“Commendable civilian”

With the passing away of Barjor B. Paymaster, one of the last surviving Indian Civil Service (ICS) officers in the state and perhaps the country, an era has come to an end ("Commendable civilian,” In Memoriam, Parsiana, June 7, 2008). For those like me who had the opportunity of working with him and benefiting by his wisdom and guidance, the loss is even greater.

I worked under him when I was supernumerary assistant collector in Poona in 1957. Paymaster was the divisional officer, a designation given to the divisional commissioner. Normally, the supernumerary assistant collector rarely interacts with the commissioner/divisional officer, but Paymaster took personal interest in my training from the start. He would invite me to his house, inquire about what I had learnt and always had an amusing anecdote to relate about his own experiences.

I worked with him again for a short while when he was secretary in the Home Department and I was posted as a deputy secretary, because very soon he became the chief secretary.

Paymaster had a unique sense of humor and would make pointed comments during the weekly Secretaries’ tea which he often attended. When the government announced a new policy to rehabilitate those who had encroached on government land if the land was required for any public use and the encroachers had to be evicted, he remarked sarcastically, "What a wonderful policy. We should now put big hoardings on public land and say please encroach and you are guaranteed alternate accommodation by the government.”

After the devastating Koyna earthquake, meetings were held to discuss rehabilitation and the precautions to be taken in case the Koyna dam burst due to a subsequent earthquake which was expected. Someone suggested that guns be given to village kotwals to fire as soon as the water reached their village. Gunshots fired from village to village would serve as warnings to other villages. It was pointed out that by the time the sound traveled from one village to the next, the village would be under water. At the end of the discussion, Paymaster asked in his high pitched voice: "Gentlemen, shall we stick to our guns?”

Paymaster was a great lover of literature and poetry, which he wrote. Few know that he helped poor artists and writers financially when they were in need and many of them sold their paintings to him. Some of these young artists may have become internationally renowned.

He died at the ripe old age of 94 and a few devoted friends and colleagues attended his funeral. J. G. KANGA

jgkanga@vsnl.net