TENTH JOB AS LEAD PARTNER
AND CONSULTANT IN EMRI-4
With Satyam Computers Ramalinga Raju
and CEO Venkat Changavalli
Professions, Checkered Career,
and Lessons-16
Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao (October 15, 2026)
After assuming office for a second term, on the day
following the swearing-in of the Council of Ministers, on May 26, 2009, and a
day before departing for his visit to Israel, Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy
asked us (CEO Venkat, myself, and a few other EMRI officials) to meet him to
review the status of the services. Having understood the institutional and
managerial difficulties that EMRI was facing, Rajasekhara Reddy personally
telephoned the Chairman of the GVK Group, Dr GV Krishna Reddy, and requested
him to provide funds to EMRI in a manner similar to how the then Chairman of
Satyam Computers had done earlier, from the private sector.
GVK Reddy agreed. Consequently, EMRI was transformed into
GVK EMRI. Acting on Rajasekhara Reddy’s direction, and in accordance with a
resolution passed by the Board members at a meeting held at Taj Krishna Hotel,
GV Krishna Reddy (GVK) assumed charge as Chairman of EMRI on the very same day.
However, the developments that took place in the background of all this were
closely connected to my role in PPP leadership as well. In the effort to bring
in a ‘Donor’ to replace Ramalinga Raju as Chairman, there was no hardship that
CEO Venkat and a few of us from EMRI, myself included, standing by him, did not
endure.
Meanwhile, except for five or six among the ‘Honored
Board Members’ invited by Raju, almost everyone else resigned one after
another. It gave me a clear opportunity to understand who would stand by us in
times of crisis and who would not. While operational expenses could somehow be
managed through government funds, on the management side it had become
impossible to pay the monthly salaries of senior staff, and by then salaries
had been pending for three months. Even so, because of our faith in Venkat’s Leadership,
none of us left the organization. But, a sense of disappointment began to set
in among some.
Against this backdrop, on May 22, 2009, grim news arrived
like a death knell. Piramal, the Mumbai-based group that had until then been
expected to take over responsibility for EMRI, withdrew. Pointing out several
shortcomings within the organization, both real and many perceived, Piramal
categorically stated that it would not be possible for him to step into Raju’s
position. We did everything necessary to address Piramal’s concerns, including
my facilitating to take him to Finance Minister for confidence building. but to
no avail. The only remaining hope was the prominent Hyderabad-based
industrialist Dr GV Krishna Reddy. However, until then, he had not given any
encouraging signals.
Even so, our hope did not die. Venkat felt that it would
be ideal if a message came from the Chief Minister’s office asking us to meet
him, without our having to request it. The efforts I made in my capacity of
handling PPP responsibilities bore fruit. Just as hoped, Venkat received a call
from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, conveyed through the highly committed
IAS officer Subrahmanyam, Chief Minister’s confident secretary, who was
handling EMRI matters in the Chief Minister’s Office, summoning us for a review
by the Chief Minister. That was the meeting the Chief Minister held just before
leaving for Israel. Fresh in my memory!
As directed by the Chief Minister, in that meeting,
Venkat called GVK and arranged to meet him that very evening (May 26, 2009),
around four to five o’clock. After consulting us, Venkat astutely converted
that meeting into a formal ‘Board Meeting.’ With EMRI’s founder Chairman
Ramalinga Raju having resigned from his position, several eminent
personalities, including former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who was serving as
Chairman Emeritus, had stepped down.
In addition, among those who resigned were Rama Raju,
Tarun Das, KV Kamath, Krishna Palepu, and Kiran Karnik. Only four members had
not resigned. Along with CEO Venkat, the remaining five members, former
McKinsey Managing Director Rajat Gupta, Carnegie Mellon University Professor Dr
Raj Reddy, Lok Satta National Coordinator Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, and Suchitra
Chairman Krishnam Raju, were invited by Venkat to the GVK office at Taj Krishna
Hotel. Jayaprakash Narayan and Krishnam Raju attended the meeting in person,
while the other two participated via conference call.
