Known for his uprightness, discipline and people-friendly approach, IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe has been transferred yet again, his 12th transfer in 13 years and fourth since May 2016. Not unexpectedly, his latest transfer from being the Nashik Municipal Commissioner to a relatively insignificant post as joint secretary in the State Planning department at Mantralaya (State Secretariat) has sparked protests from citizens in Nashik.
After having been transferred to the state secretariat within nine months of being taking over as the Nashik Municipal Commissioner, Mundhe arrived at the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) for the last time on Thursday morning before handing over the charge to the district collector, only to witness a protest being staged by local citizens against his sudden transfer to Mumbai.
The protesters, who had come to express their solidarity with the outgoing Municipal Commissioner, were shouting slogans like “We want Mundhe” in support and against the Maharashtra government for shifting him out of Nashik at the behest of the ruling BJP’s elected representatives at the NMC.
No wonder, around e the same time, BJP corporators celebrated Mundhe’s transfer by bursting crackers at Nashik Mayor Ranjana Bhansi’s official bungalow “Ramayan”. The celebrations by the BJP’s elected representatives should be seen in the context of a proposal by the BJP corporators to move a non-confidence motion against Mundhe at a special civic general meeting that the Mayor had called on September 1 this year ostensibly in protest against the Municipal Commissioner’s move to increase the rateable value for property tax from 3 paise per sq foot to 40 paise per sq foot and likewise in differing categories.
However, the BJP corporators dropped the no-confidence move at the last moment, following intervention by Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. This was the second time Fandnavis intervened and stalled the no-confidence motion proceedings against Mundhe. Earlier, in July 2016, the chief minister had come to the rescue of Mundhe’s by refusing to act on a no-confidence motion adopted by the corporators of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) seeking his removal as Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai’s satellite city.
Talking to local media persons later, Mundhe said: “My only regret is that I never complete my full term in any responsibilities I am assigned by the state government. My frequent transfers have had a negative impact on my family. My children have to change their schools every time I am transferred. At every new place, I have to build new relations and friendships to carry on with my work. Henceforth, I will try to given stability to my children. I will take care to ensure that my frequent transfers will not have a bearing on my children’s studies”.
Thanking the people of Nashik for extending full support to him, Mundhe said: “ All through my tenure with the NMC, the people extended their love and full co-operation to me. Their support inspired and encouraged me to accomplish whatever I could during the last nine months”.
“I have got good response from people. After all people have say in governance. Its participatory in nature. I would thank people that they have supported me...this is what is inspiration to me,” Mundhe said.
Mundhe, who took charge as the Nashik Municipal Commissioner in February 2018, had become popular among the people of Nashik because of citizen friendly initiatives like the cleansing drive the he had launched within the NMC, which involved early disposal of files, curbing corruption and cost-cutting, quick citizens’ grievance redressal mechanism and steps towards making Nashik a smart city like waste management, ensuring adequate water supply, installation of street lights and health initiatives. During his stint, he covered considerable ground on starting a civic bus service in Nashik.
However, he had rubbed the ruling BJP and also a section of corporators from the Opposition the wrong way through his measures to curb corruption indulged in by the elected representatives and drives against encroachers.
Earlier, his capacity as the Navi Mumbai Municipal Commissioner, was unsparing in his efforts to remove laxity among the officials in the NMMC. So much so that he had suspended at least a dozen civic officials, including Deputy Municipal Commissioner Prakash Kulkarni who had been heading the property tax department. He had acquitted himself well in his earlier assignment as the Managing Director of Pune Municipal Transport Corporation Limited.
A 2005 batch IAS officer, 43-year-old Mundhe, who is the son of a farmer at Tadsonna village in Beed district of Marathwada region, had in the past taken on builders’ lobby, sand mafia and land sharks in all the places where he worked during the past 13 years.
Coming as it does in the midst of the ongoing winter session of the Maharashtra Legislature, Mundhe’s sudden transfer is bound to trigger fireworks in both the Houses of the State Legislature where the Congress-led Opposition will pillory the state government over the “questionable motive” behind popular IAS officer’s transfer.