Monday, March 09, 2015

Secretary Anup K Pujari calls up every employee of his ministry on the day of retirement; find out why


IN THE last two days of every month, this GoI secretary and 1980 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer does something unusual! Amid his busy schedule, he would pick up the phone and call each and every employee of his ministry retiring on that month (A government employee retires on the last day of the month even if she turns 60 years any day between the 2nd and the last day of the month). But, why does this bureaucrat call up the retiring lot? What does he ask them? Meet union secretary of mines Dr Anup K Pujari. Towards the end of the month, he first gets a…
list of retiring employees prepared. The list includes everyone, from official to peon, belonging not just to the ministry but to those PSUs that come under the administrative control of his ministry. As BoI has learnt, Pujari will invite the retiring staff to his cabin if they are located in Delhi and ask them whether there is any problem in getting the post-retirement benefits such as leave encashment, provident funds etc., apart from giving them the best of luck for their new innings. He would ask them their future plan, and ask about their children and their jobs. He would ask whether the retired babu would actually go back to his village, say in Bihar, Odisha or Tamil Nadu after serving the Central government for 35 to 40 years. Or, is the person planning to settle in Delhi instead?
If the retired person is located outside Delhi, Pujari will call up that person, give his best wishes and ask his basic questions. For peons, drivers, and other low-rung sarkari employees, getting a phone call from the union secretary, that too on the day of retirement, is no less than any monetary bonus. And if the retiring person faces any problem in getting the post-retirement benefits, Pujari does intervene with the concerned division and get that done, according to those who have witnessed this phenomenon.
Those who know Pujari point out yet another peculiarity of this senior bureaucrat --- his austere life style which is somewhat extreme (or bizarre?). “In summer, he does not use air conditioner in office and switches it on only when he realizes his guests are finding it uncomfortable. He asks his office driver to take the shortage possible route from his residence to office and insists that the driver switches off the engine at the red lights. If he needs to come to office on a holiday, he makes it a point to drive his scooter instead,” BoI wrote in an earlier article when Pujari was still in the ministry of commerce and industry serving as Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
Earlier, he had worked in Election Commission, and also served as a joint secretary in the department of economic affairs under the ministry of finance.
A post-graduate from the University of Boston, Pujari is a doctorate in economics. He used to teach in Harvard University taking sabbaticals from the government. Pujari is also an LLB, and holds another post-graduate degree on defence studies.

13 comments:

  1. Hats off. Probably the old genre of ICS officers or his own parents may have influenced him . Or must have read the book, 'The Men Who Ruled India'. Anyway it is comforting to know that belief in leading a spartan way of life has value.

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  2. Agreed, Pujari is an exception. And as the writer says, an "extreme". But, there are more. About 10 of bureaucrats, particularly at the apex level are honest.

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  3. He is a great man. I remember I worked with him for 2 days when his staff was on leave. He is a fantastic officer. He is used to switch off lights when he left the office and never wasted a single white paper. 1000 hats is not enough..

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  4. Can you believe it.One sadistic IAS officer called P V jaikrishnan while functioning as EO stopped mr pujari from giving guest lectures in Boston on the ground that he must be getting huge honorariums.Incidentally the same Jaikrishnan 1965 batch UT cadre sticks to post retirement lucrative assignment for last15 years or more.

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  5. It is good to know,that people,who has worked only two days with Dr.Pujari, can write such nice words about him. He is great soul.

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  6. He was DGFT for 4 years (2010 - 2014). There are many things DGFT did when he headed it. For the exporters, the single most important initiative would be the E-BRC. (Electronic Transmission of Bank Realisation Certificate). This was a boon. It removed inefficiencies and helped all stake holders. What is more, it was designed and impelemented in-house by DGFT.

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  7. Pujari extreme attitude is very often boarders sadism, employees working under him inform he torment them .His intransigence and adamant attitude is injuries to the people, Nation and to himself as well. he has suffered with severe health problems due to internal tension.he is extremely exception ..

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  8. THINK OF INDIA WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF ALL IAS OFFICER START TAKING LEAVE AND GO FOR TEACHING IN UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA AND WESTERN UNIVERSITY.

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  9. 1.THINK OF INDIA WHY NOT PUJARI CHOSE TO TEACH IN INDIA UNVERSITY AS HE HAS DRAWN SALARY FROM INDIA
    2.PUJARI NEED TO CLARIFY WHETHER HE WAS DRAWING SALARY FROM BOSTON UNIVERSITY FOR TEACHING ASIGNMENTS. AND ALSO FROM THE INDIAN GOVERMENT DURING THE SAME PERIOD.

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    Replies
    1. Dear reader, you should target those bureaucrats who indulge in massive corruption and not someone like mr Pujari who is known for his impeccable integrity

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  10. Integrity should be in all actions. Not only in Financial action but in Administration action as well. Employees working with Shri Pujari thinks he is right and justify it to the Point of manipulating Administrative matters. Heats down to Pujari.

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  11. I agree with the comments integrity should be in all actions.If administrative actions of Mr Pujari smack of manipulations then he falls short of impeccable integrity and is not above board.
    Deepak kulkarni

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  12. Pujari is a split personality Pujari should overcome his shortcomings

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