Walking The Talk: Bengaluru Wall Gets an ‘Anonymous’ Saviour – An IAS Officer!

Two weeks ago, a group of volunteers spent the weekend spot-fixing the CMH road area in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar locality.

It was just another spot-fixing initiative spearheaded by The Ugly Indian (TUI), a city-based group of anonymous volunteers who, since 2010, have taken it upon themselves to clean filthy streets across the country.

But what made this initiative a bit different from the others was the participation of an unlikely volunteer—a civil servant!

The volunteer was none other than Randeep Dev, the Special Commissioner (SVM) of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Dressed in simple clothes, Dev did not announce his entry or seek any public attention. He worked and left the premises once the work had completed.

What makes the participation of a senior officer like Dev in such public service initiatives even more praiseworthy is that he kept his identity anonymous throughout the drive and worked like any other volunteer.

It was only when TUI shared the pictures of the event on their various social media handles, did the news of his participation come to the fore, and led to netizens from across the country heaping praise upon the unassuming bureaucrat.

Well, it is not the first time Dev has made it to the news for the right reasons. The citizens of Bengaluru deeply revere the morally upright officer for his excellent track record in resolving solid waste management issues.

You may also know: Landfills No More? IAS Officer’s Brilliant ‘Project Tsangda’ Is Changing The Face of Leh

In fact, early this month, the news of his sudden transfer was met with such resistance that it resulted in an online petition on Change.org, and social media campaigns on Facebook and Twitter. The state government was forced to sit up and take action, and he was retained.

You can read about this entire episode here.

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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