An evening with Mr KJ Alphons
Introduction
On Friday, March 14, 2025, we had an extraordinary session by former IAS officer and Union Minister, Mr KJ Alphons. He shared highlights of his illustrious career and his inspiring story of how he grew up from an average child who struggled in school into a high performing public servant.
About Mr KJ Alphons
Mr K.J. Alphons belongs to the 1979 batch of the Indian Administrative Service. He rose to national prominence as an effective administrator and anti-corruption crusader. He was Commissioner of the Delhi Development Authority and a pioneer of the literacy movement in India. The mass contact programme he started as District Collector won the highest UN award for innovation in governance.
In 2006 Mr Alphons left the civil service and joined politics. During his tenure as tourism minister, India ranked third in global tourism. He was also Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology.
As a young boy, Mr K.J. Alphons was an unlikely candidate for success. He grew up in a village with no electricity. Although the son of a schoolteacher, he scored only 42% in the board examinations. But he went on to become one of the toppers of the civil services examination and featured on Time magazine's list of 100 young global leaders, becoming an MLA, MP and Union minister.
Positions and achievements
Mr Alphons has held various important positions:- Minister of State for Tourism (Independent charge) & Minister of State for IT and Electronics, India, 2017-19
- Member of Parliament, India, 2017-2022
- Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly, 2006-2011
- Indian Administrative Service, 1979-2006.
- Member, Indian Council of Arbitration
- Advocate, Supreme Court of India
- Featured in TIME Magazine’s list of 100 young global leaders, 1994
- Best District collector award for three years, 1988-1990
- Best MLA award, 2010
- Author of two best-selling books
- Demolished 14310 illegal buildings in Delhi, as commissioner Delhi Development Authority
- An inspirational orator, having spoken to over 4 million people.
The winning formula
Mr Alphons began with a reference to his book, the Winning Formula. He clarified that winning is not about competing with anyone. It is about winning against our own fears and apprehensions. Ultimately, winning is about motivation and having faith in oneself.
In the book, Mr Alphons along with anecdotes from his life, narrates 52 stories, about people who have achieved extraordinary things in their own way. The book is a must read for all young people about to start their career. Mr Alphons mentions in his preface that anyone can excel in life: “You might think that I am exceptional. I am writing this book to tell you that I am not. Yes, I have done things others considered impossible. Whatever I have done with my life, you can do it better than I did. A lot of people don’t believe in their abilities. You just have to believe in yourself and your destiny. Dream the big dream.”
The early days
When his Class 10 exams were approaching, the school principal told the young Alphons that he would not be allowed to write the exam. He had no chance of passing. The principal did not want to spoil the reputation of his school. He suggested that Alphons should study for one more year and then appear for the exam. This was not acceptable to the young boy. Somehow, he managed to sneak in his application through the clerk. He managed to pass the exam with 42%. Everyone thought it was a miracle and there was great celebration at home.
It was then that the young Alphons decided that he was intelligent and talented and would work hard to prove himself. Books became his best friend. He realized that lack of English proficiency was a major handicap. He frequently referred to the Oxford dictionary to learn new words and form sentences. After developing a reasonable vocabulary, he started reading English classics such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austin, Leo Tolstoy and Pablo Neruda. Wherever he found an interesting paragraph, he would try to rewrite it in his own words. He covered the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica in about 3 years.
Mr Alphons also took part in sports, debate, dramatics and the college choir. He joined a BBC speaking course to learn to speak English in a globally acceptable way. Initially when he started taking part in debates, people threw paper rockets (and even shoes) at him. But he did not give up. He kept improving and went on to become the best national debater for 3 years.
Preparing for the IAS
After college, Mr Alphons had to decide what to do next. He knew that as an IAS officer, he would have the power to bring happiness to the lives of many people. He joined a small IAS coaching centre on Pusa Road in New Delhi. He wrote in his diary that he would qualify for the IAS and be a topper.
Mr Alphons had just 9 months to prepare for the IAS exam. The subjects he chose were new: sociology, history and philosophy. He prepared a detailed timetable so that he would finish the syllabus in 6 months and revise for the next 3 months. The entire syllabus and study hours were captured in the timetable (along with all the breaks) so that the preparation was comprehensive. He took brief notes of only the key words.
Mr Alphons decided that he would not study for more than 8 hours per day and a particular subject for more than 2 hours at a stretch. He continued to watch movies and hang out with his friends.
