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After resentment and chaos over lockdown, Pune civic chief’s transfer catches city by surprise
The bureaucratic reshuffle in Pune came when Covid-19 cases in city have reached 26,904 as 827 fresh cases were reported on Saturday
Just when Pune was coming to terms with announcement about 10-day lockdown starting Monday, Maharashtra government on Saturday transferred Pune municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad. Vikram Kumar, who is serving as chief executive officer (CEO) of Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA), will be the new civic chief.
Gaikwad has been posted again as sugar commissioner, a position he was serving before joining as municipal commissioner in January this year. Kumar, a 2004 batch IAS officer, on the other hand has served in various capacities, including CEO of Maharashtra Maritime Board before taking charge in PMRDA in 2019.
The bureaucratic reshuffle in Pune came when Covid-19 cases in city have reached 26,904 as 827 fresh cases were reported on Saturday. The rising cases forced administration to announce lockdown, prompting sharp reactions from business community and political circles as many were looking to make up losses in business.
The announcement about lockdown, which according to officials, will be far more stricter, hasn’t gone down well among residents too as they rued the “flip-flop” approach as it came just days after chief minister announced “mission begin again”.
Puneites on Saturday stepped out in large numbers to stock grocery and vegetable after the lockdown announcement was made. As a result, prices of essential commodity like vegetables went up.
As the administration declared that grocery shops and vegetables sale will be shut during the first phase, fear of shortage gripped many parts with citizens coming out for panic shopping.
“I stepped out at 7 am first to fill up petrol in my car and then headed to D-Mart for grocery. However, I found that people had already gathered since early morning,” said Rahul Chavan, a banker residing on Pune-Satara road.
Places like D-Mart and Grahak Peth, a cooperative departmental store, saw huge crowd, reminiscent of scenes during March and April when the Centre and state had announced lockdown.
Several BJP leaders, including party national vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, city MP Girish Bapat and Shivajinagar legislator Siddharth Shirole said MVA government led by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has no concrete plan to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
Industry bodies and associations in Pune and Pimpri–Chinchwad also opposed the state government’s decision to impose lockdown once again fearing that post restrictions since March will disrupt the industry and increase further losses for the companies and business establishments. PCMC MLA Mahesh Landge too has petitioned the state government seeking no lockdown for PCMC industries while Federation of Traders Association of Pune has stated the lockdown will result in huge losses causing tremendous financial and physical suffering to the business owners and their employees. The PCMC administration has already declared ten day lockdown in PCMC area as per the directions of the state government.
Besides’ Gaikwad’s transfer, state government has also posted Saurabh Rao as officer on special duty at Pune divisional commissioner office while agriculture commissioner Suhas Diwase will be new chief executive officer at PMRDA.
Rao was working as sugar commissioner in Pune. Another bureaucrat Jitendra Dudi serving as project officer, Integrated Tribal Development Project and assistant collector, Manchar sub division in Pune has been appointed as chief executive officer of Sangli zilla parishad
