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My first proper interaction with Mohammad Shafi Pandit took place in 1985 when he was posted as Secretary, Agriculture. It was Mr Dilawar Mir, Minister of Agriculture who had got him posted as Secretary vice my grand uncle Kh. M. Shamsuddin who was shifted to Rural Development to work with the Minister Sheikh Jabbar of Ganderbal. Sheikh Jabbar was one of the deserters from NC to topple Farooq Abdullah government in July 1984 and known for his unpredictable temperament. That Kh. Shamsuddin Saheb had to endure difficult days with the Minister is another story, more a mark of the uncertain political situation that Jammu and Kashmir was going through at that time.

Dilawar Mir had chosen Mohammad Shafi Pandit as Secretary, Agriculture Department because he had seen Shafi Saheb as a young SDM in Sopore many years back while he himself was still an upcoming politician. Post his SDM stint Shafi Saheb had built up an enviable reputation as a hard working, honest and intelligent officer and many people think that it was he who gave the idea of single line administration to Sheikh Saheb during one of his meetings at Doda in 1977 where Shafi Saheb was posted as DC. That Dilawar Mir had given Shafi Saheb a free hand to set things right in the department was revealed to me by him ( Dilawar Saheb) when I accompanied him as the local SDM (1985) during our travels in his constituency, Rafiabad.

After Governor rule was imposed in April 1986 post dismissal of G.M. Shah Government, Shafi Saheb was posted as Chairman Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) and Administrator Srinagar Municipality. This was a deliberate decision by Governor Jagmohan as he was very keen on city beautification and better urban governance. For the same reason, E.N. Murti was posted in similar position in Jammu, I was transferred from Sopore to be Director Local Bodies, Jammu and A.S. Sidhu as Director Local Bodies, Kashmir. I and Sidhu were recommended by the redoubtable Hamidullah Khan, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir who had then become the most important bureaucrat advisor to the Governor after the Chief Secretary.

Shafi Saheb worked hard and led well with his own style of soft spoken nudging, target setting and close monitoring. The Governor would frequently tour the city, issue orders on spot and expect Shafi Saheb and his team to implement. And surely, the orders were implemented, by and large. Jagmohan exited the state in mid 1990 in his second term as Governor, J&K in not so pleasant circumstances but the period of his first term in 1986 was remembered for long for well maintained city roads and lanes and drains and much improved sanitation in cities and towns across the state. Shafi Saheb was the ‘go to man’ for the Governor for Srinagar along with Hamidullah Khan, the then Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir and A.M.Watali, the then DIG, Kashmir, to achieve and earn the good reputation of a doer.

Shafi Saheb was later posted as Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir in 1987 by the newly elected Farooq Abdullah government after the March elections to give a new look to administration in Kashmir. I was DC Pulwama during this time and we gelled well. He was supportive with me but extremely busy in Srinagar giving his best shot to the city of his birth and growing up. In Srinagar, he initiated the samaj sudhar activism with like minded colleagues and eminent residents one of whom was Dr A.Q Allaqaband.

One of the major objectives of samaj sudhar was reduction of embarrassing excess of wazwan during marriages and guest control and thereby saving poor families from unaffordable competitive customs. The effort produced encouraging results with activists swooping and exposing the violators. I got married at the height of samaj sudhar activism in May 1988 and without any consideration of my new posting as DC, Doda, the activists visited our house at Mattan as well as my in laws at Srinagar only to find no violation.

Shafi Saheb created a stir by appealing to public in Srinagar to resist the unilateral and unreasonable hike in mutton prices and almost succeeded in bringing the ‘mutton on the hoof’ dealers (Kothdars) to their knees after over two months of public boycott of mutton dealers but for an invisible political hand that bailed out the dealers while excluding the Divisional Commissioner from the equation.

It was during these periods of success that Shafi Saheb was tempted to say (reportedly) with an element of pride that good administration does not always need ‘danda’, a reference to the style of functioning of one of his illustrious predecessors. So, when militancy erupted in late 1988 and 1989, certain elements started blaming, unfairly though, the style of administration, diversion from the hard core law and order ‘danda’ approach to the ‘activist’ approach and style of the Divisional Commissioner. Militancy had a complex pathology which defied most agencies and not just one civil administrator.