Mr Alphons topped the written exam. But he did not do so well in the interview mainly because he spoke out against the then government polices like prohibition. (The lesson he learnt was that there are times when we must be diplomatic.) However, he qualified for the IAS and was one of the toppers. He joined the Kerala cadre.
Mr Alphons’ key learning: A prerequisite for success is a big dream. Plan in detail how to get there. Follow the plan. Put your heart and soul into it.
Baptism by fire
Mr Alphons was posted as sub collector in Munnar. There he had a baptism by fire. The famous politician and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MGR threatened to land in Tamil Nadu and take over the famous Mangaladevi temple on the other side of the border with Kerala. When Mr Alphons threatened to arrest him, MGR backed off.
District Collector, Kottayam (1988-1991): Getting people involved
Then Mr Alphons was posted in Kottayam. He won the best District Collector award for 3 years. Under his watch, Kottayam became the first district to achieve 100% literacy. He also set up a cancer hospital supported by crowdfunding.
The Kottayam literacy campaign was conceptualised by the National Service Scheme (NSS) of Mahatma Gandhi University, under the leadership of the Vice Chancellor, Mr U.R. Ananthamurthy. Mr Alphons came into the picture when the Vice Chancellor realised that the best person to lead a project of this magnitude would be the district collector.
A detailed survey was conducted by the NSS volunteers of the University. They visited every house, talked to every family member, to make sure that every illiterate person was identified. Once they had the figures, they got down to planning how to go about it. The public and the important stakeholders were involved in the campaign. There was also support from the press. On 12 June 1989, Kottayam town was declared as the first 100 % literate town in India.
DDA Commissioner
Mr Alphons was working in the Civil Supplies Department in Kerala. All of a sudden, even though he had not asked for a deputation, he was transferred to the Delhi Development Authority in December 1991. This sudden transfer was probably the result of his differences with the then Government of Kerala.
As DDA commissioner, his job was to protect the DDA land from encroachment. DDA owned some 100,000 acres of land in Delhi. But no one had a clue about how much land was being utilized and how much was being encroached upon. Soon he found out that some 1000 acres had been encroached upon. The top 10 culprits were politicians.
Mr Alphons decided to strike at the biggest criminal first and demolish his large 200,000 square feet building. This politician had a track record of burning alive some 5000 people and had been the brain behind the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 after Mrs Gandhi’s assassination. Mr Alphons’ colleagues tried to dissuade him and told him that his life would be under threat.
But Mr Alphons did not back down. Once he had made up his mind, Mr Alphons and his team got down to detailed planning. They had to consider the number of bulldozers required, the number of policemen, possibility of political resistance, physical resistance by the mafia, etc. The whole demolition plan was kept secret. Only 3 people in DDA knew what was going to happen. The demolition, when it happened was dramatic and looked like a military operation. For 36 hours, Mr Alphons remained on the spot, wearing a hat and carrying a gun, till the building was demolished. Mr Alphons was nicknamed the Demolition Man.
In all, Mr Alphons demolished 14310 illegal mansions. As a result, he became a target of hooligans. His wife would go to the market under police protection. Still, she was beaten up trying to clean garbage on the streets of Delhi during the plague outbreak in the mid-1990s. Mr Alphons’ children were kept under police protection.
The lesson: Never be afraid, however powerful the opponent may be. The most important organ we have is not the brain or the heart but the spine. We must stand up for what we believe in.
Secretary, Higher Education and Commissioner for Entrance Examinations.
When he returned to Kerala from Delhi, Mr Alphons was posted as Secretary, Higher Education and Commissioner for Entrance Examinations. The job was to conduct entrance examinations for medical and engineering colleges. It took 3 months to declare the results. And after the results were declared, there would be many court cases questioning the legality of the process.
Mr Alphons’ motivational tactics with his staff worked wonders. From a reputation for being the worst office in the world, Mr Alphons made it the best office in Trivandrum, then Kerala, then India and finally the world. All this in a matter of weeks. The team become charged and planned to bring out the results in 10 days. The results were published in 7 days.
Thanks to this success, the staff became more confident. The results of the entrance examination for the postgraduate course in medicine and surgery came out on the second day. Those of the entrance examination for super specialty in medicine and surgery were published on the same day.
The lesson. We can achieve miracles, if we dream big and share the dream with our team and work hard. Shared dreams lead to determination.
