“The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty.”

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. It has inspired artists, poets, philosophers and visionaries but for Mr Shyam Jagannathan, an IAS officer of the 1997 Assam-Meghalaya cadre, it has always been a vocabulary in itself in his professional lexicon. As a true administrator, now as the Zonal Development Commissioner Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ-SEZ), he is a great simplifier who can cut through arguments, debates and doubts to offer a solution everyone can understand.

Polite to a fault and professional to the core, an unassuming Mr Jagannathan lets his work speak for himself. Administering a vast domain like the SEEPZ, which has evolved as a major brand by itself, the predominantly gem & jewellery nerve-center owes him a lot for its metamorphosis as an ideal destination for manufacturing, services sector, and trading. But as is his won’t, he remains self-effacing. His professional odyssey begun after he prosecuted his Master’s in Biochemistry from the Osmania University, among the oldest universities in the country and thereafter joining the civil services cadre.

In his 25 eventful administrative years, he has held key postings in Assam — Commissioner and Secretary, Finance Department, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department and Secretary to the Governor of Assam and Deputy Commissioner in the erstwhile North Cachar Hills District (now Dima Hasoa District). He also had the unique experience of serving for eight years in Meghalaya wherein he was posted as the Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills District. Separately, he has also worked on inter-cadre deputation to the Government of Kerala and was posted as Chairman and Managing Director, Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation, Commissioner and Director, Food and Civil Supplies and Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Government of Kerala. Since June 2021, he has taken over reins as the Zonal Development Commissioner, SEEPZ, SEZ and stationed at Mumbai.

Mr Jagannathan was spurred for the rigours of administrative services by his father who was a colonel in the Indian Army. “My father retired from the Army in 1989 to settle in Secunderabad. It is in the twin city of Hyderabad- Secunderabad that I prepared and appeared and got selected for the Indian Administrative Service in 1997. My late mother, despite being a homemaker, was an immense source of strength and support through the prolonged period of preparation and appearing for the tough UPSC selection process.”

Recalling his first posting in a sub-division called Ampati in West Garo Hills District in Meghalaya, he points out it is a subdivision that borders Bangladesh with a land customs station at Mahendraganj. It was a learning curve of sorts as he learnt multiple life-lessons in the remote sub-division, which in those days, did not even have one petrol pump in the entire 2000 square kilometres jurisdiction. “I was accosted by two armed militants in my residence and survived to tell the tale, I conducted judicial inquiry into the killing of a person due to firing by a member of the para-military forces and multiple such instances that steeled me as an officer and as a citizen who as a young man was taught empathy and forbearance while dedicating oneself in service to the nation.” Mr Jagannathan jealously preserves those traits that have glided him in his professional pursuits.

With a modesty that is so striking about his persona, Mr Jagannathan explains how the envisaged makeover of SEEPZ-SEZ will raise its perception levels and delivery benchmarks even higher, but true to his character, he plays down his sterling contribution to the growth of SEEPZ-SEZ as a major economic engine. He rather relates how the giant special economic zone has grown in stature to house some of the most prestigious units with international esteem. “SEEPZ, SEZ is geospatially perhaps the single-largest concentration of studded gems and jewellery manufacturing units and electronics units. SEEPZ jewellery is well-known globally and comprises almost 25% of the global imports of the world’s largest consumer of jewellery – the United States of America. Separately, SEEPZ Electronic units have contributed richly to inputs at the chip level in the Chandrayan project of ISRO, in making biomedical motors and the Serum Institute by saved millions of lives with the COVID vaccines. It feels overwhelming to be associated with such a wonderful institution that is (now) one of the premier government SEZs. Particularly heartening has been the initiative of the Hon’ble Union Commerce and Industry Minister of a Rs 200 crore rejuvenation of SEEPZ, SEZ with the translation of the first ever Mega-Common Facility Centre for gems and jewellery sector and creation of additional 6 lakhs square feet of space for units to invest in the SEZ for manufacturing/ services toward export.”

Mr Jagannathan looks at every posting as coming with its own set of challenges and flavour. While the Sub Divisional Magistrate assignment at Ampati was all about isolation and seclusion and fending for oneself, the Raj Bhawan assignment was about the protocol and grandeur of the epitome of the office of the Head of State. While the assignment of the District Magistrate in the then extremely militancy-affected erstwhile North Cachar Hills was more about savings lives and staying alive oneself, the Commissioner, Commercial Taxes was about number-crunching and data analytics and policy implementation related to value added taxes and preparation for the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax across the state. The Civil Supplies assignment was addressing the National Food Security Act and its objectives in Kerala while the Commissioner, Finance Department was about financial propriety, expedient resource allocation and monitoring release of funds and fiduciary management and the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary assignment was about breed improvement, productivity, one health and disease prevention among livestock and so on.

