New Delhi: They did a great job in 2020, a year that we won’t remember very fondly. It was a year, which will go down in history as one when we heard bad news more often than good ones. Yet when everything looked grim and marooned, incredible works done by our bureaucrats in different parts of the country during the year, left grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, gave us some respite. Bureaucrats India revisits a few such initiatives taken by our illustrious bureaucrats, which kept the hope afloat in 2020 against all odds, chaos and confusion.

SANJEEV HANS, IAS

The year 2020 saw Bihar facing a double whammy of Covid-19 and flood. With the nationwide lockdown, factories closed, social distancing becoming a norm it looked like a difficult task to complete the much-needed flood protection work in Bihar. Under the dynamic leadership of senior IAS officer, then Secretary, Water Resources Department, Government of Bihar, all flood protection measures in Bihar and Nepal were completed, giving relief to lakhs of people across the state. He initiated a series of dialogues with several factories, which were to provide raw materials required for flood protection work. He also ensured the movement of raw materials from across the districts. To keep a close vigil on the condition of embankments, he spearheaded the social media campaign to crowdsource information about breach, piping and seepage in the embankments.

SANJAY KUMAR, IPS

Sanjay Kumar, an IPS officer, is known for helping those in need. This compassionate officer in collaboration with other stakeholders reached out to the less fortunate during the Covid-19. Under his leadership, the SSB distributed food packets to the migrants on the Shramik Express trains. Post lockdown, he helped a 12-year-old boy reunite with his parents. A migrant couple staying in Delhi left for their home in Bihar before the lockdown. They left their 12 years old child with a relative. But the family soon threw him out. With nowhere to go the child moved to a park in Dwarka and stayed there. After Twitterati sent out a tweet sharing the plight of this kid, Sanjay Kumar reached out to him with help and arranged for his parents to reach Delhi to reunite with their kid.

DIPANSHU KABRA, IPS

During the Covid-19 pandemic social media was leveraged by bureaucrats across India in a bid to help the people in need and spread positivity among them. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Bilaspur Police, Chhattisgarh, Dipanshu Kabra started a help chain initiative for the needy. Started during the lockdown, the initiative has impacted thousands of lives throughout India. Kabra, a senior IPS officer, has been very active on twitter responding to every call of help. From providing food to the hungry, helping migrants return home safely, taking kids to hospital to sending books to students, Kabra and his team were leaving no stone unturned to give hope and help to those in need.

SAMIR SINHA, IAS

Samir Sinha, Principal Secretary, Health and Finance, Government of Assam, had his work cut out for him during COVID 19 pandemic. He played a pivotal role in Assam’s fight against the Covid-19. He steered community- based surveillance for Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) and influenza like illness across the state to contain the spread of Covid-19.

AMAN PREET, IRS

A bureaucrat turned pad woman of India, Aman Preet, an IRS officer, started much-needed conversation around menstrual health in India. She, along with several other bureaucrats, NGOs began distributing sanitary napkins to the underprivileged section of society during the lockdown period. She along with her team distributed more than 12.5 lakh sanitary napkins during the lockdown. When Amphan Cyclone had hit West Bengal in 2020, she also ensured to provide the affected women with sanitary napkins.

DEVESH CHANDRA SRIVASTVA, IPS

Under the leadership of Joint Commissioner of Police, Southern Range, Delhi, senior IPS officer Devesh Chandra Srivastva, Delhi Police has started Yuva campaign, a unique community policing initiative of the Delhi Police under which we engage and steer street children and youth juvenile towards the mainstream of society, providing them with the opportunities to realise their potential and creating awareness about their potential through sports, ‘Nukkad Nataks’ and skill development training. This is an initiative, not only to prevent the youth from committing crime and delinquent acts, but, also to encourage them to partner with police in maintaining law and order, management of crime and connecting with the community at large.

