All for reforms

Bureaucrat Vipul Mittra,IAS and currently principal secretary to the state for Tourism,Civil Aviation,Pilgrimage and Devasthan,has worked on various assignments as member of the IAS for both state and central government. After the success of his first book,Pyramid of Virgin Dreams,he may well be on his second bestseller as he launched his second book The Dream Chasers in the city. His satirical and unabashedly witty style of writing makes the book a racy read. The man,who managed to bring Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador for Gujarat’s tourism campaign,called Jackie Shroff for the book reading session. Being a Gujarati,Jaggu dada,as he is fondly called,has always been the darling among the Gujarati masses. And this continues to this day. Looks like Mittra surely knows his home turf quite well.

No interference

It seems like Vadodara city is not a hot favourite with bureaucrats. Two top bureaucrats,who are at the helm of decision-making in the city,are unhappy with the political interference . The two officers,who have charmed the citizens with their work for the development of the city and the district,are said to have sought early transfers to areas with lesser political interference. An official from the district administration,who does not wish to be named,says,“Both these officers were deputed to Vadodara in the last five months,within a space of two months from each other. However,they have been totally let down by the indifference of the elected representatives in taking things ahead. Both of them have sought to be transferred elsewhere as they have been pressurised to keep out of certain tasks in their respective areas which they consider relevant for the development of the location in their jurisdiction.” Sources say that while one officer from the district administration has already received an intimation for transfer to another part of the state by the end of the year,the bureaucrat in the city administration is still awaiting a reply.