Shafi Saheb opted for central deputation after the militants attempted an attack on him and his guards at Pampore at his sister’s home. He had a narrow escape, thanks to timely intervention by the security forces in evacuating him. In Delhi, he earned very good reputation for his application and hard work and his many initiatives as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Welfare. His Minister Sitaram Kesari who later became Congress President had reportedly become very fond of this Kashmir officer and visited him in Srinagar at his residence when he (Kesari) visited Srinagar after Shafi saheb had returned from central deputation, if I recall correctly.

Shafi Saheb was posted as Finance Secretary after his return from central deputation in 1995 or 1996. The then Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar was very keen to hand him the reins of the Finance department and Shafi Saheb continued in the post even after change of government in November 2002. Most Finance department officials credit Shafi saheb with number of reforms in the functioning of the department, one of which was replacing payment of salaries in cash by transfer of salaries into bank accounts and some positive changes at the Treasuries. He was also responsible for many pro-employee changes.

As a serious attempt at, across the board, administrative reforms in the government, Shafi Saheb got a committee constituted under former Union Home Secretary Madhav Godbole which also had the young, promising economist from Kashmir Haseeb Drabu as a member. The Committee submitted a report with many recommendations which stayed high on agenda for implementation for some time till politics in administration relegated these to the background. Similarly, a committee for reforms in state public sector enterprises was constituted in 2003 under my chairmanship while Shafi Saheb was the ACS (Finance). The Committee submitted its recommendations many of which were later got implemented till another committee, Kundal Committee, was constituted.

In 2003, Shafi saheb lost out to one year senior Dr S.S.Billoeria to be the new Chief Secretary as CM Mufti Saheb seems to have preferred to have CS belonging to Jammu although Shafi Saheb had been informally assured by a few cabinet colleagues of the CM and important PDP leaders.

Shafi Saheb was never convinced about the reasons why he was ‘superseded’ by an officer who had only ‘technical seniority’ over him (Shafi Saheb) because Dr Billoeria had joined IAS in 1972 in comparison to Shafi Saheb having joined in 1969 but was given 1968 as the year of allotment on the basis of his previous army service thus making him senior to Shafi Saheb. The government later made Shafi Saheb Chairman, J&K Public Services Commission where he worked hard and with great distinction, as most people believe and accept. Dr Billoeria also did a great job as the Chief Secretary.

Post completion of his tenure as Chairman, J&K PSC, Shafi Saheb immersed himself in the work his wife Mrs Nighat Shafi Pandit was doing through her NGO, HELP Foundation. Shafi Saheb started the Ascent Group to coach civil services aspirants for the competitive examinations. As President, Central Government Pensioners Welfare Association (CGPWA), he has been instrumental in getting the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) dispensary opened in Srinagar and in the implementation of cashless treatment facility in Kashmir’s CGHS empaneled hospitals.

These are very big achievements for the pensioners. Again as Chairman of Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC), he has been leading the group in highlighting many public issues and problems and inviting government’s attention. Only a month back we in the GCC undertook the Srinagar city tour to see traffic bottlenecks, smart city project works, solid waste management and water bodies. It is now inconceivable to think that he continued tireless with the touring group for the entire duration and did not even once complain of discomfort or a desire to leave the tour mid way. As if he had some premonition, he insisted on all touring GCC members to have lunch at the end of the tour at Amarsingh Club, hosted and paid for by him.

I have no words to express my personal grief on his sudden passing away. It will take many more pages to describe all his qualities of head and heart. He had enormous capacity for public service and would never tire of doing good to the extent he could. A man of uncommon intelligence and sympathetic disposition towards all irrespective of religion or region, notwithstanding his abiding love for Kashmir. He commanded equal respect among all communities in Kashmir.

 (Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, Vice Chairman GCC since 2022, is a retired IAS officer of the erstwhile J&K cadre and a former Advisor to the Governor.)