SONAL GOEL, IAS

During the Covid-19 pandemic she was posted as the CEO of Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited and Additional CEO of GMDA. She played a significant role in this war against the Covid-19. She donated her one month’s salary to the Haryana Corona Relief Fund and also motivated the employees to donate their one day’s salary to it as well. Apart from this monetary aid, the officer came up with the innovative idea of using public buses under GMCBL as mobile grocery shops. After the corona outbreak, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), a statutory authority, converted its Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) as the ‘war room’ for surveillance of the lockdown rules while Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus (GMCBL), a public transport organization, adapted some of its buses to ‘Mobile Grocery Shops’ for supplying essential food items to the residents and ‘Mobile Sample Collection for Covid-19 Testing’ for transporting Covid-19 patients and medical teams. Goel spearheaded this entire initiative.

RAVINDRA KUMAR, IAS

District Magistrate (DM) of Bulandshahr, Ravindra Kumar was proactive rather than reactive when it came to Covid-19 management. From constantly visiting hospitals to making sure that proper food is being served at every shelter he left no stone unturned to contain Covid-19. He established a round the clock control room to keep a close eye on the corona situation in the district. The most striking innovation was the use of robots. Robots were used to sanitize the hands of every person visiting the control room. Moreover, they are being used to facilitate office work and ensure the maintenance of social distancing in the office.

HARSSH PODDAR, IPS

This young and dynamic IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre did a spectacular job of containing Covid-19 spread in Beed. Post lockdown 40,000 labourers returned to Beed, His team ensured that they adhered to all the guidelines of lockdown in Beed. Extensive social media monitoring to check for rumours, patrolling with police personnel and drones were done. The geo-fencing of those home quarantined and extensive campaigns to create awareness amongst people was done by his team.

SANTOSH SINGH, IPS

During the Covid-19 pandemic under the leadership of IPS officer Santosh Singh, Raigarh Police distributed around 12 lakh masks. The Raigarh Police did this with the people’s support on Rakshabandhan under an awareness drive called – ‘Iss Rakshabandhan, Ek Rakshasutra Mask Kaa.’ This noble drive also got registered as a world record in its unique category. This campaign was designed to create awareness about the importance of wearing masks.

NILAMBRI JAGDALE, IPS

During the lockdown children were affected the most, especially the children from the underprivileged sections of the society. To lift up their spirits SSP, UT Chandigarh, Nilambari Jagdale reached their doorsteps. A team of UT cops led by the SSP reached out to them with pizzas. The UT Police collaborated with Dominos to spread smiles amongst kids. They also distributed hand sanitizers and educated these children about keeping their hands clean to fight the coronavirus.

VIJAY KUMAR, IPS

After the Central government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status, it saw widespread anti-militancy operations. Maintaining peace in the violence inflicted J&K was a major challenge. IGP Jammu Kashmir Police Vijay Kumar took the bull by its horn and buried 158 militants, restoring peace in the area. President Medal for Gallantry recipient, Kumar used robust strategy, aggression and people’s empathy to neutralize many commanders of terrorist outfits to contain militancy in the Valley.

OM PRAKASH KANSERA, IAS

Kota – the coaching capital of India – was in headlines this year but not for giving JEE topper but for thousands of students stuck there during Corona-19 induced lockdown. With countrywide lockdown being announced, several hotels had shut down their kitchens. These students had nowhere to go and had no food to eat. Moved by their plight, Kota District Magistrate Om Prakash Kansera started a community kitchen across the district to ensure regular food supply for these students. Lockdown also took a toll on the mental health of these students. Kansera, an IAS officer, roped in psychiatrists to give counseling to these students. When the lockdown 2.0 was announced, Kansera knew that these students needed to be sent to their homes. After a series of dialogues with the Central and the State governments, arrangements were made to send nearly 50,000 students back home. None of these students tested positive even after 28 days of reaching home. An outpour of emotions thanking DM Kota was seen on social media with #ThankYouDMKota trending on twitter for hours. Kansera has set an example which others must emulate!

