PAY AND PERKS

Indian Civil Service was created by the crown and other services like Indian Police. Indian Forest Service etc were created. But ICS was the paramount service who belong to Provincial Cadres who start as Asst Collectors and end end up as Chief Secretaries of the state, or Secretaries at the center. The pay was from Rs 400 to Rs 4000(This was reduced to 350-3000 for IAS created in 1948)

A Dist Collector gets around Rs 600 and also works as District Magistrate. He has a big bungalow with servant quarters, owns his car and was paying for all services of Khansama Rs 5,servants, dhobi, barbaer etc at Re 1.Out of salary he used to send 50% back home in pound sterling.Because of high income corruption was unknown in ICS.

The interview was originally at London and later shifted to Calcutta. The school students from Eton, Harrow and others gave a petition to the King requesting 50% reservation for england, since Bengali babus will excel, which was granted 

ICS was having a judicial branch, who became judges in high courts. They can opt for posting at foreign embassies. In sort they were the backbones of british administration in India.They used to retire at the age of 60, which is astrologically a crucial year.(This was reduced to 55 of other services after 1947).Six months before 60 he can opt to tour whole of Europe other than England at the govt expense.

My Father 1947-57

India became independant on 15 Aug 1947, and on 1 Jan 1948 Keonjhar State, where he was serving was merged with Orissa Province, but new name was Orissa State. He used to say that Orissa Province merged with Keonjhar State.In the place of Dewan an Administrator was posted who was again replaced by District Magistrate. The English Forest Officer left leaving the department to a Dist Forest Officer. An Supdt of Police was posted. My Father was appointed as Civil Surgeon and transferred to the largest district Koraput.In Keonjhar State his salary was Rs 400 and jail allowance of Rs 50,in silver coins sent by treasury in a jali bag, and it became Rs 860 plus jail allowance of Rs 75.

Excepi for a brief period he was staying in his own house. Now he stayed on a hill top town and moved with the entire brood. His name was entered in the Civil List and transfer and postings published in the State gazette.He was doing exactly the same as he was before. After a year or so he was posted as Addl Civil Surgeon of Cuttack the capital of the state, where he had no hospital, but was Supdt of Central Jail, Lecturer of Jurisprudence of Orissa Medical College. The pay remained the same as it was the top of the scale 300-860.plus jail all of Rs 100 being the central jail and Rs 200 as lecturer. For the first time the prisoners were not available for domestic work, except an warder working as a attendant.

During this time he mostly busy in the jail with a lot of communist prisoners, post mortems of the dead and teaching.Again after a year his post was abolished and he became Civil Surgeon with a hospital to look after and tour of the sub divisional hospitals and jails.The demand for posting at Cuttack was high and he was transferred to Baripada the headquarters of Mayurbhanj, the former largest state.Here he devoted far larger time in a full fledged hospital treating patients and performing surgeries. He had the job of decease prevention of Yaws, with staff and an American Pick up.

Due to seniority he was again posted as Civil Surgeon of Cuttack, and his post was upgraded to Professor of Jurisprudence and Forensic Medicine. He also became external examiners in Calcutta and Madras Medical Colleges and once in Patna Medical College his alma mater.This continued even after his retirement in 1957 at a a age of 55. 

2010-15 Continued

Exactly after Two years, when i left teaching and went to Alexandria, an offer came from Arkitechno Consultant as Project Manager, and i joined on 31 May 2013. Somebody had suggested that after 50 plus professional work, i should do some social work. This was an opportunity and Melinda & Bill Gates foundation was partially funding through J-PAL-Jameel Poverty Action Lab South Asiaat Institute of Financial Management an Research(IFMR) Chennai.

Quicksand Design Studio was retained by JPAL to design and execute the Project Sammaan, with a MoU signed with Bhubaneswar and Cuttack Municipalities. Their local rep was Feedback foundation for 11 months, from whom i took over. The work was of interaction with several partners of Quicksand namely Anagram the designers and CDD for advance septic tanks and submitting the same to BMC and CMC for tendering. Later i was asked to review the drawings, conduct survey redesign the structures. This arrangement ended on 31 Jan 2014.From 1 Feb 14, i am again engaged by Quicksand as Project Technical Lead.

This is a quiet novel experience of dealing everything by internet- almost daily communication weekly tele conference, getting drawings by mail, printing and submitting to BMC/CMC.I had two engineers  to assist and a monthly visit from Quicksand people and meeting with all levels of the state government.

Except when i was with State Govt and Govt of India, i had no direct contact with government while in Public or Private sector jobs, and this is the smallest Project i had handled which is around 23 crores.The work consists of construction of 27 Public Toilets and 90 Community Toilets, with modern design- about 10 typologies and advance type of septic tanks known as Advance Settlers, DEWATS etc, This is nothing compared to the modern sewerage treatment plant i had constructed for large Petrochemical plants and Oil refineries. This has a basic difference of not using motors or any moving equipment,

My father 1940-47

After he became Chief Medical Officer, the first thing he did was to expand the hospital with a new block. The contract was awarded to One Bhagabat Mohanty of Cuttack, who was the only contractor with a engineering degree. He had another work at Akhuapaqda, where cement was issued by Orissa PWD. For the hospital it was inclusive of cost of cement. Therefore some sort of diversion took place, but the work was completed with good quality, which is still standing.

Next was having a ambulance for patient care and transportation of medicine and medical equipment. These type of acquisition in a state like Keonjhar had several steps, like proposal, approval by dewan, provision in the budget calling for quotes and buying proper. If it is a large amount it needs the approval of Resident, an englishman posted at Sambalpur.Them came a new hospital in Anandpur sub division, but on the only highway, known as Cuttack Ranchi Road (Now known as NH 215).There was a dispute between two villages, what my father did was to called village elders and took a map. He then drew a line connecting the two and took the mid point as the location. There no village but the hospital ran smoothly. Now a village has grown around it.

