Bhopal: Quickly after taking up as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh on 13 December, Mohan Yadav, in one in all his first bureaucratic reshuffles, appointed 1997-batch IAS officer Raghvendra Kumar Singh his principal secretary.
Described by colleagues as a go-getter and efficient coordinator amongst officers, Singh, who served as collector of Indore between 2010 and 2012, is credited with enjoying a vital function in getting Tata Consultancy Companies (TCS) and Infosys to arrange their campuses within the metropolis’s Tremendous Hall. The state authorities needed to overcome resistance from a bit of the paperwork to allocate the land, in keeping with an official.
“During the meeting with the then chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, senior government officials were hesitant over land being allocated to TCS and Infosys at nominal rates, but it was Raghvendra who put his foot down to ensure the project went through,” the official, who was a part of the assembly, advised ThePrint.
“He (Singh) was supported by Chouhan, who in that meeting — citing the land allocated by the Gujarat government for Tata’s Nano plant — had said, “Agar Gujarat de sakta hai toh hum kyu nahi. Zameen de rahe hai, koi chori daikaiti thodi kar rahe hai (If Gujarat can allocate land, why can’t we? We are giving land, not doing any theft or robbery),” the official recounted.
With job creation and offering employment being the highest precedence of the Mohan Yadav-led Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP) authorities in Madhya Pradesh, Singh’s expertise of getting mega industries in Indore performed a vital function in him being taken up because the principal secretary.
In line with BJP leaders within the state, one other essential cause for Singh’s appointment as principal secretary is the necessity to guarantee efficient coordination not solely with totally different elements of the administration but in addition with Chouhan.
“Sarkar toh wahi hai bas sardar naya hai (The government is the same, but the leader is new),” stated a BJP chief.
Singh, who comes from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, studied engineering at Rewa Engineering School in Madhya Pradesh earlier than becoming a member of the civil service in 1997.
Having began his profession in Narmadapuram (Hoshangabad) as a sub-divisional officer (SDO), Singh has had a minimum of eight postings in Indore and spent a few decade there serving in numerous capacities, in tenures that coincided with Indore’s transformation into an industrial hub.
His postings embody sub-divisional Justice of the Peace of Mhow, CEO of the zila panchayat, GST commissioner for the Indore circle, Indore district collector and commissioner of Indore division. He has additionally been managing director of the MP Industrial Growth Company in Indore twice.
Singh was the GST commissioner when the brand new taxation regime was being carried out and labored to deal with discontent among the many dealer group by means of numerous data workshops, lecture sequence and seminars on the taxation system below the brand new legislation.
Quickly after finishing his tenure as Indore collector, Singh was made the managing director of the MP Tourism Company in 2011, at a time when Yadav, now chief minister, was its chairman. In line with officers, the 2 loved a cordial relationship and Singh continued to be in his good books.
“Even though Mohan Yadav had served a stint as chairman of Ujjain Development Authority, in many ways, Singh, who was MD tourism, was the first bureaucrat he worked with as the chairman of the MP Tourism Board,” stated one other authorities official from MP.
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Singh’s tenure below Chouhan
Singh was thought of an essential officer below the Chouhan-led BJP authorities. After taking up as CM in 2005, Chouhan had appointed him collector of his own residence district, Sehore, in 2006. It was throughout his tenure that the Trident Group procured practically 800 acres of plant straight from farmers to determine a textile manufacturing unit in Budhni, Chouhan’s constituency.
In line with a 3rd state authorities official, “The task was seamlessly achieved despite the then Land Acquisition Act having no provision for a private party to procure land from farmers.”
“The farmers were all taken into confidence through effective coordination and given four times the asking price. Similarly in Indore, Singh understood that investment came with trust, and he was effective in clearing all the hurdles for industries to be set up in Indore,” the official added.
After the Congress authorities led by Kamal Nath got here to energy in 2018, Singh was made commissioner for increased schooling in 2019 below then schooling minister Jitu Patwari, now the Congress’s state chief.
Then, after the BJP returned to energy with the assistance of Jyotiraditya Scindia and his loyalists in 2020, Yadav turned a minister for the primary time, receiving the upper schooling portfolio, and Singh continued below him as commissioner.
In 2021, he turned commissioner of the Division of Public Relations (DPR), and after that was moved to the mining division as its principal secretary, with the extra cost of heading the Bhopal-based Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Coverage Evaluation.
A bureaucrat with a ‘yaarana attitude’
At a time when civil servants in MP are recognized as belonging to the Gwalior Administrative service (these near Scindia), the Indore Gharana (these near Kailash Vijayvargiya) or Camp Shivraj based mostly on their loyalties to politicians, Singh has the excellence of being affiliated with none.
Within the corridors of Vallabh Bhawan, he’s described as an official with a ‘yaarana (friendly) attitude’, who wouldn’t hesitate earlier than strolling as much as a subordinate to get pleasure from a cup of tea.
Having learnt cooking in his engineering days, Singh is understood for internet hosting mates and acquaintances at residence on particular events the place he has been the chef. In line with individuals who have labored with him, Singh additionally enjoys Hindi literature whereas going about his each day routine.
There have been murmurs within the corridors of energy about Chouhan’s then principal secretary Manish Rastogi, a 1994-batch IAS officer, being a “reserved” particular person. Singh, alternatively, is seen as the precise reverse — one who is definitely accessible and ensures there’s dialogue amongst numerous events.
(Edited By Richa Mishra)
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