Passion for Intensive Touring;-
The first posting of the undersigned, after the statutory training for two years, was in Jashpur Nagar Sub Division in the erstwhile and composite Raigarh District in the state of Madhya Pradesh as the Sub-divisional Officer and Sub Divisional magistrate for two years (1973-75). It had about 400 and odd tribal villages in eight development blocks in its jurisdiction. The goal of the undersigned was to undertake intensive tour of the entire subdivision during the tenure. Accordingly as many as 300 and odd villages were visited by me and the Kotwar (Village Police/security Guard) registers inspected and signed as a special visitor to the area. Many a time the undersigned and the District Organizer of Tribal welfare Department stayed in school buildings, mid-wife quarters, students’ hostels and ashrams in addition to rest houses owned and maintained by the Public Works Department, Forest Department and Irrigation Department. The visit to the wilderness and seclusion of several hamlets was literally enjoyed both in winter and summer. The tours were undertaken several times on foot for miles together or on bicycles and the jeeps for 16-22 days in a month. The purpose behind the tours was to alert the local staff members of different departments and also to ensure their presence in remote areas for solving the problems of villagers.
Rural development was the undersigned’s pet and preferred subject for implementation of various governmental schemes. Shram dan was his typical answer to the local development issues. Full and active participation of the undersigned along with villagers and tehsil officials ensured the road-building in a village near Jashpur on Gandhi Jayanthi day (October 2, 1973 and 1974). Public Distribution System was overhauled and the Janpad Office was engaged in running of a Fair Price Shop for about half the population of Jashpur Municipality from my own official residence by lending the guest house attached to the SDM bungalow (Former Diwan’s palace). Adequate attention was paid and enough support was equally extended to the Christian missionaries engaged in education and public health care among the tribes as well as the Kalyan Ashram of Hindus for similar efforts in the subdivision.
During the financial year 1974-75 the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Mr.P.C.Sethi introduced a new levy on farmers on the basis of their landholdings and procured paddy for the sake of Public Distribution System. It was one of the most unpopular and impractical decisions of the then Congress government. It wrecked havoc on tribal land owners because each holding was undivided for two-three generations with the result the scale of levy was quite harsh on those poor farmers. But as a truthful civil servant officiating as the Collector-in-charge of the district the undersigned tried to implement the levy order with a humane approach and realistic assessment of each farmer’s capacity. There was no uproar in Raigarh district at this time of levy collection directly from the farmers while farmers were up in arms in other parts of the state. Another drawback of the levy drive was the delay in sending the allotment of funds from the state Headquarters for procurement operations like purchase and supply of gunny bags to the revenue department officials, other incidental expenses etc. The undersigned had to take a bold decision and draw an allotment of Rs 1.50 lakh from district treasury without any orders from the State Capital. A third person made a complaint against me in this regard but the divisional commissioner Mr. Ram Bihari Lal, a straightforward and honest officer admired my sincerity and boldness and filed the complaint even without getting a reply from me. That was the style and practical wisdom with which most of the senior officers used to appreciate and support the juniors in the work place. As a result the target fixed for the district was achieved without any hassles.
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