Who’s IAS Rajeshwari B, and why she is praised by secretary Parameswaran Iyer?

Rajeshwari with Iyer

SECRETARY of the ministry of drinking water and sanitation Parameswaran Iyer recently praised a young collector — Rajeshwari B of Jharkhand cadre in Twitter, saying that it’s inspirational to hear “champion collectors” like Rajeshwari. The praise was showered on her for her role in making Ramgarh district the first open defecation free (ODF) district in Jharkhand. Iyer, a 1981 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS who took voluntary retirement before joining the government again on a contract basis, handles the Swachh Bharat Mission, mainly in rural areas. But who’s Rajeshwari B?…

Women Officers’ Health and Hygiene: 2 DoPT JS inaugurate sanitary napkin vending machines in ladies washrooms

THE Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which is the cadre controlling authority of IAS officers and is in a way the human resources development outfit for most Central government employees in terms of empanelment, scholarship etc., has turned the trail blazer in health and hygiene for women, as sanitary napkin coin-vending and disposal machines were installed on Friday in three ladies washrooms of the North Block where the main office of the department is located. The department is now planning to…

Mann ki Baat: PM praises IAS officer for cleaning a toilet pit himself

A cover of a book, Mann ki Baat

PRIME MINISTER in ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme broadcast on Sunday praised drinking water and sanitation secretary and IAS officer Parameswaran Iyer for cleaning a toilet pit which PM said, was noticed by the entire country. “…when people see an IAS officer cleaning a toilet pit himself, the fact is naturally noticed by the country”, PM said without however naming the IAS officer. Iyre, who took voluntary retirement from IAS nine years ago only to rejoin…

When this secretary-ranked officer Parameswaran Iyer gets down to clean a toilet pit at Warangal

ON SATURDAY, Parameswaran Iyer — the Government of India secretary who is in charge of Swachh Bharat Mission — posted a couple of photos in a social media site. The caption says the complete story. “Great to be emptying a toilet pit in Gangadevipalli, Warangal @swachhbharat… It's perfectly safe and clean to empty a twin pit toilet. The @swachhbharat team joins Gangadevipally village today.” The images caught the imagination of many people in social media. The IAS Association quoted one of his Tweets to say: “Amazing. This is true leadership. Secy to GoI getting down to clean a toilet pit. #SwachhBharat #RoleModel.”  Not just that, many in social media sites…

Parameswaran Iyer: How this ex-IAS and new drinking water and sanitation secretary may give a Vietnamese twist to Swachh Bharat Mission

IN THE World Bank, everyone calls this program manager and lead water and sanitation specialist as Param. His full name is Parameswaran Iyer, a 1981 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS who took voluntary retirement about seven years ago. In a rare instance, the Narendra Modi government in an order dated February 3, roped in this IAS-turned sanitation specialist as union secretary in charge of the ministry of drinking water and sanitation, the agency that anchors the Centre’s ambitious programme of Swachh Bharat Mission, or Clean India Mission. Iyer’s appointment will be on a contract basis for…

What does director (canteens) under DoPT ask fellow bureaucrats to do on Swachh Bharat?

AS THE government's cleanliness drive titled Swachh Bharat Mission, launched on October 2, 2014, with lots of enthusiasm seems somewhat slowing down, fresh circulars are being issued among the Central government employees to step up the process, at least in their neighbourhood. Director (Canteens) who comes under the DoPT wrote on Tuesday to all…

How an IAS picked up a broom 20 years ago; …and then sweepers called off a strike!

Narendra Modi-led cleanliness drive might have forced top-ranked babus to come out of their AC rooms and joined in Swachh Bharat mission, but this new-found trend on cleanliness in office premises has brought an IAS officer from UP, Dr Ajai Shankar Pandey, into national limelight. After all, this 52-year-old IAS officer has been cleaning his office himself for two decades now, but no one paid attention to this. Pandey now says…

Bureaucrats on Clean India mode: Inspecting toilets, taking SwachhBharat pledge

AFTER BoI posted a government-released photo of union home secretary Anil Goswami inspecting a toilet in North Block in social media sites, (never before an IAS officer was photographed inside a toilet!), a number of readers alerted BoI about officers who clean their cabins themselves, and those routinely inspect office toilets. One of them was…