Creativity among bureaucrats isnt as rare a phenomenon as one would believe "" sometimes the creative bug survives the daily drudgery of pushing files. Some, like Upamanyu Chatterji churn out bestselling novels, while others come up with innovative measures in administrative functioning. One among this breed is Balmiki Prasad Singh, currently secretary in the department of culture. Singh is probably as well-known for his academic virtuosity as his administrative skills.Now, he is all set to bring out his fourth book:Indias Culture: The State of Arts and Beyond, to be published by Oxford University Press (OUP). His earlier book on the North-East, The Problem of Change (OUP, 1990), remains the authoritative work on the region, and has been widely quoted in academic journals and research papers.
But this 1964 batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer hasnt exactly been having a holiday from work "" he is the man in charge of organising the official celebrations for the fifty years of independence. And in the recent past, the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow and Queen Elizabeth Fellow at Oxford was also responsible for setting up the National Culture Fund, hoping to give new direction to heritage preservation in the country.
Singh hails from Bihar, and along with an American, holds the Guinness record for becoming a (Patna) university lecturer when he was just 19. Singh has worked in various ministries, including defence and played a major role in the 1993 Bodoland accord during his tenure in the home ministry. But clearly, the academic-bureaucrat is more comfortable among books than files, and is keenly looking forward to retirement. India may be a developing country in economic terms, but it is an advanced country in terms of culture, he says.
