Thiruvananthapuram: Former additional chief secretary David Babu Paul wore many hats with ease. But often in his speeches, he used to say in a lighter vein that his character resembles that of David.
After earning his civil engineering degree from College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, his first job was that of as a junior engineer. He obtained the seventh rank in All India level in the UPSC civil service exams.
His stellar career as a bureaucrat came to an end at the age of 59 when he took voluntary retirement. Even though all the chief ministers he worked under, C. Achutha Menon, K. Karunakaran and E. K. Nayanar, liked him, he felt he had never got plum posts as he noted in his service diary.
He had published two service dairies, Giri Parvam and Katha Ithuvare. Babu Paul recalled in them how he was looked down upon by the then revenue minister K. M. Mani thinking that he was more loyal to T. M. Jacob, though he had maintained rapport with all politicians across the spectrum.
He had held the government secretary posts in transport, tourism and finance. He also was the chairman of Travancore Titanium Products Ltd and also the managing director of KSRTC. During his tenure as culture secretary, he launched Swathi Award and Ezhuthachan Award.
It was when Babu Paul was the chairman of Cochin Port Trust he proposed the international container transhipment terminal nearby Vallarpadam. Post-retirement, he became a member of Ombudsman for local self-government institutions.
His most significant contribution was the completion of the Idukki hydel project during his role as the project director. His exemplary service was rewarded by the then Chief Minister C. Achutha Menon in 1971 with a special award of `10, 000.
He was peeved with his colleagues when they resorted to making notes in the Government files in English. It led him to write Malayalam only for more than a decade, several years before the state made it the official language.
He was serving as a member of the Kerala Infrastructure Investm-ent Fund Board at the time of his death.
During Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's time, he was expected to become a governor, which did not happen. But he always maintained that he is not opposed to any political parties. He wished Pri-me Minister Narendra Modi come back to power.
