Know 27 Facts Biography of Arun Bhatia IAS officer ex-Municipal Commissioner of PMC

Know 27 Facts Arun Bhatia Short Biography of Arun Bhatia IAS officer ex-Municipal Commissioner of PMC

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Name – Arun Bhatia

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Born - 3 August 1942

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He is the President of People's Guardian Party.

4-He was an IAS officer and ex-Municipal Commissioner of the Pune Municipal Corporation before he entered politics.

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As a civil servant, Bhatia worked in various positions in the Maharashtra cadre.

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Education –
B.A. History (Honors) - St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, India M.A. History, Economic History and Political Thought - Peterhouse, Cambridge University, England

Training in Development Economics, Law, Public Administration, Land Reforms etc. - National Academy of Administration, Mussourie, India

Training for Public Administration in a Welfare State - Administrative Staff College, Bombay, India

Training in Community Development and Decentralized Planning - National Institute of Community Development, Hyderabad, India

Training in Management Skills (1994) - UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services), Thailand

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Summary of work experience –
Management experience (Asia, Africa) in United Nations multi-disciplinary rural development projects included monitoring, report writing, training, liaising with NGOs and national governments and the formulation of funding proposals for UN agencies.
In India, appointments were at secretariat and field levels and in rural and urban local bodies. Work pertained to physical and social infrastructure (watershed improvement, health etc.), rural employment, tribal development, land reforms, anti-poverty schemes, famine relief, drought recovery, resettlement of urban slums, project displaced persons and political refugees, and governance reform.
There was a focus on creating mechanisms for client participation in planning, execution and monitoring. Detected wide spread corruption. But the continuous effort to combat corruption met with limited success in the long term.
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2002: Commissioner, Tribal Research and Training Institute, Pune, Maharashtra.

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1999: Commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation

Worked as the Chief Executive of a municipal body covering a population of 3 million. The concentration was on curbing corruption, introducing good/participatory governance and transparency (mainly in terms of giving citizens access to official records pertaining to resource allocation, expenditure, permissions for land use etc.), and diverting funds to priority areas like urban slums and public health. Prosecuted sitting Chief Secretary (the head bureaucrat in the state) for corruption in awarding road contracts. This predictably resulted in a premature transfer but citizens approached the Bombay High Court in a public interest litigation defeating the government and reversing the government order.

The Chief Justice, on 13.4.1999, in Writ Petition 1395 of 1999 observed that "the decision to transfer Bhatia, in the facts of the present case, is so outrageous that it defies all logic and any moral standard. No reasonable person could have arrived at such a decision. We wish to emphasise that during the present days when, unfortunately, corruption and dishonesty are at their peak, honesty and action as per law deserve a pat, rather than punishment. The transfer of Bhatia, in our view, is in the nature of punishment".

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1997-99: Divisional Commissioner, Pune.

Supervised and coordinated work in five districts. Focused on empowerment of women by entering their names in land ownership records, on providing women access to judicial remedies, on the re-settlement of households displaced by irrigation projects, on waging a losing battle against corruption etc. Conducted enquiries and lodged prosecutions regarding corruption in urban bodies, government departments and the system of rural land management. 102 talathis and circle officers were trapped in cheating cases but I was transferred.

Supervised the preparation of multi-sector annual plans for each district.

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1993-94: Managing Director, Maharashtra State Co-operative Marketing Federation.

1993: Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra State.
Most of the country's pharmaceutical industry is located in Maharashtra State. Drug quality in the market was monitored and action taken against the spurious drug business in numerous cases. Took action against drug companies for manufacture of or involvement in the trade of spurious drugs. Glaxo was defeated in the High Court.
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1992: Secretary to Government, Social Welfare Department.

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1988-1991: Additional Commissioner, Nagpur Division

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1981: Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development

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1977-1983 (excluding 1981): District Collector (Satara, Dhulia, Raigad, and Bombay)

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1973-1976: Director of Relief and Rehabilitation for Bangladesh Refugees (Chandrapur)

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1971: Chief Executive in the local self-government body (Zilla Parishad) in the District (Osmanabad)

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Appointments in The United Nations
1999-2001: CONSULTANT, UNOPS, (United Nations Office for Project Services), Asia Office, KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia.

