Vishnu Sahay (22 November 1901 – 3 April 1989) was a former ICS officer and

Cabinet Secretary of India The Cabinet Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the Government of India. The Cabinet Secretary is the ''ex-officio'' head of the Civil Services Board, the Cabinet Secretariat, the Indian Administrativ ...

who served as

Governor of Assam This is a list of governors of Assam, and other offices of similar scope, from the start of British occupation of the area in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War. The Governor of Assam is a nominal head and representative of the President ...

and

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

following his retirement.

Early life and education

Sahay was the elder brother of Bhagawan Sahay, also an ICS officer and a former

Governor of Kerala The governor of Kerala is the constitutional head of state of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The governor is appointed by the president of India for a term of five years and holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is ''de j ...

and

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

. Vishnu Sahay studied at the SM College,

Chandausi Chandausi is a city and a municipal board in Sambhal district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The original name of the city was "Chanda Si", meaning "moon-like" (in Indian poetry the moon is considered to be beautiful). Actually, Chandaus ...

and at the

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. He was a member of the 1925 batch of the ICS, passing the exams on 16 October of that year. Somewhat unusually, he was never awarded any of the honours which a civilian of his long service would have normally received.

Civil servant

Sahay had a long and distinguished career in the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

. He served as Cane Commissioner of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and Sugar Controller for India, and as Secretary of Agriculture to the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in which post, impressed by the Kaira Cooperative, he helped

Verghese Kurien Verghese Kurien (26 November 1921 - 9 September 2012), known as the "Father of the White Revolution" in India, was a social entrepreneur whose "billion-litre idea", Operation Flood, made dairy farming India's largest self-sustaining industry a ...

Amul Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL) is an Indian dairy state government cooperative society, based in Anand, Gujarat. Formed in 1946, it is a cooperative brand managed by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which today i ...

get a scholarship to study dairying in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He also served as Secretary for Kashmir Affairs in the Ministry of External Affairs and was Cabinet Secretary of India twice during 1958- 1960 and during 1961- 1962.

Gubernatorial tenure

Sahay was a two time Governor of Assam serving from 12 November 1960 to 13 January 1961 and from 7 September 1962 to 17 April 1968. As Governor of Assam, Sahay signed the Ceasefire Agreement with the Naga insurgents in 1964. He was also the first Governor of Nagaland, holding that office from 1 December 1963 – 17 April 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahay, Vishnu Governors of Assam Governors of Nagaland Cabinet Secretaries of India Indian Civil Service (British India) officers People from Uttar Pradesh 1901 births 1989 deaths