Sundar Burra: A ‘Giant’ of a Civil Servant

Sundar Burra, a former IAS officer and a member of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG) of former civil servants known for its “speaking truth to power” passed away at Delhi after a month-long illness. He was 75.

A graduate of Brandeis University’s 1971 undergraduate batch, Sundar’s tenure as a bureaucrat included a posting as secretary in the Maharashtra government. Having joined the IAS in 1974, Sundar also variously served as faculty in the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, a deputy secretary in the Union agriculture ministry and the director of a World Bank-funded project on slums and low-income shelter in Mumbai.

After prematurely retiring from the IAS in 1996, he was adviser to the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres NGO that works on “housing and infrastructure issues for the urban poor.”

A firm believer in democracy and pluralism

Sundar was a firm believer in democracy and pluralism, which underpinned a just, humane and compassionate society. He was one of the main driving forces behind the creation of the CCG, which comprises former civil servants from the All India and Central Services, who have a deep commitment to the values espoused by the Constitution of India.

The CCG has issued several letters and statements addressed to governments at the central and state levels and to citizens of India, highlighting violations of constitutional obligations and responsibilities by governments and independent institutions created to keep the executive in check. A number of conclaves and seminars were organised to make civil society aware of executive actions that infringed the rights and liberties of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

The CCG constituted a Citizens’ Committee, which gave a report on the role of the state in the 2020 Delhi riots. The Citizens Commission on Elections (CCE) has come out with two reports and published a book highlighting the flaws in the election system, especially the misuse of money power and the inadequacy of the EVMs in assuring citizens that their votes cast have been counted as recorded by them.

It was in CCE that we worked closely together as a team, Sundar as the Convener and myself as Co-Ordinator. CCE, the idea of which came from Sundar, was jointly constituted by CCG, People-First and Forum for Electoral Integrity in March, 2020 to delve deeper into the critical aspects concerning elections, call for expert depositions and come up with appropriate findings and suggestions to ensure that elections are conducted with fairness and integrity.

The CCE comprising of a former High Court Judge, eminent academics, senior journalists and a top technical expert was headed by Retired Supreme Court Justice Madan Lokur with Wajahat Habibullah as Vice Chair.

Six themes that have direct bearing on the integrity and fairness of elections were identified. These are:  Integrity and inclusiveness of the electoral rolls, electronic voting [EVM/VVPATs] and its compliance with democractic principles, criminalisation, money power and electoral bonds, scheduling and processes of elections and compliance of model code of conduct, role of media including social media, fake news, etc., and autonomy of ECI and its functioning before, during and after Elections.

Mentors prepared the Report based on depositions, RTI replies, published papers, articles and other relevant documents. An international panel of top experts had deposed on electronic voting and its harmful effects. Based on the depositions and analysis CCE came across severe flaws in all these areas before, during and after the Parliamentary Elections-2019. Reports on all these areas/themes were prepared and published in two Volumes in early 2021.

Subsequently in early 2022, these two reports with much more material on election management and state elections were published as a book titled “Electoral Democracy – An Inquiry into the Fairness and Integrity of Elections in India.”

‘A selfless and wonderful person in all respects’

For the first time these Reports and the Book exposed the deepening debilities – absence of vote auditing/verifiability, registration/turnout manipulation, electoral corruption, cash-for-votes, voter suppression, pursuing hate-agenda, violation of model code, serious irregularities in counting and declaration of results, denial of data etc. – of India’s electoral system that is heading towards multi-organ failure.

And Sundar Burra played a stellar role in making all these possible.

Justice Lokur remembers him thus: “He was such a selfless and wonderful person in all respects. I am glad to have been able to know and interact with him.”

In fact, the first meeting of CCE was held at the height of Covid pandemic at the residence of Sundar over dinner with Neera playing excellent hostess!

Sundar’s colleagues, peers and seniors point out one single attribute of his head and heart-compassion and his deep concern for the underprivileged and downtrodden in the community.

This is what Aditi Mehta, an activist in the CCG recalls: “Sundar was one of the most selfless persons I ever knew. And he was instinctively drawn to the causes of the most disadvantaged and cast out, from street dogs and neglected urban spaces to the political tinderbox of today’s majoritarian politics. He introduced me to the CCG and gently encouraged me to take an active role despite my being a non-resident Delhiite.”

‘His heart ached for the downtrodden’

Two tributes from my good friends and Sundar’s seniors in the Maharashtra cadre bear further testimony.

“I met Sundar very briefly in 1975 when I was working in Chief Minister’s Secretariat, and he along with other probationers of his batch was calling on all senior officers in Mantralya. All of them were bright youngsters, but what separated them from Sundar was their keenness to talk about themselves. Sundar was different. With a huge mop of somewhat unruly hair, he seemed to be least interested talking about himself and more keen to listen,” says P.R. Dasgupta, former Secretary to Government of India.

“His eyes were gentle, almost soothing…Later on, as I came to know him a little better, I realised that those gentle eyes were more of those of a humanist who could internalise more easily than others the miseries of those who were suffering.  He did his best to help them… His decision to leave “the heaven-born service” was perhaps with his realisation that he could serve his target groups better by being outside, which most certainly gave him better freedom than ever,” adds Dasgupta.

Probationers of the National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie when Sundar was Deputy Director remember him as a “fun loving and sharp person with a cool attitude to life and a puckish sense of humour.” According to them, he was a champion billiards player too and for those interested, he taught the nuances of the game. Typical of Sundar!

Also Read: India’s Civil Services: Has Cowardliness Become a Virtue?

“Sundar was a noble soul, very soft spoken and his heart ached for the downtrodden. After his voluntary retirement, he worked effectively for the slum dwellers in Mumbai. Though his father was in the ICS, Sundar was always down to earth, willing to listen and understand the issues involved, with a sharp mind. He also worked as Deputy Director in the Academy at Mussoorie and did his bit in moulding the minds of the young officers in the right direction!” remembers Ravi Budhiraja, former Chairman of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

To me, the greatest trait of Sundar was his humility and self-effacing nature. He has been the originator of several ideas and used to persist till they were carried through.

“Sundar was a steadfast, low-profile organiser – the type that holds the anchor of an organisation. He was totally dedicated to the cause and extremely persistent when it came to executing common decisions. I remember how he used to go after me twice a day for getting something that the cause needed… Without his constant reminders, and his gentle prodding, a lot of important but tasks essential to the common cause would never take place,” recalls Jawhar Sircar, former civil servant and Member of Parliament.

And the beauty of it all was that Sundar neither bragged nor took credit for anything!

In this he was a true follower of Jesus Christ: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven… So, when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full… But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

I am sanguine that the “Father in heaven” has seen what Sundar has been doing in secret and would reward this ‘Giant’ of a civil servant a place in paradise!