BHUPESH CHAUDHARY, IAS

Chilli farmers of Siaha were struggling to make profits from their produce until then DM Siaha Bhupesh Chaudhary came into the picture. He used an array of government schemes like RKVY-Raaftar, MGNREGA and Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture to build an infrastructure for storage and processing. He organised the farmers into self-help groups and formed a cooperative society to establish market linkages. Today, over 280 farmers in the district grow about 102,580 kg of fresh chillies, resulting in about 3,200 kg of dry chillies. It has helped increase the income of farmers by 14 times.

ADITI SINGH, IAS

Her spirit of service and good governance is visible. It is no surprise that Hapur, the 5th district in Uttar Pradesh that Aditi is currently serving as the District Magistrate, has performed exceptionally well on the parameters of governance. In July and August this year, Hapur was ranked as number one district in Integrated Grievance Redressal System or IGRS. And this is not the first time. In January also, Hapur topped the list of districts on IGRS. In 2019-20, Hapur has topped the state in revenue collection.

RAKESH KUMAR PRAJAPATI, IAS

In view of the farmers abandoning agriculture due to wild animal attacks on their crops, the Himachal government launched a scheme to provide fencing around farmlands including solar fencing. DC Kangra Rakesh Kumar Prajapati ensured that every farmer in the area gets to avail the benefit of this scheme.

TINA DABI, IAS

IAS officer Tina Dabi did what others could not even think of. She is regarded as one of the minds behind the ‘ruthless containment’ model in Bhilwara district in Rajasthan. Bhilwara emerged as one of the first hotspots in the country. It, however, also became a success story and emerged as a model district in the country in the fight against coronavirus. Led by IAS officer Tina Dabi, who was serving as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of the district earlier, the efforts began with the first case. The initiative began with isolating the district, transferring patients to quarantine and isolation wards, and rigorous village monitoring. The district administration imposed a complete shutdown and Bhilwara was sealed off, much before the nationwide lockdown on March 25.

DR THIYAGRAJAN SM, IAS

After lockdown, thousands of migrant labourers returned to Bihar. Providing them with employment was a major challenge. Darbhanga, a district in north Bihar, was facing similar challenges. District Magistrate (DM), Darbhanga, Dr Thiyagrajan SM took it upon himself to train them and provide them with employment. After collaborating with a local artist, these migrant labourers learnt Mithila painting, a famous art from Mithilanchal. After getting training, they started making masks with Mithila painting. To take the art of these migrant labourers to the global market and provide them with a steady income source, Dr Thiyagrajan talked to Amazon and managed to get their products on this online platform for sale.

JAYENDRA KUMAR, IAS

As the SDM of Kalpi, UP, Jayendra Kumar is leaving no stone unturned to ensure good governance in the district. To ensure the effective implementation of the Integrated Public Grievance Redressal System (IPGRS) in the district they have kept a 15 days window to dispose of complaints. The first and third Tuesday is reserved for Tehsil Divas. The second and fourth Saturday is fixed for Thana Divas. On these days, all officials gather at a single place to solve the issues on the spot without any delay. Online applications are being received for income, caste and residential certificates, which are issued online within 15 days. Similarly, most land records are digitized and a copy can be obtained from anywhere. Under his leadership many other services like mutation and solvency certificates can be applied and obtained online.

AARTI VERMA, IPSO

Patiala Post Office Superintend Aarti Verma is a living example of grit and determination. During COVID pandemic post office staves were entrusted with the task of delivering necessary items to the public. Through regular dialogues and discussions she kept her staves motivated. Under her leadership, the staves living even 50-60 km away came to open the Post Offices. They delivered essential services to people and they appreciated that. All the postmen had an Aadhaar enabled payment system, which is like a doorstep bank through which they can withdraw up to Rs 10,000. For this every postman had a phone. This helped many people to get money during the lockdown. /BI/