Jharekhapur: I took up my first regular assignment as Sub-divisional Officer of Rohilkhand Canals in the rank of Assistant Engineer at Bareilly in July 1946. Soon after, I got a canal telegram from the Superintending Engineer Sarda Canals, directing me to meet him by first train at Jharekhapur. For a moment it was very unsettling, as I had never heard about Jharekhapur and I had absolutely no idea about the train or trains that may be running to Jharekhapur. Anyway, I was told that Jharekhapur was a railway station on the metre gauge rail line of Oudh and Tirhut Railway running along the foothills of Himalayas from Bareilly to Sitapur and that the superintending engineer Sarda Canals was camping there. I was at Jharekhapur in the early hours of the morning next day. Lala Shyam Lal. superintending eingineer, V circle, Sarda Canal was an officer of the Indian Service of Engineers and was a topper of the 1922 batch of Thomason College Roorkee. When I met him at the canal inspection house, he had lined up all the departmental manuals, financial handbooks, research papers and relevant government orders on his table. All the talking was very short. He showed to me all the books, orders and papers and made me thoroughly conscious about my powers and responsibilities. That set the pace and throughout my working life, I never had the need to seek orders from anybody.
Shamshad Hussain: Shamshad Hussain was the Executive Engineer of Rohilkhand Canals Division at that time. Incidentally, he was also an alumnus of Thomason College Roorkee from 1922 batch and a classmate of Lala Shyam Lal. At that time the first eight students of Thomason College used to get into the Indian Service of Engineers and got their postings in eight British Provinces of the country. Others joined as officers of the Provincial Service of Engineers in U.P. That is how two buddies happened to bump into each other. In some case, Lala Shyam Lal sent a reminder to Shamshad Hussain for giving personal attention to the case and for ensuring speedy compliance. To make sure, he left instructions with the camp signaller to send a reminder every week. That is how, the reminders got piling up with Shamshad Hussain and when he woke up ultimately, a year had passed and 52nd reminder was on its way. He shuffled the papers and found that the 11th and 25th reminders were missing. His eyes flashed immediately and he shot back a canal telegram to Lala Shyam Lal announcing that the 11th and 25th reminders were missing and copies of these reminders may be provided immediately for further compliance. That sums up the personality of Shamshad Hussain, with whom I had the privilege of working for two years in the most formative period of my life.
Kanahiya: Kanahiya was 12 years old when Lala Ratan Lal, the elder cousin of our father picked him up from a railway station in U.P. He was taken into the household and worked for almost 10 years with Lala Ratan Lal at Kota. Lala Ratan Lal was very fond of automobiles and he maintained two to three cars in those days. Motor cars were not being manufactured in India at that time. Popular models at that time were Cheverolet and Ford from USA and Morris, Hillman and Austin from UK. The cost of a new car in early thirties was anything between Rs 1500 to Rs 2500. Kanahiya was a sharp and hardy boy and as he grew, he started driving and servicing the vehicles. In course of time, he started seeking his roots and was successful in meeting his parents at Aligarh. Thereafter, he left Kota and settled down at Haldwani in Nainital district as a bus driver. As time rolled on, he purchased a bus, then a second bus and a taxi and became a prominent member of the motor owners union. When he heard about us, he came to meet us at Bareilly. He stayed with us for a day or two and behaved as if he was still a twelve year boy of the good old days. When he left, he left his taxi with us. That was a 1936 model Cheverolet tourer car with a powerful six cylinder engine. It may look strange that at that time General Motors was manufacturing only one type of engine. The same engine was placed on a truck, a bus or a passenger car. That was my first car and it served our family very well for five years during my tenure in the irrigation department of U.P.
Daily schedule: Life of an officer in irrigation department was that of a nomad, moving from one inspection house to another almost every alternate day. The whole staff moved with the officer from place to place, alongwith all the paraphernalia. The officer maintained a car, a horse and of course a bicycle. Morning hours were normally utilized for outdoor inspections. The initial movement was mostly by car, followed by trotting on horseback on canal banks and in the fields. Bicycles were used, wherever suitable tracks were not available for horse riding. Riding on horseback was always very enjoyable. Gradually, the eyes and other reflexes got tuned to such an extent, that, all the contours and ups and downs of the ground propped up almost at every step and it was possible to move on from one plot of land to another with a reasonable comprehension about the problems of the cultivators. Inspections under tinkling sounds of water during the period, when the channels were running full, were quite exciting and thought provoking, whereas, the inspections during closures provided all the challenges for completion of scheduled maintenance operations in time. The afternoons were normally utilized for paperwork, meeting the local staff and people from the villages. Everyday provided new ideas and new insights with different people at different places.
