A TRIBUTE :On the passing away of RK Gupta

KC PRADHAN

A legend of Sikkim administration is now no more. I met him first in early 1950 in the office of the then Dewan and the last at the Manipal Hospital a few hours before he breathed his last. Sadly, he was already in coma at the time.
He was picked up by JS Lall, a fiery ICS officer and the first Dewan of the erstwhile kingdom of Sikkim. As Lall’s, and many of the successive Dewans Principal Administrative Officer (PAO) and Sidlon, the late Gupta was their most confidential and trusted assistant. He saw Sikkim’s history in the making as no one had and he was the only man I know of who knew truly the inside story - especially the period before the merger. The series of confidential papers that passed between the Palace, Tashiling and India House, he was the only privy.
To work with a dynamic and meticulous ICS officer like JS Lall was not a simple task. I have never seen or heard of any ICS officer as fiery and intelligent as JS Lall. He was an administrator par excellence and it was he who put Sikkim’s feudal administration on the trail with a purpose, substance and dignity which has unfortunately lost its luster with the passage of time. He hand-picked half a dozen officers to pursue studies both at home and aboard and who formed the core of the administration before and after the merger. JS Lall’s handwriting was the worst possible and there were times when officers used to queue at Gupta’s office to help them decipher and understand what was written. At times, the late Gupta himself was at loss and used to go to his boss for clarifications which JS Lall used to do with a burst of laughter. Except him, few others had the courage to face Lall. Many of these scribbles have become the laws of the land.
Born on 12 April, 1926, the late Gupta joined the Sikkim Durbar Service on 01 Sept 1949 as young stenographer, aged 23. Within a short span of 4 years, he was promoted to the gazetted grade - the most prestigious group of barely a dozen then in the Durbar administration. He was inducted into the Indian Administrative Service in its initial recruitment. During his long career as a government servant, he headed many departments including serving as Additional Secretary, Home, and also Secretary to the Sikkim State Legislative Assembly. He was Secretary of the Sikkim Durbar Council right from its inception in 1953 till 1974 and was the first Secretary of Sikkim Legislative Assembly with late Chatur Singh Rai as the first Speaker. It was during his tenure as Secretary that he streamlined the administrative set up in SLA. His vast experience as Secretary in erstwhile Councils presided over by the veteran Dewans gave him immense leeway in handling the most delicate of matters in the SLA with ease and guide the Speaker in later years
He was always a helpful, charming personality and easy to befriend. At one time he was an ace bridge (card) player along with late AC Dutta and Tulsi Sharma and Justice Tarachand Hariomol as the team. Not forgetting a good billiard player as well, with Khika chowkidar as Guru of all billiard players in those days at the White Hall at Gangtok.
We miss him dearly and also all the anecdotes with which he used to regale us. Just a month left to enter his 88th year, he lived a full life and has left behind hordes of friends to cherish his memory. We are with the bereaved family in their hour of sorrow. We pray the Almighty that his soul rests in peace.
[The writer is a former Chief Secretary, Sikkim]