For the first time, two North Indian officers in top 2 posts of Bengaluru’s civic agency
BENGALURU:
TheBengaluruLive has stolen a march over all other city media, print of digital! Our story, published on March 30, about IAS officer Gaurav Gupta being appointed Commissioner of BBMP and IAS officer Rakesh Singh taking over as the civic agency’s Administrator, has been borne out by the state government’s official orders on Wednesday.
Read Here: Gaurav Gupta to be new BBMP chief Commissioner, Rakesh Singh to be Administrator https://thebengalurulive.com/gaurav-gupta-to-be-new-bbmp-chief-commissioner-rakesh-singh-to-be-administrator/
After Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa’s nod the same day, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms issued the orders appointing Gaurav Gupta as Chief Commissioner and Rakesh Singh as Administrator – BBMP’s topmost post. Gupta’s designation is deemed a step below Administrator.
Gupta, 3rd North Indian in 10 years
Interestingly, Gupta is the second North Indian in 8 years and the third in 10 years to helm the civic agency. Rajneesh Goyal (currently ACS, Home and PWD) was Commissioner for 4 months (August to December) in 2012, while Bharat Lal Meena served as Commissioner from June 2009 to July 2010 (a tenure of 13 months).
Apart from these three, there have been no other cases of North Indian officers serving as BBMP Commissioner. The popular perception is that South Indian officers, and more so those belonging to the reserved category, have dominated postings as Commissioner. From this background, 15 IAS officers have been posted as Commissioner, of whom the most popular has been 1994 batch IAS officer N Manjunatha Prasad. Prasad has been entrusted with the top responsibility four times in the last five years — from April 2016 till March 2021.
Read Here: Gaurav Gupta takes charge as BBMP Chief Commissioner https://thebengalurulive.com/gaurav-gupta-takes-charge-as-bbmp-chief-commissioner/
Among others, IAS officer Siddaiah was posted as BBMP Commissioner thrice while Maheshwar Rao was posted for a short period to oversee the conduct of the state assembly polls.
Rakesh Singh, 2nd North Indian as Administrator
As far as the Administrator’s post goes, 1989 batch IAS officer Rakesh Singh becomes the second North Indian to head the Bengaluru corporation as Administrator, succeeding Gaurav Gupta. Since 1967, the civic body has not seen any North Indian officer as Administrator till Gaurav Gupta’s posting by the BJP government on September 10, 2021.
Also Read: Early signs portend an ‘IAS ego tussle’ in BBMP https://thebengalurulive.com/early-signs-portend-an-ias-ego-tussle-in-bbmp/
