Kochar: a multifaceted man

Rajendra Bora

JAIPUR. With the passing away of K. L. Kochar on Tuesday a multifaceted personality has gone into history. Every one called him ‘Kochar Saheb’. He represented the generation who valued personal relationship more than anything else. He knew how to win friends without imposing his will on others, the trait which ranks him one of the finest press advisors of any public figure in the country. He served doyen of Rajasthan politics Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as his press advisor thrice – twice during his chief ministrial tenure as once when Shekhawat occupied Vice-President’s office.

Kochar conducted his duty as press advisor with dignity never making effort to sell a story to media by allurement or pressure. He knew what media person wanted more than anything else was ‘news’ and he was always there to help anyone get exclusive stories without interfering in the angle the concerned media person was taking. That is why his chamber was always remained crowded with journalists. As Press Advisor he demarcated his limits. Since he was serving as a government official in that capacity he confined himself only with the official functioning of his boss and never dabbled in party politics of his master. Shekhawat too did not expect him to do his political press briefings. There was a unique untold understanding between Shekhawat and Kochar which only grew stronger with time. Shekhawat was at his bedside when Kochar breated his last.

Before joining as Press Advisor to the Chief Minister in August 1991 Kochar served extraordinarily as a bureaucrat leaving his indelible mark. Born on June 1 in 1931 in Bikaner did his higher education in Kolkata and was selected in Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) in 1956. He served all the chief ministers since Mohan Lal Sukhadia till Shekhawat with distinction.

Kochar was a multi faceted personality. He was fine administrator, a committed socialist, a writer and a poet. Fifties of the last century was the period when the youth of the country were bubbling with socialistic fervor. Young Kochar was no exception. In Kolkata he met firebrand socialist Ram Manohar Lohiya which only helped him in strengthening his convictions. Lohiya too was so impressed by the boy that he prompted him to write regularly. And writing became his hobby. Brij Bhushan Sharma of ‘Seema Sandesh’ recalls that when his father Kamal Nayan Sharma launched his weekly paper in 1951 dashahra day in Ganganagar Kochar Saheb wrote its first editorial.

Kochar was promoted to Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1977 and was made Collector of Tonk. During his first assignment of heading a district as IAS he showed his brilliance by taking up the cause of conserving literary treasure of Arabic, Persian and Urdu from 5th century of Hijra onward at the Arabic and Persian Research centre. The journey of an indiscreet centre to a major internationally known study centre was made possible by Kochar’s early efforts. He was see that every journalist visiting Tonk must visit the Sunehri Koti (Golden Bungalow) having stunningly rich ornamental interiors where the Persian institute was then located and write something on the rich heritage.

Bagru town, that achieved international fame by its product ‘Bagru Print’ owes its glory to Kochar who as Managing Director of Rajasthan Small Scale Industries Corporation (RAJSICO) made the skill of textile printing of local artisans into a lucrative commercial proposition. In association with Sitaram Jhalani, a scribe and the then Sarpanch of Bagru Panchayat and later first Chairman of Bagru Municipality, Kochar’s helped in making a commercial turnaround of Cheepa community of textile printers and also of the town.
His PR skill was noticed when he was appointed as Director, Public Relations. After his retirement in 1989 as a member of Revenue Board he was picked up by the then Chief Minister Shekhawat as his Press Advisor with status of a secretary in the Government in 1991. When Shekhawat returned as chief minister in 1993 he again opted for Kochar. The former bureaucrat was the natural choice of Shekhawat as Press Advisor in Vice-President’s office in Delhi when he was elected to the august office in 2002.

When not assisting Shekhawat in his official capacity Kochar persued other interests like working as a visiting fellow in Institute of Development Study (IDS), Jaipur. He worked for ‘Hunger Project’ too in IDS and also as a coordinator for the IDS project for improving entrepreneurial skills of agriculturists in Bikaner district.

During this period he wrote an authentic history of making of democratic Rajasthan – From Feudalism to Democracy. He also wrote extensively on the debates in Rajasthan Assembly for gaining constitutional status for Rajasthani language. He spilled out his sensitive heart in verse too writing poetry.

Men and officers like Kochar have now become a rare breed. He will always be remembered as a good human being and an efficient officer.

(The obit appeared on page one of Hindustan Times -Jaipur Live- on March 13,2009)