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1994-96: CTA (CHIEF TECHNICAL ADVISER) (LAOS)
A certificate was given by the Government of Laos for good work.

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1985-1988: PROJECT ADVISER (BOTSWANA)

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Short Term United Nations Assignments as a Consultant
August 1991: Maldives
February, 1992: Bangladesh
March, 1992: Maldives
December, 1992: Laos
October, 1993: Laos
October, 1994: Myanmar

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For honesty Arun Bhatia paid the price always
He paid the price of denial of promotion, frequent transfers (26 transfers in as many years of service in India), numerous charges and enquiries, bad assessment reports, ridicule by peers, seniors and subordinates, lack of support when giant offenders like Glaxo or senior officers and politicians were prosecuted by me, ugly threats from the Bombay land mafia and so on. See the section on fight against corruption.

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In 1984 Arun Bhatia lodged criminal cases against builders and officials as Collector, Bombay; then in 1994 when he  closed the Glaxo factory in Bombay and began the inspection of the Nasik factory as Commissioner, Food and Drugs; and again in 1999 he  prosecuted the reigning Chief Secretary and corrupt officials of the Revenue Department and the Pune Corporation.

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In 2004 Arun Bhatia contested the parliamentary election as an independent candidate from Pune and received over 60,000 votes without any infrastructure or organizational support

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Whenever Bhatia detected corruption and initiated action against the culprits protected by the establishment, he was transferred. In subsequent postings when he raised the old issues and asked for action against offenders,

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Bhatia's protests and findings remained suppressed and law breakers walked away unpunished, unassailable and stronger than before.

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Transfer and Arun Bhatia -
In 26 years of service (excluding the training period and service in the United Nations), Bhatia was removed from his post (transferred) 26 times.

Some Examples of corruption cases detected/reported to Government /Police by Arun Bhatia and action taken (or not taken) by Government.

Illegal buildings in south Bombay by land mafia (Arihant, Pratibha etc. (Collector, Bombay)
Corruption in implementation of ULC (Urban Land Ceiling Act) (Collector, Bombay)
Manufacture of fake drugs, drugs using expired ingredients etc. Action taken against giant companies like Glaxo for violating rules end enabling distribution of fake drugs up to Agra, German Remedies etc. (Commissioner, Food and Drugs Administration)
Employment Guarantee Scheme in Dhulia district (Collector, Dhulia)
Cement distribution in Raigad district (Collector, Raigad)
Corruption in the Pune Municipal Corporation in recruitment, procurement, tender approvals (school uniforms, medicines, electrical items etc.), measurement books of road specifications. Did physical audit, suspended officers, lodged police complaints etc. Was removed by vote of municipal councilors within a few weeks. (Commissioner, PMC).
Corruption in irrigation department (Divisional Commissioner, Pune)
Corruption in the revenue department pertaining to land ownership/transfer records. Detected 102 cases after months of probing. (Divisional Commissioner, Pune)
Sent reports and started cases against senior officers and bosses including the sitting Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, the sitting Divisional Commissioner of Pune, Collector of Pune, Member of UPSC etc.
Corruption in ashram shalas (residential schools) under politically dominated trusts in tribal areas of the state (Secretary, Social Welfare)
Corruption in land distribution to project displaced persons (Divisional Commissioner, Pune)
Corruption in land records regarding recording women’s right to land through inheritance in five districts (Commissioner, Pune Division)
Illegal construction in Pune city (Pune Municipal Commissioner)
Construction of houses for rural landless labourers (Collector, Dhulia.)
Illegal construction in Nagpur city (Addl. Divisional Commissioner, Nagpur)
Materials supply to Bangladesh refugees (Director Rehabilitation, Chandrapur)
Supply of building material to govt. (Pune Municipal Commissioner)

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Arun Bhatia Property –
a) Property of 82 crores (now redeveloped to provide income of 125 lac per year)

b) Two luxury cars (BMW and Porsche – Cayenne)

(Property was inherited from mother which she acquired before Arun Bhatia entered govt. service. All white transactions. Papers can be shown.)

Suggested Reading –

Arun Bhatia 15 Point Plan for Pune City Vote for Arun Bhatia

Source – http://www.arunbhatia.org

Reality views by sm –

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Tags – Arun Bhatia Biography Short Autobiography Facts