Election Commission observer
Mr Alphons was appointed as an observer in the Madhepura constituency in Bihar for the Parliamentary elections. This constituency had a notorious reputation. Rival political gangs were known to terrorise voters. The major candidates were Mr Laloo Yadav and Mr Sharad Yadav.
In the evening when the team of observers, was walking around, they found Ms Rabri Devi, chief minister and wife of Mr Laloo Yadav campaigning in a jeep without registration number. Though it was not a part of his official duty, Mr Alphons’ instinct told him to intervene. He informed Ms Rabri: ‘We are observers from the Election Commission of India. We are taking your vehicle into custody as it is not registered.’ She protested vehemently and did not leave the car: ‘I am the Chief Minister, and your Delhi rules won’t work here. Leave.’ However, to her credit, she did not instigate the crowd.
Following Mr Alphons’ intervention, the District Magistrate took the vehicle into custody and got a police driver to drive the vehicle to the SP’s office, with Ms Rabri sitting in the front seat, most uncomfortably. Finally, Ms Rabri Devi left. Mr Laloo Yadav was later very apologetic. He assured Mr Alphons that his party would not create any problems. Mr Sharad Yadav also gave a similar assurance the next day. After Mr Laloo won the elections, Ms Rabri Devi even invited Mr Alphons home for a meal.
This move, i.e. the decision to seize the vehicle was not preplanned. Sometimes, decisions must be made on the spot. If we show courage, people will back down. We will win most of the time.
Learning: We can do a great job even in the most dangerous circumstances. Understand the spirit of the task you are undertaking and don’t get stuck in the technicalities. You can redefine the job.
Managing Director, Kerala Milk Federation
As Managing Director of Kerala Milk Federation, Mr Alphons earned the trust of the consumer, when he announced that we would replace any damaged milk without any questions. Customers didn’t have to come back to the milk booth with the damaged milk. They just had to make a phone call. The Federation delivered the replacement at home within 10 minutes, with no questions asked. Sales took off like never before. Due to good employee relations, there were no strikes as well during the tenure of Mr Alphons.
Learning: Trust the citizen and they trust you. We must smile and make our stakeholders smile too.
The story of Mr PU Thomas
Mr Alphons narrated briefly the story of Mr PU Thomas, formerly a peon in the Kottayam Medical college. Despite his humble beginning and meagre resources, Mr Thomas has thought big. He has set up the Navajeevan Trust. He has so far rehabilitated more than 4,000 homeless people, with mental problems. For the past thirty years, Mr Thomas has been providing free breakfast, lunch and dinner to 7,500 persons every day.
Entering politics
Mr Alphons quit IAS at fifty-two and got elected to the Kerala State Legislative Assembly, as an independent candidate, thirty-two days later. He completely redefined what an MLA could be. He won the best MLA award and mobilised a large amount of funds (Rs 350 crores) for his constituency.
Mr Alphons quit the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2011 (though he could have become a minister if he had stayed on) and moved to Delhi to join national politics. When he joined the BJP, people felt it was a wrong move as the BJP had a low vote share in Kerala. He became a member of Parliament (MP) from Rajasthan. As an MP, he delivered hugely impactful speeches on the economy, education and healthcare. He became the Union Minister of Tourism, with independent charge, in 2017. (India was globally ranked third in tourism during his tenure.)
Mr Alphons retired from Parliament in 2022 and is now opening a new chapter in his life. He gives motivational talks at colleges. He is making people believe that they can do it. Mr Alphons also believes we can become a developed nation by 2047. The Prime Minister alone cannot do it. But if we all decide, we can do it.
Concluding remarks
As a public servant, Mr Alphons has believed in empowering himself and taking decisions. We should not be arrogant. Mr Alphons takes calls from anyone and meets everyone. Even as we remain humble, we can do dramatic things. It is unfortunate that some government servants with limited powers act so arrogantly.
Q&A
Mr Alphons believes that we live only once. We must make the most of life. We should try to do all that we want to do. It was easy to continue in the IAS and retire as Chief Secretary. But Mr Alphons wanted to do new things. He demonstrated that politics can be clean, and huge amounts of money need not be spent to win elections. His decision to join BJP (in a state where BJP has a very low vote share) was courageous. But he believed only Prime Minister Narendra Modi could take the country in a different direction. Ultimately, such moves are driven by courage, sacrifice and a degree of stupidity.
