Every government has its favourite pesky babu who thumps the rulebook and exceeds his brief, who gets his share of criticism from the establishment and adulation from the public and the media. In Maharashtra, that honour belongs to Arun Bhatia, the babu who has been transferred 27 times in 35 years.Bhatia’s most recent brush with authority is a report he submitted on June 5 in his present capacity as chairperson of the Tribal Research and Training Institute in Pune and mentions 143 deaths in the tribal belt of Maharashtra. The second report—which is under print and was prepared on September 17—mentions 26 malnutrition deaths. This after a categorical denial from the Maharashtra Government. The result was a replay of Bhatia’s earlier encounters with the government: the state Chief Secretary, V Ranganathan, issued him a show cause notice on September 12, saying the state’s public health minister had explained the situation to the media. Bhatia dashed off a reply where he argued that, in fact, the government was at fault; and that the intention of such notices were to ‘‘stifle dissent’’.‘‘No conduct rules prevent you from going to the press,’’ Bhatia told The Indian Express. In his view, officers often take cover behind the conduct rules. ‘‘Government policy says that a pregnant tribal woman should get a stipulated amount every month. Saying that the woman isn’t getting that amount and asking that those responsible for this situation should be brought to book isn’t against the conduct rules,’’ he says.The administrative career of Bhatia, a 1967 IAS batch officer, has been pockmarked by abrupt transfers, tiffs with seniors, postings in obscure places, litigation to demand promotions allegedly denied to him, inquiries and a service book scribbled over with red marks:* Bhatia first ran into the government in 1982, when, as Collector of Dhule district, he exposed a multi-crore scam in the state’s Employment Guarantee Scheme. Police cases were lodged against a slew of officials from the zilla parishad and the departments of agriculture, forests and irrigation. Interestingly, Chief Secretary V Ranganathan was then the state’s Revenue Secretary.* As Collector, Bombay City in 1984, Bhatia busted FSI violations and filed police complaints. An inquiry into the illegal construction of a building called Arihant, located on prime real estate in south Mumbai, was taken away from his charge and handed over to the then municipal commissioner. Bhatia kicked up a fuss, earning a transfer in return as well as adverse remarks from Ranganathan.* As Food and Drugs Administration Commissioner he ordered the closure of a unit of the Glaxo pharmaceuticals major for improper disposal of rejected drugs. The company challenged Bhatia’s order in the Bombay High Court, but lost.* In 1991, he took his case for his promotion to the post of Secretary—Bhatia said he was superseded by more than 30 people— to the Central Administrative Tribunal. The tribunal passed an order that he should be promoted immediately to the rank of secretary. He was then posted to Mumbai as Controller of Weights and Measures.* In 1994, Bhatia applied for a United Nations assignment as Chief Technical Advisor for three projects financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development. He was there till 1996.* In 1997, Bhatia was made divisional commissioner of Pune. He booked around 100 talathis—village revenue record keepers—who allegedly forged land records in five Maharashtra districts. Again, Bhatia rubbed the government the wrong way by dashing off an inquiry report against corrupt irrigation department officials as well as strongly worded letters about the resettlement of families affected by the Krishna Valley projects to the Chief Secretary.* Was appointed municipal commissioner of Pune in 1999. The tenure was oh-so-brief and very memorable: Bhatia demolished around 40 illegal structures, including those reportedly belonging to Suresh Kalmadi and the then State chief minister Manohar Joshi’s son-in-law, Girish Vyas. On Day Six of his posting, he was transferred as Director of Archives, Mumbai but did not join. The Government maintained that Bhatia was being punished for leaking confidential documents to the press. An inquiry was ordered against him.But the Bombay High Court quashed Bhatia’s transfer order on April 13, 1999 and directed the state to reinstate him. Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice S Radhakrishnan observed that ‘‘we wish to emphasise that during the present days of unfortunate corruption and dishonesty, honesty requires a pat on the back, not punishment.’’* After his reinstatement, Bhatia declared his intent to continue with the demolition drive. In June 1999, he was transferred to the State Archives as director. Again, he took up a UN assignment in Kuala Lumpur between 1999 and 2001. He assumed his present position in December 2001.Bhatia shrugs off his constant runs-in with the government as a natural consequence of ‘‘enforcing honesty in a highly corrupt third world bureaucracy’’. He says, ‘‘The sad thing in our country is that you’re never safe. The machinery that’s supposed to protect you is equally dishonest.A secretary in the government had once admonished Bhatia to ‘‘put his mind’’ to his present and to ‘‘forget’’ the past. But Bhatia insists that he’s no compulsive obstructionist. ‘‘Remaining within the system gives you credibility. You can access certain information. The media takes you seriously,’’ he says.Former home secretary Madhav Godbole, however, feels that such activism can be pursued as much from outside the system as from within. ‘‘There is a division between the two, and it needs to be understood,’’ he says. Godbole is also critical of government officials who rush to the media with their complaints. ‘‘It affects the credibility of an officer,’’ he says.
