ This, too, was a lesson in leadership communication.

As Peter Drucker observed, ‘Efficiency is doing things right, whereas effectiveness is doing the right things,’ Chief Minister KCR exemplified both efficiency and effectiveness, a quality clearly reflected in his handling of the coronavirus crisis. He provided decisive and effective leadership to contain and prevent the spread of COVID-19, while ensuring that public confidence remained intact.

When KCR repeatedly emphasized the necessity of Regulatory Farming, it deeply resonated with people like me who had lived closely with agriculture decades ago. As he often observed, the spirit of the good old days of farming needed to be restored. The excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, he insisted, must be curtailed, and the seeds required for each village should ideally be produced within the village itself. KCR advocated for need-based cultivation by farmers and firmly believed that if agriculture was to become truly profitable, there was no alternative to the adoption of Regulatory Farming.

In one of his review meetings on education, KCR deliberated at length, demonstrating his conviction that the sector required a comprehensive revamp from the ground up. He advocated radical reforms to make education more relevant and responsive to the ever-changing needs of society. At the primary level, he preferred a curriculum focused on basic languages, mathematics, science, hygiene, good habits, and greater emphasis on fun, play, and team-building activities. By the fourth and fifth classes, children, he felt, should be exposed to nature, public life, and the values of caring and sharing.

From the sixth to the tenth classes, students should gain hands-on exposure to diverse crafts such as carpentry, weaving, tailoring, masonry, and basic electrical work. At the Intermediate level, KCR suggested that, in addition to the conventional MPC, BPC, CEC, and MEC streams, students should be offered unconventional and flexible subject combinations based on individual aptitude, such as history with biology, biology with mathematics, or geography with chemistry.

KCR emphasized embedding skill development within the Intermediate curriculum and integrating polytechnic diploma courses with Intermediate education. Higher education, in his view, also required restructuring to align with the needs of industry, business, trades, and traditional humanities alike. Arts, social sciences, and professional streams, he asserted, must coexist, and evolve in parallel.

While introducing the New Revenue Act through two Bills, namely, the Abolition of Posts of VROs and the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadaar Pass Books Act, in the Legislative Assembly on September 9, 2020, the manner in which Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao summed up their historical importance, significance, and necessity was deeply moving. He stated that the sense of happiness he was experiencing at that moment was akin to the joy he felt when the State of Telangana was formed.

Seated in the CMO gallery, just three to four feet away from the Chief Minister, separated only by a wooden partition, I felt a surge of excitement when he emphatically declared that the Act would, once and for all, put an end to the land-related sufferings of helpless poor farmers and eradicate corrupt practices in the revenue system.

In my heart of hearts, I firmly believed that this declaration would etch the name of Chief Minister KCR in the annals of revenue reforms, and that he would be remembered alongside reformers such as Sher Shah Suri, Todar Mal, Captain Reed, Captain Munro, Salar Jung, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, and PV Narasimha Rao. His intellect, coupled with experience and articulated through powerful words, remains vivid in my memory.

KCR observed that it was perhaps his righteous conduct in a previous life that had given him the opportunity to introduce such a transformative Act. He traced the evolution of organized farming and land reforms, referring to efforts undertaken by Sher Shah Suri, Emperor Akbar through Todar Mal, Captain Alexander Read and Sir Thomas Munro during the British period, Salar Jung I, the Communist movements against jagirdars in the 1940s, Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, and PV Narasimha Rao’s Agricultural Land Ceiling Act of 1971.

Among the many reforms heralded by the Act was the Dharani Web Portal, conceptualized by KCR as a single source of truth for all land parcels, integrating all land-related services in an efficient and effective manner with near real-time processing. Equipped with a GIS-based system offering visual representation of land records, the Dharani Portal emerged as a key catalyst in making land administration hassle-free: from registration and mutation to ownership rights, and as a comprehensive solution to land disputes. This transformed Telangana’s revamped revenue system into a model for other States. KCR formally launched the Dharani Portal at Moodu Chintalapalli village in Medchel–Malkajgiri district on October 29, 2020, thereby creating history.

The Forest Survey of India (FSI) Report, released in October 2020, lauded the ‘Telangana Ku Haritha Haram (Green Necklace)’, yet another visionary initiative of KCR, for its significant contribution to the increase in forest and green cover in the State. The report detailed aspects such as the recorded forest area (RFA), the presence of three National Parks and nine Wildlife Sanctuaries, forest canopy density classifications--very dense, moderately dense, and open forests--and the key factors responsible for the enhancement of forest cover. From its conceptualization at the Secretariat to its launch at the Chilkoor Balaji Temple, and the eventual transformation into lush greenery across Telangana, I was a direct witness to this remarkable journey.