Mr Alphons’ advice to the youth is that they should not try to imitate their parents, teachers or neighbours. He has no regrets that his son is a painter.
Mr Alphons was disappointed once when he heard a brilliant girl, who had topped the exams, saying she would choose her career based on the wishes of her mother. Students must enter a field they are passionate about, where they can excel and make a difference. Careers should not be based on money. Money has many uses. But it should not be the end goal. It is the byproduct of excellence.
A winning formula is a combination of a good idea with a detailed implementation plan. Good ideas can come from everywhere. Consultation is important. We should tap into the collective wisdom of people.
Once Lakshmi, an 80-year-old woman visited him when he was district collector. She was unhappy that she had to come a long way changing three buses. When the collector was provided with a car, why could he not come to her village?
Such a statement would have irritated many collectors. But Mr Alphons took the criticism in the right spirit. He got the idea of the government going to the people. That is how the Mass Contact Programme was born in 1988. The idea originated from Lakshmi.
People could submit their petitions in advance. Petitioners were given token numbers, with their priority number and the exact time and place where they had to present themselves on the appointed day. Most of the petitions were responded to on the spot.
When he became Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy leveraged the concept to launch his Jana Samparka Paripadi. He became one of the most popular chief ministers of Kerala. The mass contact program no doubt played an important role in his popularity.
Mr Alphons has been generally successful in most of his endeavours. He believes that we should not glorify failures. We can learn from the failures of others and ensure the mistakes are not repeated. If we develop good ideas (Mr Alphons gets good ideas when he goes out for his daily morning 5 km jog.), consult people and go well prepared, we can get anything done.
Mr Alphons may be tough sounding. He has always been serious about his work. But he has also tried to be friendly with people. He believes a smile can work wonders.
IAS officers are intelligent. They make it through a very tough entrance exam. Their job is to bring dignity to the life of the common man. Why is it that many of them do not do a good job? It could be lack of intention or attitude. Unfortunately, in the training institute at Mussoorie, information is pumped in. Not enough is done to build the right attitude among the IAS officers.
Senior citizens should not feel left out. They can do a lot after retirement. They can teach in schools. They can plant trees. They can take care of stray animals. They can help keep the locality clean.
Give anyone to Mr Alphons. He can get the work done. He can make the dumbest people outstanding. He has never suspended anyone or issued a show cause notice. When people see our intentions and share our dream, they work hard and produce excellent outcomes. The best comes out of these people.
Most of our graduates are unemployable. They are neither clear about what to do or how to do. To reap the demographic dividend, we have to skill our youth. Mr Alphons was on the drafting committee of the NEP. The whole objective of NEP is to empower students with skills (rather than unnecessary theoretical knowledge) and allow the students to discover for themselves and dream for themselves. If we implement NEP seriously, we can solve the problem. But we don’t want to. The spirit of the NEP is not being taken to the classroom. We are happy being mediocre.
Ultimately, it is the teacher in the classroom who will inspire and mould the students. Teachers must imbibe the right spirit. We must recruit the right teachers and pay them. A teacher should be a happy person to spread happiness. So we should pay teachers well. Mr Alphons gave the example of a private university in Kerala which has spent Rs 500 crores on infrastructure. Yet it pays a salary of only Rs 25,000 to teachers.
Meanwhile, private universities have become money making machines. Some of them are owned or headed by people with criminal background. Of course, a few of them are doing good work.
Domain knowledge contributes only 10% of success. The meaning is due to attitude. We are not imparting the right attitude to students.
The parents of a two and a half year old boy were not treating their child as they belonged to a religious sect called Jehovah’s Witnesses. The doctor had advised blood transfusion. According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, blood transfusion was banned.
While there was no law, Mr Alphons wrote to the station house officer (SHO) of the police station: ‘Irrespective of the religious beliefs of the parents, this child has the right to live. Take the child into custody and get him treated at the Government Medical College, Kottayam.’ The police took the child into custody forcefully and took him to the Medical College. The doctors gave him blood transfusion and the child’s life was saved. There were court cases subsequently, but Mr Alphons’ decision was upheld.
Mr Alphons has never broken the law to help the rich. They can get justice in the normal course. But he has been prepared to break the law a million times to help the poor.
Learning: Do not throw the rule book on the hapless citizen. Interpret law to uphold human life and liberty.