OFF THE RECORD review on some of today headlines…
1. Gadkari saab, “Zabaan Sambal ke”
“Won’t give an inch of land to Navy in South Mumbai” roared Union Minister Nitin Gadkari yesterday at a function he attended in Mumbai. This angry statement must have surely come just because Navy has denied an NOC for a floating hotel, floating jetty, and a sea plane landing facility at Malabar Hill, Mumbai. What I felt bad was, CM Devendra Fadnavis, who not many know is extremely emotional on taunts to army, police & the navy, (I’m sure he must have gulped fire on hearing this) and Chief of Western Naval Command were present there and neither of them tried to nullify the situation by making a statement in public or in private. Well, it is Nitin Gadkari. Loved by all. One or two sentences here & there surely won’t make a difference to his vote bank. But Mr. Gadkari, FYI, we in Mumbai have tried & tested the Floatel (Hotel on the Sea) concept that flopped big time near the Bandra-Worli Sea-Link…don’t know but after the FLoatel project, why unnecessary an IAS officer of a minority community had to be side posted to Sales Tax owing to his alleged partnership with a controversial person who had bagged the contract from the MTDC. I think Navy must have got a hint of that, hence the NOC was denied, I’m sure after so many officers falling flat on their faces, latest one being KK Pathak, Navy must have thought why to expose anyone and everyone?…Or I feel Navy must have also got a lot of complains about a certain Mahesh Baldi, his line of interest & “हम करे सो कायदा” attitude at MBPT & JNPT areas. Oh! Heard Baldi is very very close to you..the same dalaal from Uran, saheb…I think Navy must have got a hint of this relationship too…Did I hear that you said Navy officers should always be near Pakistan Border, Sir than leaving you, (as you are our kartaa-dhartaa till Modi exists, hence the maskaa sir) in my eyes, get that Kulbhushan Jadhav out & put our each & every corrupt politician in that Pakistan Jail sir, as Navy people just want a piece of land for their houses, which could have been told in a better way since you are an expert in speeches, these corrupt politicians have literally sold their soul and our country sir!!
2. Anbalgan to replace Mopalwar at MSRDC ….
If the grapevine from the CMO is to be believed, an old rivalry between IAS officers has again opened his way to the corridors of power. IAS Radhyesham Mopalwar, who resumed his innings at MSDRC after successfully coming out clean from various inquiries he faced for months, is all set to be replaced very soon. Mopalwar survived the storm yet again when he was given a clean chit but I have my doubts if he will be able to survive this battle as a powerful IAS lobby has turned the tide against him and are moving very briskly. All efforts to contact him were in vein yesterday. But a top source from the CMO has confirmed the name of Dr. P. Anbalgan, currently posted as Member Secretary Maharashtra Pollution Board, as the top choice as replacement for Mopalwar’s post.
In my eyes, and whatever little I know about IAS officers, and I repeat this, no one has the capability to complete CM Fadnavis’s dream Project the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway (Samruddhi) than Mopalwar. He is fast & practical, and for any ambitious project we need officers having PACE. Plus he has to balance everyone’s nature, self respect & ego here. On one side if there is Devendra Fadnavis as his boss, other side is Eknath Shinde and on other side of the ground are contractors, farmers and then there is NITIN GADKARI. Then there are hell lot of authorities to handle along with ACB, Journalists & many activist having a close watch from outside.
If a new person comes, he will take time and I feel this current government has only 1 year left (no no I’m not going on what Bapat said yesterday) to showcase some works done to regain power. He will first get into the understanding of the department, its nitigrities, policies, vision and so on and by the time he understands bang…code of conduct….I feel this getting of new boss at MSRDC will spoil the mood of the project. I’m not related to Mopalwar but I feel, he surely is the one who can pull the project IN TIME and who is in thick of action since the beginning.
Certain officers have these qualities, you know, of achieving something & everything against all odds. We have some brilliant ones who don’t look at their watches and work. Beginning with Pravin Pardeshi. It seems everyone has an opinion about him, even I do…but nothing can be taken away from Mr. Pardeshi for the human hours this man dedicates to his work & getting desired results. He is a multi-tasked official..Does not mind to sit till late night at Mantralaya to complete his work. Many ask me what is that one thing that CM is so fond of Pardeshi? It is this…He works like a man on mission….Another one currently side posted is Arvind Kumar….A hard-worker but ignored one….even he can give results, but someone does not want him to be at thick of things….Similarly, on the same lines are Bhushan Gagrani, Ajoy Mehta, Chandrakant Dalvi, Deepak Kapoor, a Mahesh Zagade, a Milind Mhaiskar, Manisha Mhaiskar and yes, Dr. Nitin Kareer. All these officers mentioned are brilliant at what they do. They know the system and they know how to complete a given project. Time & again they have proved it. If works of Gagrani, Milind Mhaiskar, Deepak Kapoor are in public domain, not many know that all the Municipal Corporation bosses thank their stars for having Manisha Mhaiskar as their boss. Very silently and efficiently she solves their problems, gets them motivated time and again and is effectively managing her Smart City Project…Kudos to these officers of Maharashtra…
P.S. Some names mentioned above does not mean rest of bureaucracy is a sheep. These were examples…Everyone including the most corrupt person is also brilliant as even if he takes money, he has the NAK of getting work done…
Vikrant Joshi
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