U. Sagayam

Career Sagayam joined the Central Secretariat Service in 1989 in 2001 batch.

In year 2020, he applied for voluntary resignation from IAS, two years before his natural retirement/superannuation. In 2021, Government of Tamil Nadu accepted his resignation.

In 1991, he started his career in Tamil Nadu as Tamil Nadu Civil Service officer, as a sub-divisional magistrate in the district of Ootacamund. In Ooty, Sagayam became embroiled in a dispute with the District Collector, whom he accused of favouritism toward the operators of large tea estates. Sagayam was relieved of his charges and transferred to another.

In 2004, Sagayam, now working as deputy commissioner of civil supplies in Chennai, discovered that subsidized gas cylinders intended for domestic use were being illegally used by restaurants. He confiscated 5000 such cylinders.

In Namakkal, Sagayam attempted to reform the village administrative officer (VAO) system. He pursued VAOs who lived in cities, far away from the villages that they were charged with overseeing. When VAOs and local politicians attempted to have Sagayam transferred, over 5000 villagers protested the transfer attempt, forcing its withdrawal.

In September 2011, Sagayam again found himself opposed to Alagiri. In constructing a family-owned engineering college near Madurai, Alagiri and family members had purportedly destroyed irrigation canals used by hundreds of impecunious farmers. Sagayam issued a "strongly worded summons" to Alagari and his wife and son, forcing him to come before a court and explain why action should not be taken against them.

Although the granite-quarrying investigation had languished after Sagayam's transfer, the issue did not die. Sagayam's report was leaked to the press in August 2012, prompting a public outcry that compelled the government to pursue the matter. Under Anshul Mishra, Sagayam's successor as district collector, a number of arrests were made in January 2013; Several officials, including two former Madurai district collectors, were investigated for alleged collusion with illegal granite operations. However, in June 2013, Mishra was transferred, and the investigation again lost all momentum.

In July 2014, as a citizen activist filed a petition with the Madras High Court, seeking to rekindle the inquiry. In response, the court appointed Sagayam to the post of Special Officer-cum-Legal Commissioner, charged with the task of investigating all mining operations in Tamil Nadu, and ordered the state government to relieve him of the Science City post. The government attempted to contest the order, maintaining that the investigation was concluded; the court rejected their arguments and, in November 2014, Sagayam was duly appointed. It was suggested, however, that the state government might attempt to limit his investigation to granite operations in the Madurai area, keeping him from looking into sand mining on the beaches and along the rivers of the state.