Vajpayee recalls his close bond with Ashok Saikia >From Our Spl Correspondent NEW DELHI, Jan 14 Former Prime Ministe Atal Behari Vajpayee has mourned the passing away of his most trusted aide, Ashok Saikia, describing him as one of the most outstanding officers and a close family friend.
At a prayer meeting held at Chinmaya Mission here yesterday, Saikias family members, friends and colleagues gathered to pay glowing tributes to the late bureaucrat. The prayer meeting, presided over by former BJP minister Vijay Goel, was attended by Saikias wife Ranjana Saikia, his two sons Anshuman and Aditya besides his daughter-in-law, Aarti and other close family members. In a message, read out by Goel, the former Prime Minister grieved Saikias untimely death. Vajpayee recalled his close bond with Ashok. When I met him little did I realise that relation with this 18-year-old lad from Assam would grow into close family tie, the message read. The message also contained a poem composed by him. If Vajpayees message was emotional, his foster daughter Namita was inconsolable. Recalling her association with Saikia since she was four years old, she said, it started with a fight because he had taken away her tri-cycle. This fight continued until he passed away on December 30, said a teary-eyed Namita, paying him a rich tribute. Vajpayees family members including his daughter and son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya were personally coordinating the prayer meeting, receiving the guests at the gate. Present on the occasion were top political leaders, senior bureaucrats, lawyers, editors and journalists including former minister Arun Jetley, Arun Shourie, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, TKA Nair, Nobel Laureate RK Pachouri, former home secretary, VK Duggal, many retired and serving officers of Assam Cadre. Also those who attended the prayer meeting included Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, Shekhar Gupta, Prabhu Chawla of India Today Group, columnist Coomi Kapoor, among others. Saikia was described as one of the most able bureaucrats with a great sense of humour. His batch-mate Amitabh Pandey recalled their early years at the IAS academy. His colleagues reminisced his role in the aftermath of the super-cyclone in Orissa, how, as a joint secretary in the PMO, he had flown down to the state to personally take stock of the situation. Once in Orissa he shunned all formalities and reached the affected areas with the help of an NGO. Saikias handling of the relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of the Kutch earthquake has become a country model for disaster management, his colleagues recalled. Mrinal Singh Raja <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi, Please read the below 2 links to get an idea about Ashok Saikia. http://www.indianexpress.com/story/255943.html http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=dec3107/at04 Regards Mrinal ----- Original Message ---- From: ranjuhussein <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, 3 January, 2008 3:05:49 AM Subject: [asom] Re: Ashok Saikia no more Sir, Can you tell what he did that other Assamese IAS should follow? Sorry I am ignorant! Ranju Hussein --- "Himendra Thakur" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: This is a shocking news. It is a great blow to the cause of the Assamese. I hope younger Assamese IAS Officers will come forward to take up the cudgels for the cause of the Assamese ---- that will be the best tribute to Ashok Saikia. Let us pray for the Peace of the Departed Soul. Let us --- his family and friends--- pray for strength to withstand the shock. With love to everybody, Himendra
