Path-breaking
bureaucrats
Harsh
Mander
As the fires of the Gujarat riots turned its embers, there were
very few left standing with their reputation and more importantly,
their conscience intact. One such was Harsh Mander, a denizen
of the so-called steel frame of India, the Indian bureaucracy.
Nauseated and hurt by what he clearly perceived as a state-sponsored
pogrom, he resigned from the vaunted IAS. A beleaguered testimony
that while his colleagues and the politicians may have sold their
souls, there are still a few whose spine is up and standing and
whose conscience still pricks. Unfortunately, the only straw in
the storm that hit the Mahatma’s state of birth. Perhaps,
it is well to record that the nation had at least this straw to
clutch.
------------------------------------------------------------------
DP Ojha
Being the Director-General of Police of probably the most lawless
state in the country can be a thankless job. You are damned if
you do; you are damned if you don't. All of which made then-Bihar
DGP Dhruv Prasad Ojha's decision to jail the Member of Parliament
from Siwan, Mohammad Shahabuddin, one of the truly glowing acts
of courage in Circa 2003. Ojha did not stop at just that, he went
on to proclaim Bihar as a land ruled by 'lafangas' hoodlums).
It was not the most original of statements but then again no one
had till then shown the courage to say that before the world.
His career met with a predictable end, with him being forced to
quit, but this follower of Jayaprakash Narayan at least managed
to capture the imagination of the people on the street for banners
like 'Bihar ka CM kaisa ho, DP Ojha jaisa ho' to spring up in
the capital city of Patna.
------------------------------------------------------------------
JM Lyngdoh
It helped that James Michael Lyngdoh had a district judge for
a father. This meant that from a young age, the Khasi tribesman
from the north-eastern state of Meghalaya was trained to lead
a highly principled life. Never lacking the courage to uphold
his convictions, the soft-spoken Lyngdoh went on to do his father
proud after entering the Indian Administrative Service at the
rather young age of 22. Clashes with higher-ups and power-wielders
failed to quell his spirit as he rose to become India's Chief
Election Commisioner. Among his notable achievements of late have
been the peaceful conduct of polls in Gujarat after the carnage
at Godhra and the successful elections in strife-torn Jammu and
Kashmir. Fittingly, 'the quiet fighter' recently became the second
Election Commissioner after TN Seshan to have the Ramon Magsasay
award conferred upon him. As he prepares to retire to Hyderabad,
Lyngdoh whose life has been spent on 'just doing my job' can certainly
reflect on a career well spent.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Maxwell Pereira
Born in Tamil Nadu and educated at Mangalore and Bangalore, Maxwell
Pereira belongs to the Union Territory cadre of the Indian Police
Service (IPS). A former chief of Pondicherry police, Pereira is
now the Joint Commissioner, Traffic, Delhi. Known for his tough
approach in handling crime, this father of two has also made a
name for himself with his articles and book on road safety. His
latest book 'Sensational Crimes in New Delhi' is due to hit stands
soon.
------------------------------------------------------------------
K
J Alphonse
IAS officer K J Alphonse made his reputation as a tough-talking
officer with his crusade against corruption when he headed the
notorious Delhi Development Authority (DDA) some years back. Highly
media savvy and high profile, Alphonse made a huge noise about
cleaning up the den of corruption that the DDA had become. While
his success quotient and abrasive style is debatable, there is
no question that he was one of the first to have the grit to bring
corruption at the cesspool he was heading firmly on the front
pages. Now he heads, the Land Use Board in Kerala, and is still
not averse to the occasional storm with his shrill remarks.
<<
Back
TOP
||
Profile | Achievements | Awards||
|| Press Clipping | Publications
| Photo Gallery ||
||I
Believe |Guest
Book | E-mail |
Home ||
| 