The meeting lasted for over an hour and a half. CEO
Venkat briefed the Board Members on EMRI’s efforts over the previous four
months, the GVK Group’s expression of readiness to support EMRI, Piramal’s
interim display of interest and subsequent withdrawal, the details of the Chief
Minister’s review meeting, and the specifics of the guidance he had given.
Among the two or three EMRI officials present at the meeting, I was one. GV
Krishna Reddy articulated his views with clarity.
He expressed his respect for EMRI as an institution, for
the 108 Emergency Services, his admiration for Raju, the sincerity of the Chief
Minister’s directives, and the necessity of continuing the PPP. He commended
the efforts of EMRI CEO Venkat. He also requested Rajat Gupta, Raj Reddy,
Jayaprakash Narayan, and Krishnam Raju, who had not resigned, to continue as
Board members. He immediately assumed charge as the Chairman of EMRI and met the
Chief Minister. The very next day, all the newspapers carried this news
prominently. Ten days after Dr GV Krishna Reddy assumed responsibility as
Chairman of the Governing Board, the Board met on June 3, 2009. Three
distinguished individuals, were inducted as Board members.
Dr Abid Hussain, former Indian Administrative Service
officer and former Ambassador of India to the United States, Dr Karthikeyan,
former CBI Director and former Director General of the National Human Rights
Commission, and A Ramakrishna, former Deputy Managing Director and former
President of L and T, were invited by GVK to join the existing five members.
From the GVK Group’s side, the Board was constituted with Dr GV Krishna Reddy
as Chairman, his wife Mrs Indira Krishna Reddy as Vice-Chairperson, his son GV
Sanjiva Reddy, and S Bhoopal as members. The name GVK was prefixed to EMRI,
formally becoming GVK EMRI.
As evidence of the clear signals of organizational
change, a few incidents that occurred during the ‘Integrators Review Meeting’
held on July 8, 9, and 10, 2009 may be cited. It was on this occasion that the
new Chairman revealed his inner thinking for the first time. He stated openly
and casually that there was no need to worry even if states like Rajasthan,
which had become dissatisfied due to the change in management, withdrew from
the EMRI 108 Emergency Services network.
For people like me (including Venkat), who had, in
alignment with former Chairman Ramalinga Raju’s vision, worked tirelessly,
overcome numerous challenges, and painstakingly convinced both officials and
non-officials in various states to bring them into the EMRI network, the pain
of even a single such hard-earned state withdrawing is beyond words. That such
a great personality could, with a single remark, say ‘Let it go if it goes’ in
such an immature manner was something I have not been able to forget even to
this day. I felt like resigning and leaving that very day. For reasons rooted
in my past experiences, however, I paused. I held back. I took a step backward.
Among those who worked day and night for the growth of
EMRI and later left it, the first person who must be remembered is Dr Anil
Jampala. Anil earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of
Washington, and an MBA from Seattle University. He possessed extensive
experience working with US organizations in the field of emergency medicine and
in related software divisions. At the time, Anil was working as a Vice
President at Satyam Computers, which had developed the software for EMRI as its
technology partner.
Chairman Raju felt that Anil’s experience should be
utilized within EMRI. Even before Venkat joined, during the formative days when
EMRI was taking shape under the joint supervision of Varanasi Sudhakar, Dr AP
Ranga Rao, and Dr Balaji, Anil played a key role. In designing EMRI’s working
model, Anil Jampala was not only responsible for leading both the technology
and operations divisions, but was also the sole individual who entered into MoU
with several reputed national and international organizations, both in India
and abroad, to enable mutual exchange of experience.
Anil’s contribution to securing international recognition
for the 108 Emergency Services under EMRI’s leadership is unforgettable. It was
precisely because of the recognition EMRI received internationally through him
that various state governments across the country initiated these services. A
short while after the Satyam revelation came to light, amid the backdrop of a
change in management, whether the decision was taken by Jampala himself or by
the management, he left for the United States. EMRI thus suffered the permanent
loss of a highly skilled professional.
{{From my Forthcoming Book
PROFESSIONS, CHECKERED CAREER,
AND LESSONS
(From Librarian to CPRO to CM
KCR)
A Journey from Khangi School to
Center for Excellence}}
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