As the title of the book suggests the story of Ramesh Chandra Sinha (R.C. Sinha) is indeed all about ‘transforming India, from within’. In his illustrious career as an IAS officer, he worked with towering politicians like Sharad Pawar, Manohar Joshi, Chandrababu Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Sushilkumar Shinde, Vilasrao Deshmukh, among many others. The book is a versatile reservoir of information about urban development in the country. Sinha won kudos from many quarters for his skillful execution of projects.
In 1992-93, when the City & Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) was an unheard name, D.M. Sukhtankar, Chief Secretary, Maharashtra, called Sinha to meet the then Chief Minister Sharad Pawar who told him: “I want to create CIDCO.” Sinha was given full freedom – the rest is history. CIDCO became a formidable organisation in urban development and the city of Navi Mumbai bears the stamp of Sinha’s brilliant planning and execution. The knowledge he gained on a British Council Scholarship to study Urban Development from London University had come in handy here.
When Nitin Gadkari, PWD minister, Maharashtra (1995-99) conceptualised Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), he took Sinha along with him. The massive Mumbai-Pune Expressway and a huge number of 55 Flyovers across Mumbai Metropolitan region were constructed. “Sinha deserves to be credited for his meticulous implementation of the projects envisaged and planned through MSRDC,” acknowledges Gadkari, in the Prelude to the book. “He also helped the government in fund-raising thereby creating a replicable model for other states.”
In 1992, when riot-hit Aurangabad was burning, Pawar, then the Deputy Minister for Home, gave Sinha the task of quelling the riots. When normalcy was restored, there was talk in the town: ‘Kurta button band karo, nahi toh Collector band kar dega!’ Such was Sinha’s power! For trouble makers he was not Sinha but simh (man-eater).
In mid-1985, Sinha moved to Delhi to work in the I&B ministry. It was the time when TV signals were limited to the major cities. There had also been no expansion of AIR coverage for 20 years. In the North-east, countries like China, Burma and Thailand had access but not India. Sinha’s hard work and meticulous planning changed the way Doordarshan worked. He was instrumental in introducing the private FM Radio in the country. His efforts in expanding signal coverage of AIR and DD were praiseworthy. As result, DD is being watched in the neighbouring countries too.
When a task is given to him, Sinha gives an all-out effort to accomplish it. It’s amazing to see the way he has transformed New Bombay. His five main achievements in New Bombay were: the telephone service became local instead of STD; CIDCO developed its own dam and water supply system to end the reliance on MIDC; power supply became available 24x7; coordination with JNPT on a connective road when he was also an ex-officio trustee for the port; and a six-lane road to Bombay, which the PWD Secretary had found too big and had suggested that two lanes would be enough. Sinha was firm on not going below four lanes. Today, even six lanes are becoming insufficient!
Sinha never bent over backwards to satisfy someone. There is an interesting incident when a complaint reached the Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray during the Sena-BJP rule. Thackeray told him: “I understand you insulted my Minister – I don’t want it.” Sinha replied: “I respect your minister, irrespective of whether I like him or not.” Balasaheb called him ‘arrogant’. Yes, Manohar Joshi (CM) agreed: he is, because of his honesty, integrity, capacity to deliver and do good for his State.
The book is not only about development projects, expressways, and flyovers but it also records historical incidents like the 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai. It was Sinha who suggested calling in the army to boost the morale of the people in Mumbai. He told the CM that normalcy would come only if people believed that the system was operating normally: they must first ensure that they get their milk and newspapers in the morning, and keep the buses and suburban trains running. Due to efforts like these he brought life back to the city.
Sinha’s contribution to infrastructure development was not confined to Maharashtra alone. Chandrababu Naidu called Sinha after he finished his term as managing director, CIDCO, and asked him to create a new Hyderabad that he had dreamt of: Cyberabad, which became home to information technology companies from all over the world.
Sinha also supported many other projects: the Visakhapatnam SEZ, the water supply system from the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam to Hyderabad, the biopharma zone near Hyderabad, the Metro, the Hyderabad bypass, the Krishna port and the international airport.
Impressed by the Bombay-Poona Expressway, Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister, Goa, asked Sinha to go to Goa – he spent eight months there but he could get nothing done.
Back in Maharashtra, Sinha joined MADC, a subsidiary of CIDCO, as VC and MD – with two mandates: the MIHAN (multi-modal international cargo hub and airport at Nagpur) project, and small airports like at Shinde’s constituency Solapur. Sinha is the man who never left any stone unturned to get his work done. His son Capt Piyush Sinha sums up his character. “He always had only one vision in his life: work, he is a total workaholic.”
A rul Thuthi
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