It couldn’t have been more apt. The most generous tribute to former ONGC chairman Subir Raha comes from somebody with whom he had a hugely uneasy relationship. After Raha lost more-than-a-year-long battle with cancer on Monday, former petroleum minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, said he found in Raha “a man worthy of my steel, particularly when we disagreed”.
Aiyar said Raha was a “truly outstanding public sector executive” with an independent mind. Aiyar should know as he got a taste of this independent mind while dealing with Raha — something that led to the latter’s exit in 2006 after just three years at the helm of ONGC. No one knows the exact reasons for the denial of extension, but it was apparently because of negative remarks on Raha’s performance by the then petroleum secretary, S C Tripathi. The final straw, of course, was the TNR Rao Committee report that held the management responsible for the Bombay High fire in 2005.
What Raha brought to ONGC is the “josh, nayi umange jagane ka (the zest to light new ambitions)” — the oil exploration giant’s theme song — and, perhaps, the best turnaround success story of a public sector undertaking.
Raha’s admirers remember him as a man who detested sycophancy — something rare for a PSU boss. He would often recount an amusing experience of one of his seniors at Indian Oil Corporation, where he worked before joining ONGC. This particular gentleman, who was fond of fishing, was on an official trip to Haldia. At 5:30 one morning, the general manager and his deputy — both based in Haldia — arrived at the chairman’s official quarters to accompany him on his fishing venture. All three got their catch within a couple of minutes, but the result was quite curious. The chairman netted the biggest fish, the general manager caught the second-biggest and his deputy the smallest.
Raha, who was posted in Haldia at the time, thought it was impossible that the fish were also aware of the hierarchy of their captors, and soon discovered how the administrative manager of the Haldia office had made a perfect arrangement. He had positioned three of his lieutenants in water who did their job as instructed.
A heavy smoker — something that was responsible for cutting short his life at just 61 — Raha was known to avoid long flights even on international tours. He used to plan them in such a way that no flight time was more than four to five hours (that’s the maximum he was willing to stay without smoking).
The man, who attracted extreme views during his lifetime — people either loved him or hated him — is fondly remembered by his successor R S Sharma as “a man with fire in his belly”.
“Even after his exit from the company, I have been influenced by him in any decision I have taken for the company. His dynamism and aggressiveness inspire us,” Sharma says.
R S Butola, who was Raha’s choice for ONGC Videsh Ltd’s managing director, remembers his aggression. “I remember, about seven years back, he called me up one day from the petroleum ministry and asked me to work out a proposal for the acquisition of MRPL (Mangalore Refinery), when we had no inkling of it. We collected a lot of information from the internet and our banking sources, and within a week, a proposal got materialised. I could not imagine things could move so fast.” Butola was then a general manager in ONGC.
Raha’s ideal vision of a corporate leader was somebody who may not be uniformly liked, but nobody should be able to point an accusing finger at his moral and professional integrity. That is certainly how he would like to be remembered.
Raha was a Bengali rogue, period ! ONGC's 40 years of existence is characterised by its inability to find OIL or Gas, sit on large unexplored blocks and NOT allow others to do so, develop NO competence in any technology except taking bribes -as anyone who has dealt with it will vouch for. Raha was there because the CPM (BENGALI MNS ka Baap) and that's it. ONGC has ruined Maharashtra's oil wealth & spoiled the beaches all along the coast -I live on them and see the damage everyday- so lets stop this non-Maharashtrian RUBBISH!
Posted by: sbht2
June 08 , 2010, 09:59 IST
mr Pacaghati, u r just good for a maharashtra undrtaking firm, u dont deserve to say anything in the national/international arena.It requires another 1000 yrs for u climb that platform and utter a word
Salute to a great leader!!!India needs people like you.A great son of a great country.I can understand how much you would have troubled by the mean,selfish people in the word but showed your mettle.
It is really very disheartening to see the coverage given by electronic and print media for the sad demise of ONGC Ex- CMD Mr Subir Raha. If we are not going to acknowledge properly the credits of a legendary like him, it is not just an injustice towards the great man but it also gives a feeling to the common man that at the end of the day a man will not be known for his contributions but but may be something else... of course this case is not much different than the case of P V Narsimharao..
With all the limitations, controls, bureaucratic red tapism, Subhir Raha took ONGC to new heights internationally. Unfortunately continuation of his services to ONGC and the Society was determined not by people who can assess his performance but by people who do not know an element about the Company or its product. Raha will be remembered by people who knew or heard of him. Let his zeal and ideals continue to animate ONGC in is vision and operation.
The deep seated evil bureaucracy that is typical in Indian administrative system, would never allow a person of this amazing calibre to stay in his chair for a long time. The level of command and steadfastness he showed, must had taken the sleep away and raised eyebrows of several key persons in the oil ministry, as evidenced from his unceremonious exit. Raha's is a glaring example to show this to our people. Whatever it is, we have to live with this system. But what he achieved in his short span of five years in ONGC, is awesome and should be a lesson to learn for our existing CEO's of PSU's! It can only be compared to what Dhirubhai achieved in his life time for his own indistries. Raha was gifted administrator, high level mastermind for financial system and management, and also a connoisseuer in literature and music. Many became his enemies and prayed for his exit at the earliest but I am sure, today, they will surely think that they were absolutely wrong.
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