Locking down the office of A Manju, the Minister-in-charge of the Hassan district young IAS officier was in news. Rohini Sindhuri the firebrand officer has raised her voice against untimely and abrupt transfer issued for her.
Time and again, this gutsy officer has made headlines not only for running successful campaigns in the districts she was posted to but also for standing strong as a gritty and determined role model who refuses to bow down under political pressure.
As the CEO of Mandya Zilla Parishad, Rohini successfully launched a drive to provide individual toilets to over 1.02 lakh householdsin 2014–15. She managed to construct over 80,000 individual toilets across the district, which helped it clinch the number one position in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the Karnataka.
Rohini was also lauded for successfully utilising the Central government’s grant of Rs 65 crore for drinking water. Alongside her team, she instituted over a 100 pure drinking water units across the district. Her work impressed the Union government yet again and earned the district an additional grant of 6 crores to widen the reach.
However, just like many honest IAS officers, her journey to success has been anything, but easy. As the District Election Officer, Rohini recently made headlines, when she locked down A Manju’s office in the PWD Inspection Bungalow. He is the Minister-in-charge of Hassan district and the office was reportedly locked from outside while some staff members continued to clear pending files inside.
Rohini issued notices to the minister as well as the PWD Department for using government space for election work which is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and is effective from the declaration of poll dates. Needless to say, her clashes with political personalities are being termed one of the reasons for her abrupt transfer. That being said and done, the IAS officer isn’t giving up. She is fighting for her right to stay and continue the work she painstakingly started in the district.
Rohini challenged the state government’s decision to transfer her in January merely eight months after she was appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of the Hassan district. She appealed to the Karnataka High Court and the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for the same. After the Election Commission requested the state government to postpone her transfer until the final publication of electoral rolls, her transfer order was withdrawn on March 5. However, it only took 48 hours for the same transfer order to be re-issued.
The HC recently directed the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Bengaluru, to examine the application Rohini filed against her transfer after it was brought to their notice that despite asking her to submit a representation to the chief secretary, the CAT did not take any decision on it. And her battle continues.
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