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A humane adminstrator

The man has always remained bigger than the office he held

SMILE REGISTER M. Gopalakrishna Reddy

"I may not have done much for Andhra University as its Vice-Chancellor," said K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar while laying down the office midway through his term, "but I have given to the university a Registrar on whose dotted line any Vice-Chancellor can sign without hesitation."

The reluctant Deputy Registrar, 33-year-old Maddi Gopalakrishna Reddy was persuaded by Prof. Iyengar to accept the high responsibility on the sudden death of the then Resitrar, P.V.V. Seshagiri, giving a copy of the book written by S.R. Dongerkery, the famous Registrar of Bombay University. Prof. Iyengar asked the Deputy Registrar to go through the book and make up his mind. Little did Gopalakrishna Reddy imagine then that he would overtake two great Registrars, K.V. Gopalaswamy who was AU's Registrar for 21 years and S.R. Dongerkery who held the office for 23 years.

For 24 years Gopalakrishna Reddy was the Registrar of AU before becoming its Vice-Chancellor in 1991.

In AU's long and glorious history, the 1960s were the most turbulent years. V.S. Krishna, a worthy successor to C.R. Reddy and S. Radhakrishnan, left for Delhi as University Grans Commission Chairman after rendering yeomen service for 11 years as AU V-C. Prof. Gopalaswamy, a towering personality who held the office for over two decades and enriched the cultural and intellectual activities on the campus in many ways, vacated the office on superannuation in 1963.

The State Government ordered a judicial inquiry into the affairs of the University, following allegations against its administration. Prof. Iyengar did not choose to stay in office for the full term of three years. It was during that critical period that the soft-spoken Gopalakrishna Reddy played a major role in bringing stability to the university adminstration.

Three distinct advantages Dr. Reddy had when he embarked on his long and distinguished career as educational administrator. First his father M. Pattabhirami Reddy was a leading lawyer who became Visakhapatnam Municipal Chairman and was admired for his uprightness and abilities as civic chief. Pattabhi Reddy, Tenneti Viswanatham and A.V. Bhanoji Row, all the three became Municipal Chairmen and brought dignity to public life with their adherence to values. Despite political differences they never indulged in vituperative language and personal attacks in debates. Vizag's political culture, thanks to such leaders, has always remained different and dignified.

Dr. Gopalakrishna Reddy made a mark as a student leader and debator and like his close friend D.V. Subba Rao, he became president of the University Law Society. Thirdly, Dr. Reddy obtained both the law degree and master's in economics and became a lecturer in the prestigious Department of Economics. He impressed his teacher and Head of the Department B. Sarveswara Rao and other seniors with his abilities as a teacher and researcher. Eight years later, when he joined the administration, it was a definite loss to the Department of Economics but a distinct gain to AU at large.

Lankepalli Bullayya and M.R. Appa Row, who both served AU for two terms each as V-C, found in Dr. Reddy an able Registrar who would help immensely in the process of democratisation of the adminstration and expansion of the intellecutal and cultural base of the AU. Astute crisis-manager he was, Dr. Reddy built bridges of understanding and cooperation between the students, teachers, non-teachig staff and the authorities. With amazing patience and persuasive skill he sorted out problems of different types - demands of students, requests for quota in professional and other courses for the children of staff, increase in wages and filling up of posts. At times, he quietly bore the taunts and insults of the bureaucrats and political leaders in the State capital and at Executive Council meetings. That he never sought a seat for his children under the staff quota - his son studied engineering in neighbouring Karnataka - was just one instance to show how he upheld the high ideal of not using public office for private gain. As Registrar and V-C he, however, faced criticism in some quarters for being `over-generous and soft' towards the campus community.

New courses were initiated by him as V-C in bio-technology, environmental studies, criminal justice, nuclear research and extension services. MoUs were signed with some foreign universities for collaboration in academic programmes.

He was honoured with the Master EK award in 1991, Madras Telugu Academy Award in 1992 and the C.R. Reddy Puraskar for excellence in higher education in 1996. He is currently president of Gandhi Centre and a member of several service organisations.

"The teacher's first interest must be the care of the student, and colleges and universities exist primarily for the students," he says explaining his philosophy of educational adminstration. "Policing should not be the main function of the university adminstration and with thorough persuasion and leadership one can promote discipline and quality education," he feels.

That a number of students, teachers and non-teaching staff accost him with warmth and respect whenever he goes to the campus or a college in the area, bears testimony to the qualities of his head and heart, even seven years after he vacated the office. The man has always remained bigger than the office he held.

A. Prasanna Kumar

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