Perfect Fit: GK Pillai

When the commerce secretary’s post fell vacant earlier this year, the government did not have to search hard to find a suitable candidate. Gopal K Pillai was the natural choice as he had established himself as the leading trade expert in Indian bureaucracy. In any case, the Kerala cadre IAS officer from the 1972 batch was being groomed for the key position, first in his role as additional secretary and then as special secretary in the department of commerce.

The special secretary’s post is no guarantee for promotion as commerce secretary and there are examples like NK Khanna and Nripendra Misra to illustrate that the government can will otherwise. In the case of Pillai, no amount of pressure could sway the decision as key decision-makers in the UPA government were clear on his taking over as the commerce secretary. After all, he was handling a number of key issues like the controversial special economic zone (SEZ) policy, which had won him many supporters.

Despite severe criticism from the Left and the finance ministry, the SEZ policy has been successfully defended to enact a special law and open a new chapter in the history of Indian exports.

It is not only trade where Pillai has established himself as a specialist. Earlier, he was known as a North-East expert in the home ministry. The lanky, soft-spoken officer was also principal secretary to the chief minister of Kerala when A K Antony — now defence minister — occupied the hot seat.

The strength of Pillai include his understanding of complex issues like World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, positive attitude towards India Inc’s concerns, straight handling of key issues and speedy decision-making. Part of the credit may go to his diversified experience in various departments like defence and surface transport at the Centre; and labour as well as health in Kerala.

In the commerce department, it is a case of been there, done it. Pillai has handled various assignments including additional charge of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) when the post fell vacant a couple of years ago. Of course, administration is nothing new to the Pillai family as Gopal’s wife Sudha is also an IAS officer, currently in the rank of secretary. When Pillai took over as commerce secretary, the joke among bureaucrats was that Sudha should be made revenue secretary to ensure a sureshot resolution of differences between the two wings of the government over issues like export sops and SEZs.

Though he is a Malayalee, Pillai studied in Bangalore (St Joseph’s College) and Chennai (IIT) before joining the IAS. While the southern background has added polish to his suave character, the veteran bureaucrat has won scores of friends in the North. In fact, it will be interesting to see whether he receives more greetings from his North Indian friends on his birthday, which happens to be today. We leave it to you to guess if this (the birthday) is just a coincidence or ET’s perfect timing.