As was the practice of Bengal Presidency, he was the superintendent of the jail. Theory told to me was: Police arrest a culprit the Judge prosecutes, and a doctor takes care of him. This was a fantastic piece of insight of British Administration. Now after so many years this is given back to Police, against all norms of civilised society.The convicts were with small wages used to cultivate vegetables, produce carpets, stitch uniforms and many sundry works for the jail. They used to work in our house also.To maintain law and order, without the help of police was also his job.As such the police force was small headed by an inspector for the whole state, which probable got its first SP after the war.His job was hospital and jail plus inspection,supply of medicine to other smaller hospitals and subjails, where the Asst Surgeon was superintended.

Throughout the WW II nothing changed, except petrol and spares for his favorite car. He used to make spares at jail workshop, fit larger tyres, used jeep shock absolver all by himself, since there were no mechanics.His adventure in car were many but one was: The small rivers had flash floods and his car was stalled on the fair weather crossing. He pushed the car by hand and shoulder to higher ground, and in the process broke his collar bone. Once he operated a patient by the headlight of the car. 

My Father upto 1940


As most of the fathers perceived by any son, he was great in my eyes.From the days i saw him and i had a silent admiration. He was partly bald but dark and handsome and was five feet ten and a half inch tall.He became corpulent in his forties and thin after sixty.
His name was Gauranga Chandra Patnaik, (Gaurang meaning Krishna) born in 1902 at Champua, Keonjhar, and educated at Bhadrak staying in his uncles place and then Sakshigopal, founded Gopabandhu and friends.As his father was not supportive, his elder brother might have helped him.He passed his Matriculation, and then studied at Ravenshaw college, situated at the present collegiate school, and passed Intermediate in Science with Eng,Math,Phy,Chem.

He applied for scholarship for study medicine at Calcutta, and probably got Rs 30 per month, with which he supported his father who became a sanyasi. My father used to call him an escapist, but himself was religious, upto medical college.Dr P K Parija has seen him in college days with Tulsi mala and wooded sleepers, a sign of religion.

His course was six years 1st year Biology 2nd and 3rd year Anatomy and Physiology,4th and 5th year Pharmacology, Biochemistry ,ENT,Eye,Dental and  Medicine, Surgery and Gynaecology (partly)Final and 6th year was devoted to the last three subject with clinical duties. In Calcutta, everyone gets a BSc degree in addition to MB.

Unfortunately a Prince of Wales Medical College was started at Patna, Bihar, and all biharies and oriyas were asked to shift to Patna from 1st to 6th year, which is very unusual in the present day. So he lost BSc but got a double degree of MB and BS. His certificate was one foot by one and a half feet, signed by Registrar, Vice Chancellor and Dean of Faculty.

During the study he married my mother  12 years age, and his scholarship was suspended (presumably by his own jealous brother by sending a petition to the dewan). The dewan was an English man and you cannot bribe him, so father gave him a gift of a bear skin and explained his predicament. His scholarship was enhanced to Rs 60, which was a grand sum. He used to send Rs 30 to his father, even though he got no support in life.During his study my eldest sister (Dr Lilabati) was born in the ward of medical college attended by English doctors and Anglo-Indian nurses. My mother was only inpatient in the ward.

He joined as Asst Chief Med Officer, under a British not so qualified doctor, which generated internal jealousies, alignments of junior LMP doctors.In that era most of the so called British were Scots, Welshmen or Irish, with Viceroys, Governors pure English.This was the year 1931, and in 1939 he assumed as CMO, when the Englishman retired. The hospital had 50 beds and two smaller hospitals at Champua( his birth place) and Anandpur( his forefathers worked). He had built a house on a plot of 5 acres, and purchased an Austin sedan of 8 HP at Rs 3000 from Calcutta. He drove the car by a road infested with forest wild animals with no eating places, the distance of 450 km to Keonjhar.. He used to be very attached to this car, which is still there.

I vividly remember the arrival of the car with a table fan in the boot.We had 4 ceiling fans with DC supply from a generator. The palace, dewans house, forest officers house and ours had supply. At that time Cuttack had no electricity and i have seen street light with kerosin lamps, horse drawn II class carriages at Cuttack.
The petrol for the car used to be brought from rly station by 2 gallon jerry-cans, by Raghukarsan, a kutchhi businessman.

I will stop for the day as it will take another 3 to 4 blogs on his life..

My Ancestors

This information was from an old aunt and village astrologer narrated to me when i was 10 years old.
Seven generation back one Maghu Patnaik came from Khurda (Bhubaneswar belong to this district) to a place known as Anandpur in Keonjhar. He was educated but no land, as in those days only eldest son gets the properties. He served the King as a Manager and at the time of his retirement King offered him any land, and he preferred a piece of 500 acres at the boundary of the state, so that he can escape to Mugal ruled area in case any turmoil, in a village known as Orali

About three generation later, my great grandfather was a younger son, hence had no property. He started practising ayurvedic medicine in and around the village and educated his son in primary education in Bengali, as was the practice in those days. He passed Vernacular Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery from Orissa Medical School in the year 1889. The certificate framed in g;ass measures one and a half feet by two feet or so, printed probably in mission press of Cuttack. The name Koonja Behary Patnaik was written in Harida fruit's ink in a pen in flowing English, signed my Civil Surgeon (a Major of Army Medical Corps).

He served as a medical officer in Keonjha and later at Bonai -another state, became a sanyasi at a later period. My father being the younger one did not get any sustenance from him, since the elder one could pass primary education of course with English.

My father's journey i shall write later.