Mysore/Mysuru: New Chief Secretary (CS) of State P. Ravi Kumar, who took over from T.M. Vijayabhaskar upon his retirement on Dec.31, 2020, visited the famed Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi hill here this morning along with his family members.

Ravi Kumar, who arrived in city yesterday afternoon, went to Chamundi Hill along with his wife and son in his official car, sans any police escort. After parking his vehicle at the  parking lot, Ravi Kumar walked to the temple located at a distance of about 600 mts from the parking lot. Mysuru Tahsildar Rakshit, Chamundeshwari Temple Executive Officer Yathiraj Sampathkumaran, Assistant Executive Officer Govindaraj and other officials who stood waiting to receive the CS in front of the temple, were perplexed to see the CS walking up to the temple without any escort. Soon they rushed to the CS and offered him a ‘Poornakumbha’ welcome.

After offering prayers to the deity, Ravi Kumar walked back to his official vehicle and left the Hill. Enroute, he is said to have stopped at all the view points for a couple of minutes and enjoyed the beautiful view of the city from the Hill top.

The Chief Secretary’s simplicity and humbleness drew widespread praise from people atop the hill, at a time when smaller officials, politicians and other dignitaries of lesser significance choose to drive straight close to the temple in their vehicles.

After returning from Chamundi Hill, Ravi Kumar held a meeting with top officials of the district administration at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) on Lalitha Mahal Palace Road and is said to have discussed a wide ranging issues concerning the district. The meeting was attended by DC Rohini Sindhuri, ZP CEO B.A. Paramesh, Regional Commissioner G.C. Prakash, MCC Commissioner Gurudatta Hedge, City Police Commissioner Dr. Chandragupta and SP C.B. Ryshyanth. 

This meeting was followed by another meeting at the same venue, which was attended by Assistant Commissioner Dr. Venkataraju, Joint Director of Industries Department Lingaraju, Assistant Labour Commissioner Thammanna and other officials. Upon his arrival in the city yesterday, the CS had held a meeting at ATI with top officials from all Departments to discuss the measures taken and need to be done for effective  tackling  of COVID-19 crisis.