Mysuru, a City Betrayed

Generals during a war should put country above self

By Ashvini Ranjan and Bhamy Shenoy

The State Government by transferring Rohini Sindhuri, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Mysuru and Shilpa Nag, the Commissioner of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) resorted to the easiest option of solving differences between the two IAS Officers. Even under normal circumstances, transferring two senior officials holding key positions at the same time is not a prudent thing.  

In the interest of continuity, one is made in-charge till another officer is posted. However intelligent and efficient the next incumbent is, he or she is bound to take time to understand the local issues before contributing effectively. 

 The failure to follow the protocol of handing over and taking over is a serious lapse on the part of the Government. And transferring two persons holding key positions when the district is gripped by a severe pandemic with 25% positivity and suffering all around, is against all principles of good management.  

Karnataka Chief Secretary P. Ravikumar, who was sent to resolve the situation, too failed in his mission to exercise his authority to quell the bickering.  The differences between the two officers and their failure to perform their duties should be viewed seriously and definitely looked into.

The biggest strength of the candidates belonging to the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) is their intelligence and common sense. Though they are shifted from one post to another, it is this ability to understand the subject quickly that helps them perform.  But in the case of Sindhuri and Nag, they displayed the lack of it.  The situation required that they put the district and the interest of the people above themselves.  Both failed badly. 

 Holding press conferences by individual officers to justify their actions and the DC sending notices instead of performing more important duties appears childlike. A typical example of washing dirty linen in public.

The duty of the elected representatives and in particular the Minister in charge of the District S.T. Somashekar was to sense such differences and quickly make course corrections. Timely intervention and advice was most needed. Unfortunately, they are guilty of using this situation to settle their own differences and to gain political capital.  

It may not be beyond the realms of possibility that the spat between the officers was orchestrated by themselves.Destiny always provides some individuals with an opportunity to perform extraordinary feats.  The situation in Mysuru was one such wherein both Sindhuri and Nag could have gone down in the records as individuals who went beyond their call of duty to help the people. It is sad that both let the city down.  

There are likely to be collateral damages from their transfer. Before the start of the second wave, both were working hard to develop action plan to make lasting contribution to Mysuru before their transfer. 

For example, Nag was working to put into action vision documents for remaking Mysuru a garden city and to make it free of single use plastic. Sindhuri was working on restoring and preserving lakes in and around Mysuru. Hopefully, their replacements will take them up when the pandemic slows down. 

The current situation in Mysuru district is definitely grim.  People are gripped with both worry and fear. Besides medical help and care, there was an urgent need for providing a sense of comfort that only a good leadership could provide. This incident will go down in the history of our city and district that the leaders betrayed its people.