Both Smita Sabharwal and Amrapali are pro-active IAS officers from Telangana cadre, who became popular with their sincere and people-friendly administration. However, in recent times their `indiscreet comments’ have attracted public uproar. Their casual remarks make them task by certain sections.
Former CMO secretary Smita Sabharwal faced backlash over her remarks on the quota for persons with disabilities in civil services. More recently, GHMC commissioner IAS officer K Amrapali’s offhand comments reportedly offended the Safai Karamcharis.
During her surprise inspections, Amrapali took GHMC sanitation workers to task on Friday, alleging that they weren’t regularly going for door-to-door collection of garbage, which has been the common grievance of the city-dwellers.
While cautioning the workers that she may have to use modern technology to track their movements (garbage collection vehicles), the IAS officer said that the workers were not even collecting trash from her residence regularly.
That was enough to enrage the GHMC sanitation workers who have been working day in and day-out despite the rains. They took no time to lodge their protest by holding a ‘Chalo GHMC ‘ protest demanding she apologise to them for her remarks against her underlings.
IAS officer Amrapali spoke with the protesting ‘Safai Karamcharis’ and told them that what she meant was not to hurt any of them, and told the media after convincing the workers to stop their protest, that GHMC workers played a key role in maintaining the city clean.
However, after being convinced that IAS officer Amrapali didn’t mean to hurt them, the GHMC sanitation workers called off their protest.”Such comments show that though people (mostly the educated middle-class) have been making strides to change themselves, the age-old bureaucratic arrogance and loose-talk seems to have become the order of the day,”a senior official admitted.