STYLE does matter, particularly when the IPL fever catches everyone including the Indian bureaucrats. If you were hooked into the television set even after Delhi Daredevils thrashed Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers on Sunday night, you would have noticed a bearded gentleman wearing a smart casual red and black half shirt, and presenting award to Paul Collingwood for his scintillating innings with seven sixes. No prizes for guessing who was the stylishly-dressed gentleman! He was none other than urban development secretary and 1972 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS Dr M Ramachandran who is turning 60 in just two months. And yes, those who know him from close quarters and always see him in formal suits in Nirman Bhawan, must have been pleasantly surprised to find Dr Ramachandran giving tough competition to Dr Mallya and his style statements in Delhi
No wonders, Indian bureaucrats who now need to work with young, suave and also stylish politicians, are fast shedding the typical bureaucratic image and following the look and style of corporate honchos. After the Union Budget was presented, finance secretary Ashok Chawla, a 1973 batch Gujarat cadre IAS, figured in an advertisement of a post-Budget debate to be held in Mumbai, making a precedence of a senior bureaucrat finding a place in large billboards in many busy roads of Delhi
There are a few senior bureaucrats in Delhi Maharashtra cadre IAS Ashok Sinha who are making an impact not just because of the positions they hold, but thanks to their stylish approach to life. There are others like former finance secretary Ashok Jha or ex-industry secretary Dr Ajay Dua who were more like CEOs than secretaries even when they were at the helm of India Delhi
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