IAS titles: From ‘Gabbar Singh Team’ to ‘rang de mohe gerua’
LUCKNOW: Foot-tapping music, a sumptuous spread, titles for colleagues garnished with a pinch of mirth painted a picture of warmth and camaraderie on a cold evening at the service dinner that Uttar Pradesh IAS Association organised at MB Club here on Friday.
Drawn from Hindi film songs or names, the titles, an annual feature, spiced up the occasion.
For instance, additional chief secretary RK Tiwari and commissioner, commercial tax, Mukesh Meshram were jointly called ‘Gabbar Singh Team’ (GST) for their involvement in implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Congress presidentelect Rahul Gandhi had referred to the GST as Gabbar Singh Tax during the recently concluded Gujarat assembly election.
Chief secretary Rajive Kumar got the title ‘Aap aaye, bahar aai’, a reference to the fact that he served as union shipping secretary before coming back to the state as its top bureaucrat.
Three senior officers RP Singh, Anoop Chandra Pandey and Sanjay Agarwal, considered strong claimants for the chief secretary’s post, were jointly complimented with “Ham bhi khade hain raahon mein”, the opening line of a Hindi film song.
Shashi Prakash Goel, principal secretary to the chief minister, was greeted with “raat baaki, kaam baki, filen, meetings ho jaane do” for his busy schedule at the CM’s secretariat.
“Badal jaaye agar maali, chaman hota nahin khali” was the title for Rigzian Sampheal, secretary to chief minister, who served in the chief minister’s secretariat during the previous regime as well.
Principal secretary, information, Avnish Awasthi was given the title “Subho-shaam bas kaam hi kaam, kyun nahin lete piya pyaar ka naam”.
It was “rang de tu mohe gerua” for Pilibhit district magistrate Sheetal Verma. Avinash Kumar of the 2013 batch got the title ‘Aaj main upar, aasman neeche.’
Four senior officers Prashant Trivedi, Sanjay Bhoosreddy, Alok Kumar-1, Alok Tandon and Manoj Kumar Singh, who returned from central deputation and got important assignments in UP, collectively received the title “Tum aa gaye ho, noor aa gaya hai, nahin to chiragon se lau jaa rahi thi.”
The one-liner from the film song “Hamko aisa vaisa na samjho, ham bare kaam ki chij” was meant for principal secretary, home, Arvind Kumar.
Three officers Himanshu Kumar, Kalpana Awasthi and T Venkatesh, who came to the UP cadre from other states, were complimented with “main to chhor aai piyaa ka desh, babul ka ghar pyara lage.”
“Gali gali teri lau jali, jiyo re bahubali” was the title given to Anil Kumar, a 1998-batch officer. Senior IAS officer Rajnish Dubey was greeted with “main shayar to nahin”.
Two other officers Kamran Rizvi and Amit Ghosh, going on deputation to the centre, have been given “Achha chalta hoon, filon main yaad rakhna.” Five officers Pandhari Yadav, Anurag Yadav, Ranjan Kumar, Vikas Gothwal and Kanchan Verma were given the title “London ko gaye mere dost, dost ko salaam karo”. In an obvious reference to the government’s ODF mission, Amit Gupta and Vijay Kiran Anand were greeted with “Bhaiya thaad thaad thaad kar le, ab to toilet ka jugar.”