Departmental Tests: During the first year in service, every officer was expected to go through a number of departmental tests e.g., horse riding test, language test, professional proficiency test, accountancy test etc. Horse riding test involved three weeks horse riding training at police training school, followed by a formal test. Language test involved a test in reading and writing of Urdu which was the official language for the maintenance of revenue records during the British period. Professional proficiency test involved the design and maintenance of irrigation channels and related masonry works. Accountancy test was related to maintenance of cashbook and cash accounts and knowledge of relevant government orders and provisions of the financial handbooks. There were no fixed dates or schedules for the conduct of these tests, but all tests were expected to be completed during the first year of service.
Winter inspections: All senior officers including the chief engineers, superintending engineers and executive engineers spent about three months during the winter months of November, December and January for field inspections. The chief engineers camped for about three to four weeks in every circle, thereby, finding time to have a detailed inspection in every division for about a week. The superintending engineers stayed in every division for about three to four weeks, which provided them with an opportunity to spend a week in every sub-division. The executive engineers spent about three to four weeks in every sub-division during the winters. All senior officers including chief engineers, superintending engineers and executive engineers moved from place to place, during winter tours with sufficient tentage and stayed in camps improvised in the compounds of the inspection houses. All field inspections were through car or on horseback. The broad approach was to have a reasonable appreciation of the common bottlenecks and problems of field officers and local people and to initiate suitable measures for smooth functioning and development of the system. Incidentally, the winter tours provided sufficient opportunities to senior officers to interact directly with junior officers and to have an appreciation of their capabilities, talents and potential and for the development of fraternal relations with them. Association with senior officers in the field was always a great learning experience for the junior officers and it provided a substantial boost for the development of their personality and confidence.
Inspection notes: Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers issued detailed inspection notes after the winter tours. Inspection notes were mostly related to the works visited by the officers and their recommendations about proper functioning and development of the system. The senior officers encouraged the junior officers to point out all the problems and bottlenecks being faced by them and to suggest remedial measures and after free and frank discussions, they incorporated specific points in their inspection notes. Some of the senior officers went to the extent of requesting their junior officers to write inspection notes about works falling in their jurisdiction and for highlighting all those measures and works that needed attention. These were confidence building measures and when the inspection notes of senior officers were finally issued, incorporating the suggestions of officers working at different levels, the implementation of the remedial measures and preparation of development programmes found enthusiastic response from all quarters.
Development conference of officers: The second world war had ended and the country was reeling with scarcity of food and all other essential items of consumption. Independence of the country was round the corner and people were looking forward with hope and enthusiasm for providing a push to all types of development activities. Under the context, the development conference of irrigation officers at Lucknow was a significant landmark. The conference was attended by all chief engineers. There were three at that time, chief engineer east, chief engineer west and chief engineer development. All superintending engineers were invited to attend the conference. There were nine at that time. Six for regular canal circles, two for tubewells and one for hydroelectric power. All executive engineers were directed to participate in the conference and were required to present papers about development projects of their divisions. One assistant engineer from every division was nominated to attend the conference. Most of the nominated assistant engineers were young, with two to three years experience in the department. The duration of the conference was four days, with two sessions of two hours each in the morning and one session of two hours in the afternoon. The format was something like this: The executive engineers were called for presentation of papers about development activities of their division. The chief engineer concerned provided a critical analysis of the issues involved and thereafter threw open the subject for discussion. The superintending engineers had a pivotal role at this stage. They functioned like floorboys and coaxed the assistant engineers to put questions and to elicit information. Finally, the chief engineer concerned summed up the discussion.
The chief engineers hosted a dinner and get-to-gether for all participants on the opening day in the evening. The superintending engineers were hosts for dinner and get-to-gether for all participants in the evening on the second day. Association of engineers hosted the dinner and get-to-gether on the third day. On the last working day, the chief minister of the state ( known as premier of the state in those days) congratulated everybody for the deliberations and provided the parting dinner.
The conference provided an opportunity to all officers to interact freely with each other and to have a reasonable exposure about the development projects of the state with a realistic appraisal of the normal problems and bottlenecks. It was a tremendous learning experience for the junior officers and the senior officers got a unique opportunity to have a look at their troops from close quarters.