24 days after transfer, Tukaram Mundhe not wanted in new dept too?

MUMBAI: After five transfers in the past 32 months, Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Tukaram Mundhe, 44, is now awaiting a new posting for the past 24 days.

He was transferred from the post of Nashik municipal commissioner on November 22 to the position of joint secretary of the state planning department in the secretariat.

However, he has not yet joined the department as the state finance and planning minister, Sudhir Mungantiwar, has objected to the posting, according to state secretariat officials.

“Mungantiwar argued that Mundhe is not a team player, despite having all the credentials. Mundhe has not been given any new posting yet,” said a senior official from the state general administration department, requesting anonymity.

The general administration department looks into matters of transfers. However, Mungantiwar denied that he had objected to Mundhe joining his department.

“There was no reason to deny Mundhe from the post. I have no idea why he did not join. He may want some other position in the government,” Mungantiwar said.

Mundhe did not reply to calls and text messages. Mundhe, who has the reputation of a honest and upright officer, was posted in Nashik in February. He was replaced by Osmanabad district collector Radhakrishna Game.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was reportedly under pressure from local politicians who were demanding Mundhe’s replacement. The 2005 batch officer is said to have been transferred twelve times since he joined service.

His friction with politicians is being touted as the only reason for his untimely transfers from one place to another after short intervals.

Normally, the term of a government officer in a particular post is three years.

Before his service in Nashik, Mundhe was chairman and managing director of Pune

Municipal Transport Corporation Limited, a public transport body.

His transfer order for Pune came just 11 months after he was appointed Navi Mumbai municipal commissioner.

Mundhe and local elected representatives from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Nashik have been at loggerheads since August, which also led to moving of a no-confidence motion against the municipal commissioner.

However, the motion was withdrawn following the CM’S intervention.

A no-confidence resolution was also passed for Mundhe’s removal in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) by the elected representatives before his transfer. Fadnavis suspended the no-confidence resolution, but transferred him to Pune, 11 months after his appointment in April 2016.

Mundhe’s work in the NMMC, especially against illegal constructions and corruption within the civic body, was widely appreciated by Navi Mumbai residents.