Rameshchandra Fefar

AHMEDABAD: A superintending engineer with the Sardar Sarovar project has explained his truancy to his superiors by claiming that he is overqualified for his mundane job — he says he is the 10th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The engineer, Rameshchandra Fefar , has said in his reply to a show-cause notice on his absence that he remains at home meditating to change global consciousness. His onerous mission at home has given him little time to attend office: he has reported to work for only 16 days in eight months of service.

“Should I kill time in office or meditate from home to prevent droughts in the country?” Fefar asks in his reply to the show-cause notice issued to him by the commission (west) of the Sardar Sarovar Punah-Vasvat Agency (Sardar Sarovar Rehabilitation and Resettlement Agency).

The show-cause notice rebukes Fefar for his attendance record. “You have remained highly erratic ever since you joined duty on September 22, 2017...you have remained absent without any authorization,” the notice says. The notice goes on to say: “This kind of conduct is not befitting a government official. Your absence from duty has adversely impacted the working of rehabilitation which is in its final stages as you are not available for providing guidance to the subordinates.” The notice asks for an explanation about the unauthorized absence in seven days. “Or action will be initiated against you under the prevalent rules,” the notice says.

Fefar’s response dwells on why it is necessary for him to work from home. “I am Lord Vishnu’s 10th incarnation as Kalki,” he says. “I am meditating in the otherworldly state...This work I cannot do in the office. Thus I don’t remain physically present in the office.” He also says that he is an ardent devotee of Jagdamba Ma and his prayers have saved Gujarat from drought despite the attempts by ‘Anti God’ to halt the rains.

The engineer’s reply has gone viral, especially in the government circles. The agency’s officials said that they will report the response to the Gujarat government. “We have received the report and our administrative department is processing it,” said Nilesh Dubey , in-charge of the media cell and deputy collector of the Sardar Sarovar Punah-Vasvat Agency. “The file will be put up before the commissioner in a day or two and the matter will be taken up with the officer’s parent department — the water resources department.”

Fefar is one of the five or six superintending engineers of the agency, a post which is only one level junior to the top post of chief engineer in Gujarat. Fefar lives in the luxurious Ark bungalow in Rajkot in the posh Kalavad road. His wife registered a complain against him with the mahila police station in Rajkot in April 2017, alleging mental harassment. She said in her complaint that he called her and her son ‘monsters’. Fefar was earlier posted in Rajkot in the panchayat circle and was known to be frequently staying away from work.

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