Page 264 - Leadership in the Indian Army

became a much awaited event. Needless to say, after each visit, there was a
visible improvement in the amenities and living conditions of the
employees.

Prem achieved spectacular results by using unorthodox methods. Once, he
was visiting a power plant that was showing very low productivity. A little
bit of investigation showed that the drop in productivity was due to the
shortage of certain spare parts. The file containing the requisition had been
shuttling between various departments for six months. Bhagat was shocked.
He got hold of the file, and picking up a pencil, wrote ‘sanctioned’ and
signed his name below it. ‘Now get on with it,’ he said, not even bothering

to ask about the total amount involved. After going back to his office, he
issued instructions increasing the financial powers of the plant managers, so
that they would not have to refer to him for making urgent purchases. At
another power station, he found that some generators were not working, and
that replacements were expected to be shipped out from Japan. When Prem
asked how long it would take for the generators to arrive, he was given an

estimate of six months. ‘That is too much,’ he said. ‘Why can’t we fly them
down?’ His staff looked incredulous, and wondered how much it would
cost. ‘Much less than the losses we are incurring due to shortage of power,’
said Prem, and ordered that an aircraft be chartered to fly the generators to
India.
Soon after he took over as Chairman of DVC the union leaders came to
meet him. When they mentioned that the welfare of workers was one of

their main concerns, Prem told them that in the army, this was one of the
prime responsibilities of the officers, and that he would ensure that this was
emulated by DVC as well. The union, therefore, would not have much to
do. Sometime later, he was told that there was usually a strike before the
Puja holidays, with the workers demanding a bonus. Prem declared an 8 per
cent bonus on his own, several months before the Puja. The union leaders

were completely baffled, as Prem had pre-empted them and removed the
only grounds they had to go on a strike.
Unfortunately, Prem did not live long enough to savour his success at the
DVC, and died prematurely on 23 May 1975. On his return from a visit to
Delhi, he came down with a fever. He was taken to the military hospital,
where, his condition deteriorated. The cause of death was officially listed as
Kleibsella Pneumonia. However, his wife Mohini feels that it was more

likely due to a reaction caused by an injection of penicillin, to which Prem