OBITUARY: 1998 batch IPS Praveen Kumar who fought many a battle against the Naxals lost one to cancer

AS Ranchi SSP, this 1998 batch Jharkhand cadre IPS, Praveen Kumar, bravely fought against the Naxal menace, gunning down many and forcing others to surrender. On Sunday, this IPS officer and DIG in National Investigating Agency (NIA) lost a crucial battle; his opponent this time was not the Maoists, but cancer. He was 46. After his death in New Delhi on Sunday, his mortal remains were flown to…

IAS As Newsmakers: For cleaning toilets and having dinner with taxpayers’ money

DURING the last few days, there were a number of media reports, analysis and even edit page opinion pieces on how Faridabad deputy commissioner Praveen Kumar, an IAS officer, cleaned the toilet of a school situated in Old Faridabad of Haryana.

When 51-year-old officer was told that there was no sweeper available in the school, he went home, brought a bucket and broom, and cleaned the toilet in 20 minutes. All including students and teachers were shocked. A national newspaper wrote in its edit page: “What the IAS officer did is a good example of how a few, committed bureaucrats keep intact this great but rapidly corroding steel frame of the nation”. For the record, Indian bureaucracy at times is referred as steel frame of the nation.

People in Faridabad, a satellite town of Delhi, say Kumar is a maverick and a non-comformist, and he responds calls at his mobile phone. Cleaning a public toilet in the land of Mahatma Gandhi is no big deal, but when the person happens to be an IAS officer in a hierarchy and status conscious society, it makes all the difference.

But then comes the part-II of an IAS saga. A Rs 1.5 lakh dinner for 250 IAS officers is not a big deal. But why do they need to pass the bill to the tax payers? The Madhya Pradesh government has come under the scanner of Lokayukta for allegedly organising a free dinner for about 250 IAS officers, mostly serving, with taxpayers’ money, say reports published in local newspapers. The dinner was organized in October last year at a private club by the state chief secretary. Now, everyone is asking: Why should the state government foot the bill for a private dinner?

Sanjiv Handa takes over as Member Mechanical, Railway Board

SANJIV Handa, a 1969 batch special class railways apprentice officer, has taken over as Member mechanical, Railway Board and ex-officio secretary to the Government of India on Wednesday. He replaces Praveen Kumar who retired from this post on March 31, 2010. He joined the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineering on January 19, 1974.

He was earlier holding the post of General Manager, East Central Railway since November 19, 2009. He had also held key position in Railway Board, South Eastern, South East Central, Southern and South Western Railways, in addition to working as Additional Member (Mechanical Engineering) in Railway Board.

During his tenure as divisional railway manager, Kharagpur, the Route Relay Interlocking system at Howrah station was upgraded. The prolonged non-interlocking working forced suspension of virtually all trains into Howrah for some days through Eastern Railway. However, Handa ensured that train services from South Eastern Railway did not cease, and overnight, an alternate was created at Santraganchi with no disruption to any of the long distance trains. He was also credited with introducing distributed power system on Locomotive allowing traffic department to avoid engine and break van reversal at terminals.

A known workaholic, Mr Handa is socially active. He is a powerful orator and takes a keen interest in sports.

No condom in IAS-initiated Chandigarh bar

The opening of a condom bar in Chandigarh was the brainchild of now retired Punjab-cadre IAS officer Jasbir Singh Bir. The idea behind the bar was to ensure that those who come there for a drink would get condoms, both free and on payment.

Now, the bar which began operational when Mr Bir was the MD of Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO), and was inaugurated by an AIDS patient, will get a new theme altogether after all condoms were removed from it.