Redefining "Govt employee"

It has become so rare to see a Govt employee rise up to a situation and work that it becomes a piece of very good, heartwarming news when ones does so.  This is about  Akhilesh Jha, The Controller of Accounts at the Office of the Controller of Accounts for the Ministries of Chemicals and Fertiliser as well as for Petroleum of Natural Gas. He is the chief, an Indian Civil Account Service (ICAS) officer of 1996 batch. There was a fire at its office couple of days ago where nothing but charred computers, furniture, files were left. Thankfully there was no casualty.

Jha and his staff worked late into the night on the chilling cold of Delhi, as windows were burnt out, no heater and basic electricity for computers and lights to function. They worked endlessly to payout subsidies to the fertilizer companies and no fire was going to keep this work from happening. The office, on an average, pays out Rs 500 crore a day to various fertiliser companies.  And it was very gratifying to hear him say, “It (a disaster) tests your character, your abilities. It was a great feeling to see my officers and staff facing the challenge with a brave face and delivering services in one of the most difficult situations.”

This apart, he is an avid music lover and  if he had not become an IAS, would have become a teacher or a author. In fact he has penned a book, Mere Mehdi Hassan, a tribute to the Pakistan ghazal singer that he wrote in 2009. He has also made a short film, The Poetry of Driftwood, on driftwood artist Mohammed Hanif from Lakshwadeep. In all, Jha has authored 17 books in Hindi on subjects ranging from music to preparatory material for IAS aspirants. Apart from a film on his friend, tabla maestro Nawab Khan he has also made a film on the tanpura in Tanpura—Shahad Ka Tumba. The film traced the origins of the instrument to the African gourd. What a pleasure it is to know that such people, especially in the can of worms, which is the Govt machinery.