36 #Recall Pingale – Story of an IAS officer

36 #Recall Pingale – Story of an IAS officer

07.08.18 The Hindu Article

Vijay Maruti Pingale, a 2004 batch officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, joined the civil services because he wanted to reform governance from within the system. But after 14 years of trying, the civil servant, who holds an MBBS degree, has decided to throw in the towel. He submitted his resignation some days ago and hopes to pursue his goal of governance reform by joining an NGO. The State government, however, is yet to accept his resignation.

Dr. Pingale first came under the spotlight in 2013 when, as Deputy Commissioner (Works), Chennai Corporation, he introduced advanced technology to fix responsibility for shoddy work on civic infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, streetlights, and pedestrian facilities.

It was during his tenure that for the first time contractors who re-laid roads without adhering to norms began to be regularly penalised, winning him much support among the public. He involved IT companies in develop a digital dashboard for monitoring all civic projects on a real-time basis at the field level.

A special team of engineers that he had formed to track the quality of the roads had found that more than 30% of the roads re-laid in Chennai lasted less than a year.

Dr.Pingale had also unearthed a scam in the maintenance of public toilets in Chennai and initiated action against those who had illegally collected money from residents. Surprisingly, or perhaps expectedly, after just 16 months in the Greater Chennai Corporation, Dr. Pingale was shifted to the Industries Department. According to sources, this was done under pressure from the contractors whom he had penalised.

As Joint Secretary, Industries Department, Dr. Pingale organised the Global Investors Meet in Chennai. With his resignation as yet unaccepted, he remains with the department, under the Union Ministry of Commerce in Delhi. According to sources close to him, Dr. Pingale, is all set to join a NGO involved in an issue close to his heart – the use of technology to improve governance.

“With his departure, Tamil Nadu would lose a very good IAS officer,” said R.A. Israel Jebasingh, his batchmate.

Xxx

2015 HT Article

The story of an honest IAS officer, who was transferred just three days after he named contractors who botched up road work in Chennai, has gone viral at a time devastating floods have exposed flaws in urban management.

Now netizens are rallying behind him and have started an online petition to reinstate him as the Joint Commissioner (Works) of Chennai Corporation.

“A few days ago, Mr.Vijay Pingale, Joint Commisioner (Works) of Chennai Corporation got transferred on the grounds that are completely unacceptable. He is an honest, diligent and competent officer. Chennai City needs efficient officer like Mr Pingale to get all the incomplete works like relaying roads and other civil work carried out by Chennai Corporation. He should be recalled and reinstated immediately. At least he should be given time to finish off all the work that he had started. Please support this petition in favour of Mr.Pingale,” a petition supporting him on change.org reads.

An MBBS graduate and IAS officer of the 2004 batch , Vijay Pingale, who was the joint commissioner (works) of Chennai Corporation, dared to take on the road contractor’s cartel, following which he was transferred to the industrial department.

Pingale not only made the mistake of naming and shaming contractors for their shoddy work, but he also imposed fines on corrupt contractors. According to a report in Times of India, Pingale made public on November 11 the names of nine contractors who were asked to return Rs 2 crore to the civic body after the corporation had to carry out repair work on stretches laid by them.

Pingale further promised to name other contractors for poor work and said the total penalties were likely to rise. The move reportedly infuriated the contractors and he was transferred just 3 days after the incident.

Officials on conditions of anonymity told the Times of India that the contractor lobby was responsible for the decision to move Pingale out of the corporation as his insistence on accountability and refusal to buckle to political pressure irked several contractors.

As head of the works department, Pingale was second only to corporation commissioner Vikram Kapur and handled major duties in the civic body including roads, buildings, bridges, solid waste management, storm water drains, electrical, mechanical engineering, planning and investigation.

The online petition supporting Pingale also called for a social change by citizens by raising their voice against transfer of honest officers.

“Vijay was arbitrarily transferred .. Why ? Because he levied fines against Contractor Mafia who are responsible for the poor quality of roads..Is this the price for fighting to make the city better... Don’t let your voice go unnoticed.. Fight the injustice..,” the petition said.

Support for him also poured out on Twitter amd Facebook with netizens using the hashtag 

#RecallPingale to express their anger and resentment against the sudden transfer.