Rajinikanth meets his match, finally, in Indore Collector's office

An MP cadre IAS officer is "Leader of Planet and Conqueror of Earth"

NK SINGH

A little known NGO from Indore has come out with a documentary film on the life and time of P. Narhari, a former Collector of Indore. The mesmerised filmmaker is convinced that the IAS officer of 2001 batch was the best thing to have happened to the city after the first steam locomotive arrived in 1893. The 15 minutes biopic starts with eulogising the 42-year-old officer as Leader of Planet, Conqueror of Earth and Creator of New Faith. It is the first ever documentary made on the achievements of a bureaucrat, at least in MP. The film was shot with active participation of the IAS officer and his family members, who posed for the movie, with the sahib straddling his domain like a king.

The film leaves no one in any doubt about the protagonist’s greatness. Narhari, it claims, has changed thousands of lives, coming to help of people who have been disappointed everywhere else. He has left extraordinary stamp on every task assigned to him, winning more than 40 awards for good work. Right from Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, everyone has praised him.  “We made the film because we were impressed with the work done by him for the poor and the downtrodden,” said Ashok Dubey of Roopankan, which made the film.

As the film was loaded on social media, tongues started wagging in the close-knit IAS community. Most IAS officers I talked to for this article, have seen the film. Many were aghast. “It made me cringe when I saw it,” recalled a former chief secretary. It is, incidentally, not the first film made on the life and time of P. Narhari. It is just the most sycophantic one. Gone is the era of the faceless officers, who liked to work and remain in shadow. The name of the game is hard sell marketing, with social media acting as a tool of personal image building.

Indore has a history of fascination for Collectors and SPs. Many Indoreans put Collector and SP Sahib on a pedestal higher than the chief minister of the State and just a notch below Khajrana Ganesh temple. If they know you, you have arrived. In no other city of MP one finds such obsession with the offices of Collector and SP. Naresh Narad was a Collector in Indore in the 70s. When he was transferred, a grateful who’s-who of city turned up for his farewell, harnessing his car to a rope and pulling it by hand to express their respect.  

If Indore is obsessed with Collector and SP sahibs, a large number of IAS officers also nurture a similar fascination for occupying that quaint, crumbling, colonial bungalow in Residency area that once nurtured Ajit Jogi, a former district magistrate of Indore who rose to become chief minister of Chhattisgarh. Many in MP cadre of IAS or IPS don’t consider their career successful till they get a posting at Indore, the jewel in the crown.

Many in IAS or IPS feel that postings as district magistrate or SP are the most satisfying period in their career. But to work in Indore is an exhilarating experience, says everyone who has worked there. “It evokes feeling of immense power”, says a former Collector, who is still remembered for his successful innings at Indore in late 90s. That is the only town in the State where a district magistrate, if he wants, can raise a crore of rupees for some cause by the end of the day.

But a posting at Indore is not important because it is Chhota Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the State, its most happening place. It is not important because the town’s streets are paved with gold and its walkways fragrant with aroma of boiling cauldrons of kesaria milk ---- though that could undoubtedly be the underlining factor for some.

It is considered a prize posting because chief ministers handpick officers for the job, selecting the most competent or the most trusted ones. A posting at Indore is a sign of an officer being a part of a trusted and favoured circle, not always necessarily because of their administrative or professional acumen. Indore has traditionally been a major source of political financing.  During his decade long rule, Digvijay Singh would visit Indore almost every week, making it his second home.

Indore has been home to some of the best and the brightest and, of course, some of the closest to the rulers of the day, cementing its reputation as prize posting. People of Indore still remember people like OP Rawat, Sudhir Nath, SR Mohanty and Manoj Shrivastava. Hence it is sad to come across instances of brazen chest thumping and craze for publicity in any officer who has occupied this coveted chair.

My column, Powers That Be, in DB Post of 23 July 2017 

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