On 21st April Civil Service Day, retired IAS Ganesh Shankar Mishra told how voting started in Naxal areas in the changed timing. Elections are held in Naxal areas of Chhattisgarh from 7 am to 3 pm. After this the polling personnel and EVM are taken out safely. But this started being done after the idea of a civil service officer. Earlier, polling parties used to go out till evening and Naxalites used to loot the ballot boxes.
Actually the matter is of October 2008. Then Mishra was the Divisional Commissioner of Bastar. The country’s then Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy held a meeting of Collector and Commissioner in Raipur. Which happened in today’s DKS Hospital. When asked for suggestions, Mishra had said in his suggestion that Naxal incidents take place in the dark. The polling party will have to be evacuated safely in broad daylight. We should change the time and finish the work by 3 pm. These rules should be for Naxal affected areas.
Its orders were issued the very next day. In Naxal affected areas of the entire country including Chhattisgarh, voting is still conducted from 7 am to 3 pm instead of 8 am. The big change that has come since then is that due to the change in time, the voting percentage has increased in Naxal affected areas. Work is still being done on the idea of retired IAS officer Ganesh Shankar Mishra. But after giving this suggestion, he was transferred to Raipur the very next day. Mishra says why this happened is still a puzzle for me.
When Lalu Yadav made 10 calls
Ganesh Shankar Mishra was sent as an observer in the Lok Sabha elections. Lalu Yadav used to dominate in Siwan, Bihar. As soon as he reached there, Lalu Yadav tried to put pressure on the Observer. Called Mishra 10 times. Mishra told that he wanted to get the work done in favor of his party’s candidate. But I politely explained the rules of the code of conduct and refused to do any favors. This is also the responsibility of a civil services officer.
Today’s officers are busy pleasing the political boss.
Expressing his views about today’s bureaucracy, Ganesh Shankar Mishra said, I will not say that all officers are bad, but today something is missing. Today it is seen that in order to please their political boss, officers are unable to show commitment towards duty. That’s why bureaucracy gets a bad name. Credibility is affected. Not doing it normally though. Even today good officers are working.
I used the three F’s in my career
Ganesh Shankar Mishra said that there used to be many types of political pressures on me, which even today a civil service officer faces. But I have applied the three F’s in life. The work has been done keeping these things in mind: favourless (not taking sides), fearless (being fearless) and faceless (not competing for credit).
Today youth have more opportunities
IAS Ganesh Shankar Mishra, who retired from the post of Principal Secretary of the Water Resources Department of the Government of Chhattisgarh, said that when I was preparing for UPSC, neither the right source of books was available, there was neither guidance nor internet. But I continued my hard work and preparation diligently and got selected. Today’s youth has more resources and more opportunities. Instead of wasting time in social media and other things, if you prepare with focus, you will definitely be successful.
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