Tukaram Mundhe orders work places, desks to be cleared of religious imagery

With slackers in the Nashik Municipal Corporation feeling the heat of the newly appointed commissioner Tukaram Mundhe’s functioning methods, the IAS officer on Tuesday issued yet another directive prohibiting display of images of gods and religious figures at work tables and stations of the employees.

Mr. Mundhe has ordered work places and desks across departments in the NMC to be cleared of religious imagery.

Government order

The Commissioner was acting on a government order which dissuades government employees from adorning offices with such pictures or performing rituals.

According to sources, the clearing has already begun in right earnest. In another move literally aimed at dusting off bureaucratic spider webs, the Commissioner has ordered that the NMC premises be cleaned every Saturday and Sunday, and dust from files to be swept away.

Transferred nearly a dozen times in his 13-year tenure as IAS officer, Mr. Mundhe is a darling of the vernacular press, which minutely tracks his actions and pronouncements.

One of his first acts on taking charge of the NMC on February 9 was to send the chief of the Nashik Fire Brigade home after he failed to appear in ‘proper uniform’.

Imposing strict sartorial discipline, Mr. Mundhe has also warned all NMC employees to follow a formal dress code during work hours and that wearing casuals and sport shoes would not be tolerated.

Determined to make his staff look crisp and sharp, Mr. Mundhe, while outlining his vision to transform Nashik into an ideal city on the cleanliness, environment and civic amenities fronts, has ordered that employees adhere to punctuality.

His no-nonsense style of functioning has found himself perpetually at daggers drawn with politicos and contractors, while earning plaudits and cheers from citizens.

His previous posting as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) lasted barely 10 months, with the city’s corporators resenting Mr. Mundhe’s efforts to revive the moribund PMPML as “overbearing”.

In a bid to make the organization [PMPML] efficient, Mr. Mundhe had sacked nearly 160 contract drivers for poor attendance records – a move that drew the ire of populist politicians.