For this hand-on officer, “all these assignments served as a privilege and an opportunity to contribute in my own small way to the development and growth story of the nation in different places among different people.” He fondly nurtures the highs and lows of all memories and feels blessed by the warmth, love, respect and affection of the people he got to work with and amidst.

In Mr Jagannathan’s conviction, challenges also mean a learning curve. “Different positions posed different professional challenges, but sometimes being in remote locations made one realize closely how much more needs to be done to ensure inclusiveness and equanimity for all. As a young couple, we struggled with locating a doctor in one of the postings to help with our child, and realized how difficult it is to come across a specialist like a pediatrician in some parts of the country. Apart for the challenges on the professional front, general ineptitude, apathy among specific quarters, lack of skill and information, ability issues, vested interests and improper rule adherence were issues that one had to contend with.”

The challenges and learning curve were also punctuated with incidents/memories he believes are for personal posterity. “Once while accompanying the range DIG on a visit to Maibong Sub Division in erstwhile North Cachar Hills Dima Hasoa District) news was flashed on the TV channel that the Deputy Commissioner (me) and the DIG have been ambushed by militants and there was heavy firing. My wife saw the incident live sitting in our allotted quarters at Guwahati (nearly 300 kms away as I had been allowed to retain the quarter at state capital because of posting in difficult area) and was completely disturbed. The whole night she frantically kept contacting the Home Secretary, the office of the Director General of Police to ascertain my well-being. To complicate matters, the area I was reported as ambushed had no mobile connectivity. Oblivious to all this, when I reached mobile coverage around 3:30 AM in the night, I messaged to indicate that I had returned home. She was understandably animated but it was also one of the most vivid conversations where I sensed the strong emotional bond with my better half.”

Another incident is from his early bachelor days was while returning by jeep late in the night from the district head quarters of Tura to his sub-divisional headquarters of Ampati. He suspected the driver to be a little tipsy having overindulged in the local brew called Bitchi. Suddenly the driver pulled the vehicle to a halt in the middle of the road. It was pitch black except for the headlights of the jeep and there was no habitation nearby. Worked up, he asked what the driver was up to but the latter shut him off with “Chup, Chup sir”. “He saw I was non plussed and pointed towards the windscreen ahead. I could not see anything in the darkness and only heard faint rustling noises. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could make out large black shapes moving towards the jeep, and before I could react, the driver grabbed my hands and pulled me to get down from his side of the jeep; whispering “Dalgipa Mande” which in Garo meant “the big one”. I blindly followed the driver who made me remove my white shirt and move slowly on the roadside to get into a culvert beneath the road. My heart was pounding as the wild herd of elephants was approaching the jeep leisurely, and by the time they were around 10 metres away, we were safely in the centre of the culvert underneath the road. It was winter and I could feel the cold as I had removed my white shirt and undershirt to not stand out in the night. We waited for long, for the elephants to move away. It was after close to two hours of crouching in pitch dark without a word that we finally crawled out and slowly reached the jeep. We reached the safety of our homes early in the morning.”

For Mr Jagannathan, this was not just a random experience. In one night, it taught him about the unpredictability and vicissitudes of life. It was not just about being in the territory of wild and unpredictable herd of elephants. Fortunately, because of the winter, there were no mosquitoes (the area is endemic for cerebral malaria) and teemed with venomous snakes hibernating in crevices and rocks. As he says, “in hindsight, I did not realize the severity of the situation.”

The officer keeps his professional credo simple and basic. “Simplicity is profound and what I value is honest professionalism in one’s responsibilities in public office. I feel strongly that technology is an enabler and disruptor and we are living in an interesting cusp of governance reforms backed by technology platforms, and this needs to be furthered for greater public good.”

It is not altogether surprising that he does not harbour many regrets. “In the simple effort to keep oneself sane and head above water in difficult and trying circumstance professionally and meeting domestic commitments amidst prioritization, perhaps the only regret has been not being able to buffet my academic credentials and not being able to pursue a sabbatical in a good academic venture.”

It is also no surprise that for someone who takes people along, he values more than anything else, the overwhelming affection from colleagues and people he partnered with. In his philosophy, formal accolades are more like trophies. “One may be blessed by such recognition but I prefer the warmth one shares as that is what one reminisces.”

As for work-life balance, hobbies and pastimes, Mr Jagannathan says “this is still a work in progress. Often, emotional and passionate involvement with professional commitment(s) eats into a structured and disciplined life style and encroaches into the space reserved for a rejuvenating off time.” But he straddles it with the greater public good – by assisting and being of service to fellow citizens. Of course, being as human as any other, having reached 50 years, the routine physical wear and tear is visible. Apart from squeezing out time read, he enjoys ghazals with proclivities towards Jagjit & Chitra Singh.