There are moments in everyone’s life when opportunity comes knocking. It comes with challenges, risks and inconveniences. But not everyone is able to recognize an opportunity and act swiftly to seize it before it passes by – carpe diem, as the Roman poet Horace said, or ‘seize the day’.
Getting ‘the call’ and grabbing the opportunity with both hands
My opportunity came in early December 2015, when, as the World Bank’s Practice Manager for South Asia, I was on a mission to Sri Lanka to support my TTL in supervising an ongoing World Bank-funded dam project in the picturesque town of Kandy. I received an unexpected call from a New Delhi number asking me to meet the Cabinet Secretary, the most senior civil servant in the country, on my next visit to Delhi. I was intrigued, and transitted through Delhi on my return to Washington. When I reached Delhi a few days later, I met the Cabinet Secretary, P.K. Sinha. After the initial pleasantries, Mr Sinha cut to the chase and asked me if I had considered returning to the government. He informed me that the incumbent Secretary of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) had recently resigned, and the government was looking for a replacement. ‘We’re looking this time to recruit a domain expert, not necessarily the usual generalist from the IAS,’ he said. ‘You have the right sector experience plus, in a sense, you are an insider–outsider, having worked for long in government, with full knowledge of how our system works.’
It took a couple of moments for his words to register. This was more than a dream come true. Being Secretary of the MDWS would mean I would be in-charge of implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), the largest sanitation programme ever attempted anywhere in the world. I remembered the urge to be part of this amazing initiative the day I first heard PM Modi announce it from the Red Fort in 2014. I was excited and intrigued since, to the best of my knowledge, no previous government had ever laterally recruited an ex-civil servant at the level of Secretary to the Government of India. I immediately conveyed my interest in the job and was advised that a decision would be taken after due process was followed.
On the long flight back to DC the following day, I kept thinking about the incredible opportunity which was potentially coming my way. I was cautiously confident that I had the credentials to take up the position of a Secretary to the Government of India. While I had been out of the IAS for many years, I had spent that time gaining invaluable experience and knowledge from the world over, which could be applied to the recently launched SBM. With my civil service background and understanding of the context, I was sure of hitting the ground running if selected for the job. Animated discussions ensued at home with Indira after I reached Washington, but at office I continued with my World Bank work as though nothing had happened. In fact, nothing did happen for many weeks and there was no news from Delhi of any further developments.
Having not heard anything by the end of January, I had more or less given up hope. Then, early morning on 3 February 2016, just after reaching my office at my usual time of 6.30 a.m., armed with my coffee and an ‘everything’ bagel, I received an email from Delhi from an IAS batchmate, which simply said: ‘Congratulations, and welcome back to India – your appointment order has been put up on the Department of Personnel website.’ I immediately went to the website and saw the following order posted on it: ‘The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri Parameswaran Iyer, IAS (voluntarily retired) (UP: 1981) as Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, on contract basis for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or till further orders, whichever is earlier.’ My excitement knew no bounds, and most of my World Bank colleagues were very happy for me as well. Over the next few weeks, Indira and I began the winding up of our Washington establishment, including putting our house out to rent. Indira stayed back for some time to complete the process and I left for Delhi in the last week of February.
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