Man of Ideas

NC Saxena, who never shied away from calling a spade a spade, is arguably the only civil servant who has done over 100 research papers on governance,forestry, fiscal policy, poverty, nutrition, rural development and minorities.

- Narendra Kaushik

THANKS to his height, Naresh Chandra Saxena, born in Bareilly, got a head start in school. When his father, Krishan Swaroop Saxena, a Class III State government employee, took Naresh for admission in a school, a primary teacher asked him to solve some simple math puzzles. “I was six year old. The teacher asked me to do some sums, which I did successfully. Then looking at my height, he told me to go and sit in class five,” Saxena (75 and about 6 feet 3 inches tall) recalls, disclosing how he never had to do first four primary classes.

Owing to the skip, he did his first masters in physics from Allahabad University when he was still in his teens. Since he was not yet eligible for either appearing in an exam or applying for a job, he utilised the time for doing a second masters (in mathematics).

Saxena’s first inclination was to get into academics. Therefore, he started teaching in the university. However, he did not quite like the atmosphere. He says there was rampant ‘groupism’, ‘casteism’ and ‘dirty politics’ in teaching. Dejected with this, he appeared in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 1963. He says his English and General Knowledge were poor and interview did not go off that well.

On April 4, 1964, the day the UPSC result was to be announced, he went to a theatre in Allahabad to watch an English comedy, Knock on Wood. When he returned from the movie, his senior in the neighborhood, RS Gupta, called him to his house and told him to touch his feet. He told him that he had topped in the IAS examination at all India level and his name had been announced on All India Radio (in those days names of top ten of the civil services examination were announced on the radio). He visited office of Amrit Bazar Patrika, a local newspaper, to confirm the news.