Tukaram Mundhe, a 2005 batch IAS officer from Maharashtra cadre has seen 24 transfers so far in his 20 years long career. This time he has been transferred from development commissioner (unorganised workers) to secretary, divyang welfare department.
He is on his way to become former IAS Ashok Khemka of Haryana cadre, who underwent 54 transfers in 34 years long career.
Like Khemka, Mundhe is also considered to upright and honest officer. He doesn't like to bow down to political pressures and is not known to entertain political favours.
As soon as he stepped into the administrative services, he made his mark as a tough and rigourous decision-making officer. When he visited a school as an assistant collector in Nanded and found many teachers absent, he immediately suspended them. This one action made him famous throughout the state. The result? The absenteeism rate of teachers decreased from 10-12% to 1-2%.
Mundhe also got positive publicity as Solapur district collector where he constructed more than 3,000 toilets to eradicate the problem of open defeacation, which ultimate use to pollute water.
Later his stint as commissioner of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation is also worth mentioning. He started the system of online grievance redressal to address problems of citizens. At the same time he also introduced the concept of ‘Walk with Commissioner', under which he used to meet citizens in their respective areas every Sunday. The data obtained from this forum (in the form of feedback, suggestions) was regularly analysed for trends and deliberated for future planning.
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.
