CHENNAI : “Over the past few years, whenever I narrated my experiences in the civil service to my friends, they mooted me to write my biography. I was hesitant. But, at this age when the days are long, my constant companion is my memories. So I decided to record, acknowledge and narrate my eventful journey. This book is only an attempt to record facts from my service,” said retired IAS officer and former Chief Secretary P Sabanayagam during the release of his book, ‘Service to the Nation’ on Sunday. The event was curated by the retired IAS Officers Association.
Padmabhushan awardee and former Attorney General of India K Parasaran released the first copy of the book. He recalled that Sabanayagam had served under eminent leaders including former chief ministers C Rajagopalachari, K Kamaraj and M Karunanidhi.
In his presidential address, he said, “Sabanayagam has set an example to other officers as to how they should function even when they are in a higher position of government service. Today, honesty has just become a policy and not something that has to be followed.”
Former Governor of West Bengal, Gopal Krishna Gandhi and former Cabinet secretary & Deputy chairman planning commission, Kerala, KM Chandrasekar presided as the chief guests of the event. Gopal Krishna Gandhi shared some incident from Sabanayagam’s life, said, “It has been a rare privilege for me and my generation to have worked when Sabanayagam was the Chief Secretary of the state. He’s a miracle of our times.”