A tribute to S Santhanam, a batch-mate of National Security Advisor M K Narayanan

DURING his heydays, 1958-batch IAS S Santhanam who worked very closely with two chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, NT Rama Rao and M Chenna Reddy, was a well-known figure in power corridors of Delhi. The former bureaucrat, who also served as the secretary to Governor during 1972-'75, breathed his last at the age of 75 in Hyderabad on Monday. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. An alumnus of Loyola College of Chennai, Santhanam was also the additional chief secretary and special chief secretary in AP. He was highly accessible even to common men, and was known for his humour. In fact, the only retired bureaucrat (an IPS) of 1958 batch who is still one of the most powerful babus in capital's power corridor is M K Narayanan, National Security Advisor who retired in 1992. Significantly, the other known name who is a contemporary to Santhanam is J&K Governor N N Vohra, a 1959 batch IAS who retired in 1994. Only September last year, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) organised the golden jubilee retreat for the 1958 batch of IAS. What's more, the first part of the book, "Governance and the IAS: In Search of Resilience" edited by R K Dar gives excerpts of memoirs of 12 officers of the 1958 batch covering administration in Orissa, UP, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, WB, Haryana, Bihar, Assam-Meghalaya and the Central Secretariat. And yes, the 1958 batch belonged to the last batch that was trained at Metcalfe House, Delhi which was in fact the house of Sir Thomas Metcalfe, Governor-General's agent at the Imperial court of the Mughal Emperor and later Commissioner of Delhi. Related Story: A tribute to Gopi Arora of Rajiv era (November 7, 2009) Madhu Koda case to haunt IAS officers now Income tax officials have questioned a few serving IAS officers allegedly involved in former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda's Rs 2500 cr money laundering scam. Mr Koda who was arrested on Monday, has denied such allegation of money laundering or other fraud. A section of media has claimed that the officers under scanner include a former secretary and a principal secretary of mining both of whom are incidentally the serving bureaucrats. The retired bureaucrats are also being questioned. Read: Know the super taxman in North Block anchoring the Madhu Koda episode (Nov 9, 2009) Action & Appointments a) Dr Srikumar Banerjee, Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has been appointed as secretary, Department of Atomic Energy and Chairman Atomic Energy Commission for a tenure up to the age of 66 years in place of Dr Anil Kakodkar who is retired on November 30, 2009. b) New shipping secretary K Mohandas, a 1974 batch Kerala cadre IAS will hold additional charge of the post of secretary, ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs with immediate effect for a period of three months or until further orders. c) Sanjeev Kumar, a 1986 batch IDAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the ministry of social justice and empowerment.