 In the series of first-of-its-kind governance initiatives, one concept that stood out for its originality and long-range institutional thinking was the creation of Rythu Vedika. It was rare in conception and bold in execution, a structured, farmer-centric platform defined, designed, devolved, and set in motion under the direct vision of KCR. In the broader journey of Indian agriculture administration, this marked a decisive shift, as an attempt to reshape the working culture of the farming sector through organized collective space rather than scattered individual effort.

The formal inauguration of the first of 2601 such Vedikas by KCR at Kodakandla in Jangaon district on October 31, 2020, remains in my memory not merely as an event, but as the visible beginning of a new agricultural dialogue architecture. The vision extended across all Agriculture Extension clusters, giving the idea both reach and rootedness. What followed that beginning, as I recall from my period of close engagement as CPRO to CM KCR, was not routine scheme progression but mission-mode commitment. His passion while speaking about the purpose of these platforms was unmistakable.

KCR viewed them as instruments to bring clarity, confidence, and coordinated strength into the farming community. The larger intent was to remove isolation from agricultural decision-making and replace it with shared understanding and informed collective action. His articulation of Rythu Vedikas was not limited to operational convenience, but he elevated them as centers from which farmers could gradually emerge as an organized and articulate force in governance discourse itself.

Conceptually, what made the Rythu Vedika idea exceptional was that it recognized farmers not merely as beneficiaries of policy but as participants in policy environment. It provided a dignified common space, not symbolic, but functional, where discussion, learning, coordination, and assertion could coexist. I often appreciated how this initiative reflected his deeper administrative philosophy that, when communities are given structure, they develop voice, and when they develop voice, governance becomes more grounded. This was leadership by example in institutional form, creating platforms before asking for participation.

Another dimension worth recording was that Rythu Vedika represented preventive governance rather than reactive governance. Instead of waiting for distress signals to surface, it created a standing forum where issues, ideas, and innovations could circulate continuously. The emphasis was on preparedness, awareness, and mutual support. In several communication exercises that I was associated with as CPRO to CM, care was taken to present these platforms as living centers of agricultural cooperation and knowledge culture.

It is also my considered view that institutions of this nature must be preserved with continuity, irrespective of political transitions. Even if future administrators identify procedural gaps or operational areas needing refinement, the foundational idea should be strengthened, not set aside. When collective platforms created for farmers lose policy backing, the loss is not infrastructural, but it is relational. Trust networks weaken, coordination habits dissolve, and the sense of organized agricultural voice recedes.

From what I observed during my tenure as CPRO to CM KCR, such platforms generate long-term behavioral change, and behavioral change once interrupted takes far longer to rebuild than to improve. Seen in this light, Rythu Vedika stands as another strong illustration of how KCR’s example-based leadership moved beyond announcements to institution-building, and thus, creating enduring spaces where policy, participation, and progress could meet. This, in my assessment and experience, is how governance leaves a working legacy rather than a passing imprint.

Another forward-looking intervention that deserves explicit credit to KCR is the conceptualization and promotion of the AgHub or Agri Innovation Hub model, a first-of-its-kind effort to bring structured innovation culture into the agricultural domain. During my tenure as CPRO, I could clearly see that KCR viewed the future of farming as inseparable from research-led experimentation, start-up thinking, and youth-driven Agri-Enterprise.

KCR’s encouragement to create an institutional platform dedicated to agricultural innovation was rooted in the belief that farmers, students, researchers, and entrepreneurs must interact within a common enabling framework so that new ideas could move quickly from concept to cultivation. This was not merely an academic extension but a practical innovation bridge for the farming ecosystem.

The vision of AgHub is to emerge as a world class center that promotes innovations and entrepreneurship in Agri-food systems through mentoring, piloting, and facilitating access to market, research, and investment. As part of this the incubator has been funded by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and started functioning from October 2020.

What stood out in KCR’s approach was that the AgHub or Agri Innovation Hub was positioned not as an isolated project but as a directional shift, signaling that agriculture must be future-ready, technology-aware, and enterprise-supported. It reflected his governance instinct to anticipate the next curve rather than react to the last problem. By backing such an innovation-centered agricultural platform, he reinforced his consistent leadership pattern: build institutions that outlast announcements, and create ecosystems that enable continuous progress rather than one-time intervention.