The only woman Prime Minister this nation is privileged to have so far was the late Mrs Indira Gandhi. Although she was indeed wearing saris, this piece of episode does not relate to her in any way, but to the late Morarji Desai who succeeded her as the Prime Minister of India in the first Non-Congress Janata Party Government during 1977-79 period. The episode was narrated to me by R K Kaushik, Travel writer, during my interaction with him in Jalandhar in 2001 while I was in Punjab in my capacity as Regional Director of Tourism, Govt. of India in-charge of Northern Region and Member Secretary of the Hotel Classification Committee.
The Border Security Force (BSF) with headquarters at Jalandhar in Punjab celebrates its Raising Day every year on December 1, at which one of the high dignitaries such as the President, the Vice President or the Prime Minister is invited as the Chief Guest. The late Morarji Desai, the then Prime Minister, was accordingly invited on December 01, 1978. Two days prior, the then Principle Secretary to the PM, the late V Shanker, ICS (1931 batch) conveyed to Ashwani Kumar, the Director General of BSF about the dietary likings of Desai which included grapes of Chaman, near Quetta (Pakistan), Kabuli Anars and Cashew Nuts of Kandahar (Afghanistan) during breakfast, and pack of dry fruits of Peshawar (Pakistan) which he would consume after dinner along with a glass of milk.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
The BSF Officers made frantic search for these items in the markets. Some wise counsel then suggested to Ashwani Kumar why not request the Sector Commander of Pakistan Rangers for those items. Brigadier Dildar Rana the then Sector Commander was too obliging and promised to arrange the required eatables. The material was received in time and the visit of the PM passed off very well. On reaching the National Capital, V. Shankar conveyed to Ashwani Kumar that the Prime Minister was highly impressed with the excellent arrangements made for his visit, and, in particular, for the quality of eatables served.
After the VVIP visit, Ashwani Kumar thanked Brigadier Dildar Rana who refused to accept any payment for the eatables supplied. When inquired from the place where Ms Rana came from, Brigadier Rana disclosed that she hailed from Banaras. In order to reciprocate the generosity the BSF authorities gifted Banarasi saris to Ms Rana.
On the conclusion of the VVIP visit, the Chief Accounts Officer of BSF Jalandhar took steps to settle the accounts of the total expenditure incurred, in which the bill of 07 Banarasi Saris were also included. Some time later, a team of Officers from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) came for the audit of BSF Office. While doing the “post mortem” of the expenditure involved on PM’s visit, the audit team was surprised to find bill towards purchase of sarees also included. The Audit team was shocked as Morarji Desai was a widower, and how could sarees be presented to him? The audit team raised an audit objection under the caption “Prime Minister’s Saris”. The BSF Officers took pains to reveal the truth, and only after the audit party was convinced that the objection was finally dropped, and that too, after taking the CAG office in Delhi into confidence.
