When M S Rao took charge as the Chief Secretary of Meghalaya on the first day of 2020, the State government had been in power for less than two years, the economy was growing and there was a general sense of optimism in the air, except over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which had led to protests in Shillong.
However, within months, the Covid-19 pandemic plunged Meghalaya into its greatest ever crisis. Rao had to draw on decades of experience to help the State tide over it by making quick and exceedingly complex decisions.?
Rao says his mantra has been to understand a challenge first before one starts tackling it.
“The uniqueness of the IAS (Indian Administrative Service) is that one gets to do a wide variety of assignments. Every new assignment brings its own set of challenges, but it is important that in the initial days of every assignment an extra effort is made to grasp the subject as quickly and as thoroughly as possible,” he said.
Rao left the post of Chief Secretary when he reached superannuation at the end of September but by then the pandemic had been contained to a degree of satisfaction in the State.
He is now the first Chief Commissioner of the Public Service Delivery Commission, tasked with the delivery of notified public services to the State’s citizens within a stipulated time frame as per the Meghalaya Right to Public Services Act 2020, which also provides for liabilities for government servants in case of default.
Rao has served as a civil servant for 34 years and first came to work in Meghalaya in 2000 when he was made the secretary in the State’s Agriculture Department.
Under his watch, the State government launched some “high-impact initiatives” such as the Meghalaya Enterprise Architecture, Health Policy, Youth Policy, Public-Private Partnership Policy, direct flights to New Delhi and post-graduate diploma courses to address the shortage of specialist doctors in the State.
“On the overall State’s performance during my tenure, I would like to specifically mention three sectors – immunisation, NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and Jal Jeevan Mission – in which we were among the best performing states in the country,” Rao said.
Talking about Meghalaya’s culture, he said it was very important to understand and respect the local culture and customs while making decisions that impact the community.
“Community bonding beyond family systems is unique to the society here, which impressed me immensely. People are warm, friendly and cheerful, which made it easy for me to forge many good friendships.”
Rao also offered some parting advice for those to follow him through the ranks.
“The key thing is to maintain high levels of motivation and be conscious of their accountability to the citizens. It is also important to keep oneself abreast of the latest developments in the relevant sectors and cultivate the habit of continuous learning,” he said.
“I strongly believe that technology is a great enabler, and we must make full use of it to improve the quality of governance and, in turn, the quality of life of the citizens,” he concluded.
