This is something never taught in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA). This is something every civil servant learns on the job – how to negotiate the thin line between following bosses’ commands and the rule book prescriptions. Some learn from other’s experiences while others learn it by facing the dilemma themselves.

The 1981-batch IAS officer of UP Cadre Anil Swarup after retiring as Union Secretary for School Education, has been mentoring young officers on such soft skills. A no-nonsense officer Mr Swarup faced myriad dilemma during his 38-years long career in the civil services. During this period, he served on almost all positions – from a SDM to Secretary in the Union Govt.

In this interview Mr Swarup has described few situations he faced during early part of his career where he was perplexed about the path to be trudged and how he negotiated it. The second part of